What if the Stanley Cup Playoffs were a Single Knockout Tournament?

[Kamiccolo]

Would be Better than the Current Regime. 7 Games is a Waste of Time. The Season is too Long anyway. Make regular Season 32 games and playoffs 1-round Knock Out.

You think owners would agree to losing playoff revenue? Also for example the Leafs could be eliminated but they might come back and win 4 in a row. It takes away half the story lines.

 

[Panteras]

at least make it a home and away...with away goal rules like in the Champions League to avoid OTs

 

[Il Stugotz]

They should play two games per series with the aggregate score determining the winner. If the aggregate score is tied, the first tiebreaker should be away goals. The next tiebreaker should be a shootout. However, a single final game at a neutral location should determine the Cup.

Teams are eligible to compete in this tournament if they finish in the top four of their divisional tables. Teams finishing at the bottom will be relegated to the AHL. Oligarchs can incorporate new teams and enter them into the AHL whenever they want. Eventually, different leagues will form along national lines, with many minor and developmental leagues.

Teams will no longer be constrained by a salary cap or floor. There will no longer be a draft. Teams will create junior developmental teams to train promising youths. Players will have much more power over where they play.

Players that commit serious penalties will have a yellow flag attached to their jerseys. If a player wearing a yellow flag would receive a second yellow flag, he is instead ejected and suspended for the following game. For the most serious penalties, the player will receive a red flag and be ejected and suspended for at least one game. Accruing a set number of yellow flags will also result in a one game suspension.

If in the most important game of the year a team’s best player headbutts an opponent and gets ejected in extra time, and his team goes on to lose, that player will be celebrated as a hero instead of being remembered as a dumbass.

Fans will be somehow become both scarier and cornier than present-day Predators fans.

 

[SnarkAttack]

Sharks wouldn't have won 5 times. People/sims always overrated their teams. They had great high end talent, and their depth was always bad to the point it could be exploited. Their best players would usually hold their own against the opponents' best players and their 4th line/3rd pairing would get demolished. Those, and many other, types of things just don't translate to simulations.

 

[BlueBull]

They should play two games per series with the aggregate score determining the winner. If the aggregate score is tied, the first tiebreaker should be away goals. The next tiebreaker should be a shootout. However, a single final game at a neutral location should determine the Cup.

Teams are eligible to compete in this tournament if they finish in the top four of their divisional tables. Teams finishing at the bottom will be relegated to the AHL. Oligarchs can incorporate new teams and enter them into the AHL whenever they want. Eventually, different leagues will form along national lines, with many minor and developmental leagues.

Teams will no longer be constrained by a salary cap or floor. There will no longer be a draft. Teams will create junior developmental teams to train promising youths. Players will have much more power over where they play.

Players that commit serious penalties will have a yellow flag attached to their jerseys. If a player wearing a yellow flag would receive a second yellow flag, he is instead ejected and suspended for the following game. For the most serious penalties, the player will receive a red flag and be ejected and suspended for at least one game. Accruing a set number of yellow flags will also result in a one game suspension.

If in the most important game of the year a team’s best player headbutts an opponent and gets ejected in extra time, and his team goes on to lose, that player will be celebrated as a hero instead of being remembered as a dumbass.

Fans will be somehow become both scarier and cornier than present-day Predators fans.

That is litterally Football on ice... I like it!!!

 

[Alwalys]

as a sharks fan this gives me retroactive boner

 

[Barrie22]

Sharks wouldn't have won 5 times. People/sims always overrated their teams. They had great high end talent, and their depth was always bad to the point it could be exploited. Their best players would usually hold their own against the opponents' best players and their 4th line/3rd pairing would get demolished. Those, and many other, types of things just don't translate to simulations.

Depth also is more exploitable in real life in a 7 game series.

 

[McTrashBoat]

Would be Better than the Current Regime. 7 Games is a Waste of Time. The Season is too Long anyway. Make regular Season 32 games and playoffs 1-round Knock Out.

better yet flip a coin at the start of the year to decide who wins the cup, who wants to watch hockey games here anyway?

 

[HockeyAnalystGenius]

better yet flip a coin at the start of the year to decide who wins the cup, who wants to watch hockey games here anyway?

Amen. At my age (older than you) the Hockey Season is too long. I stop following it in December. Matter of fact, I stopped following it last year. Then I followed it again. Sometimes I will stop for a whole year. That is because I live a real life. I am not a nerd on this forum, and I am older than all of these people, and with the age with whom comes Intelligence. So, I suggest no Smart Cracks.

 

[CuriousGeorge]

Scenario: In the Offseason of 1997, the NHL announces that, to discourage Super Teams and Make the Stanley Cup Playoffs more fun, They are making The Playoffs a Single Knockout tournament that will be active as of 1998 Playoffs (with the same 8 Playoff Teams per Conference Style Format), and are going replace the Missing Games with a Rival Series that will be Active as of the 1999 Post-Season (Not as important in this Scenario)

With this Scenario, a Playoff system is formed fill with Exciting Games Galore and Underdogs winning Championships Often.
Note 1: The Re-Seeding after each round that occurred until 2013 is a little messed up in this Scenario, but Most champions probably could have still won regardless.
Note 2: These are only the Finalists and Finals Results, but there are still a lot of stories to make out of these Finals.
Note 3: How did I do this? Well, when Teams were the same in a playoff round, I looked at the real life game 1 and have the winner go the next round (Or win the cup, but that only Occurs twice in this scenario). If they are different, I do a single game sim on WhatifSports.com... Yes I simmed each Playoffs from round 1.
1998: Buffalo Sabres over Edmonton Oilers
1999*: Dallas Stars over Boston Bruins
2000: Toronto Maple Leafs over Colorado Avalanche
2001*: Colorado Avalanche over Buffalo Sabres
2002: San Jose Sharks over Toronto Maple Leafs
2003: St. Louis Blues over Toronto Maple Leafs
2004: San Jose Sharks over Tampa Bay Lightning
2005: Despite the rule to discourage Super Teams, Lockout and Salary Cap Era still Happens.
2006: Detroit Red Wings over New Jersey Devils
2007: San Jose Sharks over Ottawa Senators
2008**: Detroit Red Wings over Pittsburgh Penguins
2009: Boston Bruins over Vancouver Canucks
2010: Vancouver Canucks over Ottawa Senators
2011^: Vancouver Canucks over Montreal Canadiens
2012: San Jose Sharks over Philadelphia Flyers
2013: Pittsburgh Penguins over Anaheim Ducks
2014: San Jose Sharks over New York Rangers
2015: Anaheim Ducks over Montreal Canadiens
2016: Washington Capitals over Dallas Stars
2017**: Pittsburgh Penguins over Nashville Predators
*Same Champion That Year
**Same Finalists and Champions That Year
^This is true, but I wanted Montreal to win. I did 12 Game sims before they did so. This is based off of game one. No, I did not rig any of the games, this is the only game I tried to then held back on afterwards.

-BlueBull

Guess what? It is not. End of discussion.

 

[McTrashBoat]

Amen. At my age (older than you) the Hockey Season is too long. I stop following it in December. Matter of fact, I stopped following it last year. Then I followed it again. Sometimes I will stop for a whole year. That is because I live a real life. I am not a nerd on this forum, and I am older than all of these people, and with the age with whom comes Intelligence. So, I suggest no Smart Cracks.

I hear ya, I'm so old and smart I stopped watching hockey 40 years ago, so I know it should only be played for 6 minutes at a time once a year