Quote:
Originally Posted by Pyser
the only thing the devils-canes series is missing is nastiness. the teams just dont hate each other the way id like to see in the playoffs. but other than that, its been great defensive hockey.
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I was just thinking about this myself. I think not being division rivals probably dampens it some, but I think another part of it is generally the teams have a fair amount of respect for one another, starting with the goaltending and the generally similar styles of play. No one's being brutally nasty, but you still have to earn everything you get. Yes, there's been some feisty moments, but that's to be expected. This isn't going to turn into anything like Colorado-Detroit from the 1990s, though.
Frankly, for Carolina fans, while they'll say they don't like New Jersey a lot, they don't really hate them, either, especially not like they hate Buffalo (though that's more due to the clashes with Sabres fans during the 2006 playoffs than anything else).
Me personally, if NJ bounces Carolina and Washington also goes out, that pretty much leaves NJ as the team I'd want to win the East as I generally root for teams from non-traditional or "mocked" markets (NJ being more in the latter than the former due to the constant jabbing they take for attendance) when Carolina is out of the running for the Cup (tangentially, this also means I hope San Jose or Anaheim wins the West).