Comparing Current Playoffs Against Conference 1-8 (With Division Leaders at the Top)

[vpasla1]

Now that the standings are finalized, I figured I would take a look at how they would break down using a Conference Ranking, with the Division Leaders ranking 1 and 2.

East
1) NYR (114 points) Vs 8) Washington (91 points)
2) Florida (110 points) Vs 6) Tampa Bay (98 points)
3) Carolina (111 points) Vs 7) NYI (94 points)
4) Boston (109 points) Vs 5) Toronto (102 points)

If you go by actual points without division leaders, the East actually works out the same either way. Otherwise, it's fairly close.

West
1) Dallas (113 points) Vs 8) Vegas (98 points)
2) Vancouver (109 points) Vs 6) Nashville (99 points)
3) Winnipeg (110 points) Vs 4) Colorado (107 points)
5) Edmonton (105 points) Vs 7) Los Angeles (99 points)

If you go by actual points without division leaders, it is actually 2) Winnipeg Vs 4) Colorado.
Definitely sucks for Winnipeg and Colorado having to face off in the first round, as they should both be playing weaker teams instead.

I would definitely prefer the 1 to 8 ranking, with Division Leaders getting the 1 and 2.

I don't really have much else to add, but just wanted to share my findings.

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[Dust]

Now that the standings are finalized, I figured I would take a look at how they would break down using a Conference Ranking, with the Division Leaders ranking 1 and 2.

East
1) NYR (114 points) Vs 8) Washington (91 points)
2) Florida (110 points) Vs 6) Tampa Bay (98 points)
3) Carolina (111 points) Vs 7) NYI (94 points)
4) Boston (109 points) Vs 5) Toronto (102 points)

If you go by actual points without division leaders, the East actually works out the same either way. Otherwise, it's fairly close.

West
1) Dallas (113 points) Vs 8) Vegas (98 points)
2) Vancouver (109 points) Vs 6) Nashville (99 points)
3) Winnipeg (110 points) Vs 4) Colorado (107 points)
5) Edmonton (105 points) Vs 7) Los Angeles (99 points)

If you go by actual points without division leaders, it is actually 2) Winnipeg Vs 4) Colorado.
Definitely sucks for Winnipeg and Colorado having to face off in the first round, as they should both be playing weaker teams instead.

I would definitely prefer the 1 to 8 ranking, with Division Leaders getting the 1 and 2.

I don't really have much else to add, but just wanted to share my findings.

I don't think the seeding in the West matters that much this year. 15 points separating 1st from 8th isn't a lot. The East has 2 teams clearly a tier or two below the rest of the playoff teams, the West really doesn't. Your 7th seeded team in the West has a +41 goal differential, the 7th seeded team in the East has 1 more regulation win than Arizona.

 

[Johnny Tomala]

Now that the standings are finalized, I figured I would take a look at how they would break down using a Conference Ranking, with the Division Leaders ranking 1 and 2.

East
1) NYR (114 points) Vs 8) Washington (91 points)
2) Florida (110 points) Vs 6) Tampa Bay (98 points)
3) Carolina (111 points) Vs 7) NYI (94 points)
4) Boston (109 points) Vs 5) Toronto (102 points)

If you go by actual points without division leaders, the East actually works out the same either way. Otherwise, it's fairly close.

West
1) Dallas (113 points) Vs 8) Vegas (98 points)
2) Vancouver (109 points) Vs 6) Nashville (99 points)
3) Winnipeg (110 points) Vs 4) Colorado (107 points)
5) Edmonton (105 points) Vs 7) Los Angeles (99 points)

If you go by actual points without division leaders, it is actually 2) Winnipeg Vs 4) Colorado.
Definitely sucks for Winnipeg and Colorado having to face off in the first round, as they should both be playing weaker teams instead.

I would definitely prefer the 1 to 8 ranking, with Division Leaders getting the 1 and 2.

I don't really have much else to add, but just wanted to share my findings.

