It's a solemn ritual of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The game ends and the media hordes descend to the bowels of the arena, where each coach steps up to the podium to explain what we just watched.

The loser claims to be "still confident" while agreeing that "we need more" from some players. The winner credits his team with "a good PK" and "getting pucks deep" but hints at areas where "we have to be better."

The only chance of hearing anything halfway interesting is if a guy takes the microphone in anger, as Detroit coach Mike Babcock did on Wednesday night. Mike was steamed because his team had been victimized by a disallowed goal on a bad call:

"That's a reputation call totally. It's disappointing. Sometimes a guy gets tripped and you miss it. Some things go wrong and you miss it. Just don't make stuff up, that's all. Kelly is a good referee. He just blew the call. That's life."

He's right. On the play in question, Tomas Holmstrom was not standing in the crease, and the goal should have stood.

But as Bob McKenzie points out, the Red Wings feasted on an equally poor call in Game One of the Dallas series. In that case, Holmstrom was clearly standing in the blue paint and obstructing the goaltender. But the Detroit goal was allowed to stand.

Strangely, Mike Babcock didn't accuse the referees of making stuff up on that night.

That's because the coach's podium isn't about analysis or perspective. It's about spin, bull droppings and what-have-the-referees-done-for-me-lately.

Postscript: Mike Babcock isn't the only one with a short memory:

When the bad refereeing favors the Red Wings in Game One, Detroit columnists laud the home team for causing havoc in front of the Dallas goaltender.

When the bad refereeing goes against the beloved Wings in Game Four, it's treated like the end of western civilization.

Photo: Mike Babcock (Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

Update: Friday's semifinals are set:

Russia vs. Finland, 1:00 pm Eastern

Canada vs. Sweden, 5:00 pm Eastern

Hockey must have the dumbest world championship in sport. The tournament always runs concurrent with the Stanley Cup Playoffs, so it essentially functions as a consolation prize for disappointed NHL players.

Nonetheless, the medal round of the 2008 Worlds should provide more drama than this year's Stanley Cup Conference Finals, which have been a lopsided, no-hit, low-intensity entertainment dud.

They're down to the quarterfinals at the tournament in Halifax and Quebec City, Canada.

Here's Wednesday's quarterfinal schedule (all times Eastern):

Czech Republic vs. Sweden, 1:00 pm

Canada vs. Norway, 3:30 pm

Russia vs. Switzerland, 7:15 pm

Finland vs. USA, 7:15 pm

The semifinals are Friday afternoon, with the gold medal game set for 1:00 pm on Sunday.

TSN is the Canadian broadcaster. There's no American television, but all games are broadcast online at WCSN.com for a $4.95 monthly subscription fee.

Photo: Cheering on the Finns in Halifax. (Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images)

There's no question that the temperature went up a couple of degrees after Game 2 between the Dallas Stars and Detroit Red Wings because of what happened between Chris Osgood and Mike Ribeiro at the end of the game.
- Bob McKenzie, TSN.ca

One can only hope McKenzie is right, because the Conference Finals desperately need a little heat.

Though Saturday night ended in a slim 2-1 win for Detroit, it looked like they could have played all night without Dallas scoring another goal. The only reason Ribiero's little whack on Osgood drew so much attention is that it was one of the few signs that these teams are playing for more than two points in November.

The first two games in Pittsburgh were a bit better. But there's no sign of the great, bloody "Battle of Pennsylvania" we were told to expect. Philadelphia was missing its two best defensemen for most of Game Two, but Pittsburgh played it safe. Lou Lamoriello would have been proud.

For all their formidable talent, the Red Wings and Penguins are winning with efficient, well-organized hockey. If they keep it up, we could see an efficient, well-organized Stanley Cup Final. Maybe they'll serve tea and crumpets.

The first two rounds of these playoffs were fantastic. So what's the problem?

Are Detroit and Pittsburgh so much better that they can win games at three-quarter speed? Have the Stars and Flyers hit the wall? Do "new NHL" penalty calls discourage physical play? Are too many players running on empty after a long season? Are they all just bored with having to show up at the rink every day?

