OK, I’m not a big hockey guy, but I have to give to the NHL. After an off-the-radar regular season where most of the games were televised on the fledgling VS. network, sandwiched between extreme cagefighting and Hunting for the Big Fish, the NHL had redeemed themselves in this year’s playoffs and my TV thanks them.

There were a few first round series’ that we saw go to seven games and the NHL’s stars really came out to play. We saw phenom Alexander Ovechkin break out of a slump to all but take over the series for Washington. Even though the Capitals dropped game 7 to the Flyers, Ovechkin almost single handedly lifted the Caps to the second round. Not like there’s anything going on in Washington right now anyway.

And talk about compelling television - the Sean Avery saga was a throwback to the Slapshot days of 1970s hockey. I have never seen a league make rule changes in the middle of the season let alone in the middle of a playoffs series. Some might call the face guarding bush league, I call it hilarious and it made this non-hockey guy turn off season two of Arrested Development on DVD to seek out some ice-cold action. The only thing greater than Avery’s antics on the ice, was finding out that he has an internship at Vogue magazine waiting for him when the season is done. You can’t make this stuff up and I just hope they let him bring his stick to the editorial meetings, because if Sex and the City has taught me anything, it is that these fashionistas have teeth.

I was thinking about it before I wrote this column, and I think I can pinpoint when the NHL reached into its magic hat and instead of pulling out a ferocious lion ala Rocky and Bullwinkle, they pulled out a winner.

Just over four months ago, the NHL picks New Year’s Day to air their first outdoor game since those crazy Canucks invented the sport and chooses to go head-to-head with the juggernaut of NYD college football games. This was  precisely the moment when I started to take notice. Mostly because a move like that took onions the size of well, hockey pucks.

On that brisk New Year’s Day, I found my eyes being pulled away from watching my college football picks on the main screen of my local sports bar, to catch glimpses of some guy they kept calling “The Kid” on one of the smaller satellite TVs that aired this outdoor experience. The seed was planted and my inner, toothless goon began to come out.

So now I’m hooked. And as you can see I was in desperate need of a cure for my bad TV habits. So how does the NHL keep a convert like me interested? Well for starters, the NHL has served me a heaping helping of Wings, as the Colorado Avalanche will revive their longstanding rivalry with the Detroit Red Wings in the second round of the playoffs. The series promises to be hotter than a Desperate Housewives marathon.

OK NHL, I’m in, so please don’t disappoint me as I have The Simple Life Vol. 3 waiting in my Netflix queue and my TV really needs the break.