Are you surprised both Cup Finalist from last year?

Question

missed the playoffs this year??

Answer 1

I am for Carolina, but not really for Edmonton.

Carolina kept most of its core together but somehow just couldn't put it together. I guess once you win the Stanley Cup, opposing teams study your film beyond belief and have you figured out. This is probably especially true for Cam Ward who was quite a surprise in the postseason where nobody knew what kind of goaltender they were facing. But they do now.

Edmonton was in a conference where there are just too many good teams. They were hanging around for a while at making the playoffs, but I think once rumors started swirling about Ryan Smyth's departure (the heart and soul of the Oil) it really killed any team chemistry, confidence, and cohesion that was needed and left to make the playoffs.

Answer 2

Not really. Canes are a bit of a surprise... because they actually looked good last season. But it wuz because of a few good players who left... the main reason for their lack of success this year.

The oilers were no surprise. They were lucky to get to the Finals... being the 8th seed. I still cant believe they were able to pass the Sharks and the Ducks.... probably that screwed up reffing. However, they didn't have any of their good players from last year stay hot this season.

This year, the West was in top form. If a team didn't play well at the beginning and stay hot, they were bound to be out of the chase. THat is what happened, and if it weren't for Colorado's hot finish, the 8 seeds would have been decided well before the East had secured 5 spots.

Each team rode strong players and hot goalies last year. THis year, that just didn't happen.. thus their absense from the playoffs.

Answer 3

Had I known this at the beginning of the regular season, yes I would have been surprised but as the season progressed it became obvious what was going to happen. The Oilers were flat the entire season, ending the season below .500 and at the deadline they traded away their franchise player, Ryan Smyth, for not enough in return. The Canes were decent throughout the year, but they suffered many hits to the team by way of injury, and at one point had 10 NHL-caliber defensemen when they only needed 7 at max. Also, Cory Stillman, a veteran on the team and the leader of the powerplay along with Frantisek Kaberle (also injured), was out until the All-Star Weekend. Kaberle, who was the team's top defensemen, was out until around the same time. By sheer luck, the Canes were able to keep their head's above water up until the break, but even when they got the two back they were still not cohesive. The chemistry was gone, the powerplay flopped, and at the end of the season even more injuries occurred. If anything, the team resembles the Kings of a couple years back, who were good but averaged 400 games lost to injury every season.

Answer 4

Not really. Both rode hot goaltending and neither had great depth to begin with so honestly it isnt a big surprise. I was a bit more surprised the Canes didnt qualify just because the east overall isnt that strong but they split the goaltending tandem that helped them last year and left the job in the hands of a young kid to carry the load. A couple of injuries and lack of depth left them easily exposed. The Oilers barely made it last year, lost Pronger (he was the soul of that team...not Smyth) and Rolo is an older goalie who couldnt capture a full time gig with an expansion team so it is no surprise he couldnt carry the load this year. He got hot at the right time last year (was rejuvinated with the deal that landed him in Edmonton....the honeymoon is over). With the cap and teams gutting their depth to sign their better players i think this will be more a trend than a fluke, I can envision a lot of teams in the coming years making big playoff runs only to miss the playoffs completely the next season.

Answer 5

Absolutely. I could see them not reaching the Finals, but the playoffs are hard to miss.

Unless we are talking about the Flyers.

Answer 6

properly ill consider you on Giles Simon, he has yet to win a grand slam, and he has performed the most tournaments out of anybody contained in the right 10, and he continues to be in the back of the different gamers... & for some reason i imagine that James Blake is hyped up, I mean like i know that hes in simple terms ranked 17, yet each and each and every time i see him play he loses, and under no circumstances to instruct he seems to continuously fail at grand slams, dropping large early As for the womens, i will consider ivanovic, she in simple terms hasnt been playing properly in any respect at present, and per chance Safina, yet to win a grand slam, and continuously seems to crack less than pressure eg, Australian open finals adversarial to Serena, & Wimbledon SF adversarial to Venus..

Answer 7

No EDM was a fluke and the Canes were good but also got lucky with a mediocre goalie. the cap and free agency will make this a regular occurence I think also.

Answer 8

ONE WORD
PARODY
IS THAT HOW YOU SPELL IT?????????
HEHEHE
ANYWAYS
ANY GIVEN SEASON, ANYONE CAN WIN!!!!!
THE DAY OF THE DYNASTY WILL NEVER BE SEEN AGAIN IN HOCKEY
FREE AGENCY AND THE CAP GUARANTEE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GO SENSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!
WE LOST HAVLAT AND CHARRA AND HASEK
IT'S TOUGH TO REMAIN A TOP 10 TEAM
LET ALONE TOP 16 LIKE WE'VE BEEN FIGHTING FOR ALL SEASON
WHAT IS THERE 10 OR MORE TEAMS WITH PLUS(+) 100 POINTS
GIVES HOPE TO ALL TEAMS
(WELL EXCEPT FOR TORONTO. THEY ALWAYS FIND A WAY TO SCREW IT UP )
HEHEHEHE
J.BRATTTT

Answer 9

back to basics my friend...FA, money hungry players, injuries, luck last year, and CUP HANGOVER...Happened to the Steelers last year...well Ben flying off a motorcycle didnt help either though, but anyways, it happens in almost all sports.

Answer 10

I'm surprised the canes didn't make it but the oilers not at all because they got lucky last year.