Quote:
Originally Posted by dino7c
Exactly, I wasn't trying to abolish the term
Panthers were lucky as F to get in with 92. The previous year the wild cards had 100+
Even with the Jets falling on their faces down the stretch the Flames needed 96 to get in. WC1 had 100...one less win than a divisional playoff team
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Point totals are rising across the league because there's a ton of disparity between the tanking teams and playoff bubble teams. Having Arizona and Chicago in your division last year meant a pretty easy 12-16 points for teams in the Central. Not to mention, the loser point/shootout has inflated point totals for some time now.
Then there's the whole new playoff format which pits divisional opponents against one another and doesn't reward the regular season heavyweights like the old format did, making it yes more likely that a lesser team wins a round, but it's a bit of a red herring.
Cinderalla's will always exist, and there's a lot of luck in hockey, but I think it's a pretty big stretch to say these 100 pt lower seeds are all of a sudden a coin flip from going to the finals and knocking off a top team. IMO, the get in and see what happens is a foolhardy strategy.