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Gimme five

Five topics suitable for inane debate on talk radio.

TWO OUT OF THREE AIN'T BAD: Eighteen months ago, this market was the nation's largest without a major sports championship. Tampa Bay has since won a Super Bowl and has the Stanley Cup within reach. Could a World Series be far behind? Okay, don't answer that.

A QUESTION OF BALANCE: Tampa Bay's strength in this series is no different than the rest of the regular season. The Lightning has the rare ability to score throughout its lineup. Tampa Bay has five players, at least one from each of the first three lines, with 10 or more points in the playoffs.

OH MAN, AN OMEN: In case you were wondering, the last six Stanley Cup championships have been won by the higher seeded team. Not since the Flyers were upset by Detroit in 1997 has a team failed to win after opening at home.

PUSHING BUTTONS: It went largely unnoticed, but John Tortorella did a superb job of juggling lines against the Flyers. He moved Andre Roy and Chris Dingman around to add muscle and, at odd times, shifted players among the first three lines for different looks.

ROAD TO HEAVEN: How does a team win the Stanley Cup? By getting the type of scheduling break such as Tampa Bay's. Other than the Lightning, five teams scored 102 or more points during the regular season. Tampa Bay will not face any in the postseason. The Lightning has matched up with a third-place team (Islanders), a fourth (Canadiens), a first (Flyers) and now a third (Flames).

Five cool consequences of Tampa Bay in the Stanley Cup final.

5. The extra revenue means the Pistons' payroll goes up.

4. Now Bobby Clarke has additional time to figure out the difference between Tortorella and tortellini.

3. Cory Sarich can now buy stitches in bulk.

2. Calgary gets to explain the Martin St. Louis story again.

1. No longer tempted to watch the NBA.

1. Twenty-two years Dave Andreychuk has toiled without getting his name on the Stanley Cup. This is his best, and perhaps last, chance.

2. If the Lightning wins the Cup, the trade for Ruslan Fedotenko will never again be questioned. He has nine goals in 16 playoff games.

3. Cory Stillman has two goals in 15 games, his worst stretch since a slump that lasted a month beginning in mid-November.

4. It was around this time four years ago when the Flames gave up on a undersized wing from Quebec. St. Louis has turned into one of the most exciting players in the NHL and is one of the biggest reasons the Lightning are playing Calgary today.

5. The way referees call the series could have a big impact for the Lightning. Tampa Bay is barely outscoring opponents in 5-on-5 situations in the postseason but has dominated with the power play and penalty kill.

1. Philadelphia developed a pretty good model for beating Tampa Bay by hammering the Lightning at every opportunity, particularly St. Louis.

2. Careless turnovers in the defensive zone cost the Lightning Game 6 and did not go away completely in Game 7.

3. Nikolai Khabibulin remains Tampa Bay's most important player, but it has to be noted his goals-against average was 1.00 in Tampa Bay's first eight playoff games and was 2.80 in the next eight.

4. Slow starts. The first is the only period the Lightning has not outscored opponents in the playoffs.

5. Too much sun.

They play hockey in Canada?