The epicness of Stanley

Sure, OK, it's the middle of August. And there are no fans in the arenas. And there's only two arenas  anyway, one in Edmonton and one in Toronto.

These are not your father's Stanley Cup playoffs, in other words. They're not even yours, come to think of it.

But some truths remain truths, even if all else around them gets next-level weird. And the truth is, even as un-Stanley Cup playoffs as these are in the age of the Bastard Plague, they're still the best playoffs of any of 'em.

Case in point: Did you see what happened in Toronto last night?

The Tampa Bay Lightning and the Columbus Blue Jackets played hockey for more than six hours.

That's five overtimes to you and me, kids. Brayden Point finally ended it for Tampa Bay, 3-2, at the 150-minute, 27-second mark of gametime.

You know what else happened?

The guy who finally surrendered the winning goal, the Blue Jackets' Joonas Korpisalo, made 85 saves before it happened.

Eighty-five saves! Heck, his opposite number, Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, only kicked out 61, the piker.

Imagine how hard Korpisalo will be to beat in the next round of Barstool Can You Top This.

JACK CRABB (from "Little Big Man"): I can break three bottles throwed in the air.

JOONAS KORPISALO: Oh, yeah? Well, I once made 85 saves in one game.

JACK CRABB: You win.

You get the picture.

You also get to say this, in your next round of Can You Top This: "Oh, yeah? Well, I once sat through a six-hour hockey game."

You'll win, too.