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- Aug 31, 2016
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In the first round of the 1993 Stanley Cup playoffs, the #2/#3/#4/#5 teams reg. season standings wise all lost.
#4 Quebec and #5 Detroit both fell in memorably hard-fought series against teams close in the standings (Toronto was only 4 points behind Detroit, Montreal and Quebec were only separated by 2 points).
(To a lesser extent, some other 1st round series where the team with home-ice lost each had not-that-huge point gaps- Islanders/Capitals were separated by 6 points and Kings/Flames were separated by 9 points, and given the playoff track records of Washington/Calgary, I don't think those series were seismic upsets. Islanders/Kings winning round 1 was not as surprising as what they did next round)
But #2 and #3 not only lost, they got swept by teams they finished way ahead of!
Boston (2nd overall points-wise to Pittsburgh), 23 points ahead of Buffalo, a team that surged late after Montreal/Quebec had battled for 1st place in the Adams Division all season long.
Chicago, (3rd overall points-wise, #1 in their conference), 21 points ahead of St. Louis, a team that had made the Stanley Cup Finals one year ago.
And neither won a playoff game.
Both lost high-scoring game 1's (Chicago blew a 3-1 lead, wasted a Brian Noonan hat trick, lost 4-3. Boston lost a 5-4 game at home on an OT goal by former Bruin Bob Sweeney), got shutout in game 2, and were ousted on game 4 OT goals (although Brad May's goal is more memorable than Craig Janney's, even with Belfour's post-game fireworks).
Both series had a different feel- Chicago went nearly 3 games without scoring on Curtis Joseph (Noonan's hat trick goal in game 1 was their last goal until game 4!), Boston lost 3 1-goal OT games sandwiched around a Fuhr shutout- but that didn't made one less shocking than the other.
Which of these was the bigger shock?
I'll say Boston/Buffalo only because the Sabres had not won a playoff series since '83 and Chicago/St. Louis had familiarity with each other, plus the Blues had beaten Chicago more recently ('88) and the first round wasn't a bugaboo for St. Louis ala Buffalo.
#4 Quebec and #5 Detroit both fell in memorably hard-fought series against teams close in the standings (Toronto was only 4 points behind Detroit, Montreal and Quebec were only separated by 2 points).
(To a lesser extent, some other 1st round series where the team with home-ice lost each had not-that-huge point gaps- Islanders/Capitals were separated by 6 points and Kings/Flames were separated by 9 points, and given the playoff track records of Washington/Calgary, I don't think those series were seismic upsets. Islanders/Kings winning round 1 was not as surprising as what they did next round)
But #2 and #3 not only lost, they got swept by teams they finished way ahead of!
Boston (2nd overall points-wise to Pittsburgh), 23 points ahead of Buffalo, a team that surged late after Montreal/Quebec had battled for 1st place in the Adams Division all season long.
Chicago, (3rd overall points-wise, #1 in their conference), 21 points ahead of St. Louis, a team that had made the Stanley Cup Finals one year ago.
And neither won a playoff game.
Both lost high-scoring game 1's (Chicago blew a 3-1 lead, wasted a Brian Noonan hat trick, lost 4-3. Boston lost a 5-4 game at home on an OT goal by former Bruin Bob Sweeney), got shutout in game 2, and were ousted on game 4 OT goals (although Brad May's goal is more memorable than Craig Janney's, even with Belfour's post-game fireworks).
Both series had a different feel- Chicago went nearly 3 games without scoring on Curtis Joseph (Noonan's hat trick goal in game 1 was their last goal until game 4!), Boston lost 3 1-goal OT games sandwiched around a Fuhr shutout- but that didn't made one less shocking than the other.
Which of these was the bigger shock?
I'll say Boston/Buffalo only because the Sabres had not won a playoff series since '83 and Chicago/St. Louis had familiarity with each other, plus the Blues had beaten Chicago more recently ('88) and the first round wasn't a bugaboo for St. Louis ala Buffalo.
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