Twins/Vikings/Wild/Wolves Championship appearance drought tracker

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GophersInIowa said:
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Yeah again though, it's this almost unique thing of having a team in all four of the major pro leagues yet being a small market.

If you normalizes it by average seasons without making the final per pro team in the market, it wouldn't look as bad (still bad though).

All the same, still sucks.
 


Also could easily argue that simply making the playoffs shouldn't even count as something to be of note.

If they make it out of the first round, then I'd count it.
 

At this point I'm cheering for "The Streak".
 

Ope3 said:
Seattle is an interesting comp. M's are bearing down on 50 years of existence without an American League pennant.

The Sonics weren't really bad, nor did they fold. The moved to Oklahoma City (after Kevin Durant's rookie season) because they couldn't get a new arena and a different ownership group swooped in.
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It was just a loose thought I felt like throwing out, based on the post about "semi-finals appearances". I'm just curious now to see how much water that even holds:

(since Twins 91 WS championship)

Vikings NFC Champ: 98 lost, 01 lost, 09 lost, 18 lost
Twins ALCS: 02 lost
Wild WCF: 02-03 lost
Wolves WCF: 03-04 lost

Seahawks NFC Champ: 05 won (lost SB), 13 won (won SB), 14 won (lost SB)
Mariners ALCS: 95 lost, 2000 lost, 01 lost
Kraken WCF: (still in it for 2022-23! -- only 2nd year)
Sonics WCF: 92-93 lost, 95-96 won (lost NBAF) (moved to OKC after 07-08 season)


So ... obviously they have the Seahawks wins and of course SB victory, which blows any comparison away in the sense of this thread.

I was trying (feebly) to compare the Seahawks and Vikings in terms of NFC Championship appearances, regardless of the outcome, and then compare the rest of it. Kinda works ... maybe.
 
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The other comparable not-large market that has all four is Denver. (Noting of course that Seattle doesn't yet have the Sonics back)

In any case, both Seattle and Denver clearly blow us away in the context of this sad, sad thread.
 





Seeing Florida upend Boston after setting the NHL record for points is what make the Wild's role in this quite frustrating. Even though they are the newest of the 4, they are 0-12 in playoff attempts to win the Conference.

Never (or extremely rarely) in the NHL is there a prohibitive underdog that a hot goalie can not offset.
 

Ope! Kraken take out defending champs Avs, and are still technically in it this year for the WCF.
 



Bad Gopher said:
I think, if one of our teams made it to the finals, I'd spontaneously combust. So yeah, probably safer to keep the status quo at this point.
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So pardon meeee while I burrrrrrrrrrrst ...... intoooooooooo flames..
I've had enough of the worrrrlllld ...... and its people's mindless games ....
 


Gophers_4life said:
Ope! Kraken take out defending champs Avs, and are still technically in it this year for the WCF.
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They would only a year behind the Vegas Knights schedule, who went all the way to the Stanley Cup Final in 2018 (in Year 1 of existence).
 
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TRF Guy said:
At this point in my life with any Minnesota sports teams failures in the playoffs I just laugh it off where it use to really piss me off. Not anymore. Not worth it
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I'm a little more invested in the Twins, Vikings and Gophers basketball and football so it's hard for me to laugh off failures with those four teams. I want the others to win too but yeah it's easier to laugh off the losses with them.
 

TRF Guy said:
At this point in my life with any Minnesota sports teams failures in the playoffs I just laugh it off where it use to really piss me off. Not anymore. Not worth it
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The sad part is, like Bleed said, none of these teams is a legit contender, and they all seem so far away from contention.
 

Bad Gopher said:
The sad part is, like Bleed said, none of these teams is a legit contender, and they all seem so far away from contention.
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I disagree in terms of the Wild. Anyone that qualifies for the Playoffs is a contender. See Seattle. A goalies gets on a roll for a few weeks, and there you go.
 

Ope3 said:
I disagree in terms of the Wild. Anyone that qualifies for the Playoffs is a contender. See Seattle. A goalies gets on a roll for a few weeks, and there you go.
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That's what makes this streak so ridiculous. Anyone can get hot at the right time and really go on a run. It's amazing that not one of these 50 playoff teams since 91 hasn't been able to do that.
 

Ope3 said:
I disagree in terms of the Wild. Anyone that qualifies for the Playoffs is a contender. See Seattle. A goalies gets on a roll for a few weeks, and there you go.
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I would disagree only in that I would say it is win the first round and you're a contender. Just making the playoffs doesn't do it for me
 

So in other words, out of the Wild 13 playoff appearances ... they lost their opening round 10 times.

