Similarities between Columbus and Leicester City F.C.?

[ulvvf]

Are Columbus Blue Jackets the NHL's Leicester City of the British Premier League (BPL)?

Both teams do not have star player and are considered very average, however, both play a solid team game and play for each other.

Do you think CBJ could win the Presidents Trophy similar to what Leicester City did in the BPL? Leicester City is now dominating the Champions League and perhaps could win it all. Could CBJ do something similar and win the Stanley Cup this year?

Could this be the Cinderella story the NHL has been waiting for so long?

No, it is far more even i NHL than in PL. Maybe if NHL didnt have draft and salary cap, so it would be a few all-star teams in NHL.

 

[Carolinas Identity*]

[ME]not sure why my Jamie Vardy post vanished but suffice it to say that i agree w/ most of what is being said here

leicester have some very talented players

these two teams are not really comparable imo

 

[KlefDown]

Nick Folino = N'golo Kante?
Werenski = Mahrez?!?!

 

[major major]

I don't know the Leicester story that well - did they develop tons of home grown talent (some stars even) that didn't have widespread name recognition because of where they played, and so they caught folks off guard? Yeah that's like Columbus.

 

[Carolinas Identity*]

Nick Folino = N'golo Kante?
Werenski = Mahrez?!?!

brandon dubinsky = shinji okazaki

 

[WesMcCauley]

Leicester winning the league was one of the biggest upsets ever in all sports. It's like Columbus winning the league with a 10 million cap team and the biggest teams are 100 mill cap teams. I don't think a lot of Americans understand how insane it was unless they follow European football and has done that for many many years! As I said, one of/if not the biggest upset in sports ever!

 

[Carolinas Identity*]

Leicester winning the league was one of the biggest upsets ever in all sports. It's like Columbus winning the league with a 10 million cap team and the biggest teams are 100 mill cap teams. I don't think a lot of Americans understand how insane it was unless they follow European football and has done that for many many years! As I said, one of/if not the biggest upset in sports ever!

it is not unprecedented tho

as an example

the indians were 1 game away from the ws with the league's 26th ranked payroll last season

 

[WesMcCauley]

it is not unprecedented tho

as an example

the indians were 1 game away from the ws with the league's 26th ranked payroll last season

Sure but european football doesnt have a draft which helps spread out talent. You can pretty much pick out the top 6 teams in the league prior to the season and you would be right 95% of the time... Its not like that in American sports.

 

[MomoSissokko]

Odds could indicate that Leicester Premiership was more difficult, but winning -the Blue Jackets as surprise, surprise - the Stanley cup is more difficult, as it means to win 4 playoff rounds best of 7.

Leicester has been underestimated for a long time and in a tournament the first matches count exactly the same as the last matches.

Also it does not seem in the NHL that so many important teams have such big problems or a year "off" like last year's Chelsea, Liverpool, ManU, ManCity etc.
In soccer this happens very rarely, example given in Italy 1985 winner Verona, in Germany 1998 winner Kaiserslautern.

 

[Mats13]

Are Columbus Blue Jackets the NHL's Leicester City of the British Premier League (BPL)?

Both teams do not have star player and are considered very average, however, both play a solid team game and play for each other.

Do you think CBJ could win the Presidents Trophy similar to what Leicester City did in the BPL? Leicester City is now dominating the Champions League and perhaps could win it all. Could CBJ do something similar and win the Stanley Cup this year?

Could this be the Cinderella story the NHL has been waiting for so long?

1. No.

2. Mahrez was definitely a star player, so no you're wrong again.

3. Dominating Champions League? Really? They might not make it through the round of 16...

4. You have no knowledge of the EPL clearly and you don't understand the domination of the top 4. Leicester broke the dominance of the top 4 of English football. I think that was the first time in over a decade that it's happened. Nothing in North American sports can compare to that.

Ya, Columbus isn't remotely similar.

 

[Tulipunaruusu*]

Being a star comes after the hype which made all those underrated Leicester names stars. If the Blue Jackets were to win the Stanley Cup or even go long into the spring I believe the common perception of reality would also change. Hype effect drafts (WJC MVP!) and GM ranking far more than detailed and well-researched input. What you see is not real.

Utmost vertical style of play with absolute demand for individual skill and ability plus the decision to hire ridiculed head coach for a turnaround job...

Head coach Ranieni joined Leicester after a brief spell with Greece national team which was far more disastrous than Tortorella's trip to Vancouver given that the continued top performance of Greece since the 2004 European Championship tournament victory turned into a freefall defeat against Faroe Islands (population 49 000) under his command!

