Reverse Analytics: A Conspiracy Theory for the Stanley Cup Playoffs

As a fan, writer, and hopeful future employee in professional hockey, I have watched an excellent but surprising 2023 National Hockey League Stanley Cup Playoffs. Early exits, suspensions, injuries, special teams, overtime, overtime, and overtime have all caught my eye. However, the largest aspect of 2023 playoff hockey that has stuck out to me is the absence of critical thinking.

Teams are game-planning, but the style of play by the teams that are moving onward questions the status quo when it comes to ‘modern hockey’. In the midst of this mid-playoff crisis, I have compacted some notes on what I believe could be an unsustainable but successful future of championship playoff hockey and I…