92 replies to this topic

[Doc Holliday]

Crosby had the goalie beat and an open net and missed in OT then the Flyers went down and scored the GWG shortly thereafter.

It is situations culminated together like this that can win or lose a serious for you, regardless of talent.

Look at the 1996 Wings. The 2009 Sharks. The 2009 Wings for f***s sake. Anything goes in the playoffs and anyone has a chance to beat anyone. I don't care how good the Penguins are right now. They will never be the lock to win the cup until they win the deciding game in the Cup Finals.

[AceInTheSleeve]

Nobody has the cup locked up. The playoffs are too unpredictable

[irishock]

No hockey team is "a lock" to win the title. This isn't the NBA where talent alone wins championships.

It'll be either them, Boston or NY coming out of the East and us, Van, STL out of the West.

[Z Winged Dangler]

It is situations culminated together like this that can win or lose a serious for you, regardless of talent.

Look at the 1996 Wings. The 2009 Sharks. The 2009 Wings for f***s sake. Anything goes in the playoffs and anyone has a chance to beat anyone. I don't care how good the Penguins are right now. They will never be the lock to win the cup until they win the deciding game in the Cup Finals.

well said. the Pens can run into a cyborg goalie with massive shoulder pads and no five hole in the first round and get swept even though they may be a "superior team"... Personally, I hope they play the Flyers and get swept in the 1st round. I'd also love to see the Canucks, Coyotes and Sharks depart in the 1st round as well and then i'm pretty much good with who wins the cup.

[edicius]

In all honestly they are playing like a SCF team right now. I'm no Crosby fan but he is playing out of his mind right now.

I would love to see a Pens Wings rematch. I'm still fuming about the last one.

Yeah, that 3 shots and -1 courtesy of the GWG was insane yesterday.

[Yzerfan1999]

I think the blues are still the clear favorites at this point.

Lol no way. The Blues are primed to lose in the first round. They don't have enough playoff experience on that team IMO.

[Zetts]

Are we even sure that Crosby can stay healthy for more than 10 games? How do we know that he'll hold up to the physical grind of the playoffs?

I'm sceptical.

Edited by Zetts, 19 March 2012 - 11:57 AM.

[xtrememachine1]

Nobody wins the Cup in March. Seriously, how many times have we seen the Wings dominate in March, then get knocked out in the first or second round? The playoffs are a totally different game. Everybody gives a little extra. There's a little more fighting in the corner for loose pucks. More willingness to give up the body to block shots. More willingness to stand in front of the net to chip in a loose puck or deflect a shot. All these little things make a big difference in the postseason. Winning in the regular season is all good and fine, but they won't be playing Carolina, Winnipeg, Isles or Leafs in the playoffs and the good teams they'll be playing will be playing much differently than they are now. I'm not saying they won't change themselves, but winning a bunch of games in the regular season doesn't prove anything. Our fan base has learned that lesson a bunch of times.

[Crashnburnluder]

But what about the Rangers, they spent $12 mill on the biggest free agent this summer, Brad Richards?

Only real thing locked down is Columbus will win the Toilet Trophy, it'd be hard for them to lose that. Followed closely by Edmonton again ... speaking of which, how many terrible years do you need to turn a team around .... damn, it looks like they've been having the top pick like 3 years in a row.

If edmonton is lucky enough to win the draft lottery that would make 3 1st overall picks in a row. Hall, Hopkins, Yakupov??? Scary lol

[MidMichSteve]

Nobody wins the Cup in March. Seriously, how many times have we seen the Wings dominate in March, then get knocked out in the first or second round? The playoffs are a totally different game. Everybody gives a little extra. There's a little more fighting in the corner for loose pucks. More willingness to give up the body to block shots. More willingness to stand in front of the net to chip in a loose puck or deflect a shot. All these little things make a big difference in the postseason. Winning in the regular season is all good and fine, but they won't be playing Carolina, Winnipeg, Isles or Leafs in the playoffs and the good teams they'll be playing will be playing much differently than they are now. I'm not saying they won't change themselves, but winning a bunch of games in the regular season doesn't prove anything. Our fan base has learned that lesson a bunch of times.

And we promptly forget it at the beginning of every season.....myself included.

[toby91_ca]

Are we even sure that Crosby can stay healthy for more than 10 games? How do we know that he'll hold up to the physical grind of the playoffs?

I'm sceptical.

Nope, we aren't sure...which is why I suggested that if Crosby and Letang are able to play the rest of the regular season and enter the playoffs healthy, then Pittsburgh probably is the favourite. I think the rest of the regular season should give some indication of whether Crosby will be able to stay healthy, I think there will be enough physical play down the stetch to test him.

