After sixty five days the National Hockey League 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs came to an end on Monday. One team was crowned the 2024 Stanley Cup Champion. Thirty one other teams had their seasons end in disappointment. The NHL consists of thirty two teams in two sixteen team conferences divided into four eight team divisions. During the regular season teams played eighty two games. The top sixteen teams qualified for the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Fourteen teams saw coaching changes prior to or during the regular season. Five teams saw general manager changes during or prior to the season. The NHL started the season with four games played in Sweden. The Heritage Classic was in Edmonton. The Winter Classic was in Seattle. There were two Stadium Series games in New Jersey. The All-Star game was in Toronto. One game in Buffalo was postponed due to the weather.
The New York Rangers won the Presidents Trophy for having the best record in the NHL during the regular season. This was their fourth time winning the Presidents Trophy. The last time they won it was for the 2014-15 season. They had a record of 55-23-4 with 114 points. They also won the Eastern Conference regular season title. The Vancouver Canucks won the Western Conference regular season title.
The New York Rangers won the Eastern Conferences Metropolitan Division regular season title. The Florida Panthers won the Eastern Conferences Atlantic Division regular season title. The Dallas Stars won the Western Conferences Central Division regular season title. The Vancouver Canucks won the Western Conferences Pacific Division regular season title.
The New York Rangers, Carolina Hurricanes, and New York Islanders secured the Metropolitan Division playoff spots. The Florida Panthers, Boston Bruins, and Toronto Maple Leafs secured the Atlantic Division playoff spots. The Tampa Bay Lightning and Washington Capitals also advanced to the playoffs by securing the Eastern Conference wild card spots. The Dallas Stars, Winnipeg Jets, and Colorado Avalanche, secured the Central Division playoff spots. The Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, and Los Angeles Kings secured the Pacific Division playoff spots. The Nashville Predators, and the Vegas Golden Knights also advanced to the playoffs by securing the Western Conference Wild Card spots.
The Detroit Red Wings, Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, Buffalo Sabers, New Jersey Devils, Ottawa Senators, Montreal Canadiens, Columbus Blue Jackets, St. Louis Blues, Minnesota Wild, Calgary Flames, Seattle Kraken, Arizona Coyotes, Anaheim Ducks, Chicago Blackhawks, and San Jose Sharks were eliminated from playoff contention. The San Jose Sharks finished the season with the worst record in the NHL. They had a record of 19-54-9 with only 47 points.
The National Hockey League playoff format is simple. Sixteen teams qualify. Half the league. Eight teams from each conference. There are four rounds. Each round is a best of seven game series. There is the first round, second round, conference finals, and Stanley Cup Finals. The Stanley Cup Playoffs have been in this format with few exceptions since 1993.
The Florida Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1 in the first round. The Panthers beat their in state rivals. The Boston Bruins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 in the first round. Toronto came close to reaching the second round but their original six rival had other ideas. The New York Rangers swept the Washington Capitals 4-0 in the first round. The Capitals put no effort into this years playoffs. That ended up being the only sweep of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Carolina Hurricanes beat the New York Islanders 4-1 in the first round. The Islanders were almost swept. The Dallas Stars beat the defending champion Vegas Golden Knights 4-3 in the first round. In this rematch from last season, the Golden Knights put up a fight but couldn't get past the Stars. The Colorado Avalanche beat the Winnipeg Jets 4-1 in the first round. The Jets really underperformed in this years playoffs. The Vancouver Canucks beat the Nashville Predators 4-2 in the first round. That series was back and fourth. The Edmonton Oilers beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-1 in the first round. The Kings did not put up much of a fight. The Oilers speed was too much for them.
The Florida Panthers beat the Boston Bruins 4-2 in the second round. This was back to back years that the Panthers eliminated the Bruins in the playoffs. The New York Rangers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2. The Hurricanes played both New York teams in this playoffs. The Dallas Stars beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 in the second round. The Avalanche put up a solid fight but could not find a way to force game seven. The Edmonton Oilers defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4-3 in the second round. The Oilers found a way to overcome their flaws to win that series.
