Now I am ready for the puck to drop.

If hockey has a moment that defines, it is fast approaching.

By the end of the third round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the game is profoundly different, as are the players – at least those still standing.

Thursday night at PPG Paints Arena, it will be decided which of the Pittsburgh Penguins or Ottawa Senators will move on to meet the Nashville Predators in the Stanley Cup final.

In this spring of oddities, the eyebrows just keep bouncing. The Predators were the final NHL team, 16th out of 30, to qualify for the playoffs. The Ottawa Senators are 0-for-5 in playoff Game 7s, which should comfort the Penguins but for the fact that Pittsburgh has never won a Game 7 at home after dropping a Game 6, as it did 2-1 in Ottawa on Tuesday.

-Roy MacGregor of the Globe and Mail where you can read more on this topic.