People used to say that in hockey, the biggest games are also the best games. So far in these Stanley Cup Conference Finals, the biggest games could easily be mistaken for decent exhibition scrimmages in which no one wants to get hurt.

Photo: Did Mike Ribiero wake up the Western Conference Final with a little goalie abuse? (Dave Sandford/Getty Images)

With the NHL and NBA playoffs occupying the same space on the calendar, comparisons are inevitable. Such comparisons are usually made by the hockey crowd.

Tom Jones at Tampabay.com writes that hockey has the best overtime in sports. Ray Ratto of CBSSports.com and the San Francisco Chronicle says the Stanley Cup show has far more intrigue than the NBA.

And in Anaheim, where the home team packed up its gear a couple of weeks ago, Mark Whicker of the OC Register is all over hockey.

...if you live in New Orleans, San Antonio, Salt Lake City, Orlando or Cleveland, you are blissfully unaware of how unlucky you are.

You have the NBA and you never have had the NHL, and so you live under the impression that you're seeing something urgent and dramatic.

You have no idea that the hockey playoffs are to the basketball playoffs what the William Tell Overture is to Chopsticks.

It's not that the basketball games lack juice. It's just that the hockey games overflow with it.

All this is very nice for the NHL. But what it does is highlight the league's status as the weak sister of American sport.

In places like Florida and California, declaring a love of hockey must be unusual. It's worth a column, after all. It makes a guy stand out.

It's the kind of publicity only an underdog sport needs. Jones, Ratto and Whicker want readers to know that they're missing a great game. The Neilson ratings confirm this.

It would never occur to a basketball aficionado to announce a preference for the NBA over the NHL. Most of them are only vaguely aware that the NHL even exists.

After picking seven of eight series winners in Round One, the About.com brain trust slumped to a woeful 1-3 record in our second round forecast.

It's time to go against the grain.

(1) Detroit Red Wings vs. (5) Dallas Stars

Watch Detroit during these playoffs and it's awfully hard to cast a dissenting vote. As many have pointed out, this team looks tougher and more resilient than in recent years.

But if recent years have taught us anything, it's that the Red Wings always look terrific, until they don't.

Nashville and Colorado were weak opponents. Dallas is different. If you had to design a team to beat the Wings, it would look a lot like the team that just beat San Jose.

The Stars have the better goaltender, a strong forecheck, they spread the ice time around, and they won't hand Detroit all those gift-wrapped 3-on-2s and 2-on-1s like Colorado did.

Yes, the Wings have loads of skill and speed and have learned from past failures. That's what we've been saying about them for the last five years. Marty Turco is the hottest goalie of this playoff season, and there's every reason to believe he'll keep it up: Stars in Six.

(2) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (6) Philadelphia Flyers

Isn't anybody going to pick the upset? I guess it's up to me.

Against Washington and Montreal, Philadelphia showed it can stop - or at least survive - a high-octane attack. Crosby is a great playmaker, but neutralizing Malkin is the greater challenge. The Flyers did a decent job against Ovechkin and Kovalev, so they're familiar with the task.

Everyone's raving about Pittsburgh's defense and goaltending. We'll see how their stamina holds. With their stacked forward lines and clinical power play, the Penguins will score enough to dominate a couple of games. The Flyers have more goals than any other playoff team, so they should score enough to win a couple as well.

Then what? Going in, the Flyers have had the more impressive goaltender. If Martin Biron holds form, and and if they keep the penalties to a minimum, you have to like Philadelphia's chances of stealing two more. That's a lot of ifs, but what the heck: Flyers in Seven.

Update: Well, there's no turning back now. But my Eastern Conference pick just took a devastating blow:

Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen was diagnosed with a blood clot in his left ankle today. He will be out for the remainder of the playoffs.

