It Has Begun.

Bigger post coming on the Lake Erie Wet Dream that has been the last 14 days in the NHL. I need to wait for MyNHL and YouTube to cut their shiny moving pictures.

For now, let me just repost a bit from ESPN's playoff preview:

In case you missed it two weekends ago, the NHL on NBC (Bruins-Penguins and Rangers-Islanders, regionally) drew a larger national audience than ABC's NBA telecast (Suns-Kings).

This has been long overdue. As much as a reckoning for the NBA as anything else. Once the League gets its financial house in order, expect this to happen more and more, on less exceptional weekends.