I haven't followed this season as closely as I have others because the Rangers have sucked but I think that this is the best season post-lockout from what I've seen. But what's the worst?
This will be LONG!
*****Warning, I might offend some people with my criticism of their teams, but this includes the Rangers*****
So let's start with the regular season. That season saw the Bud Light version of the 2010-2011 Canucks win the Presidents' trophy with the fewest amount of points by any Presidents' trophy winner since the lockout, I believe. I remember their own fans not thinking much of the team. Now mind you, they just finished a season where they made it to game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals and a fantastic Presidents' trophy winning team that was #1 in most team stats. Still that team kind of was good but not amazing most of the year from what I remember and finally overcame a Rangers team that fell ass backwards into a 109 point season, on the last day or so. I seem to remember that the St. Louis Blues were one their biggest competitors. Those were the Blues, I believe pre-Tarasenko. They were fantastic defensively. A little too fantastic. I feel like they'd go weeks before they wouldn't allow more than 2 goals in a game and usually didn't allow more than one. It was excruciating. They didn't have much of an offense (21st in the league at 2.51). So watching their games was almost fun as watching a baseball preseason game.
In the east, the aforementioned Rangers were a slightly better version of the 8th seeded team from the year before that got embarrassed by the Capitals in the first round who got swept by the Lightning the next round. I'm exaggerating a bit. Gaborik was infinitely better that season and they did get Richards. Lundqvist had his best season. That was also when our D was pretty solid and Torts had a hell of a season. But that team in way, shape, or form was a 109 point team. But there they were leading the league in points most of the season. Had 4 or 5 separate 5+ game winning streaks that season. Anyway, that was a stressful team to watch, although they did somehow manage to come in 11th in goal scoring with 2.71 goals per game. Which this season would be 25th!!! People love to tell Rangers fans how mediocre the 2014 was, but the 2012 team made the 2014 team look like the 76 Canadians. Anyway, their biggest rivals that season were Boston who at one point in that season looked like a combination of the 84 Oilers and the 76 Canadians. And then some time mid-season started looking like barely a playoff team. The Penguins were pretty good, but it was back when they were Crosby, Malkin, James Neal, and a bunch of other guys. And the Flyers that once lost a 9-8 game to the Winnipeg Jets that finished the season with 84 points and no one was surprised even a little bit. The Devils were kind of an afterthought in the regular season. Their decent record was propped up by being like 50-0 in shootouts.
Now in the playoffs... Let's remember that was after and before the Hawks were good. That was after the Wings were good. That was in the "how the f*** did the Pens lose in the playoffs again" Penguins era. Anyway, long story short it allowed an 8th seeded team albeit one with a solid trade deadline and a top 2 goalie, run roughshod on the league. They beat the aforementioned weak Presidents' trophy winners. Then they beat the St. Louis Blues in their first year of being good before they had their offense and I believe with Pietrangelo injured at least a couple of those games. Then they got to feast on two mediocre teams in the WCF and SCF in Phoenix and NJ (relatively speaking of course).
In the east we had the Bruins losing to one of the more mediocre Capitals teams of the last decade in the first round, even though they won every game like 8-0 for a month in November. The one fun series where the goaltending and defense made the 80s goaltending and defense look like the 95 Devils, was between the Pens and Flyers. Then of course the Flyers got embarrassed next round by a one season wonder in NJ that should have lost to Florida (making their first playoff appearance since 99) in the first round. And the Rangers plodded along spending 90% of games in their zone blocking shots and winning 2-1 and series 4-3. Then they met the juggernaut Devils who have not been heard from since 2003 and haven't been heard from since and Lundqvist was burned out from the team having a Corsi of 1% in front of him and obviously lost.
Of course all this culminated in the most boring conference finals ever where the 4 teams that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy to watch made it in LA, Phoenix, NYR, and NJD. And the final was as boring of a final as I can remember. Of course worst of all this started the mini-dynasty of the post-lockout version of the 90s Devils, the LA Kings.
TL/DR The 2011-2012 season sucked because there was no scoring, no exciting teams, it was before and after actual exciting teams played, and it brought us the worst Conference Final in history and one of the worst SC Finals in history.
