Are the Playoffs Rigged? (Put on Your Tinfoil Hat, We're Going In...)

[Standing_Tall#37]

Honestly if you truly believe the NHL is fixed down to who win each series why bother watching anymore. If it were to be fixed over 1500 contracted NHL players would have to be in on it. This is also a job for each player, their life income who are fighting to earn their next contract. A good/bad playoff series changes your pay dramatically, there is simply no way it can be rigged with players in on it. Refs also can help a team have an advantage but games won come down to the players. There for this claim is ridiculous and the discussion should be over with.

You seem to lack the ability to comprehend the difference between "fixing" and "staging". Of course the players are not in on it, most have the i.q. of about 73 and would quack quack a bit too much. As for why do people still watch it?, why do people watch boxing, wrestling... They want to be entertained. Win or lose, I love the game. I've lived and died with my nucks for 24+ years, why quit now,

[AV.]

New York vs LA would have been far more profitable in 2012, IMO.

[Ronalds.Kenins41]

New York vs LA would have been far more profitable in 2012, IMO.

Agree'd. But didn't the other poster say NJ made cause they were losing lots of money at the time.

Seriously though some of the things said in this thread are insane while some makes sense.

[AV.]

Agree'd. But didn't the other poster say NJ made cause they were losing lots of money at the time.

Seriously though some of the things said in this thread are insane while some makes sense.

Yes, Devils were in tough financially, so naturally the Cup finals did/should have contributed to their situation. But the Rangers, specifically Torts, were a team that were making headlines all year round, especially with 24/7 and I imagine that if the league were to "rig" a team going to the finals, it would have been them. You think Luongo and Thomas were entertaining with their jabs, how about a Sutter/Torts rematch, coaching two of the biggest cities in the US, with Torts at an all-time high non-tolerance for the media. An absolute attention grabber scenario.

[Batmania]

You know I post everything I post just to frustrate you, right?

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You know I post everything I post just to frustrate you, right?

Hahahahahahaha.

Hahahahahahahaha.

You know that doesn't matter to me right?

[Ronalds.Kenins41]

Yes, Devils were in tough financially, so naturally the Cup finals did/should have contributed to their situation. But the Rangers, specifically Torts, were a team that were making headlines all year round, especially with 24/7 and I imagine that if the league were to "rig" a team going to the finals, it would have been them. You think Luongo and Thomas were entertaining with their jabs, how about a Sutter/Torts rematch, coaching two of the biggest cities in the US, with Torts at an all-time high non-tolerance for the media. An absolute attention grabber scenario.

Yeah guess it's good both ways. NJ had the 3-2 series lead and game 6 went to OT; anyone's game. NJ wins game 6 goes to the finals. Was a pretty close series though but ultimately NJ was just a bit better.

[Ronalds.Kenins41]

.

[ForsbergTheGreat]

You seem to lack the ability to comprehend the difference between "fixing" and "staging". Of course the players are not in on it, most have the i.q. of about 73 and would quack quack a bit too much. As for why do people still watch it?, why do people watch boxing, wrestling... They want to be entertained. Win or lose, I love the game. I've lived and died with my nucks for 24+ years, why quit now,

You seem to lack the ability to comprehend refs don't have 100% ability to decide a game. If players aren't in on it then what stops sedin's from getting 4 goals each in game 7 SCF, What stops Luongo from becoming an unbeatable wall. Just think, you obviously watched that series you saw how good luongo played in games 1,2 & 5 with out that great individual performance by him canucks likely don't get to game 7. Refs /league had no impact on how good luongo played to get it to that most exciting game 7. Without him it's a 4-1 boring series loss. Honestly please people think about it. Does the NHL favour teams, possibly but does the NHL rig games to pre determine the winner (like Wrestling) extremely unlikely.

There are so many factors that, Why does CBJ owners go along with this conspiracy while they watch BOS rake in the $$$, what about the owners in Atlanta, what about previous owners in NJ that lost millions of dollars when they had to sell the team. There is 30 teams in the league, yes Boston and now the california teams are doing well but it was done through building a good team over years of missing out of the playoffs. Where was the leagues involvement when CHI missed the playoffs for 9 of 10 years. They have had success by simply being better teams.

This biggest flaw to this conspiracy theory is the players determine everything, They have complete control over who wins and who loses. Sedins play good, score on our chances and we likely win. This is peoples lively hoods were talking about. they train their entire lives and give up so much in life to achieve this goal, only to let the league decide who wins and who loses. Come on now use our brains a little here. Only excuse for people to truly believe the NHL is fixed right down to pre determined game winner simply has never played the sport before.

