How do you qualify dominance? Well, let’s start with never
have to go 7 games in the MLB/NBA/NHL, or never even trailing in the 4th
quarter in football. All of the following teams did that. So what separates
them further? Well, which teams then did that while beating the best teams on
the way. Sure, this isn’t always in a team’s control, as who you play in the
playoffs depends on how well other teams do, still, all these teams had
dominant playoff runs. They are the best playoff teams in recent times.
First, some notable Honorable Mentions
14.) 2008 Detroit Red Wings
The Red Wings only Stanley Cup in the
Lidstrom-Datsyuk-Zetterberg era was really just them fulfilling their destiny
in the least interesting way possible, by just drumming teams that were worse
than them. They were pushed to 6 games three times, but they never trailed in
any of those series, winning the first two games at home at the Joe Louis each
time. What hurts them, in my eyes, is that they played a really week run of
teams. They were the best team in the NHL that season, but they get the 8, 6
and 5 seeds, followed by, granted, the 2nd seed from the East, but a
weak one. They beat teams with 91, 95, 97 and then 102 points. This will be a
lot more glaring when we get to my top two NHL teams.
13.) 2006 Miami Heat
The Heat probably deserve a spot in the Top 10, but there’s
a couple things going against them. First, they lost Game 1 of three of their
series, and they struggle against a bad team in the 1st round. Also,
there’s the ref thing. This was the most reprehensible Champion in the NBA in
recent times, with Dwyane Wade getting roughly 8,000 free throws in the final four
games of the NBA Finals. They really didn’t deserve that Championship, and I
don’t feel like giving them the credit that a team that beat a 64-18 Pistons
team and a 60-22 Mavericks team without going to a 7th game should
deserve.
12.) 2008 Philadelphia Phillies
Much like the Heat above them, the Phillies are getting
docked for something infamous surrounding their win, this time the terrible
rain-delayed postponed for two days clinching game. They also had a rather easy
route, beating the 90-win Brewers and 84-win Dodgers in the NL Playoffs. They
did roll through dropping just one game in each round, but a lot of their wins
were close, and they took advantage of beating up on bad teams.
10.) 2013 Seattle Seahawks
10.) 2004 New England Patriots
I’m grouping these two together because they are the only
top seeded NFL teams in this Top-10. Not a surprise since it is probably harder
to be ‘dominant’ in one-game playoffs than in series. Still, both teams were
dominant enough. They both had one really close playoff game, which pushes them
down, though. The Patriots trailed in the Super Bowl and were tied through
three quarters, albeit against a very good Eagles team. What helps the Patriots
is they were so absurdly dominant in the AFC Playoffs, beating two good teams
easily, holding the league’s top offense to 3 points and then dropping 41 (34
on offense) on the league’s best defense.
The Seahawks did something similar in a way, holding the
league’s top (and arguably best ever) offense to 8 points in the Super Bowl.
However, they also came close to losing the NFC Championship Game. Forget the
last pass-breakup by Sherman, but the Seahawks were trailing 17-13 through
three quarters, and needed a slightly fortunate 4th-down TD
bomb-pass and a Kaepernick meltdown to get there. Still, the dominance of the
Super Bowl is enough to warrant them a spot.
9.) 2009 New York Yankees
The Yankees have only won one Super Bowl in the last 10
years, but they made that one count. The 2009 Yankees were infamous for
dropping $400 Million on Sabathia, Teixeira and Burnett, but they all played
well in their first season in New York, and helped the Yankees roll to a 103-win
regular season (the best Regular Season record since 2005). This isn’t about
the Regular Season, though. The Yankees in the playoffs dropped just four
games, first sweeping the Twins, and then beating two good teams in 6 games.
The Angels won 97 games in 2009, and the Yankees knocked them out in 6, never
trailing in the series. Then, in the World Series, they took on the defending
Champs, who were better than their 93-wins given Cliff Lee showed up in
midseason. The Yankees did lose Game 1 of the World Series, but won all their
four games by at least two runs. In fact, 9 of the Yankees 11 wins were by at
least two runs.
8.) 2010 Green Bay Packers
The top-ranked NFL team was in the midst of one of the
scariest runs in sports. First, they were right in the middle of a 3-season
long streak of never trailing by more than 7 points in any game (ended with
a 38-10 loss to the Giants in 2012).
