With Round 2 of the NHL Playoffs coming to a dramatic close last night, my first contest ended right along with it. This evening, in a random draw from within the bowels of an old bucket, a single name was chosen as the deserving recipient of a much coveted prize pak courtesy Enterprise Rent-a-Car, an official sponsor of the NHL and its teams. Here’s a quick vid of the exciting ceremony.

So congrats to Kevin Francisco. I will grab your mailing address and have the prize pak delivered shortly. For those who are interested, here is the memory he shared (with apologies to Leafs fans, who are likely still stinging from their unbelievable playoff exit this year):

“Obviously its the ’93 Habs playoff run that sticks out in my mind. Not only do you have the Leafs & Habs going deep into the playoffs… you have Gretzky’s no call high stick on Gilmore & his final appearance in the finals. The biggest part of that Hab playoff run was the unbelievable run of OT victories. The Que/Mtl series was one of the best ever with the Habs taking 4 straight after dropping the first two games (2 in OT)… then taking out the hated Sabres in a 4 game sweep where all games finished 4-3 Mtl (3 in OT). 2 more OT victories vs NYI brought them an 11 game win streak before losing game 4. I couldnt believe how awesome this playoff run was going with Roy stealing games all over the place! I was actually looking forward to a Mtl/Tor final (how awesome would that have been?!), but had to settle for watching them beat Gretzky & Co in the finals with another fantastic 3 OT wins. 10 OT wins en route to Cup 24!! Too bad they havent won one since – but that was just such a ridiculous string of OT wins, it has to be one of the best playoff runs in history.”

This was just one of many great playoff stories I was very impressed and appreciative to receive over the last couple of weeks all of which you can find in the comments of my contest blog, should you be so inclined. Thank you again to all who entered.

Now off we go to the third round series pitting Bruins against Pens and Hawks against defending champion Kings. Both certainly look to have the makings of hard fought, tight scoring classics. I must admit, I’ve been riveted to most every game this playoff season regardless the combatants. Perhaps the shortened regular season has enabled me and many like me to maintain our attention longer, though with 25+ degree temps in the forecast, it may become more and more difficult, but we’ll see. Pretty sure the hockey won’t disappoint.

#imahockeydad