Dominant regular season teams that did not win the Stanley Cup since 05-06

[Pi]

If I'm betting money, I'm still saying Nash/Pitt/Tamp but I get what you're saying.
It's tough to predict because all the teams in the playoffs are either very good teams or teams having very good seasons.
Injuries and hot/cold goalies are the biggest determining factor IMO. Coaching means a lot more in the playoffs, too with line-matching etc.

Exactly. Playoffs are unpredictable but odds will always favour the better teams in the league. Just because fans hand them the cup doesn't mean they actually win.

Just sit back, relax, enjoy and watch it all play out. If you're going to put your money on a team though, don't bet on bad teams or lower seeds.

 

[MapleLeafs9]

Looking at the numbers up here in the OP's, it looks like the best odds are for the #2 seed, with a 58% chance of reaching the finals (been there 7 out of 12 times) & a 42% chance of winning the Cup (5 out of 12 Cups).

Don’t you gotta look at it 7/24 times, 5/24 times because there’s 2 #2 seeds from each conference? Should be a lot lower if that’s the case.

 

[BruinLVGA]

Don’t you gotta look at it 7/24 times, 5/24 times because there’s 2 #2 seeds from each conference? Should be a lot lower if that’s the case.

I thought that you used #2 seeds in the term of 16 teams rather than by conference (= two #2 seeds). If you instead went by conference, yes. Just slash those percentages in half. Still, #2 seeds have a strong statistical advantage over any other seed in the numbers you provided.
Now I am hoping that the Bruins come in in spot #2...

 

[stampedingviking]

What

Both are ancient history

 

[b in vancouver]

Incredible

And was probably the hardest working tough but talented definition of the word 'Team' ever. Gretzky reminisced about how after they lost the first time to them in the Finals that a few of them wandered over, all bright-eyed and fine, while in the Isle dressing room they were all ice packs and bruises and too exhausted to celebrate winning The Cup. - the closest we've sorta seen in recent memory was the Bruins team for a few years.

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

I'm going to be a homer here and mention the 2013-2014 Sharks, they had over 100 points, and by far the best xGF% in the league. Thornton, Burns and Pavelski was the best line in the NHL when Burns was healthy - their possession stats were ridiculous. They went up 3-0 in the first round against the eventual cup champions and a combination of an injury to their best defenseman, a terrible non-call on goalie interference, and a general lack of composure and leadership from our leaders led to a comeback.

 

[Five Alarm Fire]

There's a reason why our playoffs are better than any other league. Parity. Could you imagine how boring it would be if our first round was predictable like the NBA?

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

The Cup winner will be the team that has the luckiest bounces + least amount of injures to their key players. Making it entirely impossible to predict.

Carolina has just as good of a chance to win the cup as Nashville. One thing to take note is that Pittsburgh is 8-0 in its last 8 series which is remarkable.

What's the record for most consecutive playoff series wins?

You make it seem like the playoffs are a coinflip, but the same teams keep winning. Chicago, LA, Pittsburgh have won 8 of the past 9 cups. The other winner in that time frame Boston, also made another cup final and is a contender this year.

 

[darcyRegier]

@LuigiLemieux Outcomes of hockey games are as close to 50/50 as you can get, and its more 50/50 during the playoffs where the talent level between is much closer than the reg season. #8 seed LA out of nowhere smoked president trophy/cup favorite Vancouver in 2012.

Hockey is a completely random game decided by bounces, penalties, and luck... just like any other sport.

 

[darcyRegier]

Why it’s so much harder to predict winners in hockey than basketball

Good watch as well

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

tl;dr Stop handing over the cup to the Lightning, Predators, Penguins. I've been seeing it way too much on this board lately. The top teams in each conference very rarely win the Stanley Cup let alone even get to the Stanley Cup final. Anything can happen in the playoffs.

I appreciate the long post but, why does this matter ?

Part of what makes the playoffs great is the fact that there are favorites. Underdog wins wouldn't be such a big story otherwise.

Sure it can be annoying when people are already handing the cup out to someone but that'll never stop. And as a Leafs fan, you should be happy about knowing your team has a chance even if nobody else believes it. Makes it much more sweeter to shove it in everyone's faces if they do win, and if they don't, well at least you didn't say they would so nobody else gets to do the shoving.

 

[johnnybbadd]

Playoffs are about matchups, timely goaltending/goals and how teams react to lack of health since every team has someone out or playing hurt come playoff time. Anyone that payed attention and saw that LA roster would know that they weren’t an ordinary 8 seed that year and they proved it when it mattered. Looking at the history though it seems like a top 4 seed is more likely than a bottom 4 seed to advance as far as the finals. It just becomes harder to score in the playoffs and many great offensive teams have been shutdown in a 7 game series.

 

[rent free]

the only thing thats relevant is the one time it happened in the last 6 years.

 

[T REX]

I wonder if other leaves fans hate leaves fans as much as other fanbases. Insufferable.

 

[NeedleInTheHay]

@LuigiLemieux Outcomes of hockey games are as close to 50/50 as you can get, and its more 50/50 during the playoffs where the talent level between is much closer than the reg season. #8 seed LA out of nowhere smoked president trophy/cup favorite Vancouver in 2012.

Hockey is a completely random game decided by bounces, penalties, and luck... just like any other sport.

Why do the same teams keep winning then?

 

[Sypher04]

You make it seem like the playoffs are a coinflip, but the same teams keep winning. Chicago, LA, Pittsburgh have won 8 of the past 9 cups. The other winner in that time frame Boston, also made another cup final and is a contender this year.

And the cup before those 9 the Pens were only 2 wins away from beating Detroit

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

Pens are tied for 11th in points. When is the last time a team out of the top ten in points at this time of the year was one of the favorites to win the cup?

 

[Butch 19]

but especially my leafs please stop bein mean

Everything is not about the leafs.

 

[McFlyingV]

Maybe that’s the first issue is most fans just look at rosters and stats. Maybe just maybe watching games helps just a little.

As a leaf fan Tampa and Boston doesn’t scare me it’s going to be a super close series. Sure we may not win but I have no issue losing to either team there both good. We absolutely have stretches against both of those of teams where we dominate and so.do they. It’s going to be a fun play offs and hopefully we can win a round or two.

Right, cause I'm sure you catch all the games of the 16 playoff teams and have such a better opinion and grasp on things than your average fan.

That's great if you feel confident in your team, thats what being a fan is all about. Worrying about others for not sharing your opinion and attributing that difference in opinion to not watching games is just ridiculous and comes off as being a homer. You also don't know that its going to be a super close series, none of us know that until the series is actually played. It is going to be a fun playoffs, they generally always are.