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Post by boffo on Apr 24, 2019 10:39:32 GMT -5
Looking at the standings from the regular season and the points instead of the seeding it's not as big a shock to see what has happened in the first round. If you exclude Tampa the difference from 2nd to 8th in the East was only 9 points. 1st to 8th in the West was 17 points. If you take Boston and Calgary out of that the differences become 6 and 11 points. So for the most part the difference between a number two or three seed and a 7 or 8 seed is really only two or three regular season wins. Doesn't exactly explain how the two number 1 seeds had a combined record of 1-8 in the playoffs, but it does show how most of the series could have easily gone either way.
One thing is for sure right now. The rest of the playoffs have become much more interesting now and you really get the feeling that any one of these teams is just as likely to win as all the rest. Teams will still get called underdogs, but no one really is.
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Post by titaneddie on Apr 24, 2019 11:00:50 GMT -5
I agree boffo, but its also because the regular season scoring system is very flawed. The league won't change it cause it bunches up the standings and keeps alot of teams "in the hunt" with no real chance of making it.
This year was a bit different, and i cant recall the exact numbers but normally teams in playoff spots by US Thanksgiving usually stay there.
It really needs to go to a 3-2-1 scoring system. It wont happen, but it should. It makes zero sense that some games 2 points are awarded and others 3 from a true competitive standpoint.
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Post by ErixonStone on Apr 24, 2019 14:48:12 GMT -5
With a hard salary cap and revenue sharing, the NHL has created a league where most of the teams are bunched up in the middle. There just isn't a whole lot between 3-seeds and teams out of the playoffs.
When the intensity ramps up, and referees ignore obvious fouls that would have been called during the regular season, different skill sets become more important. The ability to work in space is diminished and the ability to win battles along the boards and in front of the nets becomes emphasized.
That's why you see so many upsets in the NHL playoffs; the game is just significantly different -- enough so that the structured, physical teams have an advantage over the skilled teams. The best teams have an abundance of one, and enough of the other.
The Lightning and Penguins didn't bring their grit. The Flames didn't bring their skill. There isn't much separating the Caps and Canes. There wasn't much separating the Bruins and Leafs or the Knights and Sharks or the Stars and Preds or Blues and Jets. There isn't much separating all these teams from the Habs, Flyers or Coyotes.
NHL star forwards play about 35% of the game. That is markedly different from other sports where the best players play 80%. Star players in hockey have less influence than stars in other sports.
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Post by boffo on Apr 24, 2019 15:28:37 GMT -5
Easily proven by looking at the scoring leader list from the regular season. 14 players finished the season with 90+ points. Of those 5 played for a team that missed the playoffs, including two each from Edmonton and Florida. Of the remaining 9 only Marchand and MacKinnon have made it to the second round. Makes the idea of paying a single player $10 million+ per season in a salary cap system seem foolish.
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Post by titaneddie on Apr 24, 2019 15:47:40 GMT -5
When the intensity ramps up, and referees ignore obvious fouls that would have been called during the regular season, different skill sets become more important. The ability to work in space is diminished and the ability to win battles along the boards and in front of the nets becomes emphasized. That's why you see so many upsets in the NHL playoffs; the game is just significantly different -- enough so that the structured, physical teams have an advantage over the skilled teams. The best teams have an abundance of one, and enough of the other. I can agree with this. Also there's far more effort from far more players that just isn't seen on a Wednesday night in December at the end of 4 game road trip vs a non divisional opponent. It really is a completely different season. That's why there probably needs to be more of a "carrot" dangled for regular season success. |
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Post by boffo on Apr 24, 2019 16:41:23 GMT -5
That being said, when its' game 7 and you're trailing by two goals early in the third period it would seem like a good idea to stop rolling four lines and get your star players out there every chance you get. Or maybe not since the supposed best coach in the league sure didn't seem to think so.
