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Just a bunch of stories about my favorite interests, and things that need to be said.

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Minnesota Wild's Central Division Preview - The Hockey Writers - Minnesota  Wild - NHL News, Analysis & More

The NHL's Western Conference Final got underway, and this year, it's the Dallas Stars against the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers' road to this point saw them defeat the Los Angeles Kings in Round 1, and the Vancouver Canucks in Round 2. As for the Stars, they defeated the Vegas Golden Knights in Round 1, and the Colorado Avalanche in Round 2. As an Avs fan, I was disappointed over the ousting, but when this Conference Final was made official, it wasn't hard for me to decide who I would pull for to win this series:  Dallas.

Just by saying that, I am fully aware that I'm violating all sorts of codes here--the main one being that we are not supposed to root for our division rivals to do anything other than get a kick in the a**. Another code is that fans of teams who get eliminated do not pull for the teams who eliminated them, but with me, that depends on who it is. Division rivalries are intense in every sport, especially hockey. Nearly every fan is pretty much brought up to hate division rivals. The picture above features the logo of all eight teams in the NHL's Central Division, including the team I'm a fan of, the Colorado Avalanche. However, my stances on our seven rivals are quite interesting. Here are my true honest feelings about our seven division rivals:

Dallas Stars:  Never hated them, even in spite of them beating us in the Conference Final in 1999 and 2000. They did give me a few reasons this year, but there are still some teams who deserve more hate than the Stars.

Utah (the former Arizona Coyotes):  I feel sorry for that team, especially with the relocation bullsh*t going on with them. They've been trying to keep things afloat in recent years, but now the team's moving from Arizona to Utah. Plus, the team's only been our division rivals for three years, and nothing's really developed. So yeah, definitely no reason to hate the former Coyotes.

Chicago Blackhawks:  Used to respect that team until the story involving poor Kyle Beach came out. Since then it's been sh*tshow after sh*tshow with them. Can't stand them, but at the current moment, I don't have to worry about them.

Minnesota Wild:  HATE THEM. They are our longest tenured division rivals. Avs and Wild were in the old Northwest Division together from 2000-2013, and have been in the Central Division together since the 2013-14 season. Even in the COVID-affected 2020-21 season, the Avs and Wild were in the localized West Division together. We can't get away from the Wild LOL! At the moment, we never have to worry about the Wild, because they have sucked in the last few years, but even so, can't stand them. I respect them, but can't stand them.

Nashville Predators:  Used to hate them, but that's decreased a bit. They've become quite fun to watch, and I was happy for them for making the playoffs with a new coach this year

St. Louis Blues:  DESPISE THEM since the 2022 playoffs. I used to like that team and feel for them because they couldn't win. I was happy for them when they did win in 2019. Ever since their fans sent racist death threats to Nazem Kadri, all of my respect for them went out the window. Even NOW, Blues fans still believe that Kadri intentionally injured their goalie, Jordan Binnington, when it was actually Binnington's teammate who shoved Kadri into Binnington, and some of them even believe that they were "falsely" accused of being racist. Oh, and Binnington has a racist history, too. Oh boy. Yeah, f**k the Blues.

Winnipeg Jets:  I have a soft spot for Canada, so that keeps me from actually hating the Jets. They did frustrate us this season, but that never caused me to hate them.

Back to the West Final. There are some teams who deserve more hate than even division rivals. The Golden Knights are definitely one team, and the Oilers are another. Here's the thing, though. It's only because the Oilers fan base consists of delusional and arrogant asshats that I'm actually pulling for Dallas in this series. That's all. I've never had Stars fans come at me and pound their chests when they shouldn't. Oilers fans trashed me because I told them that they're ruining Connor McDavid's career. All I did was tell the truth, and they couldn't handle it. So yeah, I hope Oilers fans end up crying in the car after this year's West Final.

CEDAvsFan

Being the Last Canadian Team Standing

A look at the to-do list for each Canadian team | CBC Sports

When the second round matchups were set in stone, one of them was a pivotal one for an entire nation. No, not this one. The one sitting above us. The series in the Pacific Division pitted the Vancouver Canucks and the Edmonton Oilers, meaning that it's a guarantee that a Canadian team will be part of the NHL's Final Four this year. The series has reached seven games, and the role of "Last Canadian Team Standing" will be decided in that game.

