Quote:
Originally Posted by Textcritic
The thing I like about the wildcards is that it helps to provide some balance in situations in which the teams in one division are dramatically better or worse than the other in the conference. It really sucks missing the playoffs while a significantly poorer team is there thanks to the divisional breakdown.
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Like the 1987-88 season, you mean?
That year, all six teams in the Patrick Division had winning records. The Rangers and Penguins missed the playoffs with 82 and 81 points, respectively. (80-game season, no OTL points.) Meanwhile,
six teams in the other divisions made the playoffs with losing records. The Maple Laughs got in with an incredibly paltry 52 points – one point ahead of dead last in the league.
Much as I love to hate the Oilers, I don't believe they deserve an asterisk on their 1988 Cup win.