ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Jim Schoenfeld was an incensed visionary, an enraged prophet, a man before his time at the exact moment he was losing his mind.
It was in the spring of 1988 that the then-New Jersey Devils coach -- in a spastic postgame spectacle more befitting one of Tasmania's devils -- called referee Don Koharski a "fat pig" before twice urging him to "have another doughnut!"
As memorable as the classic confrontation remains nearly three decades later -- one YouTube video capturing the scene has nearly a quarter of a million views -- it's worth a reminder that this occurred during the Stanley Cup playoffs.
This wasn't just an otherwise forgettable game in mid-January. This was in the postseason, in May, in the conference finals, one step before the league's champion would be crowned.
On a stage that big, here was a coach mocking a referee's appearance by suggesting he consume a chunk of fried dough and doing so in a manner that indicated the referee had, in fact, already consumed a chunk of fried dough.
So, in case we needed one more reason to absolutely love the NHL's postseason ...
Few things in sports are as annually anticipated as these next eight weeks of professional ice hockey, a tournament that features 16 teams and a few players who have barely that many teeth.
The Stanley Cup playoffs are a physically taxing, emotionally draining, seemingly endless series of ups and downs interrupted only by an occasional slash or high-stick and all tucked behind an enormous erupting forest of beards.
In other words, this event is much like the NBA playoffs, if the NBA playoffs were entertaining.
"After just one game, you're pretty exhausted," said Ducks defenseman Shea Theodore, who made his Stanley Cup playoff debut last spring. "Mentally and physically, it's going to be some of the toughest games you'll ever play."
Also, some of the most unpredictable. The NHL's website asked 21 experts to pick a winner in the Ducks' first-round series against Calgary. Only three chose the Flames.
Still, no one would be shocked if the Ducks failed to survive their initial opponent, even if that opponent represents a franchise that hasn't won at Honda Center since 2006, back when the place was still called Arrowhead Pond.
Among oddsmakers, only Washington is favored more heavily in the first round than are the Ducks, who, nonetheless, remain just a home loss away from suddenly being the ones feeling the weight of their crazy streak of success.
"If you can win one there, I think it can change the whole thing," Flames winger Michael Frolik told reporters in Calgary. "If you break that record, I think we can really build something and use it as an advantage."
Now, compare this thinking to the NBA, where one of the most popular current debates is whether Golden State will face as much as a single Game 6 en route to its appointed trip to the Finals.
Only two teams that were worse than a No. 3 seed -- the 1969 Boston Celtics and 1995 Houston Rockets -- have won an NBA title.
The NHL has had three such champions -- including the Kings -- in just the past six years.
There's also this: since 2010, the NHL has had 37 Game 7s, compared with the NBA's 22.
In the battle of producing sudden-death excitement, the NBA has been formally toe-tagged.
"Just block everything out," Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle said, explaining the concept of simplifying games that can become complicated quickly. "Do what we do and do it well and do it to a higher rate."
The commissioners in both professional baseball and football recently have talked about the need to shorten their games.
No one ever has -- or ever will -- suggest NHL playoff games are too long, and that includes the one in 1936 when Detroit needed nearly two hours of overtime to beat the Montreal Maroons.
To be sure, things are about to start getting hairy around here, even Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf, who was once famously chided by Alex Ovechkin for being bald, cultivating a furry face.
Already, before the first note of the first national anthem, the Ducks and Flames have exchanged accusations concerning Cam Fowler's injury last week after a hit from Mark Giordano.
But then, these are the Stanley Cup playoffs. You wouldn't expect there to be "good blood" between the teams, right?
That wouldn't fit in with the traditional NHL springtime vibe at all, "good blood" feeling about as empty as the hole in a doughnut. Or two.
Sports on 04/16/2017