No Cinderella teams this year

[BMOK33]

We really don’t get them every year or a lot at all. When I think Cinderella team, it’s a team playing way over their heads

2024: None
2023: Florida but they were more of a team playing true to their potential.
2022: None
2021: Montreal was a true Cinderella run
2020: None
2019: Blues like Florida just started playing to their potential
2018: Vegas I guess if you count regular season but they proved to be a good team.
2017: Nashville I guess but do you notice a trend…
2016: None
2015: None

Florida in 2023 was fairly similar to Vancouver in 94, they were injured/etc for a good part of the season til things finally clicked in time for the playoffs. I think the league is just weak now so the top 3-4 teams are not really going to get beat unexpectedly by anyone

 

[Ezekial]

If the Capitals made it to the conference finals you would have an example of a Cinderella team.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

No team that had a 109 point regular season has ever been considered a cinderella.

 

[jackjohnson]

Think about how salty you have to be to call a division winner and 2nd round playoff team a paper tiger.

And this is a Dallas fan.

I think he means the oilers. Why would Canucks be paper tigers? They were never considered a favourite to win

PDO Kings !!

It's weird how many times I've heard or read PDO this year. Honestly I don't recall really hearing PDO much more then a handful of times ever before this season.

You can thank certain fans of a certain team we are playing against right now

 

[jackjohnson]

Oilers were only favored after a poor showing in round 1 for the Nucks. They've limped since the deadline, but before that were clearly the better team.

Even Canucks limping has made Oilers go to a game 7 with a high risk of losing to a limping Canucks with no demko and sleepy pete and injured Hughes. Thats incredible

 

[Oilslick941611]

Here's a stat for you, Canucks are playing their third string goaltender.

They aren't they are playing their backup goalie. DeSmith has been passed on the depth chart. Silovs may have started the year as the 3rd stringer, but he isn't anymore and he isn't playing like one.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Canucks fans: "Oilers suck! we swept you 4 straight games"

Also Canucks fans: "no one thought we could beat the Oilers, massive underdogs"

lol ok then

 

[Fishy McScales]

Here's a stat for you, Canucks are playing their third string goaltender.

So you are saying he sucks?

 

[Duder54]

No cinderellas but one paper tiger

Toronto is out already, fyi.

 

[nerevarine]

Canucks fans: "Oilers suck! we swept you 4 straight games"

Also Canucks fans: "no one thought we could beat the Oilers, massive underdogs"

lol ok then

Some people just like being able to trash talk but still having excuses lined up if they lose

 

[jackjohnson]

They aren't they are playing their backup goalie. DeSmith has been passed on the depth chart. Silovs may have started the year as the 3rd stringer, but he isn't anymore and he isn't playing like one.

I dont know, maybe Oilers are making Silovs look like a Vezina winner. I think he would be torched against a team like Avs. Silovs is decent for the position he plays but he aint no Demko thats for sure.

 

[jackjohnson]

Some people just like being able to trash talk but still having excuses lined up if they lose

I thought Oilers were cup favourites before the season. They are not even close to that. In fact I picked them over facing teams like Avs, Stars or Vegas and it shows in this series. The way Canucks are playing and hampered with injuries, they would have been out already if they faced the Stars. Oilers are lucky to have avoided Vegas too, otherwise they would be out in the 1st round.

 

[Jason316]

I thought Oilers were cup favourites before the season. They are not even close to that. In fact I picked them over facing teams like Avs, Stars or Vegas and it shows in this series. The way Canucks are playing and hampered with injuries, they would have been out already if they faced the Stars. Oilers are lucky to have avoided Vegas too, otherwise they would be out in the 1st round.

Vegas lol. Not the same team

Dallas is lucky they met a injured Colorado team. They ain't beating Edmonton

 

[iliketorock]

11.85ish Million for 2 goals 5 assists in in 56 combined games
McLeod/Brown/Ryan/Perry/Janmark/Foegele

Good run for Van, but i don't get how people though they were anything but even with the Oilers. Look at that bottom 6 production in crunch time, and Skinners (though small) track record in the playoffs. Draisaitl with Kane and Holloway have looked like a good unit the last couple games, 2 lines doesn't cut it though.

 

[jackjohnson]

Vegas lol. Not the same team

Dallas is lucky they met a injured Colorado team. They ain't beating Edmonton

Its a nice joke, I get it. Very funny hahaha.

Wait til Stankoven dekes cross eyed freak and purse out of their jockstrap.

 

[HarrySPlinkett]

5 teams left, and all of them were good regular season teams. If Vancouver beats Edmonton, both conference finals will have divison winners facing each other. And the second round already had 7 out of 8 teams that were 1st or 2nd in their conference, only exception being Colorado over Winnipeg.

When was the last time there were so few surprises, based on regular season standings?

None of the bubble teams made trade deadline acquisitions.

Had New Jersey acquired Markstrom, they might have been able to fill the Cinderella role.

