c9777666
Registered User
- Aug 31, 2016
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It always struck me as ironic that it was this Ottawa team compared to the run of others they had in that decade which made it to the Cup Finals (especially compared to the 2003-2006 teams).
They downgraded on someways from the prior season- no Chara, no Hasek, no Havlat- and still made the Stanley Cup Finals.
The 2006 team struck me as dominant that season (at least until Hasek got hurt). The 2007 team at times struck me as anything but dominant at times. (Looked very shaky up until Christmas).
But in the playoffs, the team that no longer had Chara/Hasek caught fire.
They beat in succession:
Pittsburgh- most improved team, Crosby/Malkin/Fleury, Hart/Art Ross/Calder
New Jersey- last year at the Meadowlands, 2 seed, Brodeur Vezina, but they had a late season coach firing
Buffalo- best record that year
And they did it in 5 games- the latter 2 series without home ice advantage. With Ray freaking Emery, who will probably never be confused with Patrick Lalime.
We know what happened in the Stanley Cup Finals vs. Anaheim, but it should be noted 3 of the Ducks' wins were by one goal- not exactly 1995/1997 in terms of a lopsided Cup Final scoring wise.
I know that Cup Final gets panned as one of the worst of the past few decades (Got lower ratings than Unhappily Ever After!) but are we sure it was as one-sided as I have heard at times on HFBoards?
Also, how much better might they have matched up with Detroit if the Ducks don't escape game 5 of the West Finals?
And how the heck did they fall apart in 2008? It was basically the same team, yet they collapsed in a way they didn't the prior two years.
They downgraded on someways from the prior season- no Chara, no Hasek, no Havlat- and still made the Stanley Cup Finals.
The 2006 team struck me as dominant that season (at least until Hasek got hurt). The 2007 team at times struck me as anything but dominant at times. (Looked very shaky up until Christmas).
But in the playoffs, the team that no longer had Chara/Hasek caught fire.
They beat in succession:
Pittsburgh- most improved team, Crosby/Malkin/Fleury, Hart/Art Ross/Calder
New Jersey- last year at the Meadowlands, 2 seed, Brodeur Vezina, but they had a late season coach firing
Buffalo- best record that year
And they did it in 5 games- the latter 2 series without home ice advantage. With Ray freaking Emery, who will probably never be confused with Patrick Lalime.
We know what happened in the Stanley Cup Finals vs. Anaheim, but it should be noted 3 of the Ducks' wins were by one goal- not exactly 1995/1997 in terms of a lopsided Cup Final scoring wise.
I know that Cup Final gets panned as one of the worst of the past few decades (Got lower ratings than Unhappily Ever After!) but are we sure it was as one-sided as I have heard at times on HFBoards?
Also, how much better might they have matched up with Detroit if the Ducks don't escape game 5 of the West Finals?
And how the heck did they fall apart in 2008? It was basically the same team, yet they collapsed in a way they didn't the prior two years.