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Post by DoubtfulObelisk on Apr 25, 2019 0:04:20 GMT -5
Wow, what an absolutely crazy first round. Looks like I went 2-for-8 (Boston & Colorado) in the prediction department. Can't believe all four division champs are out already. Credit to the Stars for playing a great series; they absolutely dominated games 3 through 5 and deserved to advance. titaneddie, I guess the Preds-Jets rivalry will have to play out on the golf course this year (or maybe in Fortnite if some Preds want to join Laine)... Let's try this again: Colorado in 6 St. Louis in 5 Boston in 7 NY Islanders in 5 |
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Post by boffo on Apr 25, 2019 4:49:59 GMT -5
I got Boston, Isles, and St. Louis right. Going to be some really boring hockey pools out there with most of the favourites already gone.
From a personal standpoint, Tampa and especially Washington being eliminated has opened things up substantially for the Bruins. That being said I'll pick:
Columbus in 6
Isles in 6
San Jose in 7
St. Louis in 7
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Post by cliffs on Apr 25, 2019 8:45:03 GMT -5
Agree with this.
I think that is why there are a lot of empty seats at baseball games. If your team isn't making post season fans tend to lose interest. I also believe that is why Fenway park will never be torn down/replaced. Just the right amount of fans to keep the seats filled compared to some of the over the top seating in new parks.
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Post by boffo on May 6, 2019 21:57:54 GMT -5
So far my 2nd round predictions have sucked, but I’m glad I got one wrong. Boston/Columbus was just a solid round of playoff style hockey. Close, hard hitting games and nobody was whining about it unlike the Toronto series. It feels like this series changed after the Jackets got that fluke goal in game 4 after the puck had gone out of play. Aside from a brief stretch in period 3 of game 5 the Bruins, especially Rask just seemed so much more focused after that.
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Post by cliffs on May 7, 2019 4:49:12 GMT -5
Got to watch the 1st period last night of the Bruins game before we had a multi town power outage. Power came back on with 3:30 left in game. Boston was up 3-0 so no biggie other than we did not get to watch it.
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Post by boffo on May 9, 2019 14:04:09 GMT -5
Not going to waste my time making predictions for this round. Would love to see a Boston-San Jose final as that ensures that I either get to see my team win, or Joe Thornton finally win. Not quite win-win but win-not feel as bad about the loss.
Side note:mrooola's Boston-St. Louis finals prediction actually still has a chance.
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Post by ErixonStone on May 9, 2019 16:43:09 GMT -5
St. Louis and San Jose... two Western Conference perennial "chokers" in the conference finals - Sharks for the 2nd time in 4 years. Seems weird.
Since 2002, every time the Hurricanes bother to make the playoffs, they make the conference finals.
Then there's Boston which has been good for a decade - only narrowly missing the playoffs twice (with 93 and 96 points) during "rebuilding" years.
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Post by ErixonStone on May 9, 2019 16:45:23 GMT -5
By the way, as I watched the Sharks/Avs game, I thought "The best players on the ice are Grubauer, MacKinnon, and every Shark." I didn't realize MacKinnon was playing hurt. He is amazing.
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Post by boffo on May 9, 2019 18:17:00 GMT -5
St. Louis and San Jose... two Western Conference perennial "chokers" in the conference finals - Sharks for the 2nd time in 4 years. Seems weird. Since 2002, every time the Hurricanes bother to make the playoffs, they make the conference finals. Then there's Boston which has been good for a decade - only narrowly missing the playoffs twice (with 93 and 96 points) during "rebuilding" years. Sharks for the second time in 4 years and they played St. Louis the first time so it's their second in 4 as well. Neither with a Cup in franchise history and the chance of a first timer is always nice. I've loved how the moment it became obvious Boston would be playing Carolina all the media types have been jokingly calling the Hurricanes the Whalers instead. A very tired joke already, but I could only wish it to be so because that rivalry never ended well for the Whalers. |
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