NHL Around the NHL XX - NHL looking at playoffs starting on July 1

[Salem13]

Oh and first verses worst, none of that division poop!

Down dirty and done.

 

[jgatie]

however they do it. the top teams in each conference should get a first round bye.
then play the winner of the 2 lowest seeded teams.
is that possible with the amount of teams??
personally. i think it should just be top 5 in each conference. top seed gets a bye. plays winner of 4 and 5 seed. then winner of that plays 2 and 3 seed.

What is the use of a bye after a 3 1/2 month layoff? If anything they need the seed series to shake off the rust.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

Regional Sports Network, for example NESN for the Bruins, MSG Network for the Rangers, Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia for the Flyers

Comcast gave way to NBC Sports..... hence why Boston's secondary Sports channel is NBC Sports Boston..... Philadelphia is NBC Sports Philadelphia (originally PRISM)

 

[BigGoalBrad]

24 makes no sense you might as well play 4-5 regular season games to get it down to 16 and then have the playoffs. The 7 teams left out won’t make a difference and the top seeds will just play each of them twice. While 12-24 are intentionally scheduled against each other to make the field of 16.

 

[Mathews28]

What is the use of a bye after a 3 1/2 month layoff? If anything they need the seed series to shake off the rust.

no! Why would you ever want to have to win more games? The bye shortens the path. TB woulda loved a first round bye last year.

 

[hrdpuk]

I would stay with a regular season format . no matter what format they use some teams are screwed
The only fair way would be to finish the season

 

[DarrenBanks56]

What is the use of a bye after a 3 1/2 month layoff? If anything they need the seed series to shake off the rust.

you cant lose in round 1.
they should only have to win 3 rounds with the year they had.

 

[jgatie]

no! Why would you ever want to have to win more games? The bye shortens the path. TB woulda loved a first round bye last year.

But you are asking for a bye while the other teams are getting a 3 game series to shake the rust off. Nobody is getting eliminated, it is only for seeding. In my humble opinion, I'd rather risk the 1st or second seed and get a three game series to prep for the actual playoffs after sitting on their asses for 3 1/2 months.

 

[jgatie]

no! Why would you ever want to have to win more games? The bye shortens the path. TB woulda loved a first round bye last year.

Tampa Bay would have also loved to face a team that hasn't played in what amounts to an entire off-season, with no training camp.

 

[sooshii]

Comcast gave way to NBC Sports..... hence why Boston's secondary Sports channel is NBC Sports Boston..... Philadelphia is NBC Sports Philadelphia (originally PRISM)

whatever it’s called, I’m going to have to go back to cable to get it.

 

[Fenway]

in 1992 a well known Canadian sports journalist said that Wayne Gretzky was overrated

 

[Fenway]

 

[JOKER 192]

16 teams no BS. Getting a first round bye , no thanks, will be like having to jump onto a moving train with no running start,eff that.

 

[Jdavidev]

31 Thoughts: How a 24-team NHL playoff structure could work - Sportsnet.ca

The 24-team playoff setup is being discussed, although, as mentioned, there is no guarantee. It would eliminate the controversies around the regular 16-team cutline, and allow the NHL a greater opportunity for regional television inventory. I’m told the magic number for many of these markets in the United States is 70. You want to play that many games on your regional network. It’s more of a challenge for teams like Pittsburgh, which deservedly gets a ton of national games.

There is some pushback on the 24. I’ve heard a few teams are upset that Chicago and Montreal will get in, especially if you’ve got to deal with a rested Carey Price in the opening round. That’s also led to a debate about what format the opening series should be — best two-of-three, or best three-of-five?

The top teams still don’t like the idea of sitting around while everyone below them gets meaningful games. It’s definitely a disadvantage. One idea that’s been thrown around is a set number of “regular-season” games among those teams in their respective hubs, but there’s a worry about “wasting” time during such uncertainty.

