Front and Centre

By Chris

When the clock strikes 7:00 every night, don't worry about me. I may not answer my phone. I may not respond to instant messages. I may not even post in this very spot. But I'll be all right. I didn't fall into a ravine. I'm not stuck in a ditch somewhere without food or water. I'm not stranded on a desert island with polar bears and mystical entities.

I'll just be parked in front of my TV watching hockey. You see, I just bought the NHL Center Ice package and last night was my first full experience with it.

The verdict: It may be the greatest purchase I have ever made. Possibly even greater than my Xbox 360 and lunch today.

Last night there were 12, count 'em 12, games on, and I watched about nine of them. When Ottawa-Atlanta went to commercial, I was able to flip around and see what else was going on around the NHL.

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Rangers-Islanders, offsides.

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Blackhawks-Sharks. Goal by Jonathan Toews.

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Columbus-Phoenix. Who cares?

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Penguins-Habs. Sidney Crosby has the puck. Whup he lost it and the Canadiens are coming back on the rush.

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Back to Ottawa. Kovalchuk just willed his way to the net off of a turnover. Forced his way to the front of the net and wristed the puck over Ottawa's rookie goalie, Brian Elliot. After watching that goal, I can see him scoring twice against the Sabres tonight, undressing Kalinin faster than a stripper at a Pacman Jones party. Kovalchuk's good for two goals tonight. Count on it.

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Back to Chicago-San Jose. Pat Kane watch. He's not on the ice but this game could be fun to watch.

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Calgary-Detroit. Zetterberg and Datsyuk look amazing.

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You get the picture.

This all went on until about midnight. I watched Anaheim raise their Stanley Cup banner. I listened to their chants chant "one more year" when Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne stepped onto the ice.

I saw Danny Briere score his goal and Taylor Pyatt try to act tough and bump him afterwards.

I saw Dallas stomp over on the Kings and St. Louis take an early lead against the Predators. I witnessed Niklas Backstrom shut out an anemic Edmonton offense. I even saw Chris Gratton pretend he was a decent hockey player, scoring two goals in the Battle of Florida against the Panthers.

I watched just about every game I could last night. Except Columbus-Phoenix, because really, who cares?