*Closed* 16 years of Champions Bracket [R1] - 5. PITTSBURGH 2017 vs. 12. CHICAGO 2015

[Tufted Titmouse]

I think this is probably the best chnce to see a Chicago team fall in R1, and also the best chance for a Penguins team to advance. What will happen! It's very close.

Matt Murray's year!

5. PITTSBURGH 2017						12. CHICAGO 2015
Player	GP	G	A	PTS		Player	GP	G	A	PTS
Evgeni Malkin	25​	10​	18​	28​		Patrick Kane	23​	11​	12​	23​
Sidney Crosby	24​	8​	19​	27​		Jonathan Toews	23​	10​	11​	21​
Phil Kessel	25​	8​	15​	23​		Duncan Keith	23​	3​	18​	21​
Jake Guentzel	25​	13​	8​	21​		Marián Hossa*	23​	4​	13​	17​
Justin Schultz	21​	4​	9​	13​		Patrick Sharp	23​	5​	10​	15​
Chris Kunitz	20​	2​	9​	11​		Brad Richards	23​	3​	11​	14​
Bryan Rust	23​	7​	2​	9​		Andrew Shaw	23​	5​	7​	12​
Patric Hornqvist	19​	5​	4​	9​		Brandon Saad	23​	8​	3​	11​
Matt Cullen	25​	2​	7​	9​		Brent Seabrook	23​	7​	4​	11​
Ian Cole	25​	0​	9​	9​		Teuvo Teravainen	18​	4​	6​	10​
Ron Hainsey	25​	2​	6​	8​		Antoine Vermette	20​	4​	3​	7​
Olli Maatta	25​	2​	6​	8​		Niklas Hjalmarsson	23​	1​	5​	6​
Nick Bonino	21​	4​	3​	7​		Bryan Bickell	18​	0​	5​	5​
Conor Sheary	22​	2​	5​	7​		Johnny Oduya	23​	0​	5​	5​
Scott Wilson	20​	3​	3​	6​		Marcus Kruger	23​	2​	2​	4​
Brian Dumoulin	25​	1​	5​	6​		Andrew Desjardins	21​	1​	3​	4​
Trevor Daley	21​	1​	4​	5​		Kris Versteeg	12​	1​	1​	2​
Carter Rowney	20​	0​	3​	3​		Michal Rozsíval	10​	0​	1​	1​
Carl Hagelin	15​	2​	0​	2​		Corey Crawford	20​	0​	0​	0​
Tom Kuhnhackl	11​	1​	1​	2​		Kyle Cumiskey	9​	0​	0​	0​
Mark Streit	3​	0​	2​	2​		Scott Darling	5​	0​	0​	0​
Josh Archibald	4​	0​	0​	0​		Joakim Nordstrom	3​	0​	0​	0​
Marc-Andre Fleury	15​	0​	0​	0​		David Rundblad	5​	0​	0​	0​
Matt Murray	11​	0​	0​	0​		Kimmo Timonen	18​	0​	0​	0​
Chad Ruhwedel	6​	0​	0​	0​		Trevor van Riemsdyk	4​	0​	0​	0​
Player	GP	SV%	GAA	GSAA		Player	GP	SV%	GAA	GSAA
Marc-Andre Fleury	15​	0.924​	2.56​	2​		Corey Crawford	20​	0.924​	2.31​	1.5​
Matt Murray	11​	0.937​	1.7​	5.1​		Scott Darling	5​	0.936​	2.28​	2.5​

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[JaegerDice]

Assuming perfect health, probably Pittsburgh by a small margin. Unlike their all-round dominance in 2016, they were a bit of a glass cannon in 2017. Lots of offense significantly lower possession and defensive performance.

The 2015 team had a lot of depth and some big performances, but they werent the monsters they were in 2013. They grinded that third cup out.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

Pens won the cup without their #1 dman. I don't think any other cup winner could do that.

 

[Tufted Titmouse]

Kunitz's last season as a Pen. Writing was on the wall with all the younger, fast guys playing so well in these playoffs. Kunitz and Sharp are two guys from this era that I often forget about.

 

[LightningStorm]

Pens won the cup without their #1 dman. I don't think any other cup winner could do that.

I agree with the principle of your definition. Though Letang is on the lower end of #1 d-men of the past 16 cup winners, despite him being an overlooked candidate for the 2016 Conn Smythe IMO.

Edit: As for these 2 teams, I'd go Pens in 6. Crosby had his best postseason, and Malkin his best since his 2009 CS. Plus the Pens still had most of their great depth from the previous year, even if 2017 was Crosby and Malkin carrying a heavier load as oppose to the by committee 2016 team. 2015, meanwhile, was IMO the least of the 3 Hawks champions.