Anyone know or have access to stats on:
Historically when teams have been eliminated near the end of the season, do they play much worse since they have no playoff hopes or much better since they are relaxed and have nothing to lose?
To be sure it's most likely a mixed bag with various factors, ie Chris Wilcox in Seattle playing as hard as he can in a contract year and seeing how overpaid frontline players are he is licking his chops at a potential 7 mill a year multiyear deal.
Other players might say screw this, I aint riskin no injury.
Any kind of a pattern develope over the years?
