Most unlucky playoff team

[mjlee]

Watching the Preds-Blues series it just struck me how unlucky the Blues in particular have been. First they ran into Detroit at the height of their best years then once the Wings started to decline the Hawks became the powerhouse of the league. And now it seems the Preds are on the rise. The Blues have always been very good but just managed to end up in the same division as some of the best teams over the past decades.

Another team was the Jets v 1.0 who coincided with the Oilers dynasty and Gretzky. And talking about the Oilers, didn't they manage to draw the Dallas Stars several times in the playoffs during Doug Weight's time and kept losing when they would have had a much better chance against most other opponents.

Are there any other teams that just got a raw deal in the playoffs?

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[GordonGecko]

is this some sort of support group?

 

[Hockeygod66]

How are they "unlucky" to play the predators. A team with a lower seed then them and five less wins.

 

[2 Minute Minor]

I don't think it makes sense to put Nashville into a category with Detroit and Chicago. This year's Blues team wasn't expected to be a contender, and already kind of exceeded expectations. If they manage to pull off the retool that Armstrong has talked about, the Blues may end up being the class of the division for a while...who knows. At any rate, I don't think Nashville is obviously going to be significantly better (though they will probably win this series pretty handily).

St Louis has plenty of reasons for not having more post-season success. But if they're going to win a Cup ever, they just have to win anyway. This core with Pietro, Parayko, Schwartz, Tarasenko, Fabbri and others is still very young. With a couple more key pieces maybe they'll be a true contender again in a year or two. If not...its just more of the familiar history for Blues fans of being 'good' but not a true contender.

 

[Riptide]

Watching the Preds-Blues series it just struck me how unlucky the Blues in particular have been. First they ran into Detroit at the height of their best years then once the Wings started to decline the Hawks became the powerhouse of the league. And now it seems the Preds are on the rise. The Blues have always been very good but just managed to end up in the same division as some of the best teams over the past decades.

Are there any other teams that just got a raw deal in the playoffs?

And that's somehow different from Pittsburgh having to face Washington twice when they won the Presidents trophy and Columbus (who was 4th in the NHL) in the first two rounds?

You gotta beat who you gotta beat. There's really no "bad" teams once you get past the 1st round. Some you might match up better against then others, but ultimately you still need to win those 16 games if you're going to win the cup, and the great teams find a way to do that.

 

[mjlee]

is this some sort of support group?

Not really no, I just always thought the Blues were better than their playoff records show (didn't they have a great record for getting to the playoffs?) And in any other division they would have proven just how good they were/are but because they ended up with Detroit/Chicago and now a Nashville on the rise, they just have been forced to play the bridesmaid. I was trying to think of any other team that just got unlucky in seeding/division whatever.

Possibly the Caps are another example, managing to repeatedly run into the Pens who seem to have their number.

For the record, I'm a Wings fan.

 

[Trap Jesus]

The Blues thing was true up until 2014/15. Kings and Blackhawks 3 straight years is obviously a **** draw, but Wild, Sharks and now Preds should all have been winnable series.

Edit: I'm just talking about more recent history. If you want to go way back, you can talk about going up against the Canadiens and Bruins at the turn of the 70s.

 

[Ozz]

More like some teams get luckier than the rest, happening upon an easy matchup at some point.

 

[kingsholygrail]

Don't forget they were the ritual sacrifice to the O6 Cup teams in their first three years.

 

[jw2]

WC teams in the late 90s. Avs, Wings, Stars. If you survived, you had to play that damn trap and Broduer in the finals.

 

[TheBluePenguin]

The unluckiest thing to happen to the Blues was when they got their number one overall draft pick, it was a year without clear cut stud like other teams, I mean look at the #1 picks around the Blues..... any of those players on this team and maybe we are up 3-1..


2004 Washington Capitals Alexander Ovechkin
2005 Pittsburgh Penguins Sidney Crosby
2006 St. Louis Blues Erik Johnson
2007 Chicago Blackhawks Patrick Kane
2008 Tampa Bay Lightning Steven Stamkos
2009 New York Islanders John Tavares

 

[Pred303]

most every team has some kind of 'unlucky' story like this.

take the preds and their playoff opponents for instance. the last 6 times they have been put out of the playoffs, the team they lost to won the next round matchup. 3 of those 6 times after losing tight series in which they were tied 2-2 to teams that went on to win the cup (CHI 14-15, CHI 9-10, DET 7-8). and two of the other 3 loses were to teams that lost in the cup round (VAN, SJS)

 

[TitansVolsPreds615]

Preds got dominated by the Wings and Hawks dynasties and the mid 2000s Sharks squad that was so tough every year.

 

[McRpro]

The unluckiest thing to happen to the Blues was when they got their number one overall draft pick, it was a year without clear cut stud like other teams, I mean look at the #1 picks around the Blues..... any of those players on this team and maybe we are up 3-1..


