2010 NHL Playoffs: NYC’s Best Hockey Bars to Watch It

• By Ted on Wednesday, April 14, 2010
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First, a brief listing of my qualifications to write this article:

• In the middle of high school -- the awkward sophomore-to-junior-whoa-this-is-really-happening-college-is-near phase -- I spent roughly 30 hours a week playing NHL 1996. Always as the Colorado Avalanche. Pretty much unbeatable, honestly. It was all about Sakic with the one-timer from about 18 feet out, dead center.
• My favorite video game moment of all-time is when Gary Thorne, as the announcer on a later edition of the NHL games, always screams "STONED BY KIPRUSOFF!!" when you make a save with Calgary Flames goaltender Mikka Kiprusoff.
• I live in Astoria, around the corner from possibly the only bar in Astoria that offers the NHL Center Ice package. They serve food 'till about midnight. I've watched a few Canucks games in there as a result.
• I've been to approximately two hockey games in my life.
• Ignore the previous bullet point.

Second, here's five (5) things I can tell you about the first round of this year's playoffs:

1. The super-trendy upset pick of the first round is going to be Canadiens (the 8 seed in the East) over Capitals (the 1 seed in the East and likely best overall team in the NHL right now). The logic is thusly: Canadiens have a nice, semi-hot goaltender and are a proud franchise. They will shock the world. 8 seeds beating 1 seeds happens way more in hockey than you would think; certainly more than in the NBA. Thing is, this won't happen. My personal prediction? Caps will LOSE, yes, but to the Penguins, in Round 2, in seven games. How many more commas could I put in that sentence? Probably not a lot. This Canadiens vs. Capitals series could go 6 games, though. Trendy thing to note: call the Canadiens "the Habs" whenever you watch them, and reference Celine Dion as much as possible. Her husband is short, bald, and fat. It's the Canadian dream.
2. The Sharks are the 1 seed in the West, playing the Avs. The Avs' goaltender is good; a better word might be "strikingly average." If he plays well, the Sharks will lose. They always f'n choke. It's really sad. If they played in a more mainstream sport, they'd be an Oakland Raiders-level joke. Come to think of it, sports in the Bay Area right now is pretty rough, minus the Giants' hot start in MLB. Ugh.
3. The best chances for an upset, aside from the Avs over the Sharks, are likely Boston over Buffalo (if Ryan Miller has brain farts, which does happen) or Kings over Canucks. Canucks are a good team -- as noted, I've watched them in dingy Astoria bars -- and they have a sick goaltender in Roberto Luongo, but they too are prone to choking when it matters. 
4. Hockey is a lot cooler in the postseason than it is in the regular season. You can say this about most sports, but the NBA playoffs straight f'n drag on for nine months, seemingly. The MLB playoffs are good, college football "playoffs" don't exist, and the NFL playoffs are pretty sweet. What separates NHL is the beards. Players grow beards; I'm not referring to getting less-than-attractive women to mask their latent homosexuality. Nay. They literally grow hair on their face. Pretty nice stuff, really. Hits are also much harder.
5. If you want to sound educated, pick the Blackhawks to win the entire thing. Will they? Likely not. But picking them is likely to endear you to a few people sitting near you at the bar. If pressed for details, add this: "The Blackhawks say the 'C' on Jonathan Toews' sweater is for Captain Serious." If you didn't infer from that sentence, Toews is their captain. He don't smile much. Another good player on that team: Patrick Kane. Don't mention the words "limo" and "Buffalo" in the same sentence there, though.

Once the playoffs heat up, we'll we be back with some team-specific bars where you can catch the action.

Until then. Cheers!

Where We're Watching

Blondie’s West

212 West 79th St (Between Amsterdam and Broadway)

We were here last year when the Penguin's won the Stanley Cup. It was epic.

Lansdowne Rd

599 10th Avenue (Between 44th and 45th Streets)

Another great hockey joint (they have an "ice bar").

Stout

133 W 33rd Street (Between Broadway and 7th Avenue)

They will throw up most games (most are on Versus, and thus don't necessarily require Center Ice). The Devils and Flyers are locking up in a first rounder, so this -- near major city access points -- could be an interesting place to watch it.

Third and Long

523 3rd Avenue (Between 34th and 35th st)

Third and Long is a solid place to watch hockey. Drawback: no food. Positive: you can bring in food. Double positive: new deli across the street from it is amazing. Order the Italian.

Foley’s NY

18 W 33rd Street (Between 5th Avenue and 6th Avenue)

This is the place to watch Penguins hockey. If you don't believe us, check out this clip.

Know of another great bar to watch hockey at? Let us know in the comments below!