Nope, not that silly little golf tournament down south in that dirty little town of Augusta -- it's hockey time. And more importantly, it's playoff hockey.

As a Southern guy, I'm not sure how I ever got into hockey, but I think it had something to do with the 1996 playoffs, watching the 1996 Caps-Penguins four overtime game. I was in college and my roommate and I just got caught up in it. It was amazing, neither of us could stop watching it. The tension, the effort, the excitement. Playoff hockey, that's where it's at.

So here we go with my list of why playoff hockey is great...

1. Overtime playoff hockey: Edge of the seat action for hours at a time. No players seem to play harder than hockey players. There's nothing quite like watching a game at 2 a.m. waiting for just one tiny mistake. The best part is you can see the players give every bit of effort they have until they seemingly can't even stand. It's basically the exact opposite of the NBA regular season (in more ways than that I'm actually watching.)

2. The underdog has a chance: In the NBA it seems like the No. 1 seed will always just roll into the next round. Not the NHL. It seems like every season, there's an upset in the playoffs (OK, last year it was only a 6-3 upset, but in 2006 No. 8 Edmonton and No. 7 Colorado both won their first-round series, and Edmonton topped No. 6 Anaheim to go to the Stanley Cup finals).

3. One hot goaltender is all it takes: Every year it seems like there's a guy who just takes over the playoffs, one goaltender refuses to let his team lose, and it's not always the best goaltender during the season. It means any team can be in it and give you a miracle run all the way to the cup.

4. The playoff beard: Seriously? Is there a better tradition in sports than the playoff beard? Sure, some of the European guys can't grow decent beards and Sidney Crosby isn't old enough, but you get those grizzly 40-year old Canadian defensemen and their woolly beards that Santa's jealous of and you know it's playoff time. I love to see who's got the best beard after the first series. Me, I'm not shaving until the Canadiens lose. It's my personal playoff beard. (The best are the red beards, or the guys so old they have white beards).

5. Reseeding: The fact the NHL reseeds every team after each round makes sure that a team is rewarded for a good season. They've already got to dodge the upset factor (2) and the hot goalie (3) factor, so it's nice to know that if you have the best record, you will be rewarded beyond just the first round and home ice.

6. Mid-period interviews: Having covered plenty of sports, I still find it amazing that guys in hockey do interviews during the game, between periods. Especially in overtime. I mean, by fifth intermission, what is there left to talk about? Still, there out there and doing it. Good work.

7. Toothless victory smiles: I love the hockey smile. Sure, it's always there, but there's something about the joy of a guy scoring the game-winner and smiling with two big gaps in his grin.

8. "Injury" listings: I understand -- and as a member of the media appreciate -- why all other sports require a detailed and accurate listing of injuries (it's because of gambling). But in hockey, especially in the playoffs, if a guy is listed as having a left leg injury, you know for sure the one thing that ISN'T hurting is his left leg.

9. Postseries handshakes: Guys can get into six fights during a series, but once one team has lost, they're there shaking the hand of that 10 minutes earlier was breaking their nose. It's beautiful. I love watching the losing team waiting for the winning team to celebrate and then congratulating each other.

10. The Cup: The best trophy in sports and it's not even close. Every person on the team gets their name on the cup. The other rings go to the hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. There's so much great tradition with the cup -- from the captain to be the first player to touch it, to each individual getting to skate around the ice with it before handing it to a teammate and then every player getting a chance to have it for a day during the off season. It's the most cherished and best trophy in all of sports, and it would have the best stories to tell, too.