The Reverse Stanley Cup Final is set! St.Louis Blues vs Montreal Canadiens (Series Score: 0-0)

[LeProspector]

This is something I find cool every year, the teams on both sides of the bracket that are the biggest losers in the playoffs.

Montreal is the finalist in the East after they lost to Washington, who lost to Carolina who lost to Florida and the St.Louis Blues are the team from the West. They lost to Winnipeg, who lost to Dallas, who lost to Edmonton.

The Blues went seven games in the first round matchup, winning 3 but inevitably losing in 7 whereas the Canadiens won once. Losing in 5 games. The reverse final is like the actual final, but in reverse. The team that loses the final, “wins” the Reverse Stanley Cup for the finalist in their conference. Let the games begin!

 

[Mirka the Turka]

Yes Montreal was clearly the worst team of these playoffs

But nobody really expected them to make the playoffs so good for them

 

[JKG33]

That metro section of the bracket was one of the most embarrassing groups of 4 these playoffs have ever seen.

2 teams who were vastly inferior to a team who missed the playoffs in the west, a caps team that massively overachieved in the regular season, and a Canes team that can brag about being atop shit mountain yet haven't actually accomplished anything outside of that very bad division.

 

[MajorLeaf]

Something like this?

 

[Perfect_Drug]

Nice!

Last year was Jets and Isle
2023: Kings + Rags
2022: Dallas + Bruins

 

[tarheelhockey]

That metro section of the bracket was one of the most embarrassing groups of 4 these playoffs have ever seen.

2 teams who were vastly inferior to a team who missed the playoffs in the west, a caps team that massively overachieved in the regular season, and a Canes team that can brag about being atop shit mountain yet haven't actually accomplished anything outside of that very bad division.

Jersey should have been a pretty good team, they happened to lose their 1C and first pair D down the stretch. It happens.

Also we didn’t want Montreal in our side of the bracket, they showed up uninvited.

 

[Canadiens Ghost]

This is something I find cool every year, the teams on both sides of the bracket that are the biggest losers in the playoffs. Montreal is in the East and the Blues are poised to be the team from the west to dawn this mark if Edmonton win but the Blues went seven games in the first round matchup, whereas the Canadiens won once. It a stark reminder that, despite their storied history, Montreal's current roster is a ways away from contention.

So looking at the 2022 Dallas Stars, It means the Habs might only be 3 years away from contention. That would fall in line with the timeline of their rebuilding. Excellent news! Thanks OP, this brightened my day.

 

[BHD]

In other words, they aren't there yet.

 

[Son of Nogatco]

That metro section of the bracket was one of the most embarrassing groups of 4 these playoffs have ever seen.

2 teams who were vastly inferior to a team who missed the playoffs in the west, a caps team that massively overachieved in the regular season, and a Canes team that can brag about being atop shit mountain yet haven't actually accomplished anything outside of that very bad division.

Would love to take a poll and find out how many other people think Ottawa was “vastly inferior” to Calgary

 

[JKG33]

Would love to take a poll and find out how many other people think Ottawa was “vastly inferior” to Calgary

Would love to take a poll and find out who thought Ottawa was in the metro bracket

(In case youre still lost, the teams I was referring to were the Habs and the Devils, you know, the ones in the metro bracket)

 

[Grifter3511]

Would love to take a poll and find out how many other people think Ottawa was “vastly inferior” to Calgary

Ottawa wasn't in the metro bracket. I assume he means Montreal and New Jersey?

 

[Hotsam Batcho]

Shade throwing thread aimed at Montreal. I'm all for it.

 

[Son of Nogatco]

Would love to take a poll and find out who thought Ottawa was in the metro bracket

(In case youre still lost, the teams I was referring to were the Habs and the Devils, you know, the ones in the metro bracket)

My b, im used to hearing how vastly inferior the Eastern WC’s were to the flames and the canucks

 

[JKG33]

My b, im used to hearing how vastly inferior the Eastern WC’s were to the flames and the canucks

Fair enough. Fwiw I'd probably take Ottawa over Calgary. But Calgary is absolutely better than the Habs, and the Devils team that limped in.

There are very few teams I'd take a Miller-less Canucks over lol, and all of them are lottery teams

 

[GeeoffBrown]

Habs are a promising team IMO. I think they outperformed expectations

 

[Son of Nogatco]

Fair enough. Fwiw I'd probably take Ottawa over Calgary. But Calgary is absolutely better than the Habs, and the Devils team that limped in.

The Devils comp is kind of a red herring though. They built a sizable lead with Hughes and then held on for dear life once he went down. Not really a testament to the weakness of the Metro since they certainly miss the playoffs if they played the whole season in their final form.

 

[AUAIOMRN]

A more generalized way of looking at this is "degrees from winning the cup". The formula is simple: The winner has a degree of zero, everyone else's is "the degree of the team they lost to + 1".

 

[JKG33]

The Devils comp is kind of a red herring though. They built a sizable lead with Hughes and then held on for dear life once he went down. Not really a testament to the weakness of the Metro since they certainly miss the playoffs if they played the whole season in their final form.

Do you think Jack Hughes is the difference between the Devils getting their ass handed to them by Carolina, and doing better than Carolina did vs Florida in the ECF?

Even with Hughes I doubt NJ gets past Carolina in round 1.

 

[Jee]

We won at something

 

[HanSolo]

So what you're saying is the Montreal Canadiens lost in the first round of the 2025 playoffs.

 

[Apoplectic Habs Fan]

no wonder HF runs so slow

 

[dgibb10]

Do you think Jack Hughes is the difference between the Devils getting their ass handed to them by Carolina, and doing better than Carolina did vs Florida in the ECF?

Even with Hughes I doubt NJ gets past Carolina in round 1.

He's pretty important yeah. (and the entire dcore injured)

The injuries also changed deadline spending.
Tor (2 1sts)
Fla (2 1sts+Knight)
Tampa (2 1sts)

All spent massively at the deadline

The metro teams did not.

If Jack Hughes is healthy, maybe the devils spend like that.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Rebuilding team makes playoffs sounds better to me but go off

 

[Son of Nogatco]

Do you think Jack Hughes is the difference between the Devils getting their ass handed to them by Carolina, and doing better than Carolina did vs Florida in the ECF?

Even with Hughes I doubt NJ gets past Carolina in round 1.

No probably not, but no one is saying Calgary is better if Hughes is healthy

 

[Prairie Habs]

Montreal also swept their 4 game season series with Florida this year