Fluke SCF appearances

[heynowbababooey]

Do they exist? If so who is the best example?

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[orby]

2012 Devils

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

2012 Devils
1997 Capitals
Kings/Rangers 2014 (aka Gary Bettman's wet dream) Both those teams went through so many game sevens, but give the edge to the Kings as they came back from a 3-0 deficit.

 

[dr robbie]

The first 3 seasons of the Blues, they only made it because the seeding was rigged to force an expansion team to the SCF. So, they were basically the best of the rest and got swept all 3 times. I feel like that's pretty fluky.

 

[983 others]

No such thing.

You don't fluke your way through 3 rounds of the playoffs, just doesn't happen.

People might look back at a "weak" SCF team and call them a fluke, but they weren't.

 

[Fallschirmyager]

None of them.

 

[alko]

I think, this topic should be about something else. But about what?

 

[High five Tom]

2004 flames
2006 Oilers
2007 Sens
2012 Kings
2012 Devils
2018 Knights

 

[Blueline Bomber]

None of them. If they survived 3 rounds of tough playoff hockey, they deserve to be in the Finals.

 

[Whaleafs]

I don't know if you'd call it a fluke or just riding Hasek to the finals, but '99 Sabres.

 

[LeProspector]

2004 flames
2006 Oilers
2007 Sens
2012 Kings
2012 Devils
2018 Knights

Okay, sure I am a homer but the 2007 Sens team wasn't a fluke in any way. They dominated the eastern conference, won every series in 5 games, going Pittsburgh in 5, New Jersey in 5 then Buffalo in 5 games. They absolutely deserved to be there.

 

[Silky mitts]

1997-98 Caps didn't have to play a 1-4 seed and went 5-1 in OT during the 1st 3 rounds. I remember the 05-06 Oilers being fluky.

 

[SPF6ty9]

Okay, sure I am a homer but the 2007 Sens team wasn't a fluke in any way. They dominated the eastern conference, won every series in 5 games, going Pittsburgh in 5, New Jersey in 5 then Buffalo in 5 games. They absolutely deserved to be there.

Ya they were a top team for years at that point. The 2012 Kings also won the Cup and then continued to be a top team for years afterward. So it must be a liberal use of the word "fluke".

Flames, Oilers, and Devils would seem to apply in that they didn't have sustained success around their appearances.

 

[MarkusKetterer]

Okay, sure I am a homer but the 2007 Sens team wasn't a fluke in any way. They dominated the eastern conference, won every series in 5 games, going Pittsburgh in 5, New Jersey in 5 then Buffalo in 5 games. They absolutely deserved to be there.

From the premise, the poster you quoted was doing "one and done" finalists. Which I guess constitutes being flukey, but whatever. For me, any low seed would be a fluke to make the finals. So the 03 Flames, 06 Oilers, 91 North Stars

 

[AfroThunder396]

2012 Devils

102 regular season points
4th most wins in the league from Jan 1st - end of regular season
Kovalchuk #5 in the league in points
Elias #10 in the league in points
Three 30 goal scorers
Best PK% in NHL history
Started on the road in all three of their conference playoff series

Yeah you might want to workshop this one a little more.

 

[DitchMarner]

2012 Devils
1997 Capitals
Kings/Rangers 2014 (aka Gary Bettman's wet dream) Both those teams went through so many game sevens, but give the edge to the Kings as they came back from a 3-0 deficit.

The Rangers finished first in the EC in 2012 and won the President's trophy in 2015. Maybe they were just a competitive team for a while and it's not surprising they reached the SCF?

They outshot the Flyers in five out of seven games and then rather easily beat a MTL team that had somehow defeated the Bruins in the second round, to get to the SCF. Their only really surprising series win was against PIT in round two and even that wasn't exactly shocking as the Penguins had their struggles in the playoffs from 2011-2015 and lacked depth in 2014.

 

[VoluntaryDom]

2018 Capitals

 

[brokenhole]

2004 flames
2006 Oilers
2007 Sens
2012 Kings
2012 Devils
2018 Knights

I hate the Kings but in 2012 they were picked by the majority of pundits at the start of the season to win it all.

 

[Firsov99]

Not sure if a “fluke SCF appearance” is a fair description, but a finalist from a considerably weaker conference might be considered one.

 

[DitchMarner]

2018 Capitals

They beat your team pretty convincingly even though it was a seven game series, and I like the Lightning.

 

[VoluntaryDom]

They beat your team pretty convincingly even though it was a seven game series, and I like the Lightning.

they beat my team because the offense disappeared for 2 games. also the refs decided game 6. in fact all 4 teams the caps beat blew a series lead against them.

 

[SotasicA]

All of them, except for my favourite team who made it there by being better than everyone, and also by playing harder and with more heart and courage. And they are all good people and real handsome, too.

 

[Pens x]

1996 Florida Panthers

 

[Butch 19]

1993 Canadiens.

10 playoff OT wins in a row. Talk about your puck luck! (and favorable ref calls/non-calls throughout the series)

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

There is no such thing as fluke SCF appearance under the normal playoff format (Blues making the SCF back in the day for example is a different story).

You can make the finals never having to face a dominant team if it just happens to be a weaker year for your conference, but you still were the best team and deserved to make it.