I go by points without division leaders.

It should be:

EAST
(1) Rangers vs (8) Capitals
(2) Hurricanes vs (7) Islanders
(3) Panthers vs (6) Lightning
(4) Bruins vs (5) Maple Leafs

WEST
(1) Stars vs (8) Golden Knights
(2) Jets vs (7) Kings
(3) Canucks vs (6) Predators
(4) Avalanche vs (5) Oilers

It should be re-sedding after round one of course too. This format that Bettman created sucks hard.

 

[Divine]

Looks like the East is just a straight 1-8 format this year.

In the West the Jets/Colorado get a harder matchup in return for Edmonton/LA getting an easier matchup. Both Jets and Colorado should be home teams, while both the Kings and Oilers should be road teams.

 

[kcunac]

Edm gets lucky and benefits from the league format. What else is new? Maybe if it keeps happening they’ll eventually change the format, just like they did for the draft.

 

[IronCladCane]

I go by points without division leaders.

It should be:

EAST
(1) Rangers vs (8) Capitals
(2) Hurricanes vs (7) Islanders
(3) Panthers vs (6) Lightning
(4) Bruins vs (5) Maple Leafs

WEST
(1) Stars vs (8) Golden Knights
(2) Jets vs (7) Kings
(3) Canucks vs (6) Predators
(4) Avalanche vs (5) Oilers

It should be re-sedding after round one of course too. This format that Bettman created sucks hard.

That's what sucks more than round one is the fact round two isn't reseeded

 

[coolboarder]

Here is what I would not mind, three different format on the path to the Cup and scrap the current format:

Format #1 East conference 1-8 seeds format and West conference: divisional playoff with WC. No cross-over if each 4 division make the playoffs and if I use that format, Dallas would face Nashville and Vancouver face Vegas without wild card cross over. That is the example of what I would like to see. If there is wild card that consist of 2 Central division or 5 Pacific division teams made and the top team in Western conference get the worst wildcard team..

Format #2 No conference, all 8 divisions of 4 teams. Playoff would be 1 v 2 from a division and the winner advances to 2nd round with 8 divisional series winners. Match-up for round 2 would be #1 v #8, 2 v 7, 3 v 6, 4 v 5. It would give us the variety of match-up for all rounds to the Cup Final It would be possible to have all central time zone Cup Final or all Western teams Cup final with this format.

Format #3. No conference, 4 divisions of 8 teams, top 4 of each division makes the playoffs and the Stanley Cup semi-final would be #1 v #4 and #2 v #3 with winner of the semi-final series advancing to Stanley Cup Final.

If I had to choose a format, I would pick format #2.

 

[StreetHawk]

Now that the standings are finalized, I figured I would take a look at how they would break down using a Conference Ranking, with the Division Leaders ranking 1 and 2.

East
1) NYR (114 points) Vs 8) Washington (91 points)
2) Florida (110 points) Vs 6) Tampa Bay (98 points)
3) Carolina (111 points) Vs 7) NYI (94 points)
4) Boston (109 points) Vs 5) Toronto (102 points)

If you go by actual points without division leaders, the East actually works out the same either way. Otherwise, it's fairly close.

West
1) Dallas (113 points) Vs 8) Vegas (98 points)
2) Vancouver (109 points) Vs 6) Nashville (99 points)
3) Winnipeg (110 points) Vs 4) Colorado (107 points)
5) Edmonton (105 points) Vs 7) Los Angeles (99 points)

If you go by actual points without division leaders, it is actually 2) Winnipeg Vs 4) Colorado.
Definitely sucks for Winnipeg and Colorado having to face off in the first round, as they should both be playing weaker teams instead.

I would definitely prefer the 1 to 8 ranking, with Division Leaders getting the 1 and 2.

I don't really have much else to add, but just wanted to share my findings.

