Why the 3rd seed means everything for the Sharks

I hate to be the harbinger ofbad news, but Im here to debunk a common myth weve been hearing the past fewweeks. That myth being this oneNHL teams fighting to makethe playoffs are set up for a long run since they have to fight and scratchjust to get in and are already playing playoff hockey right now.You hear this a lot aboutteams at the bottom of the playoff ladder who have to get every point to getin. Were here to tell you thatstatistically, its just not true. Lets start at the beginning --since this playoff format was introduced in 1994, teams seeded 7 or 8 (where theSharks will probably be if they dont win the division) have only made it outof the first round 35.2 of the time.Yep, thats it. Now thats a lotgreater percentage than the NBA (teams seeded 6-8 only have a winningpercentage of 13.9 during that same period) but still not exactly good odds ofjust making it past the opening round.By contrast the teams withthe 3 seed have made it out of the first round 64.7 of the time. That is almost double. It doesnt get much better as we moveforward.Now we know what youresaying, The Sharks goal isnt just to get out of the first round, its to wina Stanley Cup. THAT is where thenumbers get even worse for the lower seeded teams.PERCENTAGE OF TEAMS TO MAKECONFERENCE FINALS(since 1994)3rd Seed:26.4
7-8 Seeds: 8.8
With LESS chances (there areonly two 3 seeds per year vs. four 7-8 seeded teams) the 3 seeds make theconference finals over THREE TIMES as much as teams seeded 7 or 8.PERCENTAGE OF TEAMS TO MAKE STANLEY CUP FINALS(since 1994)3rd Seed: 14.7
7-8 Seeds: 7.3
Being a 3 seed DOUBLES yourchances of making the Stanley Cup Finals over being seeded 7 or 8. What about the Sharksultimate goal, hoisting Lord Stanleys Cup as the champions of the NHL? Well heres the bottom line folks.There have been three StanleyCup Champions from the third seed under this playoff format. From the last two seeds? ZERO.Five teams have made it to the Finals, but all have gone home in defeat(ask Bret Hedican (94) and Curtis Brown (99) who both have been on the losingend as an underdog team in the Finals).In fact only one team has wonthe Cup seeded lower than 4th under the current format. That was the 2005 5th seeded NewJersey Devils during a lockout shortened season. If the Sharksintend to go far in the playoffs, they had best take care of business in theirown division instead of sliding in the back door, because while not exactlyimpossible, the road of the low seed is one that generally ends in an early tripto the golf course.
Brad Weimer is a SportsNet Central and Sharks pre- and postgame producer with Comcast SportsNet Bay Area. Follow him on Twitter @bweimer.