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I'm probably gonna get failed for this but anyway, I don't think these playoffs are gonna be good for the NHL going towards the future.
In the West, IMO the only good thing about the 4 teams advancing is that they're all teams that have never won the cup. The bad thing is that they're all basically carbon copies of each other. They play really suffocating defensive games and have a really good goalie.
We had the lockout in 05 because American fans stopped tuning in to see 2-1 games. The same thing is happening again - if you look at the stats from the end of the lockout till now, goal scoring is trending down and is on par with the dead puck era. These 4 Western teams are proving again that playing a defensive minded game is the key to winning - other teams will adapt a similar system and we'll have a shitty non-exciting future. I think one of the keys is reffing - I forgot the exact numbers but I read that power plays were down by 2 this season compared to last. If they're not gonna let offensive teams flourish, they're just bringing back another clutch-and-grab type hockey.
Anyways, go Philly!
/end rant
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