Beyond that, the talent on the top teams is getting to be too much to overcome - you cant just clog up the neutral zone and rely on a goalie + one star skater for four rounds the way Anaheim, Calgary and Edmonton did 20 years ago.

Even Vancouver, who’s supposedly so outclassed by the rest of the remaining teams, have four 70 point scorers, a Norris finalist and a Vezina level goalie.

The league is too good, and the days of a seven or eight seed spending draft capital to acquire a guy to make sure they get into the playoffs are mostly gone.

 

[jackjohnson]

11.85ish Million for 2 goals 5 assists in in 56 combined games
McLeod/Brown/Ryan/Perry/Janmark/Foegele

Good run for Van, but i don't get how people though they were anything but even with the Oilers. Look at that bottom 6 production in crunch time, and Skinners (though small) track record in the playoffs. Draisaitl with Kane and Holloway have looked like a good unit the last couple games, 2 lines doesn't cut it though.

I think a healthy Hughes and Demko would have swept the Oilers or at least defeated them in 5 very easily. Oilers dont have depth and very poor dmen and goaltending. Demko would have made tge Canucks more brave to attack and press the oilers much more than they have. They are playing too hesitant because they have a rookie in net.

 

[iliketorock]

I think a healthy Hughes and Demko would have swept the Oilers or at least defeated them in 5 very easily. Oilers dont have depth and very poor dmen and goaltending. Demko would have made tge Canucks more brave to attack and press the oilers much more than they have. They are playing too hesitant because they have a rookie in net.

I don't think it would of been "easy". The awful defense is overblow, the Nurse Ceci pairing is a problem. Even just decent goaltending will mask a few defensive lapses. Skinner was not doing that, I'm going to guess its tough to play the way you know you're capable of when you have it in the back of your head that a defensive lapse is more likely to be a goal then a save. Ekholm Bouchard Kulak and Desharnais have been alright. Desharnais lacks stamina though, he's not a guy who can get stuck out on an extended shift(you don't really want that for anyone really, but in my eyes especially him).

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

To have a cinderella run, first you need teams that fit that description.

I'd say only the Capitals, Islanders and Predators would've been the candidates, and none of them were able to be better than in the regular season.

And realistically, the road would've been too tough this year. Going through Canes/Rangers/Panthers in the East and Canucks/Oilers/Stars in the West is a gruesome task for an underdog.

 

[Oilslick941611]

None of the bubble teams made trade deadline acquisitions.

Had New Jersey acquired Markstrom, they might have been able to fill the Cinderella role.

Beyond that, the talent on the top teams is getting to be too much to overcome - you cant just clog up the neutral zone and rely on a goalie + one star skater for four rounds the way Anaheim, Calgary and Edmonton did 20 years ago.

Even Vancouver, who’s supposedly so outclassed by the rest of the remaining teams, have four 70 point scorers, a Norris finalist and a Vezina level goalie.

The league is too good, and the days of a seven or eight seed spending draft capital to acquire a guy to make sure they get into the playoffs are mostly gone.

Its a loser mentality that has crept into the league that a team would rather finish outside the playoffs to preserve draft spot rather than go for it.

 

[GhostfaceWu]

Here's a stat for you, Canucks are playing their third string goaltender.

Heres a stat for you the Oilers played with a third string quality goalie all year long.

 

[KCC]

Even Canucks limping has made Oilers go to a game 7 with a high risk of losing to a limping Canucks with no demko and sleepy pete and injured Hughes. Thats incredible

Thank skinner else edm would have likely swept this series. He was brutal in games 1 and 3. .792 and .733 save percentages. And he barely faced any shots. Lol. Happened against Vegas last year as well. Was pulled 3 times.

 

[HarrySPlinkett]

Its a loser mentality that has crept into the league that a team would rather finish outside the playoffs to preserve draft spot rather than go for it.

I’ve been saying for years, draft picks are for losers.

It’s lame AF. Even winning a single round does worlds for fan engagement.

I’m not saying everyone needs to be trading 1sts for UFAs, but like, Vlad Tarasenko went for a 3rd and a conditional 4th.

I don’t know why Every team in the top-16 wasn’t in on him for that price.

How valuable can the 80th pick and an extra 4th really be to a team like the Islanders?

 

[Oilslick941611]

I’ve been saying for years, draft picks are for losers.

It’s lame AF. Even winning a single round does worlds for fan engagement.

I’m not saying everyone needs to be trading 1sts for UFAs, but like, Vlad Tarasenko went for a 3rd and a conditional 4th.

I don’t know why Every team in the top-16 wasn’t in on him for that price.

How valuable can the 80th pick and an extra 4th really be to a team like the Islanders?

You’re preaching the choir here. I was against the fall for hall because losing isn’t a switch you just turn off. A loser mentality can infect a team from the owner to the players and you don’t just turn on a switch and start winning.

 

[robertmac43]

No cinderellas makes for a better second round imo. Not bothered by this in the slightest.