Is it just me or this a very exciting postseason?

[TomasHertlsRooster]

It's not hyperbole.

Again, a team on the road in the first round has won three championships in the NFL and NBA combined.

It's happened three times in the NHL since 2012.

Through the history of the NHL (much larger sample size), there is a massive correlation between regular season standings finish and playoff performance. Just because that correlation is much smaller in the NHL than it is in the NBA or the NFL does not mean that it does not exist.

 

[Machinehead]

Through the history of the NHL (much larger sample size), there is a massive correlation between regular season standings finish and playoff performance. Just because that correlation is much smaller in the NHL than it is in the NBA or the NFL does not mean that it does not exist.

You can't just look at the history of the NHL. You have to look at NHL since the hard cap was implemented.

People say it's the nature of the sport, but the NHL was very much designed to do what we're seeing this year.

 

[Aurinko]

Top teams dominating as expected:

CBJ, Isles, AV's, Canes, Stars. Boring playoffs

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

You can't just look at the history of the NHL. You have to look at NHL since the hard cap was implemented.

People say it's the nature of the sport, but the NHL was very much designed to do what we're seeing this year.

Okay, since the hard cap was implemented. Go ahead and run a regression between regular season wins and playoff wins for every team that made the playoffs since 2006. Count which seeds have the most Stanley Cups. There is still going to be a very strong correlation. It’s just not going to be as strong as the one that is observed in the NFL and NBA.

 

[Grifter3511]

Yes and no.

2006 was very much a transition period. The problem is that nobody emerged from 2006. The Hurricanes and Oilers went on to be trash.

I'm not convinced the next core of great NHL teams is left in this tournament.

Exactly. It took a few years. Like a rebuild. And then it led to the Blackhawks, Penguins and Kings.

 

[Machinehead]

Okay, since the hard cap was implemented. Go ahead and run a regression between regular season wins and playoff wins for every team that made the playoffs since 2006. Count which seeds have the most Stanley Cups. There is still going to be a very strong correlation. It’s just not going to be as strong as the one that is observed in the NFL and NBA.

Will there be, though?

Top 4 teams in wins (1 and 2 seeds) are 6 for 14 winning the Cup in the cap era.

 

[Alamo Leafer]

It's almost as if the season standings were meaningless. Who knows, may be one of the non playoff teams would've been sitting awaited their 2nd round opponents at this time too.

 

[VictoriaJetsFan]

I watched Colorado play Calgary tonight and was a boring one sided hockey game..

However, even if these are not the most exciting playoffs...they sure as hell are the most shocking....

 

[Wanderson]

This is ****ing boring.

I'm beginning to dislike the NHL playoffs for the same reason everyone dislikes the shootout. It's a random crapshoot.

I thought you were trolling... but after reading some more it seems like you’re serious.

Columbus added a few high quality players before the deadline. That’s a factor. Maybe they would’ve won 60 games if they had Duchene etc. during the entire season?

Colorado had the hottest line in hockey for at least 40 games. Now they’re hot again, and that line is making a huge difference.

 

[vippe]

It's exciting since a lot of new teams are advancing, however I would have liked less sweeps and 4-1s :>

I only enjoy sweeps when it's my team doing them ;P

 

[Sega Dreamcast]

Yeah, the Warriors are boring, but that's just one team. Every time the Bucks and Raptors played this year, for example, it had playoff implications. That's not to say they were all great games, but they weren't just glorified warm-ups. Nothing in the NHL has playoff implications.

That is just a ridiculous take and you know it. Or you don't know what 'playoff implications' means.

The Warriors are just one team.... that has been in the last 4 Finals, winning 3 championships.

Talking about glorified warmups, with Lebron in LA, the entire Eastern Conference is nothing more than auditions to see who gets jobbed the f*** out by the Warriors.

First round upsets are bad, but the clear-cut favorites dominating the league is good? lol ok

 

[Machinehead]

That is just a ridiculous take and you know it. Or you don't know what 'playoff implications' means.

The Warriors are just one team.... that has been in the last 4 Finals, winning 3 championships.

Talking about glorified warmups, the entire Eastern Conference is nothing more than auditions to see who gets jobbed the **** out by the Warriors.

First round upsets are bad, but the clear-cut favorites dominating the league is good? lol ok

Like I said, the NBA is far from a great league.

I just fail to see where doing a 180 in the opposite direction is entertaining.

 

[Machinehead]

I thought you were trolling... but after reading some more it seems like you’re serious.

Columbus added a few high quality players before the deadline. That’s a factor. Maybe they would’ve won 60 games if they had Duchene etc. during the entire season?

