Spez
Registered User
- Feb 14, 2013
- 981
- 0
It happens to every team. They are up big in a game or in a series and all of a sudden the wheels come off and we're left dumbfounded how the team blew it. That being said we've been on the heels of a few memorable collapses that potentially prevented us from getting further in a playoff run or maybe even making the playoffs in general. I'm going to list 4 memorable ones I can remember. I'd like to see which one the people here feel like was the worst collapse and left you with an empty feeling. If there is one not on the list feel free to share it.
1) The Ricard Persson Collapse- Up 3-2 in the series, up 2-0 on home ice and a chance to get revenge for 2 straight playoff losses to the leafs. Ricard Persson takes a horrible 5 minute major penalty that eventually leads to the leafs tying the game. They would eventually end up winning the game 4-3 and we all remember the game 7 no show after. You could argue this cost the team a chance to be in the finals. They would have given Carolina a much tougher test though they still would have been steamrolled by the wings in the finals. However, maybe the loss to Carolina or Detroit would have given them the experience they needed to reach and win the finals in 03.
2) The Flu Game- Up 4-0 against Toronto, it looked like it was lights out and that we'd win what in hindsight would have given us home ice in the playoffs vs them. Sure you can talk about the 6-0 beatdown that cost us home ice but we only finished 1 pt behind them for the 4th seed. Unfortunately the team started to drop like flies and of course Owen Nolan brought forth the winner and the infamous boohoo comment. I personally believe we could have beaten the leafs in 04 if we had home ice. We did win 2 out of the 3 home games in the playoffs. Who knows how far we could have gone that year considering we beat the flyers twice before and would have faced them had we gotten past the leafs.
3) Game 6 2010 vs Penguins- Coming from an incredible 3OT game vs the Pens that kept our season alive the team jumped to a 3-0 lead and it looked like game 7 was looming. Unfortunately the team decided to sit back and Cooke would make it 3-1. Fisher then looked to have the dagger goal but it was disallowed. That seemed to deflate the team as they continued to allow the pens to take it to them and to no surprise they tied the game. In OT Cory Clouston made the worst coaching decision in his time here. With the pens icing the puck he decided to put the 4th line on. The pens would go the other way and hem us in before Dupuis buried the winner. Had we won that game and then game 7 I still believe we could have made a run to the finals before losing to the hawks. We matched up well vs the habs/flyers that year though it's possible we could have been Halak'd like the caps were.
4) The 2007-2008 season- We came out like gang busters that season that had people wondering if we were going to set an NHL record in pts. It looked like a team that was on a mission to get back to the finals and win that cup. Unfortunately Paddock overplayed the top line and they eventually ran out of gas, the D regressed mightly (especially Redden/Mez), Gerber came down to earth after his hot start and Emery didn't reclaim the number 1 job back like we thought he would. I remember a mid season showdown vs the wings was viewed as a potential SCF preview and we won a thriller. We were still on top of the league at that point and it looked like things were going to be fine after that game. However, not long after things fell apart. All the in-fighting in practice, the Emery distraction and a huge slump led to Paddock being fired. Things got so bad at one point we wondered if we'd even make the playoffs. We did make it eventually though thanks to Carolina choking down the stretch including their final game vs the panthers (thanks Martin). In the end we made it only to get destroyed by a pens team that clearly tanked the last game of the season to face us in the 1st round.
There's probably more but these are the moments that stick out to me the most. I would pick the 07-08 season as the worst collapse ever. It's not unique to see teams start hot and fade (see 2012 wild/leafs) down the stretch, but the way in which it happened was mind boggling. That team should have been able to reach the finals and win the cup but hiring Paddock at the time was the worst thing we could do. Even a lot of posters here were not a fan because most assistants that get promoted to HC rarely do well.
1) The Ricard Persson Collapse- Up 3-2 in the series, up 2-0 on home ice and a chance to get revenge for 2 straight playoff losses to the leafs. Ricard Persson takes a horrible 5 minute major penalty that eventually leads to the leafs tying the game. They would eventually end up winning the game 4-3 and we all remember the game 7 no show after. You could argue this cost the team a chance to be in the finals. They would have given Carolina a much tougher test though they still would have been steamrolled by the wings in the finals. However, maybe the loss to Carolina or Detroit would have given them the experience they needed to reach and win the finals in 03.
2) The Flu Game- Up 4-0 against Toronto, it looked like it was lights out and that we'd win what in hindsight would have given us home ice in the playoffs vs them. Sure you can talk about the 6-0 beatdown that cost us home ice but we only finished 1 pt behind them for the 4th seed. Unfortunately the team started to drop like flies and of course Owen Nolan brought forth the winner and the infamous boohoo comment. I personally believe we could have beaten the leafs in 04 if we had home ice. We did win 2 out of the 3 home games in the playoffs. Who knows how far we could have gone that year considering we beat the flyers twice before and would have faced them had we gotten past the leafs.
3) Game 6 2010 vs Penguins- Coming from an incredible 3OT game vs the Pens that kept our season alive the team jumped to a 3-0 lead and it looked like game 7 was looming. Unfortunately the team decided to sit back and Cooke would make it 3-1. Fisher then looked to have the dagger goal but it was disallowed. That seemed to deflate the team as they continued to allow the pens to take it to them and to no surprise they tied the game. In OT Cory Clouston made the worst coaching decision in his time here. With the pens icing the puck he decided to put the 4th line on. The pens would go the other way and hem us in before Dupuis buried the winner. Had we won that game and then game 7 I still believe we could have made a run to the finals before losing to the hawks. We matched up well vs the habs/flyers that year though it's possible we could have been Halak'd like the caps were.
4) The 2007-2008 season- We came out like gang busters that season that had people wondering if we were going to set an NHL record in pts. It looked like a team that was on a mission to get back to the finals and win that cup. Unfortunately Paddock overplayed the top line and they eventually ran out of gas, the D regressed mightly (especially Redden/Mez), Gerber came down to earth after his hot start and Emery didn't reclaim the number 1 job back like we thought he would. I remember a mid season showdown vs the wings was viewed as a potential SCF preview and we won a thriller. We were still on top of the league at that point and it looked like things were going to be fine after that game. However, not long after things fell apart. All the in-fighting in practice, the Emery distraction and a huge slump led to Paddock being fired. Things got so bad at one point we wondered if we'd even make the playoffs. We did make it eventually though thanks to Carolina choking down the stretch including their final game vs the panthers (thanks Martin). In the end we made it only to get destroyed by a pens team that clearly tanked the last game of the season to face us in the 1st round.
There's probably more but these are the moments that stick out to me the most. I would pick the 07-08 season as the worst collapse ever. It's not unique to see teams start hot and fade (see 2012 wild/leafs) down the stretch, but the way in which it happened was mind boggling. That team should have been able to reach the finals and win the cup but hiring Paddock at the time was the worst thing we could do. Even a lot of posters here were not a fan because most assistants that get promoted to HC rarely do well.
