by Rick Stephens, AllHabs.net

MONTREAL, QC.– When the San Jose Sharks were finally able to close out their series with the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night, the chapter of the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs was closed. The Detroit – San Jose series featured excellent hockey, tight exciting games and compelling storylines. In other words, it was an anomaly with the other second round series mostly being duds.

We now move to the conference finals with Tampa Bay facing Boston and San Jose heading to Vancouver. With two more rounds to go, we are at the halfway point of the playoffs, which seems like the perfect opportunity to look back and make seven random observations.

In Vancouver we will be treated to “Towel Power.” This tradition harkens back to the days of former Canucks coach Roger Neilson who waved a white towel at the end of a hockey stick in a sarcastic surrender to the officials who he felt were rather one-sided. In San Jose, Sharks fans do “The Chomp”, and in Boston their traditions seem to revolve around mocking the Montreal Canadiens (but more about that later.)

Fortunately none of the remaining teams has a fans who dress alike to attend the arena. Let’s just say that raises a personal pet peeve. Let’s be clear, the “White Out”, initiated by fans of the Winnipeg Jets in 1987 provided an intimidating effect. At the time, the home side wore white sweaters — so having an arena full of supporters wearing the same colour was impressive.

Nowadays white shirted fans in Phoenix and Pittsburgh who copy the Jets tradition look out of place with the home team wearing coloured jerseys. It’s also lame when the team provides shirts to every attendee in the arena as they occasionally do in Nashville. Predators fans wearing oddly coloured gold-orange t-shirts looked like a group of summer camp kids watching the game.

Observation 1: When the NHL returns to Winnipeg, let’s see “White Noise” again.  Other teams should find a different tradition.

No one does pre-game ceremonies better than the Montreal Canadiens — it’s beyond debate. Jean Beliveau, Henri Richard and Yvon Cournoyer passing the torch rink-side to a child who then ignited the Bell Centre ice was breathtaking each and every time. The flames trailing behind each Canadiens player during the warm-up was a clever special effect in this year’s playoffs.

As far as anthem singers, Charles Prevost-Linton, the Canadiens regular baritone, is just above average — a far cry from the days of Roger Doucet. Nikki Yanofsky would be one of the top singers in the league but her appearances at the Bell Centre are rare indeed.

The honour for top anthem singer in the NHL would have to go to Lauren Hart. She has a superb voice and brings just the right amount of emotion to “God Bless America” during her virtual duet with Kate Smith. The performance was particularly touching when sung in tribute to the members of the U.S. Navy SEAL Team 6.

Having said that it is slightly creepy having an anthem sung, in part, by a woman who has been dead for 25 years. It’s made worse by the greenish tinge to Ms. Smith’s image that is featured on the Jumbotron at the Wells Fargo Center. Perhaps it’s expecting too much for an organization who believes that orange is a fashion statement, but colour correction may help the projection of a woman who was blessed with a voice but not looks.

There was no worse anthem singer in the playoffs than Boston’s Rene Rancourt. From over-the-top vibrato (perhaps he was having a mild seizure) to a bad dye job, to his inability to sing in tune, there’s nothing redeeming about this buffoon. Perhaps Rancourt is the most honest judge of his own performance.

”I’m never comfortable singing [the national anthem],” said Rancourt. ”I very rarely get it right, and that’s why I like it. There have been maybe 10 times in my career when I think I sang it really well.”

Over his 35 year association with the Bruins, Rancourt’s estimate of 10 times is probably a little on the high side.

Observation 2: Playoff hockey is a spectacle at almost any arena in the league. However, anyone who calls themselves a true hockey fan should make the pilgrimmage to see a playoff game at the Bell Centre for the ultimate experience.

Boston has reached the conference finals for the first time since 1992. They are in the midst of a 39-year Stanley Cup drought having last being crowned NHL champs in 1972. That means there are more than one generation of Bruins fans who are unfamiliar with playoff success.

