Has this been one of the worst first rounds in recent memory?

[koyvoo]

There have been great sequences in games or good games with plenty of drama, but generally most series seem less competitive than usual. Especially if just looking at wins/losses.

 

[IceNeophyte]

This thread in a nutshell: the teams I want to win aren't winning.

I don't know. Most matchups are leaning toward chalk (I took SJS-ANA as a pick em, even though ANA was the higher seed). I think tournaments that go chalk are more on the boring side. We need a UMBC. Let's go, Devils!

 

[Spirit of 67]

Only been a handful of compelling games, a lot of the series have been complete duds. Some of the series that looked like they would close 6 or 7 game battles that were hard fought until the very end like Ducks-Sharks and Kings-Knights ended up being sweeps, every game of Penguins-Flyers have been blowouts. Caps-Jackets has produced some decent hockey but it's nothing amazing, and if the rest of the Bruins-Leafs are close games that could end up being a good and close series. But overall, this round has been a complete snoozefest in my opinion.

Been kinda weird. Looked like some really compelling match ups (as you said) but my goodness they're falling flat.
If the Leafs can play more like Monday and less like last week that one may be salvaged. Same goes with Washington.
The 4 WC series may require less than 20 games total. That's brutal. Of course, right now, there's no guarantee that there will be more than 20 games played in the East.

Crazy.

 

[Martinez]

I’ve been mostly watching the jackets caps and bruins leafs, so I guess I picked the right set of series

 

[Spirit of 67]

this site often leads me to believe that I'm the only hockey fan on the planet who actually enjoys watching the NHL

You're not alone.

 

[Spirit of 67]

This thread in a nutshell: the teams I want to win aren't winning.

Not even remotely that.

 

[CloutierForVezina]

Caps-Jackets has produced some decent hockey but it's nothing amazing

3 OT games, insane highlights nearly every shift by the breadman, Bob standing on his head, leads constantly changing, relatively high scoring games without being blowouts, and this only qualifies as "decent" hockey for you?

 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

No, Jets-Wild and Bruins-Leafs have been great.

 

[Gabriel Landeskog]

Jets-Wild has been a knee-slapper!

 

[Mikeshane]

Absolute dud of a first round so far, all 6 series that have 4 games played are basically over.

It's not common but occasionally the 2nd round is better which hopefully happens this year.

 

[bdub24]

NSH/COL have been intense.PIT/PHI have been tough to watch. Haven't seen enough of other games to judge, but nothing is sweeter than seeing the Ducks get another quick ejection from the playoffs.

 

[Five Alarm Fire]

Usually threads like this are hyperbolic but I fully agree. Usually there is more parity in the first round

 

[aufheben]

People say this every year.

 

[Trap Jesus]

People say this every year.

This is a legit criticism this year though. More 3+ goal wins than 1-goal wins and a third of the 1-goal wins came in a sweep. Not having any confirmed games 6's at this point is crazy, although we'll see after tonight.

 

[Blue Goose]

This thread in a nutshell: the teams I want to win aren't winning.

Also: any 4-0 or 3-1 series can't possibly be entertaining (which isn't even remotely true).

 

[HandshakeLine]

Not even remotely that.

Okay.

 

[Kale Hulls]

Columbus/Washington really has been the only compelling series. It's very possible that we don't have a single game 7 this round.

 

[valet]

I think it was below average, but not the worst

 

[Legionnaire11]

I can't imagine how miserable my life would be I'd the only hockey game I considered exciting was a game 7.

Then again, by their own admission most HF posters only watch 50-75% of their own team's games. Even in this thread "The playoffs are so boring, I've only watched Xxxxxx vs Yyyyyy and it's been awful" perspective is something that HF boards is sorely lacking.

 

[DEVILS130]

I can’t believe how historically bad the Pens-Flyers series has been (relative to expectations). Anyone know of another recent series that has featured so many blowouts? Like even the game the Flyers won was a blowout

 

[TheBeastCoast]

People say this every year.

That isn't even remotely true.

 

[Daisy Ridley]

I've thoroughly enjoyed watching every series so far. The Jackets Capitals has been exhilarating every single game. Is overtime boring now or something?

 

[LeafGrief]

If you say so, but I'm having a great time and watching as much as I can.

 

[Ocoee]

Jackets/Caps series has been good. Kings/Knights series was good too even though it was a sweep. The only series i did not watch any of was sharks/ducks. I think the avs/preds series has been the worst.

 

[Festinator]

You can clearly tell who has been watching the games and who's just been looking at the series scores. The thought that Vegas vs LA was boring just because it was a sweep is laughable. Anyone that's watched the Jets vs Wild would know that it's far from boring. Avs vs Preds have been entertaining games. I didn't watch any of the Sharks vs Ducks so I can't comment on that series. The only series I've been a bit disappointed by is the Pens vs Flyers series.