An NHL playoff contest update, where 850 entered and just two are left standing

Two months ago, we started with a full field of championship hopefuls. Some knew they were facing long odds, but were willing to dream big dreams. Others were bathed in the soothing safety of favorite status. But they all had one thing in common: The abiding belief that this could be their year.

Then the playoffs started, and it all went to hell.

I’m referring, of course, to our annual playoff contest, in which I ask one simple question and almost all of you get it wrong. It launched a few days before the playoffs started, and over 850 of you entered.

How many of those entries are still alive and in the running for the title? Um… two.

>> Read the full post at The Athletic

Hurricanes or Knights? A Stanley Cup Final rooting guide for 30 other fan bases

Welcome to one of my favorite columns to write each year, where we go through all 30 teams that didn’t make the Stanley Cup final and offer up a suggestion on which of the finalists to root for. Nothing mandatory, mind you; more of a gentle nudge for the undecided. We have a bit of fun, it usually spurs some fun discussion, and there’s always a bit of suspense over which finalist the scales will ultimately tip towards.

Let’s just say that this year, I don’t think we have much of a suspense factor.

The Golden Knights are the villains here. It’s a role they’ve embraced, not just as far as this final but as the defining quality of their entire existence. The list of reasons to hate the Knights starts with jealousy, as they enter their ninth season of perpetual contention without ever really suffering through a bad season, but it doesn’t end there. Their win-at-all-costs mentality is enviable on some level, but at some point some of start getting tired of their whole act.

That’s not to say that everyone loves the Hurricanes; I’ve seen plenty of fans who don’t, or who seem to view this year’s final as a “none of the above” matchup. But finding fan bases that will be solidly pro-Vegas feels… daunting. So much so that I even briefly considered scrapping this year’s rooting guide altogether. But I like a challenge, and I love a recurring bit that means I don’t have to come up with a new angle. So let’ do this, even if we know how it’s going to end up.

We’ve got 30 teams to get to, and at least as many lenses to view this final through. As always, some reasons will be obvious, and some will be reaches. Will this end up being the most lopsided rooting guide ever? Almost certainly, but let’s dive in and see where we wind up.

>> Read the full post at The Athletic

Avalanche regrets, board ads, and thosee disappearing playoff beards: DGB mailbag

We’re almost done with the conference final and haven’t done a mailbag in forever, so let’s dig into the inbox and see what’s on your mind.

As always, submitted questions have been edited for clarity and style. They have not been edited to prevent you from coming up with weird ideas that anyone else would instantly delete and report as spam. Speaking of which…

>> Read the full post at The Athletic

Five series results that change if the NHL applied its dumbest rule to the playoffs

In the NHL, it doesn’t matter if the rules are dumb. All that matters is that they’re enforced consistently.

At least, that’s what I always hear from fans. It’s a near-constant refrain, one that comes up especially often at this time of year. There’s a call, or a non-call, or a referee blinks somewhere, and fans are furious about it. But not because the break went against their team, you understand. These fans aren’t raving homers who want every break to go their team’s way. They just want consistency.

Fair enough. Today we’re going to take that idea to the extreme, by figuring out how history would change if the NHL took the single dumbest rule that it has and actually enforced it during the playoffs.

>> Read the full post at The Athletic

NHL playoffs’ final four: Three lessons to learn from each team (plus one to avoid)

We’re five weeks into the playoffs. Do you know who your favorite team will be copying?

If not, you will soon. This is the time of year where we’re constantly reminded that the NHL is a copycat league, one where the teams that have success establish the blueprint for everyone else. This year, that’s the Habs, Hurricanes, Avalanche and Golden Knights.

But while the copying might be inevitable, the lessons that the other 28 teams learn from the four winners is still to be determined. That’s where we come in. Every now and then, we try to nudge all those copycats towards answers that make the league more fun, not less. After all, the NHL is an entertainment product. And while winning is more entertaining than losing, we’d rather see teams do that by being fun.

So today, we’re going to look at all four conference finalists, and try to highlight three lessons from each that we wouldn’t mind seeing everyone else copy. And we’ll also find one lesson that we really hope doesn’t catch on.

>> Read the full post at The Athletic