For the west, you can't ignore travel and time zones.
Van to Nash is a lot of miles. Possibly greater distance than all East matchups combined.
Edm to LA, Win to Col, and Dal to LV all have a time zone change.

 

[ijuka]

For the west, you can't ignore travel and time zones.
Van to Nash is a lot of miles. Possibly greater distance than all East matchups combined.
Edm to LA, Win to Col, and Dal to LV all have a time zone change.

What would the playoff pairs look like if you wanted to minimize the amount of distance the teams have to fly?

 

[StreetHawk]

What would the playoff pairs look like if you wanted to minimize the amount of distance the teams have to fly?

Not much you can do for the west. even in a straight divisional setup, it would only swap Dal vs Nas and Van to LV.
I don't think Western clubs love the 1 vs 8 as much as fans do. But, they have to allow for 1 divsion to be potentially better than another, thus need to have WC. 1-8 Works fine for the East.

 

[canuckster19]

I go by points without division leaders.

It should be:

EAST
(1) Rangers vs (8) Capitals
(2) Hurricanes vs (7) Islanders
(3) Panthers vs (6) Lightning
(4) Bruins vs (5) Maple Leafs

WEST
(1) Stars vs (8) Golden Knights
(2) Jets vs (7) Kings
(3) Canucks vs (6) Predators
(4) Avalanche vs (5) Oilers

It should be re-sedding after round one of course too. This format that Bettman created sucks hard.

You can't do that without creating a balances conference schedule which teams will never go for. It's why weak division winners in the NFL get good playoff spots, schedule differences, and the NFL is good at making sure division teams play once at the beginning and end of the season whereas the NHL is completely useless in that regard.

Looks like the East is just a straight 1-8 format this year.

In the West the Jets/Colorado get a harder matchup in return for Edmonton/LA getting an easier matchup. Both Jets and Colorado should be home teams, while both the Kings and Oilers should be road teams.

Yeah but does Edmonton play like ass the last week of the season if home ice advantage is on the line? Same with Vancouver yesterday if the number two seed is on the line? Can't make hindsight comparisons like that without nuance.

 

[NorthStar4Canes]

For the west, you can't ignore travel and time zones.
Van to Nash is a lot of miles. Possibly greater distance than all East matchups combined.
Edm to LA, Win to Col, and Dal to LV all have a time zone change.

Nobody is getting jet-lagged by changing 1 time zone, and anyone claiming jet-lag from changing only 2 is most likely just experiencing general tiredness that has nothing to do with slightly mismatched circadian highs/lows to the clock/sunlight hours.

And although there is a drudgery that can come with constantly traveling, let's not pretend these flights are physically taxing, esp for professional athletes; they're almost all short-haul of 3 hours or less (with handful barely medium-haul) on chartered, all 1st-class seating airliners operating from private aircraft terminals where there's no waiting in queues, fuss or muss. There's no comparison to fatigue endured if does the sae the via regular, commercial airline travel.

 

[JKG33]

Yea this is all around such a shitty format. Sure the east looks like 1v8 right now, but the lack of reseeding is just stupid. Locking to divisional playoffs looks so bush league, what I'd expect when a league can't afford travel costs.

Every year one conference's playoffs is so imbalanced as a result. This year it's the west with 3 top 4 teams locked to one side of the bracket

 

[Canuckle1970]

Nobody is getting jet-lagged by changing 1 time zone, and anyone claiming jet-lag from changing only 2 is most likely just experiencing general tiredness that has nothing to do with slightly mismatched circadian highs/lows to the clock/sunlight hours.

And although there is a drudgery that can come with constantly traveling, let's not pretend these flights are physically taxing, esp for professional athletes; they're almost all short-haul of 3 hours or less (with handful barely medium-haul) on chartered, all 1st-class seating airliners operating from private aircraft terminals where there's no waiting in queues, fuss or muss. There's no comparison to fatigue endured if does the sae the via regular, commercial airline travel.

