Back when the lockout of the NHL had all hockey lovers chomping at the bit for its return, the one message that Gary and crew talked about in the “NEW” NHL was parity. Every team would be on a level playing field and no one team would be able to dominate. The idea was to keep the teams closer so at the end of the year there wouldn’t be a lopsided run in the finals.
Well, let’s all take note. Of the 8 different series in round 1, here is how even they were:
Eastern
- 1 series won in 4 games
- 1 series won in 5 games
- 2 series won in 7 games
Western
- 3 series won in 6 games
- 1 series won in 7 games
One sweep in the first round is pretty even I would say. And, out of the all the games in the first round, 48 games, 21 were won in O.T. or by one goal. That means it could have gone either way.
I don’t know about you, but this parity thing, like it or not, seems to be working just as the NHL hoped.
In the first games of round two, all 4 games either went into O.T. or were won by one goal