It’s National Hockey League playoff time again, and two bands who will be keeping a close eye on the various series are Default and Five For Fighting. Both groups include members who are diehard fans of the sport.
For Vancouver rockers Default, hometown allegiance to the Canucks is no longer an issue since they did not make the postseason. Guitarist Jeremy Hora says that it’s likely the favorites will come out standing-meaning the Detroit Red Wings or Colorado Avalanche-but that there’s nothing wrong with rooting for the underdogs.
Hora said, “I love Cinderella years, so I’m hoping for a Montreal Canadians/L.A. Kings…one of those two teams. I think the Canadians might be an underdog because they’ve got a really hot goalie in (Jose) Theodore. And, Detroit, you can’t deny Detroit. Detroit and Colorado, they’re gonna probably end up playing in the semifinals and one of those two teams is always gonna go.”
As for John Ondrasik, whose band Five For Fighting is named after a hockey expression, he’s also thinking the Avalanche, but his heart remains in L.A. “Even though Detroit’s an all-star team, I think Colorado, with Patty (Patrick Roy), you always got to go through Colorado. I think anybody can come out of the East, it’s wide open there. It’s nice to see the Bruins playing good hockey again and it’s nice to see teams like the Blackhawks in the west put it together, but I think it’s wide open again in the NHL. My Kings have turned the season around. I would not want to play them in the first round.”