Those weren't legit teams. IMO
 

Ope3 said:
I disagree in terms of the Wild. Anyone that qualifies for the Playoffs is a contender. See Seattle. A goalies gets on a roll for a few weeks, and there you go.
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Did I dream this, or did I read that the Wild are pretty well stocked with good prospects? If so, there may be hope for them.
 

Bad Gopher said:
Did I dream this, or did I read that the Wild are pretty well stocked with good prospects? If so, there may be hope for them.
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Yes they are widely considered to have one of the top farm systems right now. I remember seeing one top 100 prospects rankings that had 4 in the top 50 from the Wild.
 

Gophers_4life said:
I would disagree only in that I would say it is win the first round and you're a contender. Just making the playoffs doesn't do it for me
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Gophers_4life said:
So in other words, out of the Wild 13 playoff appearances ... they lost their opening round 10 times.

Those weren't legit teams. IMO
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I certainly respect that point of view, but somewhat disagree. As the NHL has grown, from 21 to now 32 teams just making the Playoffs is much more of a legit accomplishment.

Throwing out the 2020 COVID Year when they expanded to 12 teams in the Post Season, just basic odds, every team has a 12.5% chance to win the Conference. Using your "at least win the 1st round" gets teams to 25%. I still think at 12.5% that's a respectable chance, and odds are that at least once the Wild should have hit and won their 8 team bracket.

The last 3 years:

2021 - Won the first game to take 1-0 lead vs Vegas, to takeback Home Ice but dropped next 3, yet still forced Game 7. Fell 1 game short.
2022 - Ahead 2-1 vs St Louis. Drop next 3. Out in 6. Had Home Ice if it went to 7.
2023 - Ahead 2-1 again vs Dallas. Drop next 3. Out in 6.

All 3 years they got closer to the 25% (winning 1st round) but could not have finished it off.

I can certainly understand the mindset though with 2 more Series triumphs necessary to win the Conference, that they really weren't that close. Completely fair.
 

I saw this first mentioned by Wilbon on PTI, and subsequently other outlets but I find it fascinating.

RECORD REGULAR SEASON WIN Totals:

MLB - 2001 Seattle Mariners (116) / Lost in ALCS
NFL - 2007 New England Patriots (16) / Lost in Super Bowl
NBA - 2015-16 Golden State Warriors (73) / Lost in NBA Finals
NHL - 2022-23 Boston Bruins (65) / Lost in 1st Round

None of the record holders paid it off with a Championship. It does not work out to be really great.

Makes sense they are all this century with expanded schedules, expansion and rule changes (ie NHL Shootout).

Note, 1906 Chicago Cubs still have the best MLB winning percentage (.763). They lost to the crosstown White Sox in the World Series. The 1972 Miami Dolphins at 14-0 had the same winning percentage at the Patriots, but did win the Super Bowl against Washington.
 
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I'm rooting for a Seattle/Florida (Miami) Stanley Cup Finals matchup as I would presume that would be the longest ever distance between cities in a US Major Pro Championship series ever. Broadening it to North America, even further would be a potential Vancouver or Edmonton > Florida.

Seattle is looking for it's first Stanley Cup Finals appearance since 1920 when the Metropolitans gut bested by the old Ottawa Senators.
 

Ope3 said:
I'm rooting for a Seattle/Florida (Miami) Stanley Cup Finals matchup as I would presume that would be the longest ever distance between cities in a US Major Pro Championship series ever. Broadening it to North America, even further would be a potential Vancouver or Edmonton > Florida.

Seattle is looking for it's first Stanley Cup Finals appearance since 1920 when the Metropolitans gut bested by the old Ottawa Senators.
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Would figure if 2nd year Kraken get to the SCF before the "State of Hockey" Wild do. Par for the course
 

Gophers_4life said:
Would figure if 2nd year Kraken get to the SCF before the "State of Hockey" Wild do. Par for the course
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And it could happen. Kracken are a fun team to watch. Come at you in waves with no super stars. Fourth line is basically the same as the first line
 

Gophers_4life said:
Would figure if 2nd year Kraken get to the SCF before the "State of Hockey" Wild do. Par for the course
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Seattle is also currently Tied with the Twin Cities for Stanley Cup Finals Appearances at 2.

In addition to the 1920 loss, the Metropolitans were in the 1919 Finals vs the Montreal Canadiens. That one as was called off while in progress due to the Spanish Flu epidemic.

What goes around comes around. No bubble.
 
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