Madness on ice

 The Stanley Cup playoffs are the best playoffs, because all it takes is a goalie who suddenly starts stopping pucks like beachballs and you've got Madness on Ice. If they had a tagline, it would be "The Stanley Cup Playoffs: Wait, WHAT?"

For instance, remember the mighty Boston Bruins, who skated through the NHL like it was the ECHL this season, winning more games (65) and scoring more points (135) than any team in the 106-year history of the league?

Wait, WHAT?

That's right, boys and girls. What you could almost see coming, because it's the Stanley Cup playoffs, happened last night. The Florida Panthers, who finished 23 wins and 43 points behind the invincible Bruins, won in overtime in Game 7 to knock out the Invincibles. 

Carter Verhaeghe's goal 8:35 into OT ended it, after which the entire city of Boston presumably was treated for shock. If it wasn't the biggest upset in Stanley Cup playoff history, it was certainly in the front row of the team photo.

The Invincibles, which lost just 12 games during the regular season, lost the last three in their first-round series, blowing a 3-1 lead in a Mount Rushmore gag job. Unbelievably, three of the Bruins four losses came on their home ice, where they were 34-4-3 in the regular season. 

Meanwhile, out west ...

Wait, WHAT?

Right again, kiddies. In yet another epic upset, the two-year-old Seattle Kraken -- in their first-ever playoff series -- showed the defending Stanley Cup champions the door, beating the Colorado Avalanche 2-1 in Game 7. Like the Panthers, the Kraken did it on the road, following another "Wait, WHAT?" trend: Road teams were 31-18 in the first round of the playoffs.

And so the defending Cup champs and the team that couldn't lose for winning are out before May. And an expansion team and a team that couldn't win for losing (the Toronto Maple Leafs) are still alive.

In other words, buckle up, folks. More "Wait, WHAT?" is coming.