Vancouver to Nashville flight time is 6 hours 6 minutes. A 2 hour time zone difference may not be that significant, but 6 hours in flight, 4 times (if it goes 7 games), is a lot of mileage for one round. Such is life for the western conference.

 

[BB79]

It's such a mixed signal from the NHL. On one hand they changed the playoff/standings format to try to encourage more divisional rivalries in the playoffs, yet they create the schedule so said teams meet only 4 times in the season so we can all see the SJ Sharks twice over here on the east coast.

So which is it, do you want rivalries or not? The Bruins-Habs, Rangers-Islanders should play each other 6-8 times a season. No excuses

 

[canuckster19]

It's such a mixed signal from the NHL. On one hand they changed the playoff/standings format to try to encourage more divisional rivalries in the playoffs, yet they create the schedule so said teams meet only 4 times in the season so we can all see the SJ Sharks twice over here on the east coast.

So which is it, do you want rivalries or not? The Bruins-Habs, Rangers-Islanders should play each other 6-8 times a season. No excuses

Yep and if they expand beyond 32 teams are east coast teams going to be happy playing even more games out west and vice versa?

You either have a weighted schedule and weighted playoff spots or balanced schedule with balanced spots, not this current hybrid they got going.

 

[NorthStar4Canes]

Vancouver to Nashville flight time is 6 hours 6 minutes. A 2 hour time zone difference may not be that significant, but 6 hours in flight, 4 times (if it goes 7 games), is a lot of mileage for one round. Such is life for the western conference.

Vancouver to Nashville is about 1800 nautical miles so more like a 4 hr flight (give or take, depending on the upper winds), but that's also a worst-case travel time city pairing until the Final.

I'm not saying even 4 hours is nothing, or that the West teams don't endure a bit more on average due to distance, but the vast majority of the flights between cities within the East and West will be 3 hours or less.

And air travel being what it is, subject to delays due to airspace congestion exacerbated by inclement weather, it frequently comes down to cases anyway where distance alone doesn't always tell the tale. In the spring and early summer delays affect the eastern US (particularly airports in the Northeast}, far more frequently than western NA.

Chartered aircraft use the same airspace as the rest, so when springtime weather system cold fronts come rolling through spawning lines of thunderstorms that kick up mid-continent and close down giant chunks of airspace/routes in the east, your average planned 2.5 hour flight between Boston and Miami can easily turn into 4 + hours sitting on the airplane. Particularly in the Northeast, a good week is one where you don't experience significant delays for at least a couple days due to a front pushing through.

That said, I've flown enough sports team charters to know none of these athletes experience undue physical fatigue from these flights, or that (whether by mileage or delay) spending an extra hour or 90 minutes in their 1st class seats playing video games/cards, watching a movie, or napping translates into hardship that would affect performance compared to a team that spent spent 1 hour or 90 minutes less.

Once you eliminate the logistical hassles and time-wasting associated with commercial air travel before and after stepping on/off the plan, as they have, flying is a breeze. Traveling in this manner is as easy as driving to a friend's place instead of an airport and stepping out of your vehicle and into his house to fart-ass around with your friends for a few hours. The only difference between the friend's house and traveling all those miles on an airplane is once you step back outside the scenery and your vehicle has changed.

Anyway, for all these relatively short flights before Round 1, ample time is given for the Visiting team to travel and be well-rested before Game 1. After that, both will be experiencing whatever mileage and time changes equally.

Physical fatigue as a result of differences between teams' traveling flight miles probably ranks somewhere south of 50th on a list of factors that could affect the outcome of a Series. A starting 1C having a fight with his wife or a goalie realizing on Game Day he forgot to eat his lucky Cheerios could play a bigger role.

 

[Nogatco Rd]

Vancouver to Nashville flight time is 6 hours 6 minutes. A 2 hour time zone difference may not be that significant, but 6 hours in flight, 4 times (if it goes 7 games), is a lot of mileage for one round. Such is life for the western conference.

no chance that’s right