2004 Washington Capitals Alexander Ovechkin
2005 Pittsburgh Penguins Sidney Crosby
2006 St. Louis Blues Erik Johnson
2007 Chicago Blackhawks Patrick Kane
2008 Tampa Bay Lightning Steven Stamkos
2009 New York Islanders John Tavares

To be fair Johnson was certainly higher thought of than Kane was the following year.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

The unluckiest thing to happen to the Blues was when they got their number one overall draft pick, it was a year without clear cut stud like other teams, I mean look at the #1 picks around the Blues..... any of those players on this team and maybe we are up 3-1..


2004 Washington Capitals Alexander Ovechkin
2005 Pittsburgh Penguins Sidney Crosby
2006 St. Louis Blues Erik Johnson
2007 Chicago Blackhawks Patrick Kane
2008 Tampa Bay Lightning Steven Stamkos
2009 New York Islanders John Tavares

Erik Johnson absolutely was seen as a clear-cut stud...then he went golfing.

That part is awful luck, but the Blues thought they were getting a franchise #1 defenseman when they selected Johnson. Plus, I mean...Toews, Backstrom, & Kessel all went soon after Johnson. It wasn't like there wasn't immense talent available.

There was more hype for Johnson in 2006 than there was for Kane the following year.

To be fair Johnson was certainly higher thought of than Kane was the following year.

Instant corroboration is always nice

 

[DNA]

The Buffalo Sabres... ainec!

 

[SourOil]

The Buffalo Sabres... ainec!

Yeah - that would have been a rough one.

 

[Moon Knight]

The unluckiest thing to happen to the Blues was when they got their number one overall draft pick, it was a year without clear cut stud like other teams, I mean look at the #1 picks around the Blues..... any of those players on this team and maybe we are up 3-1..


2004 Washington Capitals Alexander Ovechkin
2005 Pittsburgh Penguins Sidney Crosby
2006 St. Louis Blues Erik Johnson
2007 Chicago Blackhawks Patrick Kane
2008 Tampa Bay Lightning Steven Stamkos
2009 New York Islanders John Tavares

You guys got Tarasenko a few years later though so it really isn't all that bad at all.

 

[stl76]

Don't forget they were the ritual sacrifice to the O6 Cup teams in their first three years.

MOST ICONIC MOMENT IN BLUES PLAYOFF HISTORY


not even joking.

 

[Lshap]

The Blues thing was true up until 2014/15. Kings and Blackhawks 3 straight years is obviously a **** draw, but Wild, Sharks and now Preds should all have been winnable series.

Edit: I'm just talking about more recent history. If you want to go way back, you can talk about going up against the Canadiens and Bruins at the turn of the 70s.

When St Louis acquired Ryan Miller a few years back, this board anointed them the next Cup-winner. They were pretty stacked from back to front, and it's fair to call them unlucky when they kept running into Chicago or LA.

But facing the Habs and Bruins back in the late-60s/early-70s, they were sacrificial lambs. The Blues were the best of a crop of weak expansion teams and never had a chance against the two O6 powerhouses of the day.

 

[These Are The Days]

The Lightning in recent memory. 2 years ago they make their way to the SCF and Johnson messes up his hand and Kucherov nearly gets killed in game 5 in that collision with the net. Last year they lose Bishop in game 1 of the ECF, Stamkos out for the entire playoffs minus game 7 and Stralman at 50% Then we follow it up this year by practically losing our entire lineup by the end of the season and barely missing the playoffs.

Gotta love it folks

 

[Kirikanoir]

And talking about the Oilers, didn't they manage to draw the Dallas Stars several times in the playoffs during Doug Weight's time and kept losing when they would have had a much better chance against most other opponents.

Are there any other teams that just got a raw deal in the playoffs?

Edmonton did not get a raw deal, don`t want to face Dallas every year then finish higher up in the standings.

2002-03 Edmonton 36-26-11-9=92 8th lost to Dallas 111 points 1st
2000-01 Edmonton 39-28-12-3=93 6th lost to Dallas 106 points 3rd
1999-00 Edmonton 32-26-16-8=88 7th lost to Dallas 102 points 3rd
1998-99 Edmonton 33-37-12=78 8th lost to Dallas 114 points 1st
1997-98 Edmonton 35-37-10=80 7th lost to Dallas 109 points 1st
1996-97 Edmonton 36-37-9=81 7th defeated Dallas 104 points 2nd

Even if Edmonton gets by or does not play Dallas, they would still be facing power house teams like Detroit (3 cups in that time period) Colorado defending champions in 97 who would go on to another cup and 5 conference finals)

 

[Lshap]

MOST ICONIC MOMENT IN BLUES PLAYOFF HISTORY


not even joking.

My very first hockey memory was watching Montreal beat St Louis at the end of the 60s. Sacrificial lambs indeed, but I'll always have a soft spot for the Blues.

 

[The Macho King]

When St Louis acquired Ryan Miller a few years back, this board anointed them the next Cup-winner. They were pretty stacked from back to front, and it's fair to call them unlucky when they kept running into Chicago or LA.

But facing the Habs and Bruins back in the late-60s/early-70s, they were sacrificial lambs. The Blues were the best of a crop of weak expansion teams and never had a chance against the two O6 powerhouses of the day.

Probably better for HoH... but why were the Flyers the first to crack the O6 stranglehold?

 

[BMOK33]

The Jets in the 1980s