Quote:
Originally Posted by troutman
So if Arizona won, you would conclude they are the best team in the NHL, and not the benefactor of some very unusual circumstances?
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How obtuse do we want to get here? Were the LA Kings or St Louis Blues the best team in the NHL when they won...or were they the best team at that time? There will always be random events that throw things out of balance. In both cases both teams won the Stanley Cup so they are the Stanley Cup Champions.
In any given playoffs, teams can get hot and end up going further than their regular season results would suggest.
This would be a first in that there was a long break from when the season was shut down, to when the playoffs would start which add's a new element of randomness to the equation. Typically with shortened seasons it's due to a delay at the front end.
I tend to see the 2005-06 season a bit that way in that after a full year off two teams made the Stanley Cup that year but never sustained that level of play in subsequent seasons. Still the Hurricanes won it that year with those circumstances so it still counts in my books.
In this case there are 16 teams are faced with the prospect of needing to win 19 games, while the top 4 teams only need to win 16, I think the odds of a so called bad team winning it all are pretty unlikely. If they do, I don't see how you can't see them as being the Cup Champions.
Yes it's an odd scenario, but I'd rather see the Cup still awarded than not awarded. Unlike the 94 Baseball strike where players walked out on the season at roughly the same progression point, this disruption was entirely out of both the players and the owners control. So to just cancel the season and void having a champion is a fate that neither the players or owners deserve here. If they deem it safe enough, and think the measures can be put into place to allow it, than I don't object. I still watch Baseball after players decided to ruin a season...I'll still watch these playoffs. In fact they might be the most memorable ones ever due to how unique they are.