[Red Wings Addict]

Not sure about the cup but they now have a playoff spot locked up.

Also happened during Radulov's debut.

[MabusIncarnate]

Some team early in the playoffs will become frustrated playing against the Pens, frustration leads to more physical play against the opposing team's star players. I doubt Crosby's durability to take on the physical game if it comes to that.

Besides, it's the NHL. Who the hell knows what two teams will wind up in the finals.

[SouthernWingsFan]

It is situations culminated together like this that can win or lose a serious for you, regardless of talent.

Look at the 1996 Wings. The 2009 Sharks. The 2009 Wings for f***s sake. Anything goes in the playoffs and anyone has a chance to beat anyone. I don't care how good the Penguins are right now. They will never be the lock to win the cup until they win the deciding game in the Cup Finals.

Bingo.

Pitt will certainly have a well-rounded roster assuming full health. The Blues, for example will likely have a hard working gritty team per usual as most of this season.

They definitely should be respected.

Nor should any team be taken lightly just because they might not be as talented on paper.

While the Wings struggles are frustrating obviously as of late, with a healthier roster you never know what's going to happen in the postseason.

No team - Pitt, St. Louis, Detroit, etc. is a slam dunk to win the Cup.

[Dave]

It is situations culminated together like this that can win or lose a serious for you, regardless of talent.

Look at the 1996 Wings. The 2009 Sharks. The 2009 Wings for f***s sake. Anything goes in the playoffs and anyone has a chance to beat anyone. I don't care how good the Penguins are right now. They will never be the lock to win the cup until they win the deciding game in the Cup Finals.

Well let's take a look at this.

The '96 Wings team lost to another power house, the Avs. It's not like the Avs snuck into the playoffs, they were #2 in the west by a large margin.

The '09 Sharks lost to Anaheim, a team that was 2 years removed from a cup. The same team that came close to beating the Wings.

The '09 Wings lost to the Pens, in game 7 of the finals. The Pens were #2 in the East, and had made the finals the year prior.

Essentially what I'm trying to say is those examples don't really showcase the "anything can happen" mentality. The teams that won had every right to win. You rarely see low seeds winning the Cup. They are a low seed for a reason. The '09 Anaheim team is probably the best 8 seed in the past decade.

[toby91_ca]

Well let's take a look at this.

The '96 Wings team lost to another power house, the Avs. It's not like the Avs snuck into the playoffs, they were #2 in the west by a large margin.

The '09 Sharks lost to Anaheim, a team that was 2 years removed from a cup. The same team that came close to beating the Wings.

The '09 Wings lost to the Pens, in game 7 of the finals. The Pens were #2 in the East, and had made the finals the year prior.

Essentially what I'm trying to say is those examples don't really showcase the "anything can happen" mentality. The teams that won had every right to win. You rarely see low seeds winning the Cup. They are a low seed for a reason. The '09 Anaheim team is probably the best 8 seed in the past decade.

Couple comments:

'96 - yes, teh Avs were #2 in the West, but the West was pretty s***ty, #3 had 94pts. They were 10pts up on #3, but Detroit was 27pts ahead of them.

'09 - Anaheim was not only the 8th seed in the West, they were actually the worst team (points wise) going into the playoffs (East and West combined) that year.

It is true...anything can happen in a 7 game series, nothing is guaranteed. There are several examples of that, some of which apply to Detroit (2006 is another good example). How about the '86 Oilers. They scored 424 goals in the regular season, they finished 30pts ahead of the team that beat them in the playoffs.

[VM1138]

Somebody seriously negged my original post?

Anyway, the reason I love hockey is that anything goes in the playoffs. It just seems too storybook, and we all know Crosby gets special treatment (Just like all league favorites do in every sport). Shoot, he'll probably get injured in the first round and then come back the final game and score the game winner, that's just how his career goes. It's not that I doubt the Wings, the Crosby-fest the past few years have just made me cynical when it comes to the Pens, I guess.

I do feel like once the playoffs start the Wings have a good chance at wiping the slate clean and making a deep run. If the team is healthy.

[toby91_ca]

Maybe more close to home when it comes to Pens (close to their home).....did they think their 1993 team had it locked up?

[Free_Candy]

Nothing is guaranteed, key injuries, Fleury getting tired or sloppy D could cause problems. And if the Pens have to face the Flyers in the first round they will make life miserable.

[Dabura]

Pretty sure the OP wasn't being literal with his question, i.e. "No team can 'lock up' the Cup" = truism.