"This was just an awful day for me. I played in Game 5 in Montreal, but it was really hurting me. I have to be honest: I didn't expect this result. How many times in your life do you get a chance to play for this, with a chance to go to the Stanley Cup Finals? This is just awful."

Photo: Mike Ribiero and Jere Lehtinen are part of the deep forward group in Dallas. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

So what's next for the NHL teams that bowed out over the last week or so? What's the mood in cities where hopes raised by a first-round victory were quickly dashed? Here's a look at the losers, with representative samples from the local media.

In San Jose, patience has snapped. With a team too long hinting at greatness, fans are sick of swallowing the same bitter playoff pill, year after year.

The Sharks have a lot of the same kind of player - young, potentially good, but either too comfy, not there yet or unlikely to arrive - which makes them a slightly easier out in the postseason, where reputations are made...
The Sharks aren't in the final four because they aren't one of the four best teams, period, no arguments, end of sentence. This isn't underachievement, this is the talent level speaking loud and clear and the financial commitment coming home to roost.
- Ray Ratto, San Francisco Chronicle

While holding all hands accountable, Ratto demands that management stop "hoarding your cap space" and "don't hand us that 'We're losing $5 million a year' nonsense."

Also disappointed and looking for change are followers of the New York Rangers. The prevailing mood suggests the clock has run out on greybeards like Jagr, Shanahan and Straka, and that any number of veterans could disappear this summer without being missed.

Four of the Rangers' top six wingers and two of their top six defensemen are unrestricted free agents. The defense could use size in a crease-clearer and/or a power-play quarterback. Remember, this was a team that hovered around .500 at the midpoint of the season and did little at the trade deadline because the asking price for prospects and draft picks was too high.
- Steve Zipay, New York Newsday

Scott Gomez, Chris Drury and goaltender Henrik Lunqvist occupy most of the salary cap space. Their future, it seems, is now.

In Montreal, the sting of losing is tempered by dreams of the future, with much of the optimism focused on Carey Price, even if he did stumble like a newborn foal in the games that mattered most:

The kid is 20 and he made some superb stops and played some superb games. It ended badly, but for him there will be other seasons. Many other seasons. And if this young man retires without a Stanley Cup ring or two on his fingers, it will be a surprise.
- Jack Todd, Montreal Gazette

Expectations will be at fever pitch when Price and his teammates reconvene next fall. Yes, they're young and improving, but so are several other teams. If the Canadiens falter next season, the fallout will not be quite so pleasant.

And in Colorado, it seems the glory years are finally, officially over.

Sakic, along with the rent-a-Swede Forsberg and Adam Foote, is the last of the first Stanley Cup champions here and has played for no other franchise. He has said he will decide this summer if he wants more, and he deserves to get whatever he wants...
But this is a league now getting younger... leaving Sakic and Forsberg and even the Red Wings' Chris Chelios and Nicklas Lidstrom some kind of dusty mantelpiece relics.
- Bernie Lincicome, Rocky Mountain News

The consensus seems to be that Sakic should be persuaded to stay on, but Forsberg's iffy health makes him more trouble than he's worth. The greater worry is that the current crop of prospects and draft picks is no better than average, suggesting lean years ahead.

Photo: The Rangers' Chris Drury, bloodied and bowed. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Western Conference:
(1) Detroit Red Wings vs. (5) Dallas Stars
Series begins Thursday.

Eastern Conference:
(2) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (6) Philadelphia Flyers
Series begins Friday.

Conference Finals Game Schedule, with television coverage included. Plus all the results so far in the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Players and coaches like to say that the breaks and bounces even out over time. Believing it helps them sleep at night.

But there's no evidence that good fortune is distributed evenly. Stuff happens, and there's no accounting for it.

So can bad luck be blamed when a team seems to be playing well, but the result doesn't go their way?

That notion certainly plays on the minds of the Montreal Canadiens, after Philadelphia bounced them in five games:

"The Flyers seemed to take advantage of every bounce and break they got... They have good players, but sometimes you need to get breaks too. With what they had against us, I hope they have some left."
- Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau.

