NHL Playoff Format Gripes

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/news/stupid-nhl-divisional-playoff-format-drawing-criticism-062926029--nhl.html

 

In a cruel twist of the NHL's divisional playoff format, say goodbye to one of the three best teams in the league in the first round.

 

''I don't think it was designed for this,'' Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said. ''I don't think it was intended for this to happen.''

 

The Washington Capitals, Pittsburgh Penguins and Blue Jackets could finish 1-2-3 in points, but because they all play in the Metropolitan Division, the second- and third-place teams will face off in the first round.

 

''It's stupid. It's the stupidest thing ever,'' forward Daniel Winnik of the league-leading Capitals said. ''It doesn't work. It doesn't make sense.''

''It's not a good system when your one wild-card team can cross over and they have kind of, if they perform, a clear path to get to the final,'' Washington GM Brian MacLellan said. ''I think the incentive should be the higher team gets the easier path.''

 

 

I agree, stupid f'n format even if the Rangers have the easier path. I would have liked to see 1-16 like in the 70s/early 80's but understand the owners/league want to limit/save on travel, so just go back to 1-8 then.

In the case of what's happening this year, I agree, this format is incentivizing the team in the Rangers' position to lose, which is a bad thing. But consider for a moment that this year's scenario, where the four teams in the metro are amongst the four best in the league, is a rarity, because truthfully, in a healthy league, it should be. There shouldn't be 4 / 6 top records in one division, but alas, here we are.

 

Think about a related situation: what if the format was 1-8 in the Eastern conference get in and 7/8 of those teams were in the Metro division? The downside here is that the talent flocks to the playoff teams and parity shrinks, because why would I want to play in a division that doesn't make the playoffs? The system as it stands gives every team in every city a greater chance of having success, even if it does provide for scenarios like the one this year, which admittedly is a fail case. Personally I like the system as it promotes better hockey throughout the playoffs as opposed to joke first and sometimes second rounds. It's imperfect, yes, and this year it's showing one of its imperfections, but I think its positives outweigh the negatives overall and it contributes more to a healthy game than it takes away.

Washington would still probably have to play two Metro teams to get to the Cup anyways, unless there's an upset. It's really not any different for them. Current 1-8 seeding and matchups is

 

1 WAS vs. 8 TOR

2 PIT vs. 7 BOS

3 CBJ vs. 6 OTT

4 NYR vs. 5 MTL

 

1 WAS vs. 4 NYR

2 PIT vs. 3 CBJ

 

1 WAS vs. 2 PIT

Washington would still probably have to play two Metro teams to get to the Cup anyways, unless there's an upset. It's really not any different for them. Current 1-8 seeding and matchups is

 

1 WAS vs. 8 TOR

2 PIT vs. 7 BOS

3 CBJ vs. 6 OTT

4 NYR vs. 5 MTL

 

1 WAS vs. 4 NYR

2 PIT vs. 3 CBJ

 

1 WAS vs. 2 PIT

 

This is also true.

Washington would still probably have to play two Metro teams to get to the Cup anyways, unless there's an upset. It's really not any different for them. Current 1-8 seeding and matchups is

 

1 WAS vs. 8 TOR

2 PIT vs. 7 BOS

3 CBJ vs. 6 OTT

4 NYR vs. 5 MTL

 

1 WAS vs. 4 NYR

2 PIT vs. 3 CBJ

 

1 WAS vs. 2 PIT

 

Actually it would be

1 WAS vs. 8 TOR

2 MTL vs 7 BOS

3 PIT vs 6 OTT

4 CBJ vs 5 NYR

 

Division winners get automatic 1 and 2, then reseed after each round

Yup. Sucks for Pittsburgh or Columbus. Stupid format.

 

Rangers are in the best case spot with under 10 games left.

 

No series is easy in playoffs but Ottawa if they can somehow finish ahead of Montreal would be sweet.

 

My expectations for the Rangers will be much higher with their current spot as the #1 wildcard seed.

 

Anything less than the ECF would be supreme disappointment.

 

 

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Actually it would be

1 WAS vs. 8 TOR

2 MTL vs 7 BOS

3 PIT vs 6 OTT

4 CBJ vs 5 NYR

 

Division winners get automatic 1 and 2, then reseed after each round

...not if it's just a 1-8 seeding

...not if it's just a 1-8 seeding

 

as far as I remember when it was 1-8 format, division winners got 1 and 2 b/c winning the division was an incentive.

It's fuckin stupid that not only Pitt or Col will be out after the 1st round, but Ott or Bos will definitely be in round 2. If an underdog wins, so be it, that's part of sports. This method forces it to happen and could set up a dog shit conference qtr and semi final round. The idea is to give the best teams a chance to meet at some point. This method prevents that from happening.