So, why is this vital? It's simple. The last time a Canadian franchise won the Stanley Cup, you have to go all the way back to 1993. That year, the Montréal Canadiens won their 24th Stanley Cup in franchise history. Since then, Canadian teams haven't had any luck in the playoffs. In fact, there have only been six instances where a Canadian franchise reached the Stanley Cup FInal:  1994 (Canucks--lost in seven), 2004 (Flames--lost in seven), 2006 (Oilers--lost in seven), 2007 (Senators--lost in five), 2011 (Canucks--lost in seven), and 2021 (Canadiens--lost in five). Fans of Canadian clubs have long believed that the commissioner, Gary Bettman, has a bias against Canadian teams, but that's really not the case. These teams just haven't been good or fortunate enough to win the whole thing. 

As I stated before, a Canadian team will be in the Final Four this year. It will be the third time in four years, and overall, it will be the fifth time in the last eight years that a Canadian club will be four wins away from reaching the Final. In a crazy twist of irony, the stretch began after a 2015-16 season that saw none of the NHL's seven Canadian franchises qualify for the playoffs--the first time that happened since the 1969-70 season, though back then, only the Maple Leafs and Canadiens represented Canada in the NHL--which had 12 teams at that time.

In 2017, the Ottawa Senators reached the Eastern Conference Final, and came within a hair of advancing, being ousted in double overtime of Game Seven by the Pittsburgh Penguins. In 2018, it was the Winnipeg Jets reaching the Western Conference Final, only to run into the Vegas Golden Knights during that team's debut season. 2021 was the second of the two COVID-affected seasons that saw localized divisions, with one of them consisting of all seven Canadian teams. As a result, the first two rounds of that year's playoffs were purely division based, guaranteeing that a Canadian team would reach the third round. That year, it was the Canadiens, who actually ended up advancing to the Stanley Cup Final. In 2022, the Edmonton Oilers reached the Western Conference Final, only to be swept by the Colorado Avalanche.

Now, for those of you who'd like to believe that the last Canadian team left would have support from the entire nation of fans...kill that belief right now. Canadian pride in hockey only exists in the Olympics and other forms of international play. When it comes to the Stanley Cup, it's every team and fanbase for themselves. Do Canadian fans want the Cup drought over? Yes. But they want their favorite team to do it. Leafs fans will not root for either Vancouver or Edmonton to win the whole thing. Neither will Senators and Canadiens fans. Flames fans would rather eat dirt than ever root for the Canucks and especially the Oilers. I've said many times that it's always fun when Canadian teams face each other in the playoffs. One reason is because of the heated pressure and rivalry between the teams and the fans. So yeah, the entire nation of Canada won't band together for the one team left in the playoffs. That's just not a thing. 

Either the Canucks or the Oilers will be the last Canadian team standing, and it'll be interesting to see if that attribute leads to the end of a 31 year drought.

Let's talk about the two most dangerous words in the English language to any fan of the Stanley Cup Playoffs:  Game Seven.

Really, Game Seven is nerve-wracking in all three sports that uses a playoff series format--NBA, MLB, and NHL. In the NBA and NHL, all playoff rounds are best-of-seven. Since 2022, MLB has a best-of-three Wild Card Series and a best-of-five Division Series, and it's the League Championship Series and the World Series that are best-of-seven. Of course, Game Seven only comes when both teams have won three games out of six, and a final seventh game is needed to determine who advances, or in the case of the final round, who becomes champion. 

The main subject in this blog is Game Sevens in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, because while all Game Sevens are nerve-wracking, the ones that will most likely raise your heart rate are in the NHL. Baseball's slow-paced, it doesn't pick up until a bases loaded situation. Basketball's faster, but it's a controlled frenzy. Hockey can go a million ways, especially the way the puck bounces. That's why Game Sevens in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, while they are exciting, can be nerve-wracking for overall fans, and frightening for fans of teams playing in one. And if Game Seven goes to overtime...oh boy.

So we actually have a Game Seven in this year's opening round, and honestly, I didn't think we'd see one. The first round has been less climactic than usual. We have one sweep, and four series ended in five games. The only exciting five game series was the Avalanche/Jets series, and that's because there were so many goals scored. The remaining three that are ongoing now have reached Game Six, and the series that reached Game Seven is the one between the Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs, because of course it is. This was another series that was 3-1 after four games, and it was Boston with the 3-1 lead. However, back-to-back 2-1 wins by Toronto have resulted in a Game Seven needed.