"We have pressure, pressure, pressure and Guillaume makes a great play off the crossbar, then they get a deflection for a winner. They did a lot of good things, but it felt like luck wasn't on our side."
- Canadiens captain Saku Koivu.

In blog comments, some fans are even more blunt:

And to Philly: Damn you, again! Yes, you beat us. Do I think you outplayed us? Not a chance. Aside from Game #1 and possibly Game #5, we had you. And you know it.
- Habs' fan GoalieT (Ultimate Die-Hard Since 1986).

Folks like GoalieT will forever believe that it all came down to bad karma, unlucky goal posts and crossbars, and maybe a few dodgy penalty calls or non-calls.

But karma doesn't happen in a vacuum.

When your opponent finds a way to score early in every game, and they make your goaltender look awful, and they stifle your power play, and push your defensemen without getting much push back, and keep scoring even when you mount a third-period comeback, and your big scoring star goes MIA for almost the entire series...

That's when every shot off the post and every funny bounce takes on life-or-death proportions.

The Flyers had a few bad breaks too. But it wasn't such a big deal for them, because it usually happened when they already had a lead, and they just kept on scoring goals anyway.

Maybe next time, the breaks will fall Montreal's way. But it won't be worth a damn if the Canadiens don't show up with a better team than the one they brought to this series against Philadelphia.

When bad luck is the final nail in a team's coffin, it's usually because the other team is swinging the hammer.

Photo: Another near miss for the Habs (Phillip MacCallum/Getty Images)

Born and raised in Quebec, Martin Biron must have spent his youth as a huge fan of the Montreal Canadiens, right?

Well, not exactly:

The Flyers goaltender grew up in Lac-St-Charles, a distant slapshot from Quebec City. His team was the Nordiques. And the Montreal Canadiens were their most hated rival.

"I used to paint my face blue and white as a kid," the 30-year-old Biron recalled. "We were big fans. My parents had season tickets in the early '80s for a few years. We used to go down for games."

Nords fans still talk about the Good Friday brawl in 1984 at the Montreal Forum: fourteen fights. So many, in fact, that referee Bruce Hood lost track of who was tossed from the game and who was not.

If you've never seen the '85 brawl, it's available on YouTube, in all its dubious glory.

So this is all good fun. But it's over 20 years ago. Ancient history, right? Well, no:

"My parents still talk about that game," Biron said. "How the Canadiens cheated. It runs deep. People who are Quebec fans will always be Nordiques fans. It runs deep within families. They will always have that feeling inside them."

(Thanks to Eric McErlain, former Off Wing Opinion man and columnist at NHL Fanhouse and SportingNews.com, for the links.)

Photo: Mats Sundin with the Nordiques in 1991 (Rick Stewart/Allsport/Getty Images)

The San Jose Sharks recent record of playoff disappointment can only be marveled at. Is there a franchise in pro sport that better embodies the great regular season betrayed by the crushing playoff washout?

2003-04: After 43 wins and a division title, the Sharks lose the Conference Final to the 6th-place Calgary Flames. Disappointing, sure. But maybe a team on the verge of greatness.

2005-06: In the second playoff round, the Sharks jump out to a 2-0 lead against Edmonton, only to let it slip away with four straight losses.

2006-07: After piling up 51 wins and 107 points, the Sharks blow away Nashville in round one, then take a 2-1 series lead over Detroit. They waste a golden opportunity to go up 3-1 with an overtime loss, and go quietly after that.

2007-08: As of Wednesday, down 3-0 in the second round series against Dallas. In two of those losses, they've carried a one-goal lead into the third period.

So what's the mood in San Jose, among followers of the beloved Los Tiburones? Let's put that one to Ann Killion at the Mercury News.

Remember when the Sharks answered their doubters? Remember when they played with urgency, showed heart, didn't back down from a tough opponent? Remember one whole week ago?

And that was before Tuesday's blown lead and overtime dagger to the heart.

(Photo: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)