Bandwagon Jumping

That'll do it. The Jets fell tonight in Game Four of their series with the Anaheim Ducks by a 5-2 score, and were swept out of the playoffs. Let's give credit where credit is due: the Ducks are a helluva team. Ryan Kesler was a force to be reckoned with every night, Jakob Silfverberg showed up in a big way, Perry and Getzlaf were their point-producing selves, and Fredrik Andersen was as good as he needed to be to end this series in four games.

The Jets showed as much fight and moxie as possible when you consider that they were taking on a powerhouse Ducks team, but it was too little in the end. Despite doing all they could to upend the Ducks, it wasn't to be in this year's playoffs. The experience, though, will be invaluable from both the last month of the season and this one week of playoff action for the young Jets, and that bodes well for the future.

The question now is to whom do I shift my loyalty? There are a few teams that deserve a follow for the way they play the game. I like the way the Flames play the game, the Blackhawks have always been a team I've followed thanks to the number of local kids playing for them, I'm a Penguins fan, and I secretly root for the New York Islanders because they never seem to get any love. So who becomes my de facto "go team go" team?

I'll probably end up cheering for all of these teams as the playoffs progress in one way or another. It's just hard to be so invested in your local team to have to swap allegiances so quickly. We didn't even get a week of playoff hockey to celebrate as the Jets were ousted in six days to become the first team voted off the island. That's how the cookie crumbles, though, and the dream is now over.

Hey now, hey now, don't dream. It's over.

Until next season, keep your sticks on the ice!