The puck's about to drop on the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs. To get you ready, here's a look at some of the wildest and wackiest moments in Stanley Cup playoff history.
Longest Moment
One of the most exciting things about Stanley Cup playoff hockey is sudden death overtime. When the next goal decides the winner, games can go on for hours and hours. The longest NHL playoff game happened on March 24, 1936 between the Detroit Red Wings and the Montreal Maroons. The game finished at 2:30 in the morning when Martin "Mud" Bruteneau scored the winning goal for the Maroons after 116 minutes and 30 seconds of extra time - that's nearly six periods of O.T. The final score was 1 - 0.
Darkest Moment
During the second period of Game 4 of the 1988 Stanley Cup Finals between the Boston Bruins and the Edmonton Oilers, the lights went out at the Boston Gardens. A 4000 volt switch overloaded and the brain-dead maintenance workers at the arena weren't able to turn the lights back on. The Stanley Cup playoff game was cancelled and replayed two nights later in Edmonton where arena staff were able to keep the power on for the entire game.
Ugliest Moment
In a 1976 Stanley Cup playoff game between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Toronto Maple Leafs, Dave "The Hammer" Schultz picked up an NHL playoff record, 42 penalty minutes. His total included two fighting majors from a pair of scraps with Dave "Tiger" Williams, a 10-minute misconduct, a double game misconduct and a two-minute minor penalty.
Fastest Moment
The fastest goal at the start of an NHL playoff game was on April 17, 1972. Don Kozak of the Los Angeles Kings didn't waste any time by scoring just six seconds into a Stanley Cup playoff game against the Boston Bruins.
Dirtiest Moment
The 2001 Stanley Cup was won by the Colorado Avalanche. Avs' forward, Shjon Podein wore his sweaty uniform, equipment and skates for more than 25 hours after his team won the final game. "It was a triple-dog dare. I had to do it," said Shjon, who even slept with his equipment on. "I don't think my wife really enjoyed it because I smelled so bad. I slept on one side of the bed with my dog in the middle and my wife as far away as possible. My dog didn't mind the smell, but my wife thought it was disgusting. I just saw it as a challenge, something fun to do because we'd just won the Stanley Cup. It was 20 percent funny and 80 percent dumb."
