List #008 - Five NHL Playoff Traditions

The National Hockey League (NHL) has, perhaps, one of the most noteworthy, yet exciting, playoff systems. Especially recently, where a few teams down 3-0 in a best-of-seven series come back to tie or even win the series!

ESPN.com columnists have made lists of "5 Things" regarding this hockey postseason including rookies to watch, notable injuries, award predictions, and goalies on the hot seat. I found this particular list of five playoff traditions to be the best. Not just for this postseason, but any in the history of hockey.

LeBrun, Pierre. 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Five Best Playoff Traditions. ESPN.
http://espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs/2012/story/_/id/7779740/5-playoff-traditions

(Talking brackets (from the previous post), the NHL's is not a "fixated" bracket, but it's deemed "adjusted" on a round by round basis. By "fixated" I mean, for example in the first round a typical seedings bracket, the winner of the #1 vs. #8 matchup always plays the winner of the #4 vs. #5 matchup. By this "adjusted" bracket, I meaning in each round per conference, the highest seeded team plays the lowest seeded team, the second-highest seeded team plays the second-lowest seeded team, etc.; so after the #1 vs. #8 matchup, if for example the #1 seed wins, they play the lowest seeded team, which could be a #4 or #5 or #6 or #7 seeded team, whichever is lowest.)

List #007 - A Bunch of Brackets! (2012)

March means March Madness in college basketball, where many across the nation fill out their bracket to determine which one of 64 to 68 teams will win the national title. A lot of statistics and data mining is used to predict which team will win six (or seven) straight single-elimination games, considering the following questions. How many number one seeded teams will reach the Final Four and which teams? Will some low-seeded "Cinderella" teams reach the Sweet Sixteen or even the Elite Eight? It's a tough process!

This year's Men's Tournament had several surprises. Despite one of my Final Four teams in #2-seed Missouri losing in the first round, I correctly predicted the other three in Kentucky, Ohio State, and Kansas... including the national champion in Kentucky!

Bracket of Integrity : TwitPic | ESPN
Men's 2012 Tournament Bracket: ESPN | NCAA
Women's 2012 Tournament Bracket: ESPN | NCAA

But that doesn't end there...