Read the opposing arguments from Loyal Homer and Bleacher Fan.
Today’s debate – the biggest playoff upset in NHL history – is one of the more challenging arguments I have ever been charged to write here at TSD. I don’t lack sufficient NHL knowledge, as I started listening to Chicago Blackhawks games on the radio as a little tike while growing up just outside of Chicago. The challenge lies in perspective. For me, the most recent playoff stunner, when the eighth seeded Montreal Canadiens defeated the top seeded Washington Capitals in seven games, is both the most surprising and the biggest upset in recent NHL playoff history. The difficulty comes in the lack of time to truly evaluate this unanticipated defeat.
This is only the ninth time in the league’s history that a number eight seed has bested a top seeded team. This upset stands out more than any other for a couple of distinct reasons.
First, taking into account the eight upsets before this one, only the Canadiens overcame a 3-1 series deficit to do it. This series appeared to be going exactly as predicted, with the top seeded team in the league in complete control. And, the argument that the Caps were not a very good number one seed holds no water whatsoever. The Caps won the President’s Trophy in 2010 as the team with the best record in the entire NHL. Their 54 team wins were the best, and their 121 points outdid the next contender, the number seed in the West, San Jose, by eight points. The plus 85 goal differential was ridiculous. And, their home record of 30 wins against just five losses was also best in the league.
For some perspective, Montreal had a goal differential of minus six. Their 88 points from the regular season pales compared to Washington’s stat line The matchup was truly David versus Goliath, and the Goliath was already able to get a couple of blows landed with that 3-1 lead in the series. Montreal should have folded mentally, but refused to quit despite the huge deficit.
Deepening the mental gap to overcome was the fact that the Caps feature the best player in the NHL in Alex Ovechkin. Ovechkin’s 50 goals (third in the NHL), 45 assists (second in the NHL), and 109 points (third in the NHL) can actually be considered a down season for him. After all, he did win the NHL MVP in both 2008 and 2009. He was one goal away from the league’s best mark, and five assists from tying the league’s best mark in that department. He was remarkably just a few goals and assists shy from locking up the league MVP for an incredible third consecutive season. Ovechkin is just another reason why the Capitals were a legitimate number one seed. The better the number one seed, the more amazing the upset. It’s a general sports rule that comes into clearer focus in the playoffs.
Washington’s improbable dearth of losses at home – just five in the regular season – made the odds even more difficult for Montreal heading in to the deciding game seven. It did not seem realistic for Montreal to pull off the upset in this situation, especially considering the questionable goal-tending the team received. Goal-tender Jaroslav Halak had, politely, an uneven series for the Habs. He was actually yanked from game three for poor performance and did not see the ice again until game four… where he made 37 saves. A game later he stopped 53 shots. In the final three games of the series Halak turned back 131 of 134 shots. A hot goal-tender really does make a huge difference in the playoffs, and Halak came up clutch at the right time.
Overall, the odds that the Habs had to overcome in order to win the series were very long. They had to beat the best team in the league with the best offensive player in the league in the toughest arena to play in across the league. Other upsets throughout NHL history – at least when the playoffs were expanded to 16 teams in 1994 – were notable and impressive, as my colleagues will recount. But, keep in mind that analysts and fans also tend to conjure up extra, sometimes unwarranted, fondness for a particular historical event. What I term “historical blindness” sometimes serves as a distraction to the impressiveness of a recent accomplishment. Fight the blindness on this issue – the Habs series win over the Caps is the biggest, most surprising playoff upset in the NHL’s modern era.
Posted by Sports Geek 
