I didn't know that the SPHL ran this play-off format. I know this is a case of "what if," but based on 2018-19 season standings, the Flames by virtue of their first place finish could've had their pick of a first round opponent.
5. St. Louis Blues
6. Dallas Stars
7. Vegas Golden Knights
8. Colorado Avalanche
The SPHL has used this format for two years now. There have been 8 first-round series in those two years. 2 of the 8 first round series were won by the lower-ranked team.
What's interesting is that both of the series won by the lower-ranked team were won by a "chosen" opponent rather than the opponent the higher-ranked team would have played in the traditional seeding order.
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Of the 6 series in which a higher-seed had their choice of opponent, the higher-seed chose an alternate opponent 3 times. The other 3 times, the higher-seed played the lowest-ranked available opponent.
A team that has chosen a different opponent than the one they would have faced in the traditional seeding has won 1 of 3 series. A team that has chosen the lowest-ranked available team has won 3 of 3 series.
Being able to choose your first-round opponent hasn't really worked out for the higher-seeds so far.
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Turn up the good, turn down the suck!
Honestly, if we had our choice, I think we still would have chosen the Avs. The games were close, but we went 3-0 against them in the regular season. The team likely would have felt confident.
The Avs were the best matchup for us on paper. We had way better depth (again, on paper)
Vegas would have ran through us with their physicality. St Louis was the hottest team in the league so that would be an even dumber choice. Dallas always seems to show up against us but not against other teams, especially their star players.