Two sub-.500 teams playing for a championship

[Viper]

Even the losers

Can be the winners of the prize

Yeah, they get lucky sometimes

Two teams that finished the season below .500 will meet in the title game for just the second time in National Lacrosse League history. The lowest-scoring team in the league [Edmonton] has scored 34 goals in two playoff games. The [Rochester] Knighthawks will look to win their first title since 2007. The Edmonton Rush will look to win their first title since the Big Bang in their first championship game.

Now, with only 9 teams in the NLL this season, 8 of them making the playoffs, and the format being a straight one-and-done for each round, it is not all that far-fetched that two teams with losing records would end up being the two finalists. But it does make the league look pretty silly nonetheless.

[NJTank]

This is not unprecedented.

in 1938 the Chicago Black Hawks finished 14?25?9 and won the Stanley Cup.

[Viper]

This is not unprecedented.

in 1938 the Chicago Black Hawks finished 14–25–9 and won the Stanley Cup.

But did the team they beat in the Finals also have a losing record?

According to the linked article, this isn't even the first time that's happened in the NLL alone, but I've never heard of it happening in any other pro sport, Big Four or otherwise.

[Magnus]

I have been a long-time follower of the NLL, and I think it is unfortunate that they decided to allow 88% of their teams into the playoffs this season. Somewhere around 50% seems like an ideal situation to me, because it makes the playoffs a little more special, but also allows for teams to have exciting playoff chases at the end of the season, and Cinderella runs. In a small league like this, though, I understand why they would do so - to generate more fan interest and revenue. It's just sad to me that a league that once had aspirations of being a continent-wide, 24-team league is floundering with only 9 markets, and a seemingly shifting roster of markets each season.

[bigbean24]

Man, the Swarm really blew it last night. I was really hoping to be at the championship next week.

[thespleenenator]

4 team playoff. I don't understand what's so hard about that.

[Viper]

Man, the Swarm really blew it last night. I was really hoping to be at the championship next week.

To paraphrase a TV spot from a couple of years back, they didn't just blow it, they typhooned it.

[aci]

Four, five or six teams in the playoffs makes sense. Eight does not. I don't know what the heck the league is thinking. It just makes them look like a laughingstock to only have one team miss the playoffs.

[Jer15]

If Boston actually returns next year(not holding my breath) and they drop down to 6 playoff teams, that would be reasonable in my eyes.

[Seadragon76]

OK, let's see if I got this right: the NLL has 9 teams, all but one makes the playoffs, with the presumed 7th and 8th seeds reaching the championship game.

I don't know to either call this bush league or just upsets gone crazy.

[Gothamite]

a league that once had aspirations of being a continent-wide, 24-team league

Well, there's the problem right there.

[NJTank]

If Lacrosse is so popular in College and is growing at the High School level it is shocking that they have suck terrible pro leagues.

[Viper]

Well, at this point it doesn't appear the NLL is likely to lose any more teams after this season, or at least none have been making any noises to that effect. So, it would appear the league has bottomed out at nine teams.

On the other hand, there's no expansion in the works for the foreseeable future either. Several cities (Vancouver, NYC, Chicago and Detroit in particular) have been talked up as expansion candidates in the years ahead but the NLL has no known timetable to make that happen.