Which Canadian Team Will Go the Farthest?

[JKG33]

All of the Canadian teams have very favorable matchup/bracket scenarios, once again showing how broken this playoff format is. Toronto & Winnipeg get to avoid the two cup favorites playing each other in their respective divisions. Edmonton gets to play LA for the 17th time in a row. Ottawa gets perennial choker Toronto. And even Montreal as an 8 seed has a Washington team that we dont quite know if they're legit yet.

Realistically, 3/5 should advance to the 2nd rd, and id be shocked if any of them made it past that because quite frankly they all just aren't very good. Vegas/StLouis should beat Edmonton (if St. Louis doesn't beat Winnipeg in rd 1), COL/DAL should beat Winnipeg, and TB/FL should beat TOR/OTT.

 

[ole ole]

Jets have to prove they can win more than 5 games in the first round for me

Your bringing playoffs as a way to knock the Jets? Wow ? Your team again?

 

[Gerulaitis]

Winnipeg can go all the way to the finals. Probably,win it all.

They're a strong Canadian club with the top American goaltender.

Hellebuyck can be a difference maker.

 

[CupofOil]

A good chunk of the current Jets core has at least seen a conference finals. Hellebuyck, Scheif, Connor, Lowry, Morrissey, Tanev, Ehlers were all there. Granted that was many years ago but at the very least they have seen what it takes to get that far. They have had some rough goes of it recently but this team looks better than any team they have had since 2018.

I want to see the Jets do well and they have a very balanced roster and have had a great season but strong playoff pedigree teams like the Stars and Avs are hard to bet against.

 

[Mad Dog Tannen]

^ 1-3 against the soft Habs this season btw.

the 1-3 record doesn’t make the habs not soft.

Edit: habs are my east team I cheer for when jets are out. So I do like them. Just think they need some experience and probably some size. Hopefully the Jets have hardened from last year!

 

[Dagistitsyn]

the 1-3 record doesn’t make the habs not soft.

Edit: habs are my east team I cheer for when jets are out. So I do like them. Just think they need some experience and probably some size. Hopefully the Jets have hardened from last year!

Hits were nearly dead even, Ottawa had one more, and that’s without Xhejak and Tkachuk in the line up. + an even back and forth wild scrap. Anderson had some huge hits. Both teams played the body well. I don’t think it’s a softness issue personally. The Habs have looked fatigued and putting out weak efforts in during their 6 game win streak, it finally caught up to them. Ottawa just simply outplayed them and was faster all night for the first time this season.
Just my 2 cents though.

All that said, I agree that Ottawa does have a tougher team, but that doesn’t always matter / win games.
(Also didn’t help that Slafkovsky is back to being invisible and playing soft as shit, when he’s more than capable of playing a strong physical game when he feels like it.)

 

[FlappyGiraffe]

All of the Canadian teams have very favorable matchup/bracket scenarios, once again showing how broken this playoff format is. Toronto & Winnipeg get to avoid the two cup favorites playing each other in their respective divisions. Edmonton gets to play LA for the 17th time in a row. Ottawa gets perennial choker Toronto. And even Montreal as an 8 seed has a Washington team that we dont quite know if they're legit yet.

Realistically, 3/5 should advance to the 2nd rd, and id be shocked if any of them made it past that because quite frankly they all just aren't very good. Vegas/StLouis should beat Edmonton (if St. Louis doesn't beat Winnipeg in rd 1), COL/DAL should beat Winnipeg, and TB/FL should beat TOR/OTT.

I'm no fan of the format either, but the advantage WPG/TOR have were up for grabs for the other contenders too if they won more games.

 

[JKG33]

I'm no fan of the format either, but the advantage WPG/TOR have were up for grabs for the other contenders too if they won more games.

Oh dont get me wrong im not saying they didnt earn it. In the Jets case its equally ridiculous a 1 seed could have to play the 2 seed in rd 2

 

[Golden_Jet]

Oh dont get me wrong im not saying they didnt earn it. In the Jets case its equally ridiculous a 1 seed could have to play the 2 seed in rd 2

Even if it was 1-8
divisions are still ranked 1-2

 

[JKG33]

Even if it was 1-8
divisions are still ranked 1-2

*sigh*

The team with the most points potentially going against the team with the 2nd most points. Better?