It would seem that supporters of the black and gold are having trouble moving past their first round victory against the Montreal Canadiens. They are in unchartered waters and haven’t a clue how to act. Perhaps that’s why I have received daily hate taunts from Bruins fans via Twitter, Facebook and the All Habs website throughout the second round of the playoffs — even on the eve of the third round.

The singular focus for so many years of the Boston fanbase has been the beast called the Canadiens. It’s understandable given that the Habs have dominated the post-season with a 24-9 record. Now that the dragon has been slayed, Bruins fans are an army without an enemy.

Observation 3: As a fan, learn how to be both a good winner and a good loser. In sports, if you live last enough, you will experience both.

One of the aspects of hockey that makes it unique and the most exciting of all team sports is that it is played on ice. Blades on frozen water create the speed that is unrivalled. A solid sheet of ice is necessary to allow some of the best athletes in the world to show off their talents.

Unfortunately, this basic requirement isn’t well understood in places like Boston and Nashville. During the playoffs, the ice surface in arenas in those cities resembled well-chilled mashed potatoes. It’s well-known that the post-season happens from April to June so don’t let weather be an excuse.

It seems that MLB has figured out issues of baseball field maintenance including irrigation and drainage. In most parks, crews manicure the infields and create that eye-catching diamond pattern by mowing the turf with a high degree of precision. There’s a similar story for the courses of the PGA — can we imagine golfers expected to put on greens that the night before featured a monster truck show?

The NHL seems to consider their playing surface as an after thought.

Observation 4: The League should dedicate resources to developing ice plant, temperature control and dehumidification technologies that will deliver a high quality of ice and mandate standards for all rinks.

Another area where the NHL is letting down its franchises is in the quality of officiating that they are providing. At the beginning of the playoffs the number of teams had been pared to the 16 best in the league. Unfortunately, post-season games were being influenced by some of the worst officials in the game such as Chris Lee, Tim Peel and Kevin Pollock.

In addition to inconsistent on-ice officials, there is league disciplinarian Colin Campbell. His supplementary discipline rulings are all over the map. His meddling approach mid-playoffs to dealing with players who snap their heads back trying to draw penalties led to confusion and undeserving focus to a single infraction.

Observation 5: The NHL must increase their commitment to the development of new officials as well as continuing education and training of current referees and linesmen. General Managers should take a serious look at a coach’s challenge for select situations.

While we’re on the topic of officiating let’s also mention that league rules that they try to enforce. While these rules aren’t necessarily more noticeable in the playoffs, margins of victory are very tight.

It’s time to get rid of the trapezoid rule — not a new realization but something that needs to be mentioned at every opportunity. While I would support a change to rules like touch-icing and clearing the puck over the glass, they would be slightly more complicated to implement than simply moving the trapezoid restriction zone. Besides it serves no positive purpose.

Observation 6: The league should abolish the goaltender trapezoid rule (this one has permanent membership on the list.)

Often a theme emerges from the Stanley Cup final that becomes a blueprint for the rest of the NHL to follow. Detroit Red Wings championships taught the league about puck possession hockey, and the Anaheim Ducks had teams trying to replicate their smash-mouth style.

During the 2010 Stanley Cup finals, Antti Niemi and Michael Leighton were the two starting goaltenders (for Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers, respectively) prompting some to claim that bad to mediocre goaltending could be overcome. This was music to the ears of Flyers GM Paul Holmgren who presides over an organization who has always had a goaltending deficit.

In this year’s playoffs, we have been treated to outstanding performances by Carey Price, Dwayne Roloson and Jimmy Howard — each did all they could to steal games for their teams. On the other hand, Tim Thomas looked shaky against the Canadiens — he was a rebound machine but Montreal could not capitalize. Roberto Luongo had a difficult start to the playoffs even losing his starting job.

So what role will goaltending play in the final two rounds of the playoffs? Can a team make it through the final two rounds without their goalie playing a prominent role?

Observation 7: In the playoffs, goaltending matters — is this traditional notion still true?

Enjoy the third round! I would be happy to hear your random observations of the 2011 playoffs so far.