Stanley Cup Playoffs: Winning team isn't best team

[LeafsFanDan]

This is an opinion thread, please don't break forum rules or bash OP if you happen to disagree**

 

2021 SCP has shown on full display that teams who may do well under the playoff type games may not be great regular season teams, and that needs to be addressed.

 

Organizations, fans and players make the most of their hockey time during the 82 games and 6 months of hockey during the regular season. All the true battles, the point records, the endless games and drama happens during this time. The teams are ranked during the season based on their composition, roaster, type of game style and performance.

 

Winning unlike most people want you to believe isn't everything. Many people would agree that win or lose as long as their team plays an entertaining style of hockey thats what matters. Losing 6 to 7 but watching your team score 6 goals is incredible. Getting your money worth at a game isn't about winning its about the game style, the players and the attitude.

 

Playoffs is a mind set that tricks people into thinking winning is all that matters, and many teams play a horrible boring defensive, unsatisfying brand of hockey (New Jersey 90s, Dallas etc) overacheiving  medicore teams doing well in a limited 20 game playoff spam.

 

Enter Montreal 2021, a scub team no one selected who is a true expert or analyst in NHL. You know why? Because it's not a good team, at one point even Canucks were thinking of catching them.

 

Just because Montreal has managed to pull wins in a playoff bubble, playing endless defence and grinding teams down doesn't make them a good team. I am sorry, Playoffs need to have its own bracket because regular season is where teams truly shine  where players get paid and where most of the money is made.

 

Its crazy to see how many people are buying into the SCP as a decisive factor for determining what team is good and what isn't.

Edited June 25, 2021 by LeafsFanDan
Update

[TNucks1]

oh boy here we go lol, honestly dont know if your a troll or not, im not even gunna bother reading it you already said enough in the Montreal vs Vegas thread to be taken seriously.

[MeanSeanBean]

Because we didn't have enough reasons to poke fun of the leafs, in comes Dan.

[TNucks1]

             

[Maddogy]

I do have to concur that Toronto plays a very entertaining brand of hockey, especially during the first round of playoffs. I do sincerely hope Toronto continues to play the way they do. Thank you so much for your insights!

[Brad Marchand]

If the Stanley Cup was awared to the best regular season team, the best teams would try harder during the regular season, it's that simple.

 

Most of the important trophies available to be won in team sports are awared to the winner of playoff tournaments. If your team isn't good enough to win even a single round of that tournament, your team isn't that good, plain and simple.

 

Edited June 25, 2021 by Brad Marchand

[goalie13]

8 minutes ago, LeafsFanDan said:

I am sorry

Apology accepted.

 

9 minutes ago, LeafsFanDan said:

Playoffs need to have its own bracket because regular season is where teams truly shine  where players get paid and where most of the money is made.

Playoffs are their own bracket.  There is already a trophy for the regular season and nobody really cares about it.  Many teams basically coast through the regular season, and are focused entirely on the playoffs.

[Alflives]

 I must admit I get a kind of sick pleasure out of watching the Leafs lose.  And I think it’s because I know the loss makes Leaf fans suffer.  I’m a very sick Alf, and feel shame.  

[Elias Pettersson]

The goal of every team in the NHL is to win the Stanley Cup.  The goal is not to win the President's Trophy.  

 

There are teams that are not the best team during the regular season that end up winning the Cup.  It has happened quite a bit.  Look at the Canucks in 1982 and 1994.  We were not the best team in the NHL regular season, not even close, but we went to the Cup finals both years and almost won it in 1994.  In 2011 we were the best team in the NHL regular season, however we did not win the Cup.

 

Your analysis in this thread is simply to discredit Montreal's achievements this year and to state that Toronto is a better team.  Theoretically Toronto was a better team during the regular season.  However, just like the last 54 years, they were not able to win the Stanley Cup.  

 

If you were to ask every player, every coach, every GM and every owner of every team they will tell you that their goal is to win the Stanley Cup.  And it is the same with the fans of every team. 

Edited June 25, 2021 by Elias Pettersson

[LeafsFanDan]

The thing is a team can pull together over 20 games and just play all in defence and win the cup, that doesn't  make them "the best".

 

Its much harder to do it consistently and over a 82 game schedule. MONTREAL is easily the weakest team of the final 8 yet somehow they managed to win, does that make them lucky? Yes, good? No, it shows that scrub teams can work really hard over a course of a few weeks to grind the truly elite teams down. No respect from me to Montreal, and in case you wondering neither do 90% of the true hockey analyst, experts and commentators give Montreal any respect. Go figure why that is, think about it don't take it from  me take it from the experts making 200k a year, I'd listen  to them over a casual fan, you should too.

[DeNiro]

So the New Jersey Devils didn’t deserve any of their cups?

 

Sorry but this argument is weak. Every sport has teams like the Habs that win based on solid defense. Doesn’t make their accomplishments any less cause they didn’t do it with 11 million dollar superstars.

