Much like any addict, you want the time between hits of your chosen substance to be as short as possible and with the baseball season now up and running bringing with it the distant warmth of the upcoming summer, my attention is fully on the Stanley Cup 
Playoffs to get my hockey fix.
It was only last weekend which brought the last of top level ice hockey here in the UK with the Sheffield Steelers bagging the playoff title in dramatic fashion.
They beat league champions Cardiff Devils in Overtime.
It means no competitive ice hockey to go and spend my hard-earned money on until the first weekend of September.
Fortunately though, across the pond is the six week battle for the biggest prize in the sport.
As I write this I am awaiting the Washington Capitals’ second game of their first round clash against the surprise package Toronto Maple Leafs having watched Pittsburgh show Columbus what it means to take part in the Stanley Cup playoffs last night.
For an ice hockey fan, these are the great days when we have multiple games of playoff intensity to pick from each and every night before it becomes a once a night thing as the teams depart for the golf course.
We have already seen many games during the first week go to overtime and the atmospheres in the NHL arenas being close to ripping many roof tiles from their buildings just from the opening game or two of each series.
It can only get better from here until there is nothing left but one team, one cup and thousands of supporters explaining to their bosses why they can’t work the phones that afternoon due to the lack of a voice.
It seems a long time until it’s all said and done in June but that time will fly by then we have the challenge of surviving on scraps such as the 2017 NHL Entry Draft and your local side signing players you can’t pronounce let alone know who they are until it all begins again.
It is a sport we love, a sport we live for and a sport we crave when it’s not here, baseball is all well and good but nothing says sport like smashing one of your competitors into an inch thick piece of glass and flipping the puck over the goalies thick pad, into the back of the net.
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