Now, would you say that 2011 is a good playoff year?
Yes it was. Lots of overtime, good storylines in the final, two Game 7 overtimes, Boston and Montreal played each other, and two series that nearly had 3-0 deficits erased. How it holds up to 1994 I'm not sure though. Once it all soaks in then we can examine it but 2011 is certainly the best post lockout
Overall, 2003:
-2 upsets in round 1, including the Wild coming back from a 3-1 deficit
-2 more upsets in round 2, including another 3-1 comeback from the Wild
-2 upsets in the CF, Giguere giving up only 1 goal in 4 games and the Devils winning game 7 on the road
-A long Finals with the Ducks coming up just short
Giguere was playing out of his mind.
I especially remember that Ducks vs. Wild game (?) that went into 4th OT.
Game 1 went to only 1 OT. Game 1 between Anaheim and Dallas went to 5 OT.
1988 - The Capitals erasing their playoff demons at the expense of Ron Hextall; Boston's first playoff series win against Montreal in 40+ years; the Jim Schoenfeld-Don Koharski incident; the "Mickey Mouse" Devils coming within a game of making the Stanley Cup Finals; the power failure at Boston Garden; Gretzky's final spring in Oilers blue
1994. Messier's promise, NYR vs. NJ, MATTEAU!! McLean's legendary save, Bure's legendary goal, best finals in history, Bure penalty shot on Richter, McLean in game 1 of the finals making 51 saves, and ending in the Cup coming back to New York after 54 years.
1987 and especially 1994 are generally considered the best and for good reasons.
1991 was also pretty epic in my opinion. Minnesota's underdog run was just so damn impressive as they went through the top two teams in the league in Chicago and St. Louis before dispatching the defending Stanley Cup Champions in Edmonton only to lose to a stacked Pittsburgh team. That's one hell of a tough road to the finals and I really felt for the North Stars when they came up short. That being said, I was happy for Lemieux and Pittsburgh.