Quote:
Originally Posted by Enoch Root
No, no one is squinting.
The point is that ANY team, after playoff success, looks elite. WAS was viewed as a flawed team that couldn't get it done in the playoffs, until they did. If the Flames make a run to the finals, people will look at them differently too.
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This is probably true. The Flames would not be in the category of teams that have made the playoffs 6 out of the last 6 years or 5 of the last 6 years so that tiering would be
Boston
Toronto
Tampa
Carolina
Colorado
Wild
Winnipeg
Vegas
Washington
Pittsburgh
Nashville
So once you get through that tier of 11 teams that consistently make the playoffs and always give themselves a chance, the Flames are probably somewhere in the next tier of teams that have made the playoffs either 4 or 3 times in the last 6 years.
Florida - 4 times
Dallas - 4 times
Oilers - 4 times
St. Louis - 4 times
After that there are four teams (Islanders, Kings, Calgary and the Flyers) that could catch lightning who have made the playoffs 3 times in the last 6 years. So there are only about 11-15 teams that one can reasonably expect have a better chance than the Flames based on frequency of playoff appearances.