Here is an idea for a 24-team setup that can address some of those concerns:

METROPOLITAN HUB: Washington, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Carolina, Islanders, Columbus

ATLANTIC HUB: Boston, Tampa Bay, Toronto, Florida, Montreal, Rangers (added as lowest seed from Metropolitan — Bruins are top-ranked in East, and should have that reward in their hub)

CENTRAL HUB: St. Louis, Colorado, Dallas, Winnipeg, Nashville, Chicago (Blackhawks stay in Central because Blues are top-ranked in West)

PACIFIC HUB: Vegas, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, Arizona, Minnesota

The first round “becomes” a five-game round robin — with a handicap by standings at arrival of the pause. Based on points percentage, the seeds could be given from 10 points (first) to 0 (sixth) at the start. If you think that’s too much, maybe go from five points to zero. That way, every team that comes back gets a minimum of five games.

Top four move on to the next round, and decide if we’re dealing with best-of-five or best-of-seven from then on.
It’s different and it’s unique. Is it any good?

I like the round robin idea. Makes it so everyone gets the same number of games in, but it obviously means much more to those on the other side of the line, gives them a chance without inviting them to the real party where they can unfairly knock out a much higher seed right out of the gate, and gives the top seeds something better to play for than forced series against teams they will probably meet later on. Essentially, the top two teams in each of these hubs should be guaranteed to make it in, with the remaining 8 spots up for grabs, but Toronto isn't in the same spot as Montreal.

 

[KrejciMVP]

Habs radio is talking more about the 24 team playoff. This kind of tourney would favour a team that relies more on speed and skill than grinding down an opponent over a 7 game series. If your PP is hot you can go straight to the final

 

[jgatie]

Habs radio is talking more about the 24 team playoff. This kind of tourney would favour a team that relies more on speed and skill than grinding down an opponent over a 7 game series. If your PP is hot you can go straight to the final

How so? The plan is to have a seed/elimination best of 3 round, then the playoffs start for real with the exact same 4 rounds, best of 7 as every other year.

 

[KrejciMVP]

How so? The plan is to have a seed/elimination best of 3 round, then the playoffs start for real with the exact same 4 rounds, best of 7 as every other year.

They were talking about a NCAA style format I think. Single elimination

 

[jgatie]

They were talking about a NCAA style format I think. Single elimination

I don't know where that came from. Everything I've heard points to the format Fenway quoted, and I highly doubt the NHL ever considered single elimination. Sounds like a radio station desperate for material.

 

[JCRO]

Very good read.

 

[LSCII]

A single game elimination tournament would be worse than just canceling the season. It flies against the very nature of why playoff hockey is so good and a must watch. One game playoffs? f*** that noise.

 

[pgm16]

Any playoff format that allows the Habs a chance to play and advance is not good for my mental health.

 

[member 96824]

The reality is this is a business around a game, not the other way around. If you move forward with a 16 team playoff you're excluding two NYC teams, Montreal, Vancouver, and Chicago just for the sake of "well the regular season had to count for something." It did, HRR.

The NHL is in no position to tell those TV markets to go pound sand just because the way the playoffs are "supposed" to be. In fact, we should be pushing for this more aggressively based on the ratings that NASCAR saw this past Sunday.

Not only did NASCAR see viewership up 38% compared to the previous race in early March, but those viewers also stuck around 22.8% longer than average.

If the NHL can find a way to safely execute a playoff, they should not exclude the #1 and #3 TV markets based on some phony integrity of the regular season. Not in this environment.

 

[DarrenBanks56]

It has to be best of 7 all series. or just can it.
they should have the teams that are on the bubble play best of 3 matchups to see who gets in the final 16

 

[DiggityDog]

The 24 team playoff is atrocious. It should be as it stands right now the teams that are in playoff picture is the tournament.

If you want to make an argument about teams on the bubble with games in hand then you can do that. I don’t see why they can do like a round robin for the two current wild card teams and the two team below the line. Or some kind of wildcard one off like the MLB

The Stanley Cup playoffs should remain as is. 16 teams, 4 7 games series. Do not alter that, IMO the only way to keep it legitimate is keep it this way.

 

[DarrenBanks56]

so when these games start are they going to use some type of graphic to make the seat look like a packed rink with crowd noise for goals and such??