Photo Courtesy / Billy Courtice

The NHL is gearing up for another exciting post-season. The Western Conference currently has eight teams fighting for spots five through eight, while the Eastern Conference has three teams fighting for the last playoff spot.

There have been some unforgettable playoff runs—and some terrible ones. The UG brings you the most heroic playoff run failures in recent years.

5. The Boston Red Sox: Last year’s American League East playoff race was tight between the Yankees and the Rays, but Red Sox fans couldn’t help but make a case that Boston could clinch a playoff spot. They finished the season with an 89-73 record, coming up just short, and finishing out of the playoffs, capping a run that never was.

4. The Dallas Cowboys: The 2010-2011 NFL season, culminating in a Super Bowl held in Texas was plotted to be the Cowboys’ year to win it all; that is until their first win came in week three, with their second win coming in week 10 against the Giants. With a record of 2-7 by mid-November, the season was already a write-off.

3. The Charlotte Bobcats: While it looked like a promising team making a huge playoff push, Charlotte ran out of gas before they had a chance to leave their mark. 2010 marked the first playoff appearance in franchise history, but it quickly went sour in the first round.They were swept by the Magic, who trampled them 98-89, 92-77, 90-86 and 99-90.

2. The Dallas Mavericks: While winning 50 games in 10 straight seasons seems like it would constitute a playoff contender, or at least one would think. Yet the team has only gone to the NBA finals once, losing to the Miami Heat in 2006. In those 10 years they have finished the regular season anywhere from first to fourth place, but have never made it happen in the post-season.

1. The Boston Bruins: Finishing first in the East just two years prior and making an Eastern Conference semi-final appearance, the Bruins were expected to do well. They won their first-round series against the Sabres 4-2 and had a stranglehold on the Flyers in the second round 3-0. One win would send them to the Eastern Conference final. Instead, they let the Flyers make history and come back to win four straight games taking the series. The Flyers are only the second team to overcome a 3-0 deficit in the playoffs next to the 1942 Maple Leafs who did it to win the Stanley Cup.