 

[albator71]

To be honest it wouldn't surprise me if it was Montreal, they have an easier path facing Washington and then the Metro.

That's why the playoffs format doesn't make sense because why would the Sens have worst matchups then the Habs when they finished a head in the standings?

 

[Golden_Jet]

*sigh*

The team with the most points potentially going against the team with the 2nd most points. Better?

Ya I get it, but they’ve never been ranked that way, even during 1-8 days.

 

[JKG33]

Ya I get it, but they’ve never been ranked that way, even during 1-8 days.

That doesn't make it not ridiculous

 

[JKG33]

To be honest it wouldn't surprise me if it was Montreal, they have an easier path facing Washington and then the Metro.

That's why the playoffs format doesn't make sense because why would the Sens have worst matchups then the Habs when they finished a head in the standings?

Yup locking in the bracket is just so bush league. I'd expect the format from a random jr B league that needs to save on travel costs, not the best league in the world

 

[JoeSakic13]

Not Ottawa sadly if I had to guess. Tkachuk coming in cold AF then being needed in a key role could spell disaster for their playoff run.

 

[Aashir]

All of the Canadian teams have very favorable matchup/bracket scenarios, once again showing how broken this playoff format is. Toronto & Winnipeg get to avoid the two cup favorites playing each other in their respective divisions. Edmonton gets to play LA for the 17th time in a row. Ottawa gets perennial choker Toronto. And even Montreal as an 8 seed has a Washington team that we dont quite know if they're legit yet.

Realistically, 3/5 should advance to the 2nd rd, and id be shocked if any of them made it past that because quite frankly they all just aren't very good. Vegas/StLouis should beat Edmonton (if St. Louis doesn't beat Winnipeg in rd 1), COL/DAL should beat Winnipeg, and TB/FL should beat TOR/OTT.

Is it? The jets and leafs are top regular season teams right now, they deserve favourable matchups for that, whether it’s the wildcard system or the 1-8 or 1-16 systems

If we go 1-8 leafs play devils who I’m not sure are even better than sens without Hughes or Hamilton and jets play St. Louis still

If we go 1-16 leafs play Minnesota, so essentially the western version of themselves and Winnipeg plays devils who again I don’t know how good they are without Hughes or Hamilton

So either way both teams get favourable matchups for that. If Tampa/florida or Dallas/colorado wanted better matchups they should’ve won more

Edmontons matchup is only favourable because they own the kings in the playoffs, otherwise la usually finishes right around them

Montreal is playing the team that has won the T-2nd most games behind the jets. Carolina or the devils should’ve won more if they wanted a favourable matchup

The regular season matters. It’s important for seeding, otherwise they should just do a 33 team knockout 1 game tournament to decide seeding and ditch all 82 games.

 

[Bruce Granville]

Leafs…16 wins.

 

[Divine]

All of the Canadian teams have very favorable matchup/bracket scenarios, once again showing how broken this playoff format is. Toronto & Winnipeg get to avoid the two cup favorites playing each other in their respective divisions. Edmonton gets to play LA for the 17th time in a row. Ottawa gets perennial choker Toronto. And even Montreal as an 8 seed has a Washington team that we dont quite know if they're legit yet.

Realistically, 3/5 should advance to the 2nd rd, and id be shocked if any of them made it past that because quite frankly they all just aren't very good. Vegas/StLouis should beat Edmonton (if St. Louis doesn't beat Winnipeg in rd 1), COL/DAL should beat Winnipeg, and TB/FL should beat TOR/OTT.

Both of these matchups happen in a 1-8 system too so it's strange to blame the playoff format for it. Well, technically, in a 1-8 Toronto should be playing NJ instead of Ottawa, so they're actually hurt by the playoff format. Edmonton, yes, they've benefited the most of any team with this format. The Pacific has 2 good teams every season and the third team is almost always worse than one (or both) of the WC teams. Second place in the Pacific almost always gets home ice when they shouldn't (in a 1-8) as a result of that.

 

[Korpse]

Not Ottawa sadly if I had to guess. Tkachuk coming in cold AF then being needed in a key role could spell disaster for their playoff run.

He will have missed 3 weeks if he doesn’t play before game 1. I think he will be fine.

