I'd be interested to see how you go about proving that fact.
Literally just follow any Stanley Cup winning team, follow the road they went through.
Every single one of them will have had fortunate bounces along the way. It's the biggest reason why the Stanley Cup is considered to be the hardest trophy to win in sports. Not only do you have to be at least a good enough team to make the playoffs, but then once you get into the playoffs you have to continue to elevate your game on top of getting the favorable bounces for 4 straight series.
If luck wasn't a huge factor, it would be like the NBA where you basically see the same superstar teams and players winning every year.
But because of the parity in the NHL, because of the Salary cap being what it is, it makes the margin between teams significantly smaller. Even more so for the teams that make the playoffs. Hence in order to win a series you have to get favorable bounces that go your way. In order to win the cup, that needs to happen 4 times in a row.
I mean take this Montreal team right now for example. Against Vegas alone, they won 2 games in OT. One of which they won off a Fleury mistake that he probably makes maybe 5 times out of 100 plays behind the net. But that bounce went the Habs way, got them into OT in a game they didn't really deserve to get to OT, and then they cleaned the game up in OT.
Or take the Toronto/Montreal series. They go down 3-1 and have to peel off 3 straight games against a top tier team to win. Including having to win 2 of those 3 games in OT. Especially in OT in the playoffs it can literally take one play in either direction to win those games. It takes fortunate puck luck to win. Whether the team deserved to win or not.
I mean, the Habs are 5-0 in Overtime in the playoffs this year. That's as fortunate and as lucky as it gets this time of year.
And my point isn't just that the Habs are getting lucky. Every team that wins the cup ever gets lucky to do so. That doesn't mean really great teams haven't also won the cup, as the saying goes "You have to be luck to be good" and it's 100% accurate in hockey. If you're not getting the puck luck in the playoffs you wont win simple as that.
But anyways, credit to the Habs is absolutely deserved. They've stepped up in the playoffs and played very solid structured hockey. They're getting timely contributions all throughout the lineup and Bergevin deserves a lot of credit for the trade deadline acquisitions he made. They are paying off in spades where Colorado's deadline adds certainly did not. And Carey Price has turned the clock back 10 years. And most importantly above all else, even if the statistics suggest they shouldn't be playing hockey right now, they are. Because they all believe in themselves and they are all playing for each other on the ice. Every single guy in that dressing room is fully committed to the plan and that is a huge factor this time of year.
