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They call it the second season, or sometimes even the "real season."
After 80-some qualifying games, the NHL finally gets down to the meat and potatoes when the playoffs begin and everything changes.
The intensity grows with every minute and the pressure mounts accordingly.
One bonehead play (hello Steve Smith) can cost a contending team an entire season. One heroic performance can turn an also-ran into Cinderella.
Last week we took a look at some of those great underdog stories.
Today, we go to the other end of the spectrum and focus on some of the teams that found a little something caught in their throats when the post-season rolled around.
Funny thing about this -- most of the teams making this list of infamous playoff flops are far better known for winning than for gagging when the pressure is on, but as we see, even the best teams can have very bad weeks.
10. 2003 Detroit Red Wings
The Wings finished second in the West with 110 points, but Steve Yzerman and Co. went nowhere in the post-season, getting swept by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the first round. On the strength of their 95-point season, the Ducks went all the way to the Stanley Cup final, while the Wings played golf.
9. 1971 Boston Bruins
One of the most dominant teams in NHL history, the '71 Bruins had seven of the top 10 scorers in the NHL, including Phil Esposito, who set records for goals (76) and points (152) and Bobby Orr, who won the Hart Trophy while setting an NHL record for assists (102). The Bruins broke the record for goals scored (399) by nearly 100 and finished with 108 more goals than any other team. With a record of 51-14-7, they set a club record for points (121). All that earned them a first-round date with the Montreal Canadiens, a team that had 97 points during the regular season and a team that destroyed Boston's dream season by winning the series in seven games.
(An honourable mention goes to the 1984 Bruins, who with 104 points, finished tied for second overall, thanks in large part to the scoring efforts of Barry Pederson (116 points) and Rick Middleton (105 points). But they didn't win a single playoff game, losing 3-0 in the first round to the arch-rival Montreal Canadiens, a team that went 35-40-5 in the regular season.)
8. 2000 St. Louis Blues
The Blues, with Hart Trophy winner Chris Pronger on the blue-line, finished first overall and won the President's Trophy with 51 wins and 114 points, both team records. But they couldn't get past the San Jose Sharks in the first round of the playoffs. The Sharks took the series in seven games.
7. 1986 Philadelphia Flyers
Goalie Bob Froese and defenceman Mark Howe were the stars of a Flyers team that put up 110 points in the regular season and finished first in the Wales Conference. They faced a New York Rangers team that wound up two games under .500 with just 78 points in the first round and wound up on the wrong end of a best-of-five series that went the distance.
6. 1998 New Jersey Devils
With the likes of Martin Brodeur and Scott Niedermayer leading the way, the Devils posted the second best record in the NHL and faced an Ottawa Senators team that had never won a playoff round right off the hop. The Sens finished just one game over .500 and had 83 points but still pulled off the massive upset, ending the Devils' promising season in the first round.
5. 2006 Detroit Red Wings
The Red Wings posted a 124-point season (second best in team history) and captured the President's Trophy, but they were no match for the eighth-seeded team in the Western Conference. The Edmonton Oilers started off a Cinderella run by knocking off the Detroit powerhouse in a series that featured four one-goal games. Despite having a team anchored by Norris Trophy-winning defenceman Nicklas Lidstrom, the Wings were an early playoff casualty in a season that eventually belonged to the Carolina Hurricanes.
4. 1993 Chicago Blackhawks and Boston Bruins
The Bruins were second overall with 109 points and the Hawks third with 106 points and both looked primed to take a run at ending long Stanley Cup droughts. But a funny thing happened on the path to Lord Stanley's house -- they both got swept in the first round of the playoffs. The Bruins, led by Ray Bourque and Adam Oates, lost four straight to the Buffalo Sabres (86 points), with Brad May getting his famous "May Day" goal in overtime of Game 4, while the Hawks lost four in a row to the St. Louis Blues, a team that finished with 85 points in the regular season.
3. 1951 Detroit Red Wings
With Gordie Howe leading the NHL in scoring, the Red Wings posted a 44-13-13 record and raced to 101 points and first-place finish in the regular season. But that meant nothing as they faced a Montreal Canadiens team having a supposed off-year in the first round of the playoffs. Maurice Richard and the Habs managed only 65 points that year and finished with a record below .500 (25-30-15). But in the first round of the playoffs, the Habs took it to the Wings, winning the first two games in overtime and then clinching the series with a 3-2 victory in Game 6 on home ice.
2. 1981 Montreal Canadiens
After winning the Prince of Wales Trophy for finishing first in their conference with 103 points, Guy Lafleur, Larry Robinson and the rest of the Habs found themselves facing the expansion Edmonton Oilers, a team that had never won a playoff game and finished 14th overall with 74 points. Despite the 29-point gap, the Oilers did have some pretty good players, like Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Paul Coffey and Glenn Anderson, but it was a previously unknown goalie named Andy Moog who shut down the vaunted Habs attack and led the Oilers to a stunning three-game sweep of the game's most decorated franchise.
1. 1991 Chicago Blackhawks
Led by first-team all-star goalie Ed Belfour and second-team all-star defenceman Chris Chelios, the Hawks raced to first place overall with 106 points and earned a favourable matchup with the Minnesota North Stars in the first round of the playoffs. Minnesota had managed just a 27-39-14 record and barely made the post-season with 68 points, 38 less than the Hawks compiled. But the series was a lopsided surprise, with the North Stars winning 4-2, including a 6-0 drubbing in Chicago in Game 5. The Stars went on to one of the great Cinderella runs of all-time, making it all the way to the Stanley Cup final before losing to Mario Lemieux and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Disagree with our picks? Send yours to topten@sunmedia.ca