Colorado had the hottest line in hockey for at least 40 games. Now they’re hot again, and that line is making a huge difference.

I don't think the balance of power in the NHL should be so fragile that one player or one line is completely transformative.

 

[BMOK33]

It definitely is but the cup winner unless it’s Boston, Washington, or Vegas is gonna be 93 Montrealeld in that nobody is ever going to give them credit because they’ll say they didn’t have to go through the best teams

 

[c9777666]

It definitely is but the cup winner unless it’s Boston, Washington, or Vegas is gonna be 93 Montrealeld in that nobody is ever going to give them credit because they’ll say they didn’t have to go through the best teams

Or 86 Montrealed

 

[Wanderson]

I don't think the balance of power in the NHL should be so fragile that one player or one line is completely transformative.

So how do you wanna solve it?

There are similar examples in all sports. One player or coach, makes all others play better.

 

[Machinehead]

So how do you wanna solve it?

There are similar examples in all sports. One player or coach, makes all others play better.

Yes, in all sports, a great player or coach can be a difference maker. That's true. But we're not talking about gaining the edge in a 6 or 7 game series, here.

Tampa and Calgary got absolutely TROUNCED. The two best teams in the league simply didn't belong on the ice with the 8 seeds. When a hungry coach here and a hot player there is capable of taking the standings and flipping them upside down, to me, that demonstrates a league where every team is more or less the same at the end of the day, and any small advantage translates to one team destroying the other.

In terms of solutions, the hard salary cap, from day 1, was explicitly put in place to make every team similar. This was always the NHL's vision. I'm not suggesting at all to not have a salary cap, but the particular cap system the NHL runs is by far the strictest in professional sports.

Tampa won 62 games because the tax situation gives them a small edge. Take that away and they're just as vanilla as everyone else. They demonstrated that in these playoffs.

 

[Pyrophorus]

It was, until Tampa fell out.

 

[Son Goku]

IMO its gonna be either Toronto or Washington to come out of the east and I don’t see any western teams beating those two.

 

[JeremyTB]

IMO its gonna be either Toronto or Washington to come out of the east and I don’t see any western teams beating those two.

Isles will eliminate the Caps because Trotz knows them so well and then they will eliminate Pajama boy and the Leafs. Then lose to the western conference team because the west is due. I just hope it's not Vegas.

 

[Butch 19]

In terms of solutions, the hard salary cap, from day 1, was explicitly put in place to make every team similar. This was always the NHL's vision. I'm not suggesting at all to not have a salary cap, but the particular cap system the NHL runs is by far the strictest in professional sports.

Tampa won 62 games because the tax situation gives them a small edge. Take that away and they're just as vanilla as everyone else. They demonstrated that in these playoffs.

Really? this **** again?!

TB won because of taxes??

 

[GOilers88]

There's some truth to that, but it goes back to my other point: when the two best teams in the league are out here looking like ECHL teams, it's not a good thing.

I'm not saying I want the same teams to win year after year, but for a league to function, you need to have great teams, and teams that just participate. The NHL simply doesn't have that. It's a vanilla league.

People come in droves to watch great teams. They always have and they always will. When great teams play great teams, that's when moments are made. When lesser teams beat great teams, that's also memorable.

That's not what's happening here. What we have here is lesser teams exposing top seeds as flaccid garbage. There's nothing even approaching great in this NHL. There's 31 meh teams.

A team that tied the wins record just proved themselves to be completely soulless. If you're entertained by that, that's your prerogative, but to me it puts up in bold letters how trash the NHL is.

I get the impression you're an NBA fan. If not, I think you should take up watching basketball.

If anything I feel this year just highlights how differently the regular season and post season are called in hockey. It's like watching two completely different games.

"The NHL is all about speed and skill now".

Lol okay.

 

[Crossfire Hurricane]

Really? this **** again?!

TB won because of taxes??

Yeah, NYR could offer the same amount of money as Tampa and they'd choose the Tampa offer because they'd take home more, not because the Lightning drafted that and have their exclusive rights. Kucherov is signed to a steal of a contract because he doesn't have to pay state taxes in Florida, not because TB locked him up coming off a 66 point season.

 

[tucker3434]

My favorite in over a decade.

 

[Jixer19]

It is almost like you need to actually care and show up in the playoffs to win. Winning 62 games in the regular season or winning the western conference is impressive. Though following that up with lackluster effort is something all on it's own, you need to actually care when it matters and not just coast on "skill" because you are the "better" team.