 

[thekernel]

The only one I can realistically believe is Toronto-Winnipeg. Which of course means Montreal is going to cinderella some vibes together and get smushed by Edmonton

 

[Deno]

Yeah. Chokers. If they lose in the playoffs they're chokers, right? Seems to be the criteria everyone uses in evaluating the Jets. They lose in the playoffs, either to powerhouses (Vegas, Avs) or teams that are on a Stanley Cup run (St. Louis), so they must be chokers. Edmonton lost in four straight the the Islanders in 1983, even though they had Gretzky, Messier, Fuhr, Anderson, Kurri, Coffey...one of the greatest lineups in NHL history. Must be chokers, right?

Or is "choker" a label reserved for just the Jets?

How about this...a handful of playoff losses, a couple of them ugly (like the Oilers in 1983), on the way to building a better team? But that's not nearly as good a headline.

It been my experience that Stanley Cup champions lose before they learn how to win.

 

[JKG33]

Is it? The jets and leafs are top regular season teams right now, they deserve favourable matchups for that, whether it’s the wildcard system or the 1-8 or 1-16 systems

They deserve more favourable sure, but not the massive difference in being a 1 or 2 seed playing a 7 or 8 while the 3 & 4's are playing each other in their quadrant of the bracket. And a 1 or 2 seed should never be locked in to playing the 2nd or 3rd best team in their conference in round 2.

If we go 1-8 leafs play devils who I’m not sure are even better than sens without Hughes or Hamilton and jets play St. Louis still

If we go 1-16 leafs play Minnesota, so essentially the western version of themselves and Winnipeg plays devils who again I don’t know how good they are without Hughes or Hamilton

Fwiw if I'm the Leafs I'd much rather play NJ instead of Ottawa.

So either way both teams get favourable matchups for that. If Tampa/florida or Dallas/colorado wanted better matchups they should’ve won more

Wrong. Those teams playing each other in rd 1 should never even be a possibility.

Edmontons matchup is only favourable because they own the kings in the playoffs, otherwise la usually finishes right around them

Wrong again. The last 3 years EDM/LA has been a 5v7, 2v5, 5v6 and likely 5v6 again this year. All of those are incorrect matchups, and three of the four years have been a more favourable matchup than either team deserves.

Montreal is playing the team that has won the T-2nd most games behind the jets. Carolina or the devils should’ve won more if they wanted a favourable matchup

Montreal's 1st round matchup isn't an issue. The fact that if they win, they'll be guaranteed to play either 4 or 7 in the 2nd round which is all kinds of wrong.

The regular season matters. It’s important for seeding, otherwise they should just do a 33 team knockout 1 game tournament to decide seeding and ditch all 82 games.

You say the regular season matters, I agree with that principle. However this format clearly throws the regular season out the window with this awful bracket.

Both of these matchups happen in a 1-8 system too so it's strange to blame the playoff format for it. Well, technically, in a 1-8 Toronto should be playing NJ instead of Ottawa, so they're actually hurt by the playoff format. Edmonton, yes, they've benefited the most of any team with this format. The Pacific has 2 good teams every season and the third team is almost always worse than one (or both) of the WC teams. Second place in the Pacific almost always gets home ice when they shouldn't (in a 1-8) as a result of that.

See my points above. Edmonton & Ottawa have more favourable 1st rd matchups than they otherwise should. Toronto & Winnipeg are neutral for rd 1, hurt in rd 2. Montreal is neutral in rd 1 but would have a much easier rd 2 than they should.

 

[MoneyManny]

As a Habs fans, I hope history keeps repeating until eternity for the Leafs. But the truth is that this year's roster isn't bound by the past. Teams sometimes take years to get over a hump, like Washington. Marner has been the ultimate playoff choker, and yet he was phenomenal in the Four Nations tournament. Human performance is unpredictable. As much as I want the Leafs to fail, I know they can latch onto success just as easily.

I fully expect Marner to play incredibly hard for his UFA year playoffs. If you can believe anything it's in that guy's drive to get paid.

 

[PROUD PAPA]

I fully expect Marner to play incredibly hard for his UFA year playoffs. If you can believe anything it's in that guy's drive to get paid.

People were concerned the stress of being in a contract year would be a problem for Marner. I just laughed at that notion.
Expect the opposite was my advice.

 

[Golden_Jet]

People were concerned the stress of being in a contract year would be a problem for Marner. I just laughed at that notion.
Expect the opposite was my advice.

Most thought he would have a career year going into a contract year, that’s what he does.