Biggest Playoff Surprises.

 1. Montreal Canadiens 

 Montreal Gazette

As a Habs fan you always hope. So, in round 1 it was: "Hey they beat Washington in the regular season".... "The Habs play to their opponents level... "If they had've gotten it together against the Leafs and Hurricanes they'd be much higher than the 8th seed" 


Then they did it. They shut down Ovie. They came back from a 3-1 series deficit. They won Game 7. On the road. Luck? Who cares. 


Next opponent. Penguins. 


Okay we're doomed. 


So this is where the real surprise is. After Sidney Crosby absolutely dismantled the Ottawa Senators and left Jason Spezza destined to be on a highlight reel forever sadly chasing Crosby around the net before he passes it off to Letang for a goal.... the Habs (mainly Sidney Crosby's new backpack Hal Gill) held the kid to just 1 goal.


And so the Habs, who must hold the most exciting 8-6 record ever are off to round 3.

2. To find out that other people are annoyed by that little girl in the East Side Mario's ad. 

Every year, for anyone who watches playoffs night in and night out, there's that one commercial that just grinds your gears. It's on at least 8 times during every game. In years previous I can think of the Pizza Delight - Grill your own bread commercial with that annoying little kid telling his dad how to put butter on bread. (And I know several people just groaned and thought 'why did you remind me')

But i was surprised to know that my disdain for the East Side Marios commercial and my particular disdain for the uncoordinated little girl who is dancing poorly is shared. 

Several of my friends share the hate for the little dancing girl and can mimic the uncoordinated jig to a tee. I've also come across several online forums bitching about the ad. Too funny. 

3. San Jose 

Seriously, these guys finish first (or very high in the standings) every year. Every year some poor sap is sitting at his hockey pool draft and says "this is the year for San Jose"... and then they lose in the first round. 

So, yes, I am surprised to see that they are off to the conference championships. I still don't have a lot of confidence in them. But who knows, maybe they'll surprise a little further.



4. Boston


This story is just crazy. Boston couldn't score a goal to save their life down the stretch. Their team to be falling apart at the seams. They were injured. They were a far cry from the Boston Bruins who finished first in the Eastern Conference last season. They just squeaked into the playoffs. 


Then the playoffs started. 


And they turned it on. They had a 3-0 lead on Phillie and they've squandered it so the surprise may be over soon. But it's still a surprise that they were able to pick off the #2 seed. 

5. Phoenix


Oh wait, this isn't a surprise. Even though they make the playoffs they still can't get fans in the seats. The saga continues.


Jennifer Casey was born and raised in Halifax. She loves all sports but tries to stick to writing about hockey for sanity purposes. You can follow her on twitter @jenncaseyhfx or find her on her blog National Passtime