[Apple Juice]

- LA's sudden rise from barely 8th-place overpaid lazyasses to total dominance after a coaching swap? Give me a freakin' break.

- The Devils make it to the finals vs LA? Was that just a reward for taking on Kovy's bs contract? Yes. That team stunk.

Acquiring Regehr and Mike Richards helped the Kings too you know. And on top of Voynov's emergence and getting Jeff Carter for a declining and mediocre Jack Johnson was a win win for the Kings. Then you add in Sutter's coaching and it completely changes the dynamic of how the Kings played. It's no coincidence that the Kings are good now because of what they did over the past few years from being a mediocre non-playoff team to one of the contenders.

Did you see how the Devils were playing that playoff year? They played fantastic defensively and scored timely goals. not to mention Brodeur played lights out when they needed him the most.

[laxgoalie]

[insert numerous bull sh*t]

No stop button in Toronto to check video in 04 calgary finals ? .

[more useless crap]

This is an example of the technology they had at the time:

If they were to use the "stop button" as you said, you can't determine it a good goal because the puck is in the air. The white you see is from the distance the puck has off the line.

Secondly, you said "LA's sudden rise from barely 8th-place overpaid lazyasses to total dominance after a coaching swap? Give me a freakin' break." But go on to complain about how Carolina won the cup... Against the 8th seed OIlers team... Is that not contradicting yourself? Oilers were 8th seed just like the Kings... But its ok because they're Canadian?... Also please explain why, if the NHL is so rigged, the Oilers won against a stronger team in 2006 (2006 standings), then LA did in 2012 (2012 standings). So that being said Oilers had lower odds than LA did, but you just conveniently miss that fact, eh?

Also, Carolina made the cup finals 4 years before in 2002 with a weaker team. So a stronger Carolina squad winning the cup? That's obviously illogical...(sarcasm) (Carolina 2002 vs. Carolina 2006)

Thirdly, "Chicago's 2010 roid-raging powerhouse. Including getting a 300lb fatass defenseman..." As someone said before, Byfuglien never "skated with the wind". He sat in front of the net and collected garbage goals. With the shooters Chicago had, and a 265+lbs guy out front screening? That's going to rack up a lot of points. He put up his best season with Winnipeg, by the way.. A CANADIAN TEAM. (Byfuglien stats)

Fourthly, New Jerseys cup run. Well first round they played Florida. That's an easy win. Second round was the Flyers. Absolutely awful goaltending: 1 Ilya Bryzgalov G 31 11 5 6 37 326 289 .887 3.46 0 642 2 Sergei Bobrovsky G 23 1 0 0 5 18 13 .722 8.11 0 37

So let's consider that easy win #2. 3rd round was New York Rangers (the same Rangers team that almost lost to the 8th seed Ottawa team.. But 8th seed teams never have a chance, do they? ). The season series for NJD and NYR during 2011-2012 was tied at 3 wins a piece for either team, so this series was up in the air. But New Jersey came out on top. Unlikely playoff run? No... Not at all when you look into the stats and use logic....

And lastly, the whole Niedermeyer and Pronger thing. Maybe you should look into those acquisitions before blindly making false accusations. Nidermeyer signing was basically so he could play and win a cup wiht his brother: http://sports.espn.g...tory?id=2124267 And the Pronger trade, this is from Wikipedia: "On June 23, 2006, Pronger requested a trade through his agent, Pat Morris, from the Edmonton Oilers. Edmonton GM Kevin Lowe said that the request was due to personal reasons,while media outlets reported that Pronger's wife, Lauren, was not happy in Edmonton." (source: http://en.wikipedia....i/Chris_Pronger) Niether moves were "unlikely", the Ducks gave up A LOT for Pronger. A defensive prospect, a 1st, a 2nd, AND a young forward who just came off a near 30 season.

Stop spreading useless crap on this forum.

[Standing_Tall#37]

You seem to lack the ability to comprehend refs don't have 100% ability to decide a game. If players aren't in on it then what stops sedin's from getting 4 goals each in game 7 SCF, What stops Luongo from becoming an unbeatable wall. Just think, you obviously watched that series you saw how good luongo played in games 1,2 & 5 with out that great individual performance by him canucks likely don't get to game 7. Refs /league had no impact on how good luongo played to get it to that most exciting game 7. Without him it's a 4-1 boring series loss. Honestly please people think about it. Does the NHL favour teams, possibly but does the NHL rig games to pre determine the winner (like Wrestling) extremely unlikely.

