from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

This has been a remarkable Stanley Cup tournament produced under remarkable conditions. The games have been played at an especially high level, the competition seemingly enhanced by the unique environment in which they are set.

That would be my one complaint about the presentation. The television audience has never experienced the ambience — or the lack thereof — of the rink. The piped-in noise that has given the telecasts a quasi-familiar feeling has left us in the dark as the conditions under which the games are truly being played.

I’m sure it’s too late now, with the conference finals upon us, but at least for one game, or one day, it would have been interesting to hear it without the fabricated noise.

And let’s hope the concept does not make its way into the realm of reality NHL television when relative normalcy returns to the league and the schedule.

Extensions of three of the four conference semis to seven games indicates that these athletes most certainly did not seek to bail from the bubble at the first opportunity.

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