It's fuckin stupid that not only Pitt or Col will be out after the 1st round, but Ott or Bos will definitely be in round 2. If an underdog wins, so be it, that's part of sports. This method forces it to happen and could set up a dog shit conference qtr and semi final round. The idea is to give the best teams a chance to meet at some point. This method prevents that from happening.

I think that's the bigger problem. It's not that a good team will lose, it's that a bad team will win.

I think that's the bigger problem. It's not that a good team will lose, it's that a bad team will win.

 

You have to give the better teams a chance to meet each other in the later rounds. If there's an upset, so be it, but at least pave the road correctly.

This format makes the season meaningless. What is the incentive to finishing higher if you're the Rangers or Pens or CBJ? You should be rewarded for a good season by playing the lesser teams in the opening rounds. It also makes the 1st round of the playoffs the most intense round, which, again, doesn't make sense.

I get the idea that they are trying to get the rivalries back but it's actually hurting the sport

 

 

#MakeBSBHGreatAgain

I get the idea that they are trying to get the rivalries back but it's actually hurting the sport

 

 

#MakeBSBHGreatAgain

 

What they should do to get the rivalries back is:

A) go back to playing the other conference 1 time instead of 2 and just alternate every year between Home and Away, and add those games to divisional games. I find it dumb that the Rangers play the Islanders 4 times and the Bruins 3 times and West 2 times. Should play teams in your own division a couple of games more than the other team in your conference. Divisional games should mean a lot more than games vs. teams in the Atlantic Division. Sure people in Vancouver might want to see the Leafs/MTL every year but then they'll get more entertaining games if they are seeing LA/Calgary more often.

B) Around XMas Time, make it like a rivalry week. NYR vs NYI/NJD/PHL PHL vs. PIT/WSH/NJD, LA vs SJ/ANA/Vegas, ARI vs LSV/COL/DAL, etc........build some rivalries that might not have the hatred.

C) More home and home series on back to back nights, especially on the back end of the season, NYR/NYI on back to back nights in the month of march? CHI-STL to end the season?

 

Would have been crazy to possibly see NYR-PIT come in 2nd/3rd and potentially play 9 times in 3 weeks (next Friday, Last game of the season, and 7 game 1st round)

Guys I really think there's a lot of evaluation going on here based on this season's one edge case. Remember, the case where four of the best six teams in the league are in one division is NOT normal. Under normal circumstances, a lot of the "X should happen etc" would actually happen. You wouldn't have the extremely high quality teams guaranteed to lose in the first round as you do this year. I think when you look at the big picture, this playoff format is healthy for competition and the game. This year, and I said this before, I completely agree with and understand the frustration that it has created a scenario where someone is incentivized to lose. 100% agree this year. But this year is weird, and I don't think that will be the norm. To recap, with the current format:

 

You are rewarded for playing well by playing a lesser team in the first round. The division winners get to do this. This season has an extremely rare case where WC1 may very well have more points and be a better team than ATL winner. That's ok. This season also has a very rare place where finishing 2nd in your division nets you a better opponent than 6th place otherwise would have been. In this case, finishing 2nd in the met brings 4th place. This year, the difference between 4th and 6th place is a huge gulf where otherwise it wouldn't typically be.

 

In this system, the best teams do have the best chance of meeting each other in the later rounds. This season's extremely rare edge case aside, the system is designed to increase the chance of the best team from each division playing in the conference final at the expense of decreasing the chance of the best overall teams in the conference meeting in the conference final. Again, it just so happens that this difference is much, much greater than it should be this year, and is not typically the case.

 

This system is designed to grow the league, which it does because it potentially increases the length of engagement for more teams over a longer period of time than 1-8 system.

 

Finally, there is no easy path to the cup. It's the hardest trophy to win and the NHL is the most parity even major sports league in the world. This system, despite the extremely rare edge case showing itself this year, does not allow for bad teams to win the trophy, and still most probably produces the best team of the year. I can't think of a team that won so far which wouldn't have if not for the system.

Last year the 4 of the top 5 teams in the eastern conference were......in the Metropolitan Division.

Caps 120, Penguins 104, Rangers 101, Florida 103, Isles 100.

Last year the Islanders tanked the last week of the season so they can keep that WC1 spot to face Florida b/c it was the easier path and they wouldnt have to play the Penguins.

So its not just a one year thing.

I think we can both agree that the best team won the cup last year, right? I'm going to base this argument on that assumption, because in my mind the pens were definitely the best team in the playoffs.

 

So they defeated the other "best team", Washington, in the second round. Assuming teams win as expected, that only reduced the number of rounds it took for them to play Washington by one. Meanwhile, instead of losing to the Penguins and the Capitals, respectively, the Islanders and Lightning got to play each other in the second round, thus extending the season for one of those teams.

