The imbalance of the 1992 playoffs

[daver]

It is never a surprise that teams who struggle against weak 1st round or 2nd round opponents, steamroll over "on paper" stronger teams in the following rounds. Sometimes teams empty the tank during a round or played at an unsustainable level or the matchups really favour one team over another.

But 1992 ( 1992 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Summary | Hockey-Reference.com ) seems quite crazy as six of the eight first round series went 7 games (including the eventual champs) and the other two series went 6 games. The series winners were a combined - 32 and 22.

Then five of the next seven series were sweeps including both CFs and the SCF that, in theory, should have seen the best four teams playing. The series winners after the first round were a combined 28 and 2.

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[reckoning]

There was a period from 89-93 where the eventual Cup winners all struggled in the first round.

1989: Calgary is taken to Game 7 OT by a Vancouver team that finished 43 points below them. Then the Flames go 12-3 in the next three series.

1990: Edmonton falls behind 3-1 in their first round series against Winnipeg, then go 15-3 to the Cup.

1991: In the first round, it takes Pittsburgh 7 games to defeat New Jersey (helped by a wrongly disallowed Devils goal in Game 6). Pittsburgh goes on to win the Cup.

1992: Pittsburgh falls behind 3-1 in the first round against Washington, but manage to come back to win the series. Then they beat three strong teams to take the Cup, finishing with 11 straight wins.

1993: Montreal loses the first two games against Quebec, then go 16-2.

 

[Michael Farkas]

If this was the 1-8 deal, it would be interesting. But in the Div -> Conf format, it can make a good deal of sense.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Two* of the Divisional (regular season) Champions were swept in the Divisional Finals and the other two were eliminated in six games*, which is just bizarre.


Adams Division: Boston (84 points) sweeps Montreal (93 points)
Patrick Division: Pittsburgh (87 points) sweeps beats New York (105 points) in six*
Norris Division: Chicago (87 points) sweeps Detroit (98 points)
Smythe Division: Edmonton (82 points) sweeps beats Vancouver (96 points) in six*

 

[Michael Farkas]

Pittsburgh didn't sweep NYR. That was the infamous "Bury Graves" series and Francis turned it around by beating Richter from center ice in game 4 with the Pens behind in the series.