ChiefWiggum
Registered User
The 07 Sabres, 06 Senators, 11 Canucks and 13 Penguins all come to mind for me. Who do you think of?
2011 Canucks is probably the consensus pick for "great team that was expected to win" at all stages (regular season, early playoffs, SCF, etc.).
2013 Bruins I think were hot at the right time, and watching them play the Blackhawks in the SCF it looked like they would win, then they just sort of... didn't (including a massive choke in the clinching game). They weren't really a season-long favorite though.
They had an amazing regular season with eight players scoring 20 or more goals. They had 11 more points than anyone in the league, despite having only four shootout wins, which was about middle of the pack. .2006 DRW were sooooo stacked.
They had an amazing regular season with eight players scoring 20 or more goals. They had 11 more points than anyone in the league, despite having only four shootout wins, which was about middle of the pack. .
The problem is that the team wasn't built for the playoffs. They had six fighting majors the entire season and were soft as butter. Shanahan wasn't a playoff performer anymore, despite netting 40 goals in the regular season. Datsyuk was still struggling in the playoffs at this time. Yzerman was old. Legace was a choker. At the time, they looked like Cup favorites, but in hindsight, it's hard to see them winning another round even if they got past Edmonton.
I would say the 2009 Wings were the strongest non-Cup winner post-lockout. They were defending champions and added Marian Hossa to their roster. They came as close as possible without repeating and overcame a crapload of injuries to get that far. I believe they beat the Blackhawks with Datsyuk and Lidstrom missing the last part of that series. They got past an underrated Ducks team that year, who they struggled against in prior years.
My next choice would be the 2011 Canucks, who were dominant at every phase of the game that season. They just don't have the playoff pedigree that the 2009 Wings had.
Weren't they missing Lidas and Datsyuk for like 3 games in the SCF too?
Fleury makes the secret service save one time out of every 10 chances.... crazy how close they came to going back to back.
Another underrated pick maybe but what about the 2008-09 Devils? Zach Parise had his best season of his career, and Martin Brodeur suffered an injury during the season, but he was back for the stretch run and the postseason, meaning that he was healthy and well-rested which I thought would be huge for them going into the playoffs. Obviously the Hurricanes comeback in Game 7 of their first round series ended the Devils hopes that year.
I believe Datsyuk missed the first four games of the SCF. I don't remember Lidstrom missing any games in the SCF.Weren't they missing Lidas and Datsyuk for like 3 games in the SCF too?
Fleury makes the secret service save one time out of every 10 chances.... crazy how close they came to going back to back.
2013 Bruins and 2011 Canucks. Homer vote maybe but the 2006 Senators as well.
08 pens
16, 17 caps
14 hawks
13 bruins
A healthy Hasek and maybe adding a top six forward before the deadline, and that team probably has no glaring weaknesses.
Acquiring Arnason was useless. He was awful. Doug Weight and Olli Jokinen were guys Ottawa was supposedly interested in. Weight went to Carolina and Jokinen stayed in Florida I believe. A strong second line centre behind Spezza would have been a big help.
"One of these is not the like the others"
They had an amazing regular season with eight players scoring 20 or more goals. They had 11 more points than anyone in the league, despite having only four shootout wins, which was about middle of the pack. .
The problem is that the team wasn't built for the playoffs. They had six fighting majors the entire season and were soft as butter. Shanahan wasn't a playoff performer anymore, despite netting 40 goals in the regular season. Datsyuk was still struggling in the playoffs at this time. Yzerman was old. Legace was a choker. At the time, they looked like Cup favorites, but in hindsight, it's hard to see them winning another round even if they got past Edmonton.
2006 DRW were sooooo stacked.