Cinderella Teams
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As we head towards the NHL Playoffs we start to hear phrases like underdogs, rental players or cinderella stories. The trade deadline is where these phrases really start to be thrown around. Teams battling for 7th and 8th spot on the ladders start looking to bolster their lineups with trades, often picking up players they know they will only keep until the end of the season. ie. rental players.
The most recent cinderella story team was the Edmonton Oilers who 2 years back went into the playoffs in 8th spot in the West and battled hard to make it right to the NHL Stanley Cup Finals, only to be beaten by the Carolina Hurricanes.
While the cinderella story teams are fantastic to watch, the fact is, the chance of them actually winning the cup is minimal. 30% of the time, top 3 teams have won the Cup. 80% of the time, teams in the top 5 have ended up hoisting the cup. In fact in recent years i believe only 1 team who started the playoffs in 8th place have won the cup.
But in a world of battlers, doing it hard and fighting to the end, there will always be that spark of belief that says the underdog, the great Cinderella team will once again be victors come June/July.
Tags: belief, carolina hurricanes, chance, cinderella, cup, Deadline, Edmonton, end, fact, fight, Finals, hoisting, July, June, NHL, place, playoffs, right, season, spark, spot, Stanley Cup, story, Team, time, trade, underdog, west, World
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February 23rd, 2008 at 10:22 pm