I heard an interview with Gio on Tim & Sid yesterday and he made a good point. Whatever the structure is, there needs to be some 7 games series involved on the way to the cup. The playoffs need to mostly reflect that long war/grind to the cup in order to legitimize itself to the players. I think he mentioned that he could be okay with a shorter first round but the majority needs to be full series.
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A few weeks after crashing head-first into the boards (denting his helmet and being unable to move for a little while) following a hit from behind by Bob Errey, the Calgary Flames player explains:
"I was like Christ, lying on my back, with my arms outstretched, crucified"
-- Frank Musil - Early January 1994
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