Another parity party

At first glance, the Stanley Cup Playoffs have a numbing sameness. After all, New Jersey, Colorado and Detroit have won all but one of the last eight championships.

Look below the surface, however, and the NHL rightfully can challenge the NFL’s status as the parity league. If Philadelphia, leading New Jersey 3-1 in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals, wins tomorrow, Sunday or Tuesday, the defending champion Devils will be pitchforked aside.

Although that wouldn’t really be an upset considering that Philadelphia nosed out New Jersey for the Atlantic Division title, the Devils would be the second straight champions sent packing immediately. Last April out West, seventh-seeded Anaheim stunned second-seeded Detroit, sweeping the haughty Cup champion Red Wings out of the playoffs.

Also consider that the only NHL champions who have repeated their waltz with Lord Stanley’s hardware in the last 16 years were the Red Wings in 1998 and Pittsburgh in 1992. On top of that, only two other defending champions have even gotten back to the finals: Dallas in 2000 and the Devils the following year.

This tumult at the top is in serious contrast to the preceding two decades. After the league began expanding from the Original Six in the fall of 1967, Montreal won the next two Cups and then traded the trophy with Boston every other May from 1970 to 1973. Philadelphia was hockey heaven in 1974 and 1975 before the real dynastic era set in with the Canadiens winning four straight Cups from 1976 to 1979 and the New York Islanders following suit from 1980 to 1983 before Edmonton won four of six titles from 1985 to 1988.

The huge increase in parity is also very evident in the regular-season standings. In 1977, Montreal was first overall with 132 points, a whopping 69 ahead of final playoff qualifier Chicago. This year Detroit won the President’s Trophy with 109 points, 18 ahead of final qualifier Nashville. No NHL team in the last nine years of 82-game schedules has finished with more than 118 points. In contrast, the Canadiens averaged that many while playing 78 or 80 games a year from 1972 to 1979 en route to winning five Cups.

When it comes to postseason, the NBA should be the league most like the NHL because winning its title requires the same four grueling rounds as does capturing the Stanley Cup.

And yet the Los Angeles Lakers (2000 to 2002) and Chicago (1991 to 1993 and 1996 to 1998) have threepeated, and Detroit (1989, 1990) and Houston (1994, 1995) won back-to-back titles during those same 16 years. Only two of the past 16 NBA champions haven’t reached the second round the following spring: the Bulls in 1999 after Michael Jordan’s second retirement and San Antonio the next year.

One element that makes hockey different is the overwhelming importance of a hot goalie, such as Anaheim’s Jean-Sebastien Giguere last season, who can take a marginal contender on his shoulders and carry it a long way. And where a single basket means little in an NBA game, one bad bounce or lucky break can be huge if it leads to a Stanley Cup goal.

Still, scoring plays aren’t that much more prevalent in football than in hockey, but the NFL has had repeat winners in 1998 (Denver) and 1993 (Dallas), and New England has won two of the last three Super Bowls.

Major league baseball had the New York Yankees win three straight World Series from 1998 to 2000. And even with fewer teams making the playoffs than in the other sports, despite the addition of the division series in 1995, only two of the past nine World Series champions failed to reach postseason: Anaheim last year and post-fire sale Florida in 1998.

All of this means that whichever team drinks from the Cup come June better enjoy the experience, because having another taste the following spring is getting harder and harder.