 

[Privet]

Great points by everyone.

But I would argue that Columbus was predicted to finish dead last in the standings by some "experts". Especially with their very difficult two month schedule playing against top teams, many, including myself predicted Torts to be fired by Christmas.

Both teams predicted to play poorly the whole season, instead they both rise to the challenge and won their leagues (Columbus potentially winning).

 

[Mats13]

Great points by everyone.

But I would argue that Columbus was predicted to finish dead last in the standings by some "experts". Especially with their very difficult two month schedule playing against top teams, many, including myself predicted Torts to be fired by Christmas.

Both teams predicted to play poorly the whole season, instead they both rise to the challenge and won their leagues (Columbus potentially winning).

Here's the big difference tho. There's a level of parity in the NHL that doesn't exist in the EPL.

Chelsea, City, United and Arsenal have won every title in the last TWO decades.

Leicester is the first team in over 20 years to break the dominance. There's simply no NHL team that can be compared to that.

 

[Quarter]

Everyone else has pretty much said what I would have said so I'll focus on a small detail from the OP instead.

The 'B' in 'BPL' stood for 'Barclays', the league's sponsor, not 'British'. The league dropped the sponsor from the name and rebranded itself as the 'Premier League' for the 16/17 season (and further down the table, English Football League Championship, EFL One, and EFL Two respectively). It's simply the PL now.

 

[Finlandia WOAT]

The closest would be Carolina beating Detroit on 2002 SC finals, breaking the dominance of Dallas, New Jersey, Detroit and Colorado.

A team that was predicted to nmbe terrible, but is actually good, happens all the time.

 

[Terry Yake]

no i wouldn't say there are any similarities

just look at LC's odds to win the Premier League. that was one of the biggest stunners in sports history

columbus winning the cup would be one of the biggest upsets in hockey history but not quite on LC's level

 

[Sam Spade]

Not even close. There is a lot of talent on the Jackets.

Although I will admit it would be a great story for Torts, who was absolutely eviscerated after the World Cup.

Coyotes would have been a more apt comparison had they been any good.

 

[TheLeastOfTheBunch]

Not even close

 

[Beville]

Yeah this.

Comparing a salary cap league to the BPL is impossible. Also Leicester had the easiest group by far in the CL.

Might have an "easy" group in the Champions League Qualifying however point to note they got slapped 5-0 and whilst Claudio said they're "focusing" on the CL, they won't go far... at all.

They're also SUCKING in the Premiership

It's very difficult to compare the teams;

I suppose the closest was when Ottawa had their crazy 25-30 games to finish the season, that was a proper "cinderella story" a lot like Leicester...

 

[ulvvf]

Leicester winning the league was one of the biggest upsets ever in all sports. It's like Columbus winning the league with a 10 million cap team and the biggest teams are 100 mill cap teams. I don't think a lot of Americans understand how insane it was unless they follow European football and has done that for many many years! As I said, one of/if not the biggest upset in sports ever!

I would also add, the draft, it plays a big part in it also. It is not just the salary difference that is thing, but in NHL the worse team always get the best young players, and they get them very cheap in the beginning. It is more of the opposite in football, all the best young players move to the biggest clubs.

 

[Jyrki Lumme]

It's not the same. There's too much parity in the NHL, the worst team in the league can beat the best team on any given night. A home match for the best team in the Prem against a relegation contender is almost a guaranteed victory with 60-70% possession.

What Leicester did would be similar to if an NHL team could only afford to give out league minimum contracts to 25+ year old NHL, KHL, and AHL castoffs.

 

[Mobiandi]

What? No. Leicester's feat was the greatest in sport history. Nothing else will ever match that

 

[Tulipunaruusu*]

The bigger picture is that these are two ball sports teams playing with the exact same, distinct highly vertical approach under recently horribly failed head coach, with similar undiscovered material in their disposal thanks to the Scout (Steve Walsh for Leicester) who is very adept at identifying player talent before anyone else takes notice.

Forget the money. Never tell me the odds. The only difference I could see is that Leicester main men were just a tad more experienced but of course the Blue Jackets have also some experienced names with Hartnell leading the charge.

 

[ViCiieux]

There is none.
Leicester is the biggest upset in the history of professional sports.

 

[Pyrophorus]

There is none.
Leicester is the biggest upset in the history of professional sports.

No. They both wear blue.