There are so many factors that, Why does CBJ owners go along with this conspiracy while they watch BOS rake in the $$$, what about the owners in Atlanta, what about previous owners in NJ that lost millions of dollars when they had to sell the team. There is 30 teams in the league, yes Boston and now the california teams are doing well but it was done through building a good team over years of missing out of the playoffs. Where was the leagues involvement when CHI missed the playoffs for 9 of 10 years. They have had success by simply being better teams.

This biggest flaw to this conspiracy theory is the players determine everything, They have complete control over who wins and who loses. Sedins play good, score on our chances and we likely win. This is peoples lively hoods were talking about. they train their entire lives and give up so much in life to achieve this goal, only to let the league decide who wins and who loses. Come on now use our brains a little here. Only excuse for people to truly believe the NHL is fixed right down to pre determined game winner simply has never played the sport before.

Refs shouldn't but they do, maybe not 100% but they can stop momentum and even switch it. I played competitive hockey at a respectable level(where people pay to watch you) one thing is true, once a guy gets 2 goals, you're taking away his time and space. Hooks & holds happen. The refs start letting that go and say things like "that's not a playoff penalty" or " we don't want to give away the game on a questionable penalty"

As for CBJ or ATL were you privy to the books? In big business you need to have some writeoffs to balance against capital gains. Maybe the popularity wasn't there like they thought it would be. Maybe back door dealings happen. Or maybe you're right everything is on the up & up & 100% honest and 100% fair.

You talk about how well Loungo played to get it to game 7, but on the flip side of the coin did you see how aweful he played in the 3 that let it get to game 7+ the game 7 itself. Ever wonder if a goalie has ever played that hot and cold? There's more revenue in a 7 game series instead of a 4 or 5 game series. When was the last time a team scored 15+ goals/ game? When was the last time a team ran domination of 4 or 5 game series the whole way? There ain't no money in that.

You say that players can dominate....there is no player in this league that can dominate another team. The skill is too good. If you don't believe that how come no player has done 50 in 50 or had a 150+ point season in recent history? That means not Ovechkin, not Crosby, not Stamkos, not Malkin, not Tavares, not the Sedins can dominate how you describe. Once in a while a guy has a flukey game and lights it up, but it's not an everyday thing.

Did Auger not have the power to decide a regular season game....better yet why was he so confident that he could tell burrows he would do it? Had he done it before a little less subtle?

I don't believe that the nhl is fake, but I do believe it has some "Devine intervention" for lack of a better term to guarantee it maximizes profits.

[ForsbergTheGreat]

Refs shouldn't but they do, maybe not 100% but they can stop momentum and even switch it. I played competitive hockey at a respectable level(where people pay to watch you) one thing is true, once a guy gets 2 goals, you're taking away his time and space. Hooks & holds happen. The refs start letting that go and say things like "that's not a playoff penalty" or " we don't want to give away the game on a questionable penalty"

As have I, then you should know the feeling that as a player when you lose a series or even a game that if you just maybe scored on that one chance or did a little bit more to stop that one goal, that maybe you would have won the game. You should know that feeling that you know you (an individual) had the opportunity to change the outcome of the game.

As for CBJ or ATL were you privy to the books? In big business you need to have some writeoffs to balance against capital gains. Maybe the popularity wasn't there like they thought it would be. Maybe back door dealings happen. Or maybe you're right everything is on the up & up & 100% honest and 100% fair.

I don’t think everything is 100% but I do know that if you think they won BOS,LA,CHI the cups then they could have easily done that for the other more struggling teams and teams that struggled for longer. You can’t just pick and choose situations that apply to a theory and ignore the situations that don’t support you. Does the NHL have favorite teams, sure NYR and TOR come to mind. Two big markets and TOR always seems to get the favorable calls and suspensions (which people would assume is league intervention), But TOR did miss the playoffs for 6 straight years and could very well miss it this year. Where was the league’s winning help then? Refs do have the ability to play a role in the game but determining a series/playoff champing, not happening. To many peoples livelyhoods would be affected and not stand for that.

You talk about how well Loungo played to get it to game 7, but on the flip side of the coin did you see how aweful he played in the 3 that let it get to game 7+ the game 7 itself. Ever wonder if a goalie has ever played that hot and cold? There's more revenue in a 7 game series instead of a 4 or 5 game series. When was the last time a team scored 15+ goals/ game? When was the last time a team ran domination of 4 or 5 game series the whole way? There ain't no money in that.

LA comes to mind? So know you’re thinking Luongo is in on it. Come on use your head. Luongo almost destroyed his career that series. The guy has so much pride, do you honestly think he’d purposely cost his team other players on his team who worked so hard to get where they were

Maybe your right, Raymond didn’t actually break his back, Kesler didn’t play through a torn labrum, it was all an act for the good of the game.