 

My argument is that the benefit to the overall game of hockey that extending the playoff seasons for lesser teams like the Islanders and Lightning, and the others across the league, vastly outweighs the reduction in time before the imminent clash of titans in one division under the following conditions:

 

1. That one division is the best in the game.

2. We assume that the best team wins anyways, since that has been the case every time this happened.

3. This doesn't happen every year, thus the overall risk is mitigated further.

i cannot think of hard and fast rules that would work. if you got rid of wild cards and just had the best four from each division play, people would complain about a team with more points left out. just seeding one through eight or one through sixteen would diminish rivalries. wild cards complicate fair matchups. i think you would need a committee to reward top teams from the regular season and balance matchups

I don't get why people keep saying this isn't "Normal" or it is a "Rarity".. Do people not remember this EXACT thing happened last year in the Central. 3 of the top 5 teams in the LEAGUE were in the Central, and it forced the Blues to play the Hawks in Round 1, a matchup many believed should have been the Conference Finals.. This Format blows. We talked about it last year, and again this year, so why wouldn't it be normal that it could happen again next year lol? The Rangers have more points than 2 Division Winners!!! And we are talking about wanting to just chug along and play in the Atlantic, because of this stupid ass format. It doesn't reward anyone for being good. It doesn't reward the Capitals for being the best team all year. Here, you get one cake walk matchup and then you can play the 2nd best team in the league in the SECOND ROUND. Let's just eliminate 2 of the Top 3 teams in the LEAGUE in the First 2 Rounds of the playoffs. That'll make a great experience for the fans... And had the Stars won their series last year ( They won their Division and 2nd best Record in the League) They would have been gifted a matchup with the 3rd best record in the league in the Second Round, YIPPEEEEE.

 

This. Format. Blows.

I agree with everyone in that this system sucks. Bring it back to 1-8 in the conference. Make the division winners 1 and 2 and fill the rest in and reseed after each round. The only other thing I would wanna see, which is something I think should have been done back in the 3 division format where that Southeast Division winner was always seeded #3 and sometimes had the point total to be a 7 or 8 seed; is that you guarantee the lower or the 2 division winners a spot but seed them where they should be based on their points. With only 2 divisions per conference now it is very unlikely that a whole division would be shut out of the playoffs like the old SE Division used to be. In the very rare case it does ever happen this ensures they're not a number two seed just because they were the best team in a shitty division. This probably complicates it more than it should though.

I agree with everyone in that this system sucks. Bring it back to 1-8 in the conference. Make the division winners 1 and 2 and fill the rest in and reseed after each round. The only other thing I would wanna see, which is something I think should have been done back in the 3 division format where that Southeast Division winner was always seeded #3 and sometimes had the point total to be a 7 or 8 seed; is that you guarantee the lower or the 2 division winners a spot but seed them where they should be based on their points. With only 2 divisions per conference now it is very unlikely that a whole division would be shut out of the playoffs like the old SE Division used to be. In the very rare case it does ever happen this ensures they're not a number two seed just because they were the best team in a shitty division. This probably complicates it more than it should though.

 

If that were the case this year, Montreal would win their division and not get home ice. That ain't right.

If that were the case this year, Montreal would win their division and not get home ice. That ain't right.

 

Which is why I made the comment of just being rewarded for being the best team in a shitty divison. Congratulations you qualify for the playoffs, here is where you really stack up against everyone else. Good luck.

You have to give the better teams a chance to meet each other in the later rounds. If there's an upset, so be it, but at least pave the road correctly.

 

Current Format

 

Wsh v. Bos _____ Wsh v. Pitt _____ Pitt v. NYR

Col v. Pitt

Mtl v. NYR _____ NYR v. Tor

Ott v. Tor

 

1-8

 

Wsh v. Bos _____ Wsh v. NYR _____ Pitt v. NYR

Col v. Tor

Pitt v. Ott _____ Col v. Pitt

NYR v. Mtl

 

1-8 (Division winners get top 2 seeds)

 

Wsh v. Bos _____ Wsh v. NYR _____ Col v. NYR

Mtl v. Tor

Col v. Ott _____ Mtl v. Col

Pitt v. NYR

 

Is there really that much of a difference???

Current Format

 

Wsh v. Bos _____ Wsh v. Pitt _____ Pitt v. NYR

Col v. Pitt

Mtl v. NYR _____ NYR v. Tor

Ott v. Tor

 

1-8

 

Wsh v. Bos _____ Wsh v. NYR _____ Pitt v. NYR

Col v. Tor

Pitt v. Ott _____ Col v. Pitt

NYR v. Mtl

 

1-8 (Division winners get top 2 seeds)

 

Wsh v. Bos _____ Wsh v. NYR _____ Col v. NYR

Mtl v. Tor

Col v. Ott _____ Mtl v. Col

Pitt v. NYR

 

Is there really that much of a difference???

 

I love that you're still not putting Washington past the 2nd round lol

I love that you're still not putting Washington past the 2nd round lol

 

Fuck the Caps. :cool: