When two teams step out on the ice anything can happen, regardless of what pundits and fans  prophesize before any given game. Wednesday night the 2010 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs got off to a surprising start with four upsets. The San Jose Sharks, the top seed in the Western Conference, were shocked by the Colorado when 40-year-old Rob Blake scored a goal with fifty seconds remaining to give the Avalanche a victory in the first game of the series. The Avalanche had to fight their way to get into the playoffs, so perhaps that win-or-go-home mindset will be advantage in the postseason. The Ottawa Senators finished the season just one spot behind the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins, but most people didn’t expect them to come out of the Mellon arena with a win last night. The Senators showed their goal scoring prowess, out-gunning the Penguins 5-4, featuring five different goal scorers. In an old school Eastern Conference match-up, the Philadelphia Flyers took down the second seed New Jersey Devils in game one in Newark in a goaltender duel won by Philly’s Brian Boucher. Finally, in a game that really wasn’t a true upset, but even though the Phoenix Coyotes had a better regular season than the Detroit Red Wings this year, many expected the Wings to prevail due to their extensive playoff experience. Hockeytown met a harsh reality in the desert last night falling 3-2 and giving the Coyotes their first playoff win in eight years. We shall see if the unexpected will continue with three games tonight.

After four long years under the tutelage of “The Great One” Wayne Gretzky, the Coyotes are having their best season in their history this season. Not even when the team was known as the Winnipeg Jets did the team reach 44 wins. Coach Dave Tippett’s team defeated the Florida Panthers 4-3 at BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida on Thursday to give the team it’s franchise all-time high in victories. The Coyotes have won seven games in a row and sitting currently in fourth place in the Western Conference. It was the 2001-02 season when the Coyotes last made the playoffs, but the team locks a lock for the postseason this year. Picking up Radim Vrbata from the Tampa Bay Lighting might have been the off season move of the year, because the Czech winger has been a terrific in a Coyotes uniform. Vrbata tied the game at 3 a piece with less than a minute left to go in the game and then won it for Coyotes in the Overtime shoot out. Today should be a proud day for Coyotes fans in the Valley of the Sun.