Leonardo DiCaprio’s character in “The Quick and the Dead” once pondered if it was “possible to improve on perfection” after outdrawing a fellow duelist in the town square. I think about that quote often. Not just because it deserves placement in the pantheon over “are you not entertained?!” as an all-time cinematic swagger line, but because it’s applicable to my struggle with the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The NHL postseason is perfect. Four brutal rounds whose victor wins a battle of attrition, having earned the right to have their names forever etched onto sports’ holiest of grails. We can quibble about the details — they could call a few more penalties, especially in those marathon overtimes — but, functionally, the Stanley Cup playoffs are the greatest tournament in professional team sports.
But to answer Leo’s query: Yes, it’s possible to improve on perfection.
I’ve banged the drum for years on playoff expansion — it’s nonsensical to have half the league miss the postseason. But even if there isn’t an appetite for the kinds of play-in games from which the NBA and MLB are currently minting money, there are other ways to innovate the playoffs.
Like scrapping the conference format, for example. Granted, seeding teams 1-through-16 might be too radical for the NHL, and it doesn’t feed into the league’s stated desire to have as many rivalry matchups in the postseason as possible. I get that. But reseeding the final four teams, as the league did last season during its COVID-impacted realignment, makes too much sense. The teams were seeded by their standings points percentages, which gave the regular season extra credence. The reshuffling of the final four also allows for traditional and geographic rivals to play for the Stanley Cup — imagine those Detroit Red Wings vs. Colorado Avalanche blood-feud series with the Cup on the line, rather than the chance to play for it?
Alas, the NHL chose not to move ahead with “conference finals” reseeding. It’s East vs. West this postseason, once again.
Fret not, playoff progressives. Maybe our day will come. For now, we’ll just have to settle for watching this chaotic and hypnotic tournament captivate us for the next two months.
Here are 50 potential 2022 Stanley Cup Final matchups, organized into our hype tiers. With the Western Conference playoff seeds yet to be settled, we included any team that has a better than 50% chance of making the cut.
Let’s start with the DiCaprio of playoff tiers…