"In the press room at Madison Square Garden during the last days of the regular season, reporters covering the Rangers would speculate on which of the five teams would qualify for only three Stanley Cup playoff berths. Would it be the Rangers, Montreal, Boston, Atlanta, Philadelphia? Before too long, someone would say, "What's the difference - they're all going out in the first round anyway," and all would agree. Talk about a memory lapse. How could anyone forget that there are thrilling first-round upsets each year? Last season, the No. 1 team in the N.H.L., the San Jose Sharks, were eliminated in the first round by the No. 8 Anaheim Ducks. Why, then, should it seem inconceivable that this year's No. 1 team, the Washington Capitals, would be eliminated by the eighth-seeded Canadiens? Or, for that matter, that none of the top three Eastern Conference seeds would advance to the second round? Since the N.H.L. installed the current playoff format in 1994, the No. 8 seed has upset the top seed nine times in 32 matchups. In an even stranger record, that No. 2 seeds are only 17-15 vs. No. 7s in second-round matchups since 1994." http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/01/sports/hockey/01playoffs.html?ref=hockey
