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NHL playoffs benefit from both Cinderella teams and ‘dynasties’

Steve Yzerman

FILE - In this June 7, 1997, file photo, Detroit Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman skates off with the Stanley Cup in Detroit after the Red Wings swept the Philadelphia Flyers in four games. Yzerman is to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday, Nov. 9, in Toronto. (AP Photo/Tom Pidgeon, File)

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When people talk about sports, they love to talk about two types of teams: dynasties and Cinderella teams. Sure, there’s something to be said for those New York Islanders and Edmonton Oilers juggernauts in the ‘80s and the Montreal Canadiens in the ‘70s, but who doesn’t love those teams who caught lightning in a bottle? That ’94 Rangers team didn’t exactly have a long run of dominance, did they?

The genius of the NHL playoffs is that they provide a hybrid; on one hand the Detroit Red Wings check in for their annual playoff run while each playoff tournament seems to produce a Halak-Habs, Giguere-Ducks or various iterations of the Carolina Hurricanes. Ryan Kennedy wrote an interesting article on the very real possibility of the Red Wings’ second round dissolution and how badly sports leagues need dominant teams, something that I disagree with on a few accounts. Here’s a snippet.

As for the riff on parity, I don’t see the logic. Dynasties are what draw people to a sport, not parity. The NFL is the exception because gambling plays a big role in its popularity, but what would baseball be without the Yankees and Red Sox? Can you imagine the NBA ever giving the cold shoulder to the Lakers or Celtics? Even most European soccer leagues revolve around two or three teams each (Chelsea, Barcelona, etc.).

And think about your hockey history: There’s a treasure trove of memories built up around the early-1980s Islanders, the mid-'80s Oilers and the Canadiens of the 1970s. No one ever waxes rhapsodic about ‘that amazing stretch when Detroit, Dallas, New Jersey, then Colorado won Cups.’ No disrespect to any of those teams, but it’s tough to build much mythology out of that. And it won’t bring in the casual fan.

I couldn’t disagree more with a couple of those points. Let me break them down for you after the jump.

World Series Phillies Yankees Baseball

New York Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez holds the championship trophy after winning the Major League Baseball World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009, in New York. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

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MLB, NBA = way too predictable I can’t see how the enormous payroll difference between the Yankees, Red Sox, a few other teams and everyone else is a great thing for baseball. Sure, it’s great if the Red Sox and Yankees meet in the playoffs, but most years only one of those teams make a real run.

And come on, aside from the most wildly devoted fans, who ever thinks that the Kansas City Royals and Pittsburgh Pirates have even an acid dream’s chance of making the playoffs? No professional sport has more hopeless fan bases than baseball and it must hurt the sport.

The NBA is in a slightly better spot, but I find myself bored to tears by the first two rounds of its playoffs, if not more. You can count the big upsets of the last 20 years on your two hands. Every year it’s the same handful of teams gunning for the title. Ho hum.

“No one waxes rhapsodic about the stretch when Detroit, Dallas, New Jersey then Colorado won Cups”

Ummm ... what? No one looks back to the Detroit Red Wings-Colorado Avalanche rivalry? Ask Brandon and other Stars fans how they feel about that 5-or-so year stretch when their team was one of the big boys in the league. If anything, people don’t “wax rhapsodic” about those years because the Dead Puck Era often generated some of the most boring hockey in decades.

As usual, the answer is somewhere in between. It’s good for brand loyalty that the Penguins and Red Wings are fixtures while other teams like the Sharks are Capitals are lingering around the top. That being said, the unpredictability of hockey gives almost any hockey fan reason to dream about a deep Cup run. When every fan base has reason to believe, but there’s still a cream of the crop, then your sport is in great shape.

It’s part of why the Stanley Cup Playoffs are my favorite tournament in all of sports.