You say that players can dominate....there is no player in this league that can dominate another team. The skill is too good. If you don't believe that how come no player has done 50 in 50 or had a 150+ point season in recent history? That means not Ovechkin, not Crosby, not Stamkos, not Malkin, not Tavares, not the Sedins can dominate how you describe. Once in a while a guy has a flukey game and lights it up, but it's not an everyday thing.

Funny since Ovi’s got 49 goals in his last 52 games. But besides that on a game to game bases players can dominate and take control of the game. How many times has a goalie been directly responsible for getting the win. What about when we watch Kesler go into beast mode and take the team on his back. Patrick Roy was one guy that comes to mind, he did it countless times in the playoffs, Kipper did it in 04. In the playoffs it does become an everyday thing, not always by the same player or every game but usually a series is determine by 1 or 2 players who elevate their game. That why usually when the Conn Smythe is pick, there is no question which one player deserved it the most.

Did Auger not have the power to decide a regular season game....better yet why was he so confident that he could tell burrows he would do it? Had he done it before a little less subtle?

That’s a bad example as Auger didn’t determine Canucks were going to lose, he wanted to get back a Burrows (the player) for the previous game. IF the canucks would have killed of the Burrows penalty or scored a few more goals the game would have been won. Still the players had control to win that game (just harder odds).

There are many teams in financial trouble that could use the NHL intervention. NYI, DAL, FLA and PHX who was their very own team before. Why were they not giving the royal treatment the last few years as the OP has mentioned other teams that have. Go back to the LA playoffs when the yotes play the kings. The Phoenix team was losing and costing the NHL millions of dollars. They were still desperate for a new owner and just like the NJ theory people have thrown around, nothing would help sell quicker like a Stanley cup finals appearance.

Game 5 Dustin Brown throws a dirty knee hit on Rozsival, which should have been suspend able and guess what zero call at a very important stage in the game. There was no better opportunity to have the yotes take a huge momentum swing and make that series go the distance and build even more excitement in PHX. And as you said earlier “There's more revenue in a 7 game series instead of a 4 or 5 game series” The yotes were even selling out in those playoff games imagine if it got to game seven or how easy it would be to market the team if they had a Stanley cup parade later on that year.

There is so much that goes on in a game that that league has zero control over. Players, hard work, and effort determine the winners of the game/series/playoffs. Even little fluky things l a player breaking a stick a ricocheting puck going off 5 different guys in front of the net, all determine who is going to win. But then again with this theory the league was probably the reason why the puck bounced off the stanchion in game 5 against the sharks. Since they wanted Vancouver (a Canadian team with consecutive sell outs) to make the SCF over their precious California team.

Just like most theories the logic behind it can only be used in certain elements to try and convince the people. It becomes flawed when looking at everything as a whole. Why does the theory only support one situation and not the other.

[Ronalds.Kenins41]

This is an example of the technology they had at the time:

If they were to use the "stop button" as you said, you can't determine it a good goal because the puck is in the air. The white you see is from the distance the puck has off the line.

Secondly, you said "LA's sudden rise from barely 8th-place overpaid lazyasses to total dominance after a coaching swap? Give me a freakin' break." But go on to complain about how Carolina won the cup... Against the 8th seed OIlers team... Is that not contradicting yourself? Oilers were 8th seed just like the Kings... But its ok because they're Canadian?... Also please explain why, if the NHL is so rigged, the Oilers won against a stronger team in 2006 (2006 standings), then LA did in 2012 (2012 standings). So that being said Oilers had lower odds than LA did, but you just conveniently miss that fact, eh?

Also, Carolina made the cup finals 4 years before in 2002 with a weaker team. So a stronger Carolina squad winning the cup? That's obviously illogical...(sarcasm) (Carolina 2002 vs. Carolina 2006)

Thirdly, "Chicago's 2010 roid-raging powerhouse. Including getting a 300lb fatass defenseman..." As someone said before, Byfuglien never "skated with the wind". He sat in front of the net and collected garbage goals. With the shooters Chicago had, and a 265+lbs guy out front screening? That's going to rack up a lot of points. He put up his best season with Winnipeg, by the way.. A CANADIAN TEAM. (Byfuglien stats)

Fourthly, New Jerseys cup run. Well first round they played Florida. That's an easy win. Second round was the Flyers. Absolutely awful goaltending: 1 Ilya Bryzgalov G 31 11 5 6 37 326 289 .887 3.46 0 642 2 Sergei Bobrovsky G 23 1 0 0 5 18 13 .722 8.11 0 37

So let's consider that easy win #2. 3rd round was New York Rangers (the same Rangers team that almost lost to the 8th seed Ottawa team.. But 8th seed teams never have a chance, do they? ). The season series for NJD and NYR during 2011-2012 was tied at 3 wins a piece for either team, so this series was up in the air. But New Jersey came out on top. Unlikely playoff run? No... Not at all when you look into the stats and use logic....

And lastly, the whole Niedermeyer and Pronger thing. Maybe you should look into those acquisitions before blindly making false accusations. Nidermeyer signing was basically so he could play and win a cup wiht his brother: http://sports.espn.g...tory?id=2124267 And the Pronger trade, this is from Wikipedia: "On June 23, 2006, Pronger requested a trade through his agent, Pat Morris, from the Edmonton Oilers. Edmonton GM Kevin Lowe said that the request was due to personal reasons,while media outlets reported that Pronger's wife, Lauren, was not happy in Edmonton." (source: http://en.wikipedia....i/Chris_Pronger) Niether moves were "unlikely", the Ducks gave up A LOT for Pronger. A defensive prospect, a 1st, a 2nd, AND a young forward who just came off a near 30 season.

Stop spreading useless crap on this forum.

You also forgot to mention how lucky they were; you need luck to win the toughest trophy in all of sports. In their year Chicago, Boston, Detroit, Pittsburgh, San Jose, Vancouver were all knocked out in the first round. These teams were considered strong cup contenders and when they were out of the playoffs there wasn't really any good teams left in the east with the exception of New York. From there their destiny was set to make the finals.

One day the canucks will have that kind of luck

[Ronalds.Kenins41]

Funny how a load of people have discussed half of what the OP said in great detail and the other half is untouched. Must be some flames fans in here

[uber_pwnzor]

You're sad.

[canucks.brad]

Canada has been subsidizing league growth down south for decades, yet we see no cups. Instead we see SoCal teams getting preferential treatment while they try to grow the game in Cali. (Let there be no mistake, once they start losing again, their alluvasudden fans and twitter account will vanish.)

mayor of wrongville right here.

decades would imply more than 10 years buddy...

Canadian market success has only been realized with the stronger dollar within the past 10 years...

[laxgoalie]

Funny how a load of people have discussed half of what the OP said in great detail and the other half is untouched. Must be some flames fans in here

People are responding to all the examples of "rigging" that OP previously stated, like I did myself.

You also forgot to mention how lucky they were; you need luck to win the toughest trophy in all of sports. In their year Chicago, Boston, Detroit, Pittsburgh, San Jose, Vancouver were all knocked out in the first round. These teams were considered strong cup contenders and when they were out of the playoffs there wasn't really any good teams left in the east with the exception of New York. From there their destiny was set to make the finals.

Detroit, San Jose, and Vancouver were all in the Western Conference. That being said San Jose finished 7th in the west, Chicago 6th, and Detroit 5th. So not sure what you're talking about there. The only team left was Vancouver, who finished first, but was without Sedin. That's going to hurt any team if their top scorer is out.

Pittsburgh finished only 5 points ahead of the team they lost to, in the Flyers, and had an awful series from Fluery. Then for Boston? If you look at the season series Boston had only 1 win in 4 games against the Capitals. So there wasn't any big surprises there...

[JiffyPB]

[TOMapleLaughs]

mayor of wrongville right here.

decades would imply more than 10 years buddy...

Canadian market success has only been realized with the stronger dollar within the past 10 years...

When's the last time the cup came up here?

We've been subsidizing them in more than one fashion. For the entire Bettman era.

[Ronalds.Kenins41]

People are responding to all the examples of "rigging" that OP previously stated, like I did myself.

Detroit, San Jose, and Vancouver were all in the Western Conference. That being said San Jose finished 7th in the west, Chicago 6th, and Detroit 5th. So not sure what you're talking about there. The only team left was Vancouver, who finished first, but was without Sedin. That's going to hurt any team if their top scorer is out.

Pittsburgh finished only 5 points ahead of the team they lost to, in the Flyers, and had an awful series from Fluery. Then for Boston? If you look at the season series Boston had only 1 win in 4 games against the Capitals. So there wasn't any big surprises there...

I know they are in the west but I am just saying both LA and NJ were pretty lucky. Nothing else to it you need a bit of luck to win in the match ups.

When we made the finals Detroit was taken out by SJ, Ducks by Nashville and Kings also by the sharks. Had we played one of those teams in a series I doubt we get close to sweeping them in a series like we did with SJ.