[VegasCanuck]

Committed team game plan wins the cup. A committed, focused team with strong defensive system and an elite goalie (Montreal) can often outlast a team that is too focused on offense.

[MeanSeanBean]

4 minutes ago, goalie13 said:

Apology accepted.

 

Playoffs are their own bracket.  There is already a trophy for the regular season and nobody really cares about it.  Many teams basically coast through the regular season, and are focused entirely on the playoffs.

True, but also for the record the Canucks have won more of those then the Leafs. Just sayin for funsies.

[Alflives]

1 minute ago, Elias Pettersson said:

The goal of every team in the NHL is to win the Stanley Cup.  The goal is not to win the President's Trophy.  

 

There are teams that are not the best team during the regular season that end up winning the Cup.  It has happened quite a bit.  Look at the Canucks in 1982 and 1994.  We were not the best team in the NHL regular season, not even close, but we went to the Cup finals both years and almost won it in 1994.  In 2011 we were the best team in the NHL regular season, however we did not win the Cup.

 

Your analysis in this thread is simply to discredit Montreal's achievements this year and to state that Toronto is a better team.  Theoretically Toronto was a better team during the regular season.  However, just like the last 54 years, they were not able to win the Stanley Cup.  

 

If you were to ask every player, every ciach, every GM and every owner of every team they will tell you that their goal is to win the Stanley Cup.  And it is the same with the fans of every team. 

Scotty Bowman was asked on 650 recently about what was the key to winning.  He said he always wanted players who knew the individual awards were always handed out after the Stanley Cup.  There are players who play for those individual awards, and there are players who play to win the Cup.  Bowman said he wanted the latter.  

What did Marner and Matthews want more; their individual adulation, or winning the Cup?  

[Tom Sestito]

 

 

 

[Brad Marchand]

13 minutes ago, LeafsFanDan said:

The thing is a team can pull together over 20 games and just play all in defence and win the cup, that doesn't  make them "the best".

 

Its much harder to do it consistently and over a 82 game schedule. MONTREAL is easily the weakest team of the final 8 yet somehow they managed to win, does that make them lucky? Yes, good? No, it shows that scrub teams can work really hard over a course of a few weeks to grind the truly elite teams down. No respect from me to Montreal, and in case you wondering neither do 90% of the true hockey analyst, experts and commentators give Montreal any respect. Go figure why that is, think about it don't take it from  me take it from the experts making 200k a year, I'd listen  to them over a casual fan, you should too.

I find it hilarious that Montreal's playoff success bothers you that much.

You want the hard truth? The Leafs can't deal with pressure, have a core group of players that can't elevate their games when teams start checking them more tightly, and don't have the depth to compensate for it. If your definition of good is winning regular season games, then great. Maybe that helps you sleep at night, but you're delusional if you think anyone with any shred of credibility in the world of hockey, including your own team's GM and president, believes that the Leafs have earned any respect for being a good regular season team.

Edited June 26, 2021 by Brad Marchand

[Junkyard Dog]

If you can beat 4 playoff teams in a 7 game series then you deserve to be called the best that year. Because those 4 teams are either the best teams or have beaten the best.

 

Playoffs trump the regular season in terms of overall significance in a year. Every player and team would rather have playoff success than just regular season success. Fans fall in line with that.

 

If watching your team not have any sort of playoff success for a long time has lead you to come to this sort of mindset then you have my pity.

 

I only can imagine how good winning a playoff series would feel for you. Probably be like how we felt after "slaying a dragon".

 

 

[Bell]

The Stanley Cup maybe the hardest trophy to win in all of pro sports.  The team that battles thru the pain and injuries to succeed and hoist the cup deserves to be called that year's best team.  Hopefully while I'm still above ground I will get to cheer the Canucks raising that beautiful trophy.

[CaptKirk888]

Stanley cup winning teams play good defence from the goalie out. Regardless of regular season results, the team that wins all of its playoff series and eventually the cup is clearly the ‘better’ team. Your thinking is flawed my friend.

[Elias Pettersson]

9 minutes ago, Alflives said:

Scotty Bowman was asked on 650 recently about what was the key to winning.  He said he always wanted players who knew the individual awards were always handed out after the Stanley Cup.  There are players who play for those individual awards, and there are players who play to win the Cup.  Bowman said he wanted the latter.  

What did Marner and Matthews want more; their individual adulation, or winning the Cup?  

Yes, there are players who simply look at their individual statistics so they can get their individual awards and get paid millions of dollars.  There is nothing wrong with a player looking after themselves.  However, like every sport, hockey is a team game and the playoffs are really a new season.  There are players who play to win it all and those are the ones you want to acquire.  Sometimes you don't know who those players are, so making the playoffs each year is key to find out which players you can go to battle with and win the wars.

 

Toronto is a perfect example of a team with some star players who play well during the regular season but taper off when the wars start in the playoffs.  Marner specifically looks to be that type of player.