Flyers: wide-eyed opportunists
In the Stanley Cup playoffs, anything really can happen.
Flyers: wide-eyed opportunists
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
In the Stanley Cup playoffs, anything really can happen.
This just in...
Just a look at the numbers for the last five tournaments -- since the lockout and the rules changes that opened up the game to more skill -- tell you all you need to know about the importance of opportunism most of all. The NHL is a league where an entrance ticket into the playoffs is a real and valuable thing -- real and valuable because everybody really does start with a clean slate. The Stanley Cup is not won by the best team but by the team that is playing the best.
Just look at how wide-open it is.
In the last 5 years:
-- of the 30 NHL teams, 28 of them have made the tournament at least once.
-- of the 28 teams that made it, 18 have won at least one playoff round.
-- only three teams have made it to the playoffs all five years: New Jersey, San Jose and Detroit.
-- besides those three, only eight others have made it to four playoffs in 5 years: Anaheim, Ottawa, Montreal, Nashville, New York Rangers, Calgary, Pittsburgh and the Flyers.
-- no team, as in zero, has won a round in all five seasons.
-- here is the list of total rounds won in those five years: 10 (Detroit), 8 (Pittsburgh), 7 (Anaheim), 6 (Carolina), 5 (San Jose, Chicago, Flyers).
All of which helps no one predict the future. Hopefully, what it does is highlight the fleeting nature of excellence and the value of the opportunity -- something the Flyers seem to have realized weeks ago. This just in.
Lightning in a bottle. Go Flyers!— vafan- Vick > Klobb— aman1711
- Those are some great stats. Thanks for posting. I said in another comment that Habs beating Was/Pgh put the flyers in perhaps the best spot to find themselves in this highly opportunistic position. The fact that the team is getting healty and playing 'in the zone' type hockey could certainly lead this team to glory. I didn't think this was possible after watching this team all season but this team has everyone on the same page. Go Flyers!— drew138
- You know Rich, No one wants to hear that tired BS "The Stanley Cup is not won by the best team but by the team that is playing the best." I say, If your team is playing the best after the very long hockey season then you are the best "Team". Look at what this team has overcome to get where they are now. A new coach, with a vastly different style. Injuries of Goalies, remember Emery was the answer? Injuries of premiere players and they are still in it with fill in players, I'd say from top to bottom, the Flyers were the best team in the east. Half of the playoff wins came with a goalie who just came back from an injury, and fill in players, yet they still won. What does that say? Even with injuries, even with guys playing who maybe aren't ready to play, even with a revolving door of goalies, the Flyers have still come out on top of the eastern conference. Yes they're the best team in the eastern Conference right now, how that came to be at seasons end is what makes them one of the best and to deny them that is a sin. You sound like a Montreal or Baaahhhhstan fan with an axe to grind for some reason. Could the article have been any shorter or insulting to a great team? I doubt it. Total thumbs down.— Jonny5
- It's amazing how it took a whole season, change of coaches, change of goalies, to find their stride. Really really impressive...— Grazman
- One word for Hawks fans: HOSSA.— Flyersroadtrip
- posted today on a PGH Pens blog, presumably by a disgruntled Pens fan: "I would rather see Marion Hossa in bed with my wife than see the Flyers win the Cup"— festizio
- festizio, take your ugly wife to Hossa's hotel now. Flyers in 6.— hititwheretheyaint
- Wow Rich, so you've deduced that every team in the NHL makes the playoffs...I'll do your job for ½ salary!— rickah88
Comment removed.- hititwheretheyaint: Obviously you missed the part where I wrote that it was written "by a presumably disgruntled Pens fan" on a Pittsburgh Penguins blog, not by me.— festizio
- Comment removed.
- Hey Tonka, U suck like the Eagles!— BirdsSuck
- hey festizio, he's a baseball guy, cut him some slack! lol— DJ
- Tonka is obviously off his medications again...— rjsmith
