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CHANGE the Playoff Format (For the millionth time)


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Well let’s dive into that... You say Central, so I’ll counter with a very meh Metro. Metro has 8 teams to the Centrals 7.

 

Metro teams above 80 points:3

Central teams above 80 points:2

 

Metro teams in the 70’s: 3

Central teams in the 70’s: 4

 

Metro has two teams below 67 points.

Central has 1 tram below 67 points.

 

Again, Metro has one more team. I’d argue the Metro is weaker than usual this year and your argument is the Central is absolutely stacked. Looking at them as I just did, I’d say they look the same to me lol.

 

Regardless of divisions, the 2 best NHL teams are the Bruins and the Bolts right now.

 

Again you're looking at point totals to tell you who is good, and not who the teams play and what they do on the actual ice.

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That's not what he meant. 1-8 Tampa and Boston still have the benefit of playing in a division with Ottawa, Detroit, Florida, and Buffalo more than anyone else which inflates their point total.

 

Lol do we have to go over this again? Toronto also has the disadvantage of playing the best 2 teams in the league (whether u want to believe the point totals or not) more than anyone else, which hurts their point totals.

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when it was 1 vs 8 playoff format, I thought It was uninteresting. you knew that the top team would beat the 8th seed, what was the point watching? same with 2nd seed vs 7th.

3rd vs 6th and 4th vs 5th is where it could go either way, so i'd focus more on these teams. now all series are interesting in the first round

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You just compared two divisions, that neither one of those teams play in, using nothing but total points.

 

Well yes, when someone says one division is “Stacked” compared to the others... I felt like I should point out there’s another division that is nearly identical.

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when it was 1 vs 8 playoff format, I thought It was uninteresting. you knew that the top team would beat the 8th seed, what was the point watching? same with 2nd seed vs 7th.

3rd vs 6th and 4th vs 5th is where it could go either way, so i'd focus more on these teams. now all series are interesting in the first round

 

Well, judging by what others have said, often times points don’t matter and don’t tell who is the best. So a 2-7 may actually feature some of the best teams in the league. And in the case when a 2-7 is an underdog story, I find It way more exciting to root for the upset. Sure a 2-3 in the first round is exciting, but you’re risking losing one of the best teams in the league early on, weakening the field going forward.

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Except its not nearly identical. The schedules are very, very different.

 

You used the Lightning’s schedule and playing “weaker” teams more than others as an advantage for them. But when I point out 2 divisions that have all VERY similar teams, one of which has the last 2 Cup Champs in It, as being not nearly identical LOL. Then you claim it’s because the schedules are different. There’s no winning this argument. I laid out the facts. The best teams in the NHL the last few years have resided in the Metro, they also have statistically, some of the strongest “weak” teams, and yet that’s still not good enough for you. I’m not even sure what your point is at this time because It seems like you just don’t want to admit the Bolts and Bruins are the 2 best teams, or that the Metro and Central are relatively the same division.

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Well, judging by what others have said, often times points don’t matter and don’t tell who is the best. So a 2-7 may actually feature some of the best teams in the league. And in the case when a 2-7 is an underdog story, I find It way more exciting to root for the upset. Sure a 2-3 in the first round is exciting, but you’re risking losing one of the best teams in the league early on, weakening the field going forward.

 

how often does an upset happen in 1 vs 8 or 2 vs 7? once every 10 years, maybe more? 2nd round has always been more exciting for me than 1st. now all rounds are exciting, even if one of the better teams is out

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how often does an upset happen in 1 vs 8 or 2 vs 7? once every 10 years, maybe more? 2nd round has always been more exciting for me than 1st. now all rounds are exciting, even if one of the better teams is out

 

A quick google search of the last time we had 1-8, back in 2013, revealed that BOTH 6 seeds won, a 7 seed beat a 2 seed, and a 5 seed beat a 4. So out of 8 matchups, 4 times the lower seed won.. That’s 1 years worth of data. Upsets happen in the NHL all the time.

 

The BIGGEST problem with the new format again, is that It forces teams that play great all year, to be the road team in an early series. That’s a HUGE problem. You work all year to get home ice, POSSIBLY ending up as the 2nd best team in the whole league, just to be the road team in your 2nd round matchup. That blows.

 

EDIT! Just realized BOTH 7 seeds won the last time we had 1-8. Sooo yeah, let’s go back to that.

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https://www.nhl.com/standings/2018/league

If you look at the standings 1-16 it's really Tampa Bay... then a cluster of everybody else.

So if you want to be 'fair' and ignore travel and rivalries currently

 

Lightning vs Stars; Bruins vs Blue Jackets; Flames vs Blues; Sharks vs Knights; Leafs vs Canadiens; Islanders vs Hurricanes; Caps vs Penguins; Preds vs Jets

 

which would be fine

 

any time you add conferences and divisions and an unbalanced schedule (15 teams one side; 16 on the other) things are going to get warped.