Game Seven hasn't really been kind to both teams. We all know Toronto's history, they haven't won a Game Seven in 20 years, and they have lost their last five Game Sevens--with three of them coming against Boston. And unlike the rest of the hockey world, I see both sides to this. Boston has had recent problems closing out series. The losses in Games Five and Six this year served as their fifth and sixth straight losses in series clinching games dating back to 2022. This includes last year, where a 65-win Bruins team blew a 3-1 series lead to the upstart Florida Panthers in Round 1. Speaking of that series last year, no NHL team has ever blown 3-1 series leads in back-to-back year. That's what the Bruins face on Saturday.

Saturday's winner will face off against the Florida Panthers in Round 2. As for the remaining series, the Nashville Predators and the Vegas Golden Knights each have the chance to force Game Sevens of their own. If they do, those Game Sevens will take place on Sunday.

 

I can't believe that my fellow Avalanche fans entered this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs scared and worried. Yes, I was a bit demoralized when the Winnipeg Jets, a team we would play in the playoffs, thrashed us 7-0 on our own ice, but I wasn't negative about it. I stood by what I said to a fellow Avs fan on Twitter:  "I don't give a f**k who we play, we'll f**k 'em up." 

The Jets swept the season series against the Avs:  "I don't give a f**k who we play, we'll f**k 'em up."

Our goalie, Alexandar Georgiev, was having problems in net:  "I don't give a f**k who we play, we'll f**k 'em up."

Avs entered the playoffs on a bit of a skid:  "I don't give a f**k who we play, we'll f**k 'em up."

Even when Georgiev was a mess in Game One, I said that we're going to enter Game 2 p**sed off.

Boy did we.

The Avalanche won four straight and all in dominant fashion! We scored 28 goals in the five game series! That's an average of 5.6 goals per game. Mind you, this was against a Jets team who had Connor Hellebuyck as their goalie. Hellebuyck won the William M. Jennings Trophy this year--that trophy goes to the goalie(s) who gave up the fewest goals in the NHL season. He is also a finalist for the Vezina trophy this year. Hellebuyck gave up 24 of the Avs' 28 goals, finishing the playoffs with a Goals Against Average over five! Even in the Avs' Game One loss, we scored six goals!

Here's the scary part:  most of the offense did NOT come from the Avalanche's big three (Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Mikko Rantanen). MacKinnon only had two goals, Makar had two goals, and Mikko didn't score a goal until Game Five--where he scored twice. So they only accounted for 6 goals, meaning the other 22 came from the rest of the group. SEVEN of them were scored by Valeri Nichushkin, and Artturi Lehkonen had five of them. That still leaves TEN goals from unexpected sources. Zach Parise, who's 39 and retiring after this season, scored twice. Holy moley!

And boy were Jets fans full of themselves during Game One. After the Jets scored their seventh of the game, their fans chanted "Pull your goalie!" They should have been told that a series doesn't end after one game. Oh, and the goalie that got pulled during a game was Hellebuyck, who was pulled after two periods in Game Four. Georgiev got his sh*t together. Same could not be said for Hellebuyck. Buyck should enjoy that Vezina he's going to win. That and a few bucks will get him a cup of coffee. Though, Hellebuyck wasn't the only one to blame, he definitely deserves at least 75% of it. And how did the Jets react to the fact that they would receive yet another playoff disappointment? They got dirty. Gabriel Vilardi, who was traded from LA to Winnipeg, delivered a dirty headshot to Makar. Yet he was never penalized. Refs still have some sort of vendetta against the Avs, I see. 

The Avalanche are off to Round 2 in dominant fashion a year after our attempt to repeat as Stanley Cup Champions saw us ousted in Round 1 by, of all teams, the Seattle Kraken. We will face off against either the Dallas Stars or the Vegas Golden Knights, and if we face Vegas, then the Avs will actually have home-ice advantage In Round 2. With that said, however, I hope Dallas crushes Vegas. I don't care if it costs us home ice in Round 2, I don't want Vegas to win sh*t but a kick in the a**. Speaking of a kick in the a**, that's what the Winnipeg Jets got, and then some, from the Avalanche. Another playoff disappointment from the Jets, who have still only won one playoff series since that magical run to the Western Conference Final in 2018.

