theIceWookie
#LeafHysteriaAlert
Well Toronto, NYI, Montreal and Columbus are all in a playoff spot after finishing in the bottom 5 of the NHL overall last year.
All these teams are not "better" necessarily then team like Philly, NJ or Detroit for example, who are perrenial Cup contenders year after year in a 82 game season.
A 48 game season is a sprint and so some of these teams are simply currently involved in the playoffs due to a shortened season and being the "fastest" teams to pass > 50 points, and having the season cut short preventing others now from passing them.
We all know its harder to sustain success over a longer period than it is to gain success over a shorter one. (larger the sample\data set ie more games played the more accurate the true results become).
Now this is not to take anything away from our Leafs, who earned their spot on merit of the rules as set out by this lockout shortened season.
You know it is possible for a team to actually get worse right? History doesn't necessarily determine the future. Just because Team A has been good for the past 4, 6 or even 10 years doesn't mean they will be this year and next. Same for Team B who has been bad for the past 4, 6 or 10 years but is good this year.
Teams develop, get better, or regress and lose players.