Also, they were in the beginning of a streak of never trailing in the 4th
quarter until their 13-0 season ended in 2011. The 2010 Packers closest playoff
game was arguably their Wild Card win, where the Eagles missed two field goals
and Vick was picked driving near the 30 late down 5. After that, they dominated
the 13-3 Falcons in Atlanta 48-21, and then jumped to early leads against both
Chicago and Pittsburgh. Both games ended up being 7 point games, but the
Packers were never less than a 75% chance of winning those games. They never
trailed in the 2nd Half of any playoff game, something no other
Champion can say since the 2002 Bucs (before the purview of this list – though
they would have been the top-ranked NFL team). The Packers in the Aaron Rodgers
era are just 1-4 in the playoffs outside of this year, but what a run it was.
7.) 2010 San Francisco Giants
The Giants, who are currently in 1st place in
another even year, made a habit of rolling to World Series in even-numbered
years. They were dominant in the last seven games of the 2012 run, but they
needed to come back from 0-2 and 1-3 down to win both their NL Series before
sweeping Detroit. In 2010, they eschewed the drama and rolled to a World
Series. They never trailed in any of their three series, never went to a
do-or-die game, and played a 91-win Braves team, a 97-win Phillies team, and a
90-win Rangers team – the Rangers, like the Phillies in ’09, were better than
that with the midseason addition of Cliff Lee. The Giants did it mostly with
pitching, but then they could score in bunches too, scoring 20 runs in the
first two games of the World Series. They were good at home (5-2), but better
on the road (6-2). They were just a great team for three rounds, quickly
winning the World Series before anyone was ready for the Giants to have that
success.
6.) 2010 Chicago Blackhawks
The 2010 Chicago Blackhawks ended the Stanley Cup drought in
Chicago in an underratedly dominant fashion. They never went to 7 games. They
won all but four of their 16 wins by at least two goals. They had dominant
players throughout the lineup, and they went through three 100-point teams on
the way to the Cup Finals in the Western Conference. They get major points for
being awesome on the road, going 8-3. Finally, their trump card for me is
sweeping the Sharks in the Western Conference Finals. That Sharks team earned
113 points, topping the Western Conference, and while anyone can say how the
Sharks are chokers, the ’10 Sharks weren’t, beating the Wings in 5 games the
round before. They just dominated that Sharks team, quickly killing arguably
the best Sharks team in this run. The Blackhawks title is most remembered for
the Cup-clinching Goal no one knew happened, but it was quality all the same.
These Next 5 are all a Level Above. These 5 teams combined
ended all but three of their series without dropping two games. They didn’t all
have the hardest roads, but they made no mistake at all as to who was the best
team that season.
5.) 2012 Los Angeles Kings
It pains me to bring up the Kings since they beat the Devils
in the Stanley Cup Finals, but they were that good. They won the first three
games of every series, including winning the first two games on the road each
time. They didn’t avoid anyone either, getting the #1, #2 and #3 seeds in the
Western Conference (admittedly, the Coyotes had the #3 seed because they played
in a bad division – they weren’t, by record, that good of a team). Now, New
Jersey was just the 6th team in the East, but they too were a 100+
point team that had beaten quality teams on the way to the Stanley Cup Finals.
The Kings were so dominant on the way to the Finals that it didn’t matter that,
excluding the 6-1 win in Game 6, the Devils essentially played the Kings to a
draw through five games. They swept the Blues, who were tied for 2nd
in the NHL with 109, winning each game by at least two goals. They did
everything well in the playoffs, scoring, defending, goaltending. They were so
good.
4.) 2007 San Antonio Spurs
The 2005 Spurs had the harder road in terms of the quality
of their opponents, getting better teams at each round than they did in 2007
(apart from the 2nd round). The Spurs did get lucky, probably, that
Golden State knocked off the 67-win Mavericks. Still, they dropped just four
games on the way to the Title, winning 8 of 9 in the Conference Finals and NBA
Finals. Again, they didn’t play the best teams, getting the 51-win Jazz and 50-win
Cavaliers, but my word did they leave no doubt as to who was the best team. The
Spurs dominated the Western Conference Finals (garbage time points made Game 1
and 2 seem closer than it actually was), and then swept the LeBron Cavs who had
rolled themselves to the Finals. The LeBron Cavs entered those Finals 12-4 in
the playoffs, and the Spurs whipped them. Now, I do have to mention they were
fortunate with the suspensions to Stoudamire and Diaw for Game 5 of the 2nd
round against the 61-win Suns, but the Spurs also led by 10 in the 4th
Quarter of 5 of the 6 games. They controlled most of that series. Ironically,
the only game the Spurs didn’t have a 10-point 4th Quarter lead was
the game where Amare’ didn’t play. The Spurs deserved to win that series, and
deserved that title by executing everyone to death.
