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The two-month grind of the Stanley Cup Playoffs can be called a war of attrition that regularly shows that simply being the best over an eighty-two-game season can sometimes not be good enough. While top teams may make their way as expected through each round of their respective conference, it is the unpredictable, history-making magical runs of lower-seeded teams that really make the Stanley Cup Playoffs what it is.
Modern underdogs reached the playoffs and have had miracles, none higher than the 2012 LA Kings. Winning the 8th seed in the Western Conference playoff field, the Kings put an end to the best three teams out of the West in successive rounds, and the legendary play of their netminder, Jonathan Quick, allowed LA to capture the Stanley Cup and become the 8th-seeded team in NHL history with a near-perfect 16-4 playoff record.
From last-to-first became a reality seven years later as St. Louis Blues made one of the biggest comebacks and redemption runs in all sports; the Blues turned the worst start to an NHL season on January 3, 2019 of having the worst rank among 30 teams in the league and rode the emergence of their rookie goaltender, Jordan Binnington all the way to a Game 7 Stanley Cup Final clincher over Boston.
From lower seeds making deep runs like the 8th-seeded Oilers into Game 7 of the Finals to the 8th seed Panthers making all the way to the Finals, there is no such thing as seeded ranks once the puck drops, as each team believes it can raise lord Stanley’s Cup, and with clutch goaltending and gritty game-play, anything can happen with any underdog.
Data Source: Official NHL Records & Historical Playoff Archives (NHL.com Playoff Summaries: 2011-12 and 2018-19).
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