This will be LONG!
*****Warning, I might offend some people with my criticism of their teams, but this includes the Rangers*****
So let's start with the regular season. That season saw the Bud Light version of the 2010-2011 Canucks win the Presidents' trophy with the fewest amount of points by any Presidents' trophy winner since the lockout, I believe. I remember their own fans not thinking much of the team. Now mind you, they just finished a season where they made it to game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals and a fantastic Presidents' trophy winning team that was #1 in most team stats. Still that team kind of was good but not amazing most of the year from what I remember and finally overcame a Rangers team that fell ass backwards into a 109 point season, on the last day or so. I seem to remember that the St. Louis Blues were one their biggest competitors. Those were the Blues, I believe pre-Tarasenko. They were fantastic defensively. A little too fantastic. I feel like they'd go weeks before they wouldn't allow more than 2 goals in a game and usually didn't allow more than one. It was excruciating. They didn't have much of an offense (21st in the league at 2.51). So watching their games was almost fun as watching a baseball preseason game.
In the east, the aforementioned Rangers were a slightly better version of the 8th seeded team from the year before that got embarrassed by the Capitals in the first round who got swept by the Lightning the next round. I'm exaggerating a bit. Gaborik was infinitely better that season and they did get Richards. Lundqvist had his best season. That was also when our D was pretty solid and Torts had a hell of a season. But that team in way, shape, or form was a 109 point team. But there they were leading the league in points most of the season. Had 4 or 5 separate 5+ game winning streaks that season. Anyway, that was a stressful team to watch, although they did somehow manage to come in 11th in goal scoring with 2.71 goals per game. Which this season would be 25th!!! People love to tell Rangers fans how mediocre the 2014 was, but the 2012 team made the 2014 team look like the 76 Canadians. Anyway, their biggest rivals that season were Boston who at one point in that season looked like a combination of the 84 Oilers and the 76 Canadians. And then some time mid-season started looking like barely a playoff team. The Penguins were pretty good, but it was back when they were Crosby, Malkin, James Neal, and a bunch of other guys. And the Flyers that once lost a 9-8 game to the Winnipeg Jets that finished the season with 84 points and no one was surprised even a little bit. The Devils were kind of an afterthought in the regular season. Their decent record was propped up by being like 50-0 in shootouts.
Now in the playoffs... Let's remember that was after and before the Hawks were good. That was after the Wings were good. That was in the "how the f*** did the Pens lose in the playoffs again" Penguins era. Anyway, long story short it allowed an 8th seeded team albeit one with a solid trade deadline and a top 2 goalie, run roughshod on the league. They beat the aforementioned weak Presidents' trophy winners. Then they beat the St. Louis Blues in their first year of being good before they had their offense and I believe with Pietrangelo injured at least a couple of those games. Then they got to feast on two mediocre teams in the WCF and SCF in Phoenix and NJ (relatively speaking of course).
In the east we had the Bruins losing to one of the more mediocre Capitals teams of the last decade in the first round, even though they won every game like 8-0 for a month in November. The one fun series where the goaltending and defense made the 80s goaltending and defense look like the 95 Devils, was between the Pens and Flyers. Then of course the Flyers got embarrassed next round by a one season wonder in NJ that should have lost to Florida (making their first playoff appearance since 99) in the first round. And the Rangers plodded along spending 90% of games in their zone blocking shots and winning 2-1 and series 4-3. Then they met the juggernaut Devils who have not been heard from since 2003 and haven't been heard from since and Lundqvist was burned out from the team having a Corsi of 1% in front of him and obviously lost.
Of course all this culminated in the most boring conference finals ever where the 4 teams that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy to watch made it in LA, Phoenix, NYR, and NJD. And the final was as boring of a final as I can remember. Of course worst of all this started the mini-dynasty of the post-lockout version of the 90s Devils, the LA Kings.
TL/DR The 2011-2012 season sucked because there was no scoring, no exciting teams, it was before and after actual exciting teams played, and it brought us the worst Conference Final in history and one of the worst SC Finals in history.
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