3.) 2011 Dallas Mavericks
Other than the Spurs, the other teams in the Top-5 only won
one title in recent times (assuming the Kings or the team at #1 don’t this year
in their sport). They were all one-hit wonders. The Mavericks might have been
the most stunning, as they weren’t a trendy pick going into the playoffs. Hell,
they were a trendy pick to be upset by Portland in the 1st-round.
That was sensible, actually, as the Blazers took the Mavs to 6 games, but they
needed a giant comeback by Brandon Roy to win one of their two games. No, what
the Mavericks, a team with one-all star and a bunch of aging players, took over
the league in the last three rounds. First, they beat the two-time defending
champs, and not only beat them, but swept them, ending Phil Jackson’s coaching
career by becoming the first team to sweep him. They then beat the Thunder, the
team that would win the Western Conference the next season, in five games.
Finally, to finish it off, they beat the team that would win the next two
titles, and beat them in 6. They’re the only team to beat the LeBron-Heat in a
playoff series, and beat them without much fuss. They needed a large comeback
to win Game 2, but they won a thrilling Game 5 in Dallas, and finished them off
blowing them out, relatively, in Miami. Mark Cuban may have only gotten one
title out of the Dirk era, but man did they really get it.
2.) 2005 Chicago White Sox
In terms of pure win-loss dominance, no team matches this
Chicago team. They ran through the playoffs going 11-1. Yes, that is right,
they lost just one game in the whole postseason. It was Game 1 of the ALCS to
the Angels. Their wins weren’t without controversy, as they won Game 2 after AJ
Pierzynski took first base because he thought he swung through a ball that hit
the ground. There is no real evidence of this, but the umpire agreed. The White
Sox walked off two batters later. Still, outside of that blip, the White Sox
could do no wrong, first sweeping the 95-win, defending Champion Red Sox, then
beating those Angels, before finishing it off with another sweep of the 89-win
Astros, who were 89-73, but started 15-30, so they were probably the best team
over the last ~100 games of the season. Now, the reason why they aren’t number
one is because while they swept the Astros, it was arguably the closest sweep
ever. They won Game 1 by one run. They won Game 2 on a walk-of Home Run
entering the 9th inning tied. They won Game 3 in 15 innings, and
then won Game 4 1-0. It was a damn close sweep, but a sweep nonetheless. The
most amazing part of the White Sox run, though, was their pitching in the ALCS.
Freddy Garcia, Jose Contreras, Jon Garland and Mark Buehrle pitching 44 1/3 of
the 45 innings played. Their starters were so dominant against a very good
team. The White Sox never recovered that magic under Ozzie Guillen, but for one
month they were one of the best baseball teams ever.
1.) 2007 Anaheim Ducks
The Ducks went 16-5 in the playoffs, which is one game worse
than the Kings. What separates their run is that they played the toughest
four-team group of opponents of any NHL team I’ve seen, and skated by all of
them with barely any fuss. This was at the height of Conference Imbalance. The
Ducks, who had 110 points themselves, had to play a team with 104 points in the
first round (Minnesota), and they rolled them in 5. They then played the
Canucks and their 105 points, and rolled them in 5. Next they got the
President’s Trophy Red Wings and their 113 points, and beat them in 6, winning
two games in Detroit. Fnally, they got the 105 point Senators in the Stanley
Cup Finals. Now here is where some transitive property exits. Just for
dominance in the first three rounds of the playoffs, the 2007 Senators
themselves are Top-5 worthy. That team played the Penguins (105 points), Devils
(107 points), and Sabres (113 points), and beat them all 4-1. They were
scalding hot entering the Stanley Cup Finals. So, what the Ducks do? They beat
them in 5. In a way, the Mavs did this too in 2011 (the Heat won their three
series 4-1), but the Ducks just dominated the Stanley Cup Finals, finishing it
off with a 6-2 win in Game 5. That Ducks team’s roster was probably the best of
any team in the NHL post-lockout, rolling a very good 1st line
(Kunitz-McDonald-Selanne), a great 2nd line (Penner-Getlzaf-Perry)
and the best 3rd line I have ever seen
(Pahlsson-Moen-RobNeidermayer), with two Hall of Fame defensemen (Scott
Niedermayer and Chris Pronger). That was a great team who rolled past four very
good to great teams, beating them all without needing 7 and only once needing
6. That’s how it is done.
