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Red Wings were the victims of pretty bad cases of this more than once. There are a few things that go into it I think. I'd say the main thing is that Hockey is an energy sport. If a team can raise it's energy level it can defeat a team of more skilled players. It is possible for a team to play the 4 games needed to win a series at an energy level that makes them better than they could possibly have sustained for a full season. If the other team doesn't meet it, they lose. Hockey can also also turn into a game of physical intimidation, and sometimes a physically stronger team simply beats up a better team and takes them out of their game. This is what happened to the Wings at least once and it can turn on the officiating. You never really know if the league is going to decide from year to year to mandate closely or losely called playoff games, but officiating can absolutely be different in the playoffs one way or the other. If the officials swallow the whistles that's another recipe for a more skilled team with the better regular season record to be upset. The third thing is goalies. They are mercurial. If you have one go South at playoff time, you will probably be toast no matter what your regular season record.

1. The upset of the Bruins was one of the biggest in hockey history. And Florida is better than typical #8 seeds, having had a very good season last year and then this year handling the Leafs with relative ease after getting by Boston. NHL playoffs are not as unpredictable as some perceive, almost always the two finalists are top 7 teams overall in the regular season. That said, the first round has a fair number of upsets and being the home team is less of an advantage than in the NBA and NFL, and the #1 seed doesn’t win it all any more than a #2 or #3 seed. 2.I don’t think of Bruins fans as being hated. I’d say fans of Philly and Chicago are who we hear more often about as being hated. No one feels sorry for Boston fans though giving so many championships across all sports since 2000. Fair bit of hate towards the Bruins as a team because they’ve a) been very good for 10-15 years now: b) as an Original Six team have been around long enough to build up rivalries with the Habs and Rangers and Leafs (incidentally no rivalry to speak of with the Wings, I don’t believe the two teams have met in the playoffs since the ‘40s); and c) Marchand and Lukic and Chara and Tim Thomas and Krecji are the type to elicit reactions.

If you’re one of those folks who’s been wondering how the game of baseball is played, Hitchcock’s got you covered.

Trayce Thompson is hitting .023 since April 14th. 25 Ks in 44 AB. He's 1 for 44 in that period. That's Ray Oyler territory.

Looks like Baez is back to making desperate swings.

Re Faedo

Maton continuing to do the work laying off secondary pitches and getting on base any way possible.

Here is a tidbit I just learned about Miggy that truly delights me: he will retire as the last major leaguer to have played regular season games in Montreal.

It's sad to see Cabrera go out this way. It's like Madonna having all that surgery to look young. She just looks awful trying to hang onto yesterday

Do you think we could get him back? We were such fools for letting him go last time.

surely the narrative will now be that the younger Schembechler goes to OSU and kills it as a recruiter. Although I don't see any evidence that Mattison or Washington succeeded at OSU when they did their heel turns.

Deploy RonBot bleep blorp

I mean, 5 IP, 3 runs is pretty average... there are teams out there, even purportedly good ones, who would love to have depth starters who could consistently provide that

Cabrera was arguably the best position player in baseball from 2008 (first Tigers season) through 2016. He had the best WAR in baseball in that timespan. From 2017 through the present, he has the 3rd worst WAR in MLB. I'm not sure if there has ever been such a sustained period of excellence combined with such a sustained period of awful play in a player's career before. Pujols would be the closest comp but then he kind of ruined it because he did so well his last season, so Cabrera probably beats him. Also, Pujols had a more gradual fall at first whereas Cabrera was a 5 win player in 2016 and then has been a replacement level player or worse every year since.

lol. Yep. And I know to whom you are referring. 😂 (branzino in the fridge)

Multiple years was not on the table. I wanted him back for a single year.