So You Wanna Build a Contender?

[filthycanuck]

3 hours ago, Baggins said:

I think you have it wrong.

 

'82 You're right they weren't a serious contender. The Oilers were the heavy favorites to come out of the west and also favored to win the cup. A true contender. The path was cleared for the 4th place Canucks by other teams upsetting the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd seeds in the first round. It was after that first ound of upsets that the Canucks were actually considered a cup contender. But that also changed the Isles from cup contender to heavy cup favorite. The only team the Canucks faced that you could argue they shouldn't have beaten was the Isles in the finals. That's not to say they didn't play well to get to the finals. But every team they faced they should have beaten and did. 5th place Calgary should have been their toughess opposition to reach the finals and the Canucks swept them. This was a pure case of "make the playoffs and anything can happen". 

 

'94 Their record and playoff seed was very deceiving. Finally getting their compensation from St Louis for signing Nedved just before the trade deadline was a major upgrade to our D. That really changed the quality of the team, but the regular season record didn't show it. Just enough time for the new players to develop some chimistry with their new team.

 

You won't make the finals if you don't play well. And both of these teams did play well. But both of these "Cinderella runs" also had some real "fairy godmother" assistance involved. You are right that neither was viewed as a contender going into the playoffs though. 

 

'11 We weren't just a contender, but also favorites to win the cup. A true contender. We didn't roll over the Bruins at all though. The simple truth is there were far too many injuries and Thomas played like a Vezina goalie in every game, setting a SCF record for saves, while Luongo only played like a Vezina goalie in 3 games. We sqeaked out three wins by 1 goal in each, and the B's worst win was by 3 goals. The other three win were by 7 goals, and two by 4 goals. I will say this about Luongo, when Salo is the healthiest of your D, and you call Baumgartner to return from vacation, you're in defensive trouble. But Lou standing on his head was our only real hope of winning. A big ask.

Don't want to make any excuses for the 2011 team, but that was straight up garbage on how the NHL delayed the finals because of TV contracts. We finished off the Sharks in 5 and the Bruins won a very grueling 7 game series with the lightning. Usually the finals start 2 days, 3 days MAX after the Bruins won their series. I distinctly recall the finals starting about a week ( I think more) after the Bruins beat the lightning. Thats a lot of time of rest given to the Bruins. Had the finals started when it should've had, just maybe the results would've been different. 2 days of rest after a game 7 series is a whole lot different than a week

[D-Money]

On 4/10/2022 at 2:01 AM, filthycanuck said:

Don't want to make any excuses for the 2011 team, but that was straight up garbage on how the NHL delayed the finals because of TV contracts. We finished off the Sharks in 5 and the Bruins won a very grueling 7 game series with the lightning. Usually the finals start 2 days, 3 days MAX after the Bruins won their series. I distinctly recall the finals starting about a week ( I think more) after the Bruins beat the lightning. Thats a lot of time of rest given to the Bruins. Had the finals started when it should've had, just maybe the results would've been different. 2 days of rest after a game 7 series is a whole lot different than a week

The straight-up garbage was the Bruins not getting a single penalty in game 7. Tampa’s PP was rolling, and a big reason why Boston was in danger of losing.

Not even 1? Get out of here…

[Ballisticsports.]

On 4/10/2022 at 1:01 AM, filthycanuck said:

Don't want to make any excuses for the 2011 team, but that was straight up garbage on how the NHL delayed the finals because of TV contracts. We finished off the Sharks in 5 and the Bruins won a very grueling 7 game series with the lightning. Usually the finals start 2 days, 3 days MAX after the Bruins won their series. I distinctly recall the finals starting about a week ( I think more) after the Bruins beat the lightning. Thats a lot of time of rest given to the Bruins. Had the finals started when it should've had, just maybe the results would've been different. 2 days of rest after a game 7 series is a whole lot different than a week

I remember before we even played the Bruins that Montreal was robbed in that series, Even Lucic who had a history of suspensions for dirty play wasn't suspended for game 7 after this hit from behind in Game 6. Helps to have people who make these calls fans of Bruins 

 

Or Chara on Hit

 

While this hit got 4 playoff game suspension Rome isn’t a dirty player with never a suspension. He isn’t a cheap-shot artist. He didn’t come cross-ice, and he didn’t have his stick or his elbows up. In hindsight, he probably feels as bad as anyone for the Horton hit, mostly because what happened wasn’t his intention. Rome’s barely illegal crime was that he hit Horton a second late (in real time), and that he didn’t hold up.

 

 

Some teams allowed to hit (and Dirty) WHILE protected from being hit

 

8 yrs later and this is a 2 min Minor game penalty in a playoff game while charging and directing at the head