The Florida Panthers took on the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Florida Panthers won that series 4-2. The Florida Panthers are the 2024 Eastern Conference Champions. This was their third conference championship. They won back to back conference championships. This series was back and fourth and really close. There was three straight overtimes in this series. There was also five games that were decided by one goal. This was a really good series.
The Dallas Stars played the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference Finals. The Oilers won the series 4-2. The Edmonton Oilers are the 2024 Western Conference Champions. This was their eighth conference championship. Their last one was in 2006. Game one went into double overtime. The Oilers found a way to score and win that game. The entire Western Conference Finals may have gone differently if they did not win that game. The Stars turned the series around winning both game two and three by two goals. The Oilers tied the series back up in game four. The Oilers took the lead in game five where they shut Dallas down for two periods. Then the Oilers win the series here in game six. It was a close series. Was it back and fourth. Game one set the tone that this would be a close series. In game six the Stars came really close to tying the game. The final four teams in this years playoffs were all really good. Each one of them would have put up a solid fight for the cup.
The Florida Panthers took on the Edmonton Oilers in the 2024 Stanley Cup Finals. The Florida Panthers were looking for redemption. The Edmonton Oilers were looking for glory not seen in the organization since the 1980s. This was the Florida Panthers third appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals. Their previous appearances were in 1999 and 2023. The Florida Panthers had not won a Stanley Cup yet. This was the Edmonton Oilers eighth appearance in the the Stanley Cup Finals. Their other appearances were in 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990, and 2006. The Edmonton Oilers had won the Stanley Cup five times. The Edmonton Oilers won the cup in 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, and 1990.
The 2006 Stanley Cup Finals is significant here as it kicked off the Oilers missing the playoffs for ten years in a row. Those ten years saw the Oilers as one of the worst teams in the NHL. There were also riots in Edmonton as a result of that series. Eighty seven percent of the players in the 2024 Stanley Cup Finals played in the American Hockey League. Corey Perry of the Edmonton Oilers set a record by making the Stanley Cup Finals five times with five different franchises. The last time he won the cup though was in 2007. This was also the longest distance between two teams in Stanley Cup Finals History. All four of the 2014 top four draft picks were in this years Stanley Cup Finals. This was one of the few years that a coach was fired and the team he was fired from made the Stanley Cup Finals. A win in this Stanley Cup would have put the Oilers ahead of the Penguins in number of Stanley Cup Finals wins with six.
The Florida Panthers won game one 3-0. That was a huge upset for the Oilers. The Panthers won game two 4-1. The Oilers were not doing much after two games. The Panthers won game three 4-3. This put the Oilers back against the wall in a pretty hopeless situation. Almost everyone except Oilers fans thought they were going to be swept. They were dominating and losing almost every game up to this point. Then the Oilers won game four 8-1. That was the second largest blowout in Stanley Cup Finals history. Despite the Panthers three game lead, the Oilers made it a series after just one win. The Oilers forced game six by winning game five 5-3. The Oilers won game six 5-1 to force game seven. The Oilers were the first team since 1945 to force a game seven after going down 3-0 in the Stanley Cup Finals. The Florida Panthers won game seven 2-1.
This was a Stanley Cup Finals. It was historic. It will be remembered for a long time. History is written by the victors. It will be remembered as the Florida Panthers being an unstoppable force. Sergei Bobrovsky will end up being remembered as an unstoppable force. I don't think that was the case. In four for the 2024 Stanley Cup Finals games he let in three or more goals. He let in five goals in three straight games in this series. He was not the reason the Panthers won. The Panthers defense and ability to take away space was the reason they won. After the Panthers were up three games to zero, people thought the series was over. Even after game four it did not seem like people were confident in the Oilers. By game seven people believed that the Oilers were unstoppable. This was probably the most hyped recent Stanley Cup Finals. This was crazy and is definitely something I will remember forever.
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