yes. people who say there will be an asterisks around it are ridiculous.

How so? Theres literally a pandemic, and we have NHL players with health issues.

Seems wrong to me

Good that there are playoffs.

I think they should have moved to europe earlier to play the playoffs. Everybody was expecting the US to handle Covid kind of bad. while the german football league started playing again in mid may already.

Every team has to face the same challenges. The only thing that would make it questionable IMO would be if there is significant non-participation. But not sure exactly what the % would be that I'd consider it significant... more about star players missing time or teams missing a large number of players for a whole series, etc.

Cups are forever while Lafreniere increases your chances at cups for a while. If I could be guaranteed Lafreniere I would prefer that but a cup is still better. I think if anything these playoffs have more legitimacy bc there are basically 5 rounds and all teams are starting on equal footing.

whether there should be a season or not is a different argument than is there an asterisks around the the cup winner.

I’m a jets fan, so I’ll take a cup any way shape or form, even without any home games or white outs. Usually takes a few runs or failures before there’s success, so any runs usually have some value to them even in a pandemic year. And stanley cups coincided with the number one pick is limited a select handful

It's even more difficult as this pause was very long and you haven't played for months; now anything can happen/most teams have complete lineup. And safety first, otherwise they wouldn't be doing this.

You do realize the 1st overall pick isn’t necessarily a playoff team, right?

Can't stand it when people constantly attack hockey.

IMO there should not be an asterisk attached to any winner this is year. A team no matter which team wins is going to face a gauntlet of challenges some like Chicago and Montreal will be much tougher but they must persevere through anywhere from 19-33 games to hoist sports most coveted trophy. 19 Games is pretty much a quarter of a season and that would require a sweep of every round even for teams like Boston or St .Louis that would be a challenge. As far as whether or not the playoffs should be held, we are in a pandemic one in which many of us can't go to work, can't go to a movie and can't even go to a grocery store. If ever we needed a distraction from our daily routine it is now. No one complained when the NHL played through WWII, Vietnam, the Korean War or even the war on terror that began on 9/11! We watched the entire 2001 season after the world trade centre collapse! If ever there was a time to cancel the playoffs any one of the above wars would have been better than this but the NHL played then and no one even suggested it not. Players even served in the military during some of these wars then returned and played after there service even though some teammates didn't survive! As at as I am concerned if the players and owners feel it is safe to play and they want to play then who are we to say they shouldn't! It's their lives and their livelihoods that hang in the balance let them make their own decisions and be thankful for what hockey we do get to watch!

I consider every team in the 'play in' round a playoff team. You do know that they all can win the cup, right?

confused. Im just saying IMO, I put asterisks around this cup.

Whos attacking hockey? Just stating my opinion on my favourite sport.

Dont be confused, Im going to be watching the entire playoffs

I bet some teams would take the pick for PR. If a team like the Canucks is bragging to a team like the Sabres about the Canucks’ new cup, the Sabres can just say, BS, that year was messed up. Plus, players are opting out, so teams are different than they were from the regular season

Thats fine you consider that, but you are wrong. So the Canadiens, who are 24th in the league, is a playoff caliber team?

there shouldn't be an asterisks unless one team clearly had an unfair advantage over their competition. i haven't seen a good argument to suggest that any team does.

I think the slight advantage is to the playin best of 5 series over the 3 game round robin, and some of the odds for the playin round teams taking the east or west is a little out to lunch. But we will see

Only asterisk will be that it’s the hardest cup to win ever. A team might have to win 19 games in the middle of a pandemic, isolated from friends and family.

Ya weird year that way, some teams need 19 and others anywhere from 16 to 19 to win. I think it’s wide open, like a start to a brand new year, everybody in has a shot

Of course I want the Cup. Even if I was a fan of one of the qualifying-round teams, I'd much rather win the Stanley Cup than have a 12.5% chance at Lafreniere.


This. ^
And as some people in this thread have mentioned, it's not like any one team has an unfair advantage.

I don't think he realizes that the only "playoff team" that can win both the cup and the 1st overall pick is the Rangers and even then it is only because they hold Carolina's pick this year and it would require NY to advance to the playoffs and Carolina to win 1st OVA.

I am on board for team cancel the season. but i wouldnt mind the cup. I just think getting people together right now for a SPORT is a bad idea for everyones health but hey what do i know right?

So even though teams had to win the same number of games and if it were to happen that a playin team won the cup even more games than ever against teams that are practically completely healthy, in a situation with ZERO home ice advantages, literally having to win nothing but road games. Yeah no asterisk.

A bunch of non playoff caliber teams playing in the playoffs yes