Playoff overtime hockey is the BEST

What a week-end in sports...Celtics v. Cavs with a drama-filled series that went to game seven. Mine That Bird enters the Kentucky Derby an underdog at 50-1 and wins. Wings and Ducks in game two of the Western Conference Finals go to a third overtime where a costly mistake sends the Wings to Anaheim for game three with the series tied at one after losing 4-3.

All of these are exciting events in their own right, but I contend overtime hockey in the playoffs one of the most exciting event in sports. Obviously, a game seven overtime scenario is by far the most exciting, but any overtime playoff game is more exciting than any other sporting event.

Defenseman Brad Stuart, who scored the Wings first goal said it best. "It's a battle. It's almost first team that is able to win the mental battle will win."

Playoff overtime hockey is both a physical and mental battle. Physically the two teams have already played sixty minutes of hockey and that takes its toll. Mentally, they know that one mistake, no matter how small, can cost them the game.

"It's a fine line between winning and losing in overtime" Captain Nick Lidstrom said after the game.

Todd Marchant forced a turnover near the Anaheim blue line with a back-check play, took a pass from defenseman James Wisniewski and moved into the Wings zone. He got a screen in front and took a wrist shot from the left circle that beat goalie Chris Osgood over the left shoulder. One small play which led to a turnover which led to a game winner, all in the span of one minute and fifteen seconds to start the third overtime. Game over.

If you weren't back from the restroom, kitchen, concession stand or you were texting someone on your phone, you missed the end of the game. That was it. It was over. Some will argue that a boxing match has the same intensity and dramatic finish, so maybe I should say it is the best in team sports. But in my mind, it is in all sports.

The players equate it to adrenaline rushes people get from doing certain activities. You could tell Chris Osgood, despite the loss, loves the situation.

"It's like a guy that loves parachuting or jumping out of planes or bungee jumping. For me, I love playing games like that, they're fun."

What is there not to love...exciting, non-stop play that can last less than a minute, or up to 4 extra hours of drama. Not only do the players feel the pressure, the fans do, too. That is what makes it so great.

In basketball you get five minutes to pick up a win. If the teams remain tied, they go another five. In pro football, the coin flip is important, but the coin flip winner doesn't always win the game and plenty of plays can be run before an end. There isn't "that pressure." In baseball, both teams get at least one at-bat. Yes there is drama when a team wins in the bottom of the ninth or in extra innings, but it isn't that second by second drama that happens in playoff overtime hockey when there is so much on the time.

As I said above, nothing, and I mean nothing, compares to a game seven overtime, but no matter what round of the playoffs, overtime hockey gives the fans the drama, intrigue and excitement that no other sport can deliver.