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https://www.nhl.com/standings/2018/league

If you look at the standings 1-16 it's really Tampa Bay... then a cluster of everybody else.

So if you want to be 'fair' and ignore travel and rivalries currently

 

Lightning vs Stars; Bruins vs Blue Jackets; Flames vs Blues; Sharks vs Knights; Leafs vs Canadiens; Islanders vs Hurricanes; Caps vs Penguins; Preds vs Jets

 

which would be fine

 

any time you add conferences and divisions and an unbalanced schedule (15 teams one side; 16 on the other) things are going to get warped.

Love this idea.
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when it was 1 vs 8 playoff format, I thought It was uninteresting. you knew that the top team would beat the 8th seed, what was the point watching?

 

Not so at all, there was one year when 8 won both of those match ups if memory serves me. There were a good number of 8s who beat 1s; I recall counting them over some years and being surprised. The Rangers at 8 beat Quebec at 1 in 1995. In any event, you still have 1 playing the second wild card, who is almost always No. 8.

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Why are we talking about 1/8 and 2/7 matchups? Has nothing to do with anything, that hasn’t changed.

 

The issue is you’re taking home ice advantage away from a team (Currently Leafs) that should 1. Have it. 2. Be playing a lesser opponent in the standings in the opening round. Leafs would host Isles right now. Rivalries? Lol

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Why are we talking about 1/8 and 2/7 matchups? Has nothing to do with anything, that hasn’t changed.

 

The issue is you’re taking home ice advantage away from a team (Currently Leafs) that should 1. Have it. 2. Be playing a lesser opponent in the standings in the opening round. Leafs would host Isles right now. Rivalries? Lol

 

This. 1 still plays 8 as it currently stands. 2 doesn't necessarily play 7 though. In most cases, yes you are right, but if the season ended right now that's not how it would work out. 1 division in both conferences are home to the top two teams in their respective conference. So this year, for example, you'd have 1/8 and 3/7. Actually looking at the East you'd have 1/8 and 4/7. I think this is where BrooklynBoy89's argument is stemming from.

 

To throw my opinion in the mix, I think each format has its own merits. Ignoring divisions and qualifying 1-8 in the conference did a better job of insuring the better teams had home ice and a better path at facing each other in the later rounds. I think this is the best format to ensure the most competitive playoff.

What I like about the current format is it makes you have to get out of your own divisional playoff in order to play for the conference championship, and ultimately the Stanley Cup. Or at least that's how it should be. Hopefully with the addition of Seattle in a few years balancing the conferences the NHL will drop this stupid wild card format and just make it 1/4 and 2/3 in each division(if they don't go back to conference 1/8, 2/7, etc). Advancing from your divisional bracket and beating the winner of the opposing division in the conference final, and then moving on to play for the Stanley Cup, in my opinion, is the purest way of holding a playoff.

 

Both formats have their merits.

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Why are we talking about 1/8 and 2/7 matchups? Has nothing to do with anything, that hasn?t changed.

 

The issue is you?re taking home ice advantage away from a team (Currently Leafs) that should 1. Have it. 2. Be playing a lesser opponent in the standings in the opening round. Leafs would host Isles right now. Rivalries? Lol

 

This. 100%

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This. 1 still plays 8 as it currently stands. 2 doesn't necessarily play 7 though. In most cases, yes you are right, but if the season ended right now that's not how it would work out. 1 division in both conferences are home to the top two teams in their respective conference. So this year, for example, you'd have 1/8 and 3/7. Actually looking at the East you'd have 1/8 and 4/7. I think this is where BrooklynBoy89's argument is stemming from.

 

To throw my opinion in the mix, I think each format has its own merits. Ignoring divisions and qualifying 1-8 in the conference did a better job of insuring the better teams had home ice and a better path at facing each other in the later rounds. I think this is the best format to ensure the most competitive playoff.

What I like about the current format is it makes you have to get out of your own divisional playoff in order to play for the conference championship, and ultimately the Stanley Cup. Or at least that's how it should be. Hopefully with the addition of Seattle in a few years balancing the conferences the NHL will drop this stupid wild card format and just make it 1/4 and 2/3 in each division(if they don't go back to conference 1/8, 2/7, etc). Advancing from your divisional bracket and beating the winner of the opposing division in the conference final, and then moving on to play for the Stanley Cup, in my opinion, is the purest way of holding a playoff.

 

Both formats have their merits.

 

Right, right ... 1 plays 8 and 2 / 7 could be different. All the more reason to change it. Lol

 

Also, trying to force rivalries hasn’t worked and won’t ever work. Try to force a pass up the middle, it gets picked off and ends up in the back of your own net. Try to force a square peg in a round hole won’t work either. Just let it all fall naturally.

2 division winners get 1-2 seeds. 3-8 fall where they may.

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