The Hockey Stop

LeBron James is leading his Cleveland Cavaliers tonight in Game 1 of the NBA's Eastern Conference Finals, while hockey fans (at least those lucky few who subscribe to Versus) will have to wait for Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins to take on the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference Finals. 

That's because the NHL has spread out the conference finals schedule this year with Pens-Canes Game 2 set for Thursday evening at the Igloo. Unless the Pens sweep, there are more two-day breaks in this series, meaning Pittsburgh and Carolina will play only two games in six days from May 24-29. With so many days off, it might be tough to build up any kind of rhythm in this matchup -- especially since both teams just came off tight seven-game series. The Pens-Caps series lasted 12 nights -- including back-to-back games in Pittsburgh and Washington because of a Yanni concert at Mellon Arena -- as opposed to 16 nights if this series goes to seven games. 

Still, it will be interesting to see if these long breaks between games builds anticipation or if fans will lose interest. It's tough enough for the NHL to go head-to-head with the NBA as the two leagues' playoffs synch up.  A lot will depend, of course, on whether or not the Blackhawks and Hurricanes can mount comebacks and extend the series.

But maybe the best argument against an extra day off is the risk of injuries during practice. From NHL.com:

"Practice did not go without its intrigue as the Penguins survived two injury scares. During a rush drill, Evgeni Malkin crashed into assistant coach Tom Fitzgerald at the blue line and both tumbled before picking themselves and continuing. Later, during a 3-on-2 drill, defenseman Rob Scuderi took a slap shot from point-blank range off his foot. He required a visit from the trainer as a hush fell over the arena, but was able to shake it off."