Since 2021, I have written stories about eliminations from the Stanley Cup Playoffs, simply titled, "What Went Wrong." I write 14 of them every year:  8 for the first round, four for the 2nd round, and two for the Conference Finals. Here's my story on Vocal about the Jets' elimination:

https://vocal.media/unbalanced/what-went-wrong-the-buyck-stops-here

And here's my YouTube video where I talked about the Avs' series win, and the rest of the action:

God, I love the National Hockey League, and sh*t like this is why:

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Now, this picture doesn't tell the whole story, it only focuses on the second Wild Card spot in the East. In actuality, there are five teams competing for the remaining two playoff spots in the East. Here's the format for those new to the sport. Since the 2013-14 season, the league places the top three teams in each of the four divisions into the playoffs, so that takes up six of the eight playoff spots per conference. The remaining two spots per conference are determined via a Wild Card format regardless of division. Starting today, there were four days left in the regular season, which ends this Thursday. In the Western Conference, all eight playoff spots are clinched, and the Central Division title was awarded to the Dallas Stars, resulting in one playoff series locked in. The East has two spots left, and again, the pic doesn't tell the whole story, as the fifth team involved in this mayhem is the New York Islanders.

The Islanders are in a distant third place in the Metropolitan Division, behind the New York Rangers and the Carolina Hurricanes, who are still jockeying for the division title. The Islanders can get into the playoffs if they defeat the Devils tonight, but there's still the matter of that second Wild Card spot. The Washington Capitals, the Detroit Red Wings, the Philadelphia Flyers, and the Pittsburgh Penguins are all jockeying for that last spot, and it's been close and crazy for the last few weeks. 

The Flyers were actually in the Metro Division's top three, but they lost seven straight and fell out until they beat the Rangers recently. The Capitals have been on a hot stretch and are looking to return to the playoffs after missing out last year--ending an eight year streak. The Penguins' regulation loss to the Bruins on Saturday snapped a 10-game points streak (7-0-3), but they still have a good outside shot of reaching the playoffs for the 17th time in 18 seasons. As for the Red Wings, it's been seven seasons since they last reached the playoffs, and this is after the team made 25 straight playoff appearances. Many have said that this year could be the year that drought ends, but it's been up and down for Detroit this season.

Entering the final four days, Washington holds that playoff position. They, Detroit, and Philadelphia are all tied at 87 points, but Washington holds the first tiebreaker Detroit:  regulation wins. Washington has 30 regulation wins while Detroit has 27. Regarding Philly, both Washington and Detroit have a game in hand over the Flyers. The Caps and Wings have two games left, while Philly only has one. The Penguins are one point behind, but one more point would place them ahead of all three teams, as they have 31 regulation wins--more than all three teams. Pittsburgh and Detroit can be eliminated tonight, if they lose their games in regulation, it's curtains for them. Washington faces the Bruins tonight, but they and the Flyers will face each other on Wednesday in a possible elimination game for the clubs. The entire Eastern Conference will see their regular season end on Wednesday, as all of the games on finale night Thursday involve Western Conference teams. 

Here's my Youtube video about the race in the East:

 

I want to explain something about myself as a hockey fan. I don't hate the Edmonton Oilers. I'm a fan of Connor McDavid. However, I absolutely despise Oilers fans.

This has nothing to do with the fact that the Oilers trounced my Avalanche. This actually dates back a few years. So I'm quite vocal with how the Oilers are basically ruining McDavid's career. McDavid's one of the best players in the league, but he has never even been in the Cup Final because the Oilers f**k up when it counts. It wasn't until I joined Vocal that I really started mentioning, on a public forum, that the Oilers are ruining McDavid's career. I even said that McDavid needs to get out of Edmonton if he wants to win a Cup. I said this after the Oilers were swept out of the first round in 2021, and repeated in on Twitter on the following season, but I got some heat from Oilers fans for that. 

Then a funny thing happened:  the Oilers reached the Western Conference Final in 2022. For McDavid, it was his first time in the Final Four, but the Avs swept them, and later won the Cup Final. I would hear Oilers fans b***h and moan that the refs were favoring the Avs, even though it was clearly the opposite. Even so, I softened my stance about the OIlers after 2022. Maybe they could do it. Maybe they could make another long run.

Then the following season (last season) progressed. The Oilers looked off. Something told me this team would regress, but when I said so on Twitter, Oilers fans really came at me and acted like I didn't know what I was talking about. Then the playoffs began. The Avs were out in Round 1 while the Oilers advanced. However, the Oilers lost to the Vegas Golden Knights. Here's how much I hate Oilers fans. I actually rooted for Vegas in that series. No lie. I knew good and damn well that Vegas would beat them, yet even after the Oilers regressed (like I said they would), their fans still felt it necessary to make fun of me because we lost to Seattle. So yeah, both teams regressed. Here's the thing. The Avs had just won a Cup. We could afford to regress. The Oilers couldn't. They badly needed to at least copy 2022, and they didn't. But Oilers fans are so f**king arrogant and stupid that they couldn't understand that. They're still pretending that it's the latter half of the 1980s and the Oilers are a juggernaut that will win a bunch of Cups.

