Was the 2010 ECSF by the Bruins the biggest choke job in NHL history?

Sensators

Registered User
Sep 15, 2009
1,124
541
I mean the team they lost to went on to the stanley cup finals at least..? Phili was quite deep at that time - still should be able to close them out of course but at least it wasn't to a team that just got knocked out one round later.
 

jgatie

HFBoards Sponsor
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Sep 22, 2011
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Up 3-0 in the series, blow the lead, up THREE TO ZERO in GAME 7 IN BOSTON, and they end up blowing that lead and lose the game and the series 4-3.

Was this the biggest choke job in NHL history?

Since the same choke has been done 4 times in NHL history, then no.
 

Syckle78

Registered User
Nov 5, 2011
14,585
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Redford, MI
What? Detroit was only just removed from being the Dead Things back then, nobody knew they'd become the powerhouse they did actually become.
Truth is somewhere in the middle. We were on the cusp but not in the middle of any real success. We were a regular season offensive beast which gave hints of what to come. That playoff series loss was a huge upset but not really a choke. But still remains the most painful playoff loss for me only rivalled by the 95 finals loss.
 

roflstomper

Barzal/Connor/Konecny
Sep 28, 2010
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4,026
Rhode Island
When you look at it on the surface it was a choke. When you dig a little deeper it's still a choke but gets more interesting.

-Flyers and Bruins only finish 3 points apart in regular season.
-Bruins were 29th in GF that year and couldn't buy scoring.
-Flyers incredibly streaky all year.
-Bruins somehow get up 3-0 by winning game 1 in OT etc.
-Marco Sturm Bruins leading goal scorer for season plays 1 game in the series.
-Krejci team leader in points for season and shredding Philly in playoffs goes down in game 3.
-No 23 minute a night Dennis Seidenberg all playoffs.
-Flyers get Gagne back in game 4, proceeds to score 4G 1A in 4 games.

Bruins never even should have been in that series past Buffalo nevermind up 3-0. Flyers were much better than their record and the huge swings in player availability played a major factor. That team was a faaaaar cry fro what it became in 2011. Never should have blown game 7 though especially when they were the best defensive team all year.
 

Butch 19

Go cart Mozart
May 12, 2006
16,526
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Geographical Oddity
Up 3-0 in the series, blow the lead, up THREE TO ZERO in GAME 7 IN BOSTON, and they end up blowing that lead as well and lose the game and the series 4-3.

Was this the biggest choke job in NHL history?

a little more background / information would be nice.

I simply don't remember every p.o. series from 5+ years ago.

There's also a history forum on HF....
 

BenchBrawl

Registered User
Jul 26, 2010
30,844
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Probably, but it's just a semi-final.A "lesser" choke in a bigger moment is worst IMO.
 

tony d

Registered User
Jun 23, 2007
76,590
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Behind A Tree
It's up there but the time in the playoffs it happened I don't think it's the biggest. The 1942 finals between Detroit and Toronto is the answer here.
 

McGarnagle

Yes.
Aug 5, 2017
28,435
37,669
As has been pointed out already, the Bruins were devastated by injury over the course of the series, while the Flyers got key players back in their lineup at the same time.

Krejci going down in game 3 was the breaking point. Their centers were Bergeron, Savard -who shouldn't have been playing after the Cooke hit - Steve Begin, and Trent Whitfield. After Sturm went out, their wingers were basically Lucic, Recchi, Satan, and nothing else.

Just a shell of a lineup from games 4-7, if they survived, Montreal would've been favored in the ECF, and Chicago would've destroyed them in the SCF

I believe over the course of the comeback Philly got Carter and Gagne back as well.

They still should've won game 7 after going up 3-0 in the first period. I've always felt Rask is holding most of the guilt for giving up the softest goal I've ever seen in my life to get Philly back in the game right at the end of the first period. But the Bruins in general have more of an excuse for losing that series than the 2014 Sharks do for choking to LA. They always get off the hook for some reason while people mock the 2010 Bruins, who pretty solidly exorcised their demons the following season.
 
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bobholly39

Registered User
Mar 10, 2013
22,078
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I mean it was pretty bad but from a historical standpoint i don't think it's that bad because they came back and won next year. In the moment - sure it was huge, and it's horribly bad. But impact-wise the cup win negates a lot of it
 

goeb

Registered User
Oct 24, 2013
355
203
Grand Rapids, Michigan
That was one of the worst...Capitals blowing that 3-1 lead was almost as bad in my opinion. ...ironically the Flyers and Habs met in the Conference Finals.

To the Bruins credit: 1) The Flyers ran roughshod over the Devils in round 1 and Habs in round 3 to get to the finals. Bruins put up a good fight at least 2) The Bruins easily avenged that series loss in 2011.
 

Merya

Jokerit & Finland; anti-theist
Sep 23, 2008
2,279
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Helsinki
I don't think it's fair to cut a series in half and point it as a choke. Yes they failed to close the series, but noone would talk about a choke if they had won games in other order.
Biggest choke is Toronto without cup for over 50 years. Money well spent...
 

Normand Lacombe

Registered User
Jan 30, 2008
1,442
1,352
If this series was the 2010 Stanley Cup Final, it would have been the greatest choke job. Blowing a 3-0 lead in your own building would have made it worse than the 1942 Final. As it was, it was just the 2nd round and not the biggest choke job.

From what I remember, in two of the Flyers losses, they came back from 2 goal deficits only to see Boston pull it out at the end. It wasn't as though Boston was dominating the Flyers in the first 3 games. In hindsight, the momentum shifted when Krejci was injured, while Gagne simultaneously returned for the Flyers. Boston more than redeemed themselves the next season.
 

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