Why are the Stanley Cup Playoffs better than the NCAA Tournament?

I am a fairly new Hockey Fan. I did not grow up in sports. In fact, you will rarely hear me talking about sports. But last year, when I won tickets on the radio to an Atlanta Thrashers game, my world was turned upside down. I have been to Baseball, Football, and even Basketball games at my college where Basketball was the only sport on campus you could get into. Nothing compares to the excitement at a Hockey game. I don't know what it is, but I understand the sport. I may not get into all of the strategy and statistics, and I am certainly not an expert on the game. However, when I am watching it on TV or live I am absolutely full on into everything that is going on.

And the cool thing is, the experience at Philips Arena is really neat because they get the fans involved in games, they have Thrash (the mascot) getting the crowd pumped up, and they are always giving away something cool or shooting T-Shirts up into the stands. I am sure they probably do that at other events in the same building. You just can't compare the energy that is experienced when goal after goal is blocked by your own team, and then your favorite player squeaks one through and the whole place explodes. There is absolutely nothing like it!

Obviously Carl Danbury knows where I am coming from, and he's influenced me to pursue some playoff tickets for myself. He has a great article here describing what the playoffs are like.

GO THRASHERS!!!!