Here's another thing Oilers fans do that bugs the sh*t out of me:  they take pleasure in mocking the Toronto Maple Leafs. They say that the Leafs "suck," and that they're "bums" and "choke artists," yet they have no problem watching their team take players from Toronto. Zach Hyman, who has 50+ goals this season? Ex-Leaf. Cody Ceci? Ex-Leaf. They also had Jack Campbell and Tyson Barrie--two more ex-Leafs. Oh, and last year was the year that the Leafs won a series for the first time in 19 years. Leafs lost Round 2 in five games. Oilers lost Round 2 in six games. So the Oilers finished one game better than the Leafs in last year's playoffs. Bravissimo...

The bottom line is this:  Oilers fans are butthurt because the Avs whipped their a**es two years ago, and with a backup goalie, at that. They had to watch Nathan MacKinnon win a Cup, they fear that Auston Matthews may win a Cup in Toronto before Connor McDavid does in Edmonton, and it just p**ses them off. They cannot face facts. They would fall to pieces if they actually realized that their Oilers are the real f**k-ups. Oilers fans need to get off their own nuts and realize that their team is ruining the career of the best player they've had since that guy who wore #99 for them four decades ago. But who am I kidding? They won't learn. We'll see a Cup parade in San Jose before that happens.

CEDAvsFan

2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs Begin on April 20

Stanley Cup 2024. All participants in the NHL playoffs for the 2023-24  season | Dailysports

During ABC's coverage of the Panthers/Rangers game, it was announced that this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs will begin on April 20. I do love the Stanley Cup Playoffs; the NHL definitely has the best postseason out of all of the four main leagues. The Stanley Cup Playoffs serve as the best eight week stretch in sports; it's a period full of chaos, nail biting moments, and epic occurrences!

Here's a brief history of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

In 1942, the NHL (which began play 25 years prior in 1917) was whittled down to just six teams after so many other franchises folded. Those six teams:  the Boston Bruins, the Chicago Blackhawks, the Detroit Red Wings, the Montréal Canadiens, the New York Rangers, and the Toronto Maple Leafs. For the next quarter-century, those six teams served as the entire league, and the playoff format saw the top four teams qualify. A two-round playoffs took place:  the Semifinals and the Final. When the league doubled in size from six teams to 12 in 1967, so did the playoff population--from four teams to eight, with the top four teams from each division (West and East) qualifying for a three round playoffs:  Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and Final. The 1974-75 season saw a division realignment as the teams kept adding up, with the league consisting of two conferences and four divisions (two divisions per conference). The playoff format saw the top 12 teams qualify based on record, with the four division winners getting byes to the Quarterfinals, while the other eight teams faced off in a best-of-3 preliminary round.

It was five years later in the 1979-80 season that the league first started qualifying 16 teams for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and it's been 16 teams ever since (with the exception of the COVID-affected 2020 playoffs, which saw 24 teams participate). For two seasons, it was the top 16 teams based on record, then beginning in the 1981-82 season, the top four teams in each division qualified, and the first two rounds were division based (Division Semifinals and Finals), which was followed by the Conference Finals and the Stanley Cup Final (this format would return in the shortened 2020-21 season). The 1993-94 season did away with the division based rounds and kept the first three rounds conference based, and in the 2013-14 season, the format changed to the current version which seems the top three teams in each division qualify, while each conference's last two spots are decided via a Wild Card format, regardless of division. 

16 teams, four rounds, all in a best-of-seven format, and loaded with all of the chaos in the world. Of course, there's also overtime. God bless that overtime. In the regular season, we get a five-minute overtime played in a three-on-three format, followed by a shootout. In the playoffs, overtime is five-on-five, and it's 20 minutes--same as a regulation period. And if nothing's settled after overtime, they play another one, and another one if it's needed, and so on. Sudden death, play until someone scores. That results in some LOOOOOOOONG games. Remember the five-overtime game in the bubble in 2020? And last year gave us that four-OT game that almost needed a fifth overtime period!

I am ready for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, especially as a Colorado Avalanche fan who definitely believes that another Cup is in the cards!

 

In my post about the Blackhawks' playoff elimination, I asked, "How long until Connor Bedard demands a trade to a contender?" I asked that semi-jokingly, though with Bedard's mindset, he may want out after about four years. Jumping ship to a perceived contender may sound like a good idea, but as the saying goes, "The grass isn't always greener on the other side."

Let me tell you a little story.

Once upon a time, there was an NHL player named Matt Duchene. Duchene was drafted by the Colorado Avalanche in 2009 and played over eight seasons with the team, which included the horrendous 2016-17 season. After that year, Duchene wanted a trade--he wanted out. In fact, his exact words were, "I want to be on a playoff team." At that time, the Avs weren't a perennial playoff team. After being ousted by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2008 playoffs, the Avs only made the playoffs twice during Duchene's tenure:  the 2009-10 season and the 2013-14 season (the latter season being Nathan MacKinnon's rookie year).

On November 5, 2017, Duchene was dealt to the Ottawa Senators as part of a three team arrangement with the Avalanche and the Nashville Predators. At the time, the Senators were coming off almost reaching the Stanley Cup Final in the previous year (2016-17). However, the Senators would regress badly. A seventh place finish that year, and on the following year (2018-19), the Sens finished with the worst record in the league. That year saw Duchene caught on tape complaining about the state of the team, and he ended up dealt to the Columbus Blue Jackets, where he was part of Columbus' surprise upset sweep victory over the 62-win Tampa Bay Lightning. Duchene would later be signed by the Nashville Predators, and he's currently with the Dallas Stars.

As for the Avalanche, months after the trade, the team went on a winning tear that resulted in a surprise playoff appearance in 2018. It would be the first of six straight playoff appearances (with a seventh most likely happening this year), and would include a Stanley Cup Championship in 2022. So yeah, if after a few years, Bedard's thinking about wanting to jump ship and head to a contender, he will have to think very carefully. At times it does work out, but Matt Duchene is definitely a cautionary tale. 

In November 2022, the five year anniversary of the trade, I wrote about the famous deal on Vocal:

https://vocal.media/unbalanced/the-matt-duchene-trade-5-years-later

So I saw this pic on Instagram today, and thought, "I may as well talk about this." So here it is:

 

 

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NHL Europe's IG account posted this pic listing the first team(s) to clinch spots in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The list begins with the 2008-09 season and lists 14 occurrences (omitting the 2019-20 season because it was hampered by the pandemic), while asking who will have the honor of being the first to clinch a spot in this year's playoffs. As I looked at this list, it brought back memories of each year, especially with one attribute:  almost none of these teams went on to win the Stanley Cup in their respective seasons. Amazing, isn't it? The NHL has always been a free-for-all as far as long runs are concerned, and this proves it. Here's how each of these teams fared:

2009:  Sharks (won Presidents' Trophy) lost in the first round; Red Wings lost Cup Final

2010:  Capitals (won Presidents' Trophy) lost in the first round

2011:  Canucks (won Presidents' Trophy) lost Game Seven of Cup Final

2012:  Blues lost in the second round

2013:  Penguins lost Eastern Conference Final; Blackhawks (won Presidents' Trophy) won Stanley Cup

2014:  Bruins lost in the second round

2015:  Rangers (won Presidents' Trophy) lost Eastern Conference Final

2016:  Capitals (won Presidents' Trophy) lost in the second round

2017:  Capitals (won Presidents' Trophy) lost in the second round

2018:  Predators (won Presidents' Trophy) lost in the second round

2019:  Lightning (won Presidents' Trophy) swept in first round

2021:  Golden Knights lost Stanley Cup Semifinal

2022:  Panthers (won Presidents' Trophy) swept in second round

2023:  Bruins (won Presidents' Trophy) lost in first round

Out of 14 instances, 2013 is the only time where the team (or in this case, one of the teams) who clinched the first spot in the playoffs went on to win the Cup. Coincidentally, it was also the last time at the team who won the Presidents' Trophy (for finishing with the NHL's best record) went on to win the Stanley Cup. It's absolutely amazing. In other leagues, the first team to clinch a playoff spot usually (at least) reaches the championship round. The San Francisco 49ers did just that this year; they were the first team to clinch a spot, and here they are in the Super Bowl. On this list, only one team won the whole thing, and out of the 13 who didn't, only two reached the Cup Final. Amazing how wide open the NHL is.