NHL Around the NHL XXI - UPDATE 7/1 - Toronto and Edmonton chosen as hubs

[McGarnagle]

The fundamentally stupid part for me is the locked bracket. Why wouldn't you f***ing re-seed if like the Rangers or Montreal upset someone in the first round. Dominate all year and you still get f***ing Toronto in the first round? Come on.

TBQH it would be better to throw a game or two to end up the 2 or 3 seed. I'd rather play the Florida/NYI winner than the Toronto/Columbus one any day.

 

[Aussie Bruin]

I suspect at least part of the reason the NHL is going for fixed brackets rather than re-seeding based on results, which would be fairer, lies right there in that table.

Get the 'right' results, and you get Penguins/Flyers, Panthers/Lightning and Bruins/Leafs. Both Caps/Rangers and Caps/Canes would be big series for different reasons. I can certainly see why, from the point of view of spectacle and interest, the league would be very keen on those match-ups. I don't agree with doing business that way, but there is some logic to it.

 

[talkinaway]

I suspect at least part of the reason the NHL is going for fixed brackets rather than re-seeding based on results, which would be fairer, lies right there in that table.

Get the 'right' results, and you get Penguins/Flyers, Panthers/Lightning and Bruins/Leafs. Both Caps/Rangers and Caps/Canes would be big series for different reasons. I can certainly see why, from the point of view of spectacle and interest, the league would be very keen on those match-ups. I don't agree with doing business that way, but there is some logic to it.

But the problem with that table is that 1-4 are the ones that are going to be reseeded based on a round robin amongst the 4 teams. So, the Bruins could get second seed and play winner of NYI/FLA - blah. It's highly likely that 1-4 would be very jumbled in a round robin.

But your bigger point makes sense in terms of expanding the playoffs to include 9-12. Okay, if you're an NHL exec, you endure CBJ and FLA for a round, and desperately hope that TOR beats CBJ. But including if you're going to get to the BIG payoff - getting MTL and NYR in the playoffs - you have to endure those little speedbumps.

 

[Fenway]

There is chatter now that the round-robin would be weighted - Boston would be given 8 points, Tampa 6 points, Washington 4 points, and Philly 2.



There would be no loser point in the round-robin.

Still no clue on WHERE teams will play except we do know TD Garden is still in the mix.

 

[Aussie Bruin]

But the problem with that table is that 1-4 are the ones that are going to be reseeded based on a round robin amongst the 4 teams. So, the Bruins could get second seed and play winner of NYI/FLA - blah. It's highly likely that 1-4 would be very jumbled in a round robin.

But your bigger point makes sense in terms of expanding the playoffs to include 9-12. Okay, if you're an NHL exec, you endure CBJ and FLA for a round, and desperately hope that TOR beats CBJ. But including if you're going to get to the BIG payoff - getting MTL and NYR in the playoffs - you have to endure those little speedbumps.

Hmm, yes you're right. Perhaps the league just wants some greater certainty then in having a little more advance notice of which teams will be going where, rather than having to wait for the final results of each series. Having to sort out alternative logistics for 2 possible teams is easier than 8. But that's not really convincing either

 

[talkinaway]

There is chatter now that the round-robin would be weighted - Boston would be given 8 points, Tampa 6 points, Washington 4 points, and Philly 2.



There would be no loser point in the round-robin.

Still no clue on WHERE teams will play except we do know TD Garden is still in the mix.

I understand why, but....WHY?!?!?!

Glancing at the COVID dashboard, with the exception of NYI and NYR, I honestly can't think of a worse arena if you're going to have one of 8 teams be the "home team" for the East. Yes, we have 4 locker rooms. (More?) Yes, we have Warrior. But we also are also a good-sized nidus of infection whose main saving grace is that we also happen to have medical facilities that are second to none.

The Board of Governors would be idiotic to make this decision, and I'm sure the Chairman is a reasonable person who will look beyond the financial implica...oh, crap. Can someone remind Jacobs that he can't sell his goddamn hot dogs when there are no people in the stands - unless maybe he's counting on Kessel to pick up the slack?

Hopefully it will be pointed out that TD Garden has some of the worst (if not THE worst) ice in the league. Prioritizing shrinking the seating to pack more fans in (HA!), instead of fixing real problems like bad ice, will hopefully come back to bite JJ in the rear. I swear that the ice was to blame for Carlo's 2018 pre-playoff injury.

 

[Fenway]

I understand why, but....WHY?!?!?!

Glancing at the COVID dashboard, with the exception of NYI and NYR, I honestly can't think of a worse arena if you're going to have one of 8 teams be the "home team" for the East. Yes, we have 4 locker rooms. (More?) Yes, we have Warrior. But we also are also a good-sized nidus of infection whose main saving grace is that we also happen to have medical facilities that are second to none.

The Board of Governors would be idiotic ttalko make this decision, and I'm sure the Chairman is a reasonable person who will look beyond the financial implica...oh, crap. Can someone remind Jacobs that he can't sell his goddamn hot dogs when there are no people in the stands - unless maybe he's counting on Kessel to pick up the slack?

Hopefully it will be pointed out that TD Garden has some of the worst (if not THE worst) ice in the league. Prioritizing shrinking the seating to pack more fans in (HA!), instead of fixing real problems like bad ice, will hopefully come back to bite JJ in the rear. I swear that the ice was to blame for Carlo's 2018 pre-playoff injury.

@talkinaway

I look at the East and Columbus looks like the safest pod

I am thinking they are looking at 2 pod locations - one East - one West to minimize travel BUT you are going to need a city with enough practice rinks which is where Boston jumps up.

What I am certain of - the NHL intends to play.

 

[Mathews28]

The seedings at the time of stoppage would see a disparity in number of games played. Isn't that what they're trying to address?

I am sure that's part of.

No way to address that Buffalo is 3 pts behind Montreal, with 2 less games played. 2 Buffalo wins and they'd be ahead of Montreal.

There's no perfect solution, but there are varying degrees to which the solution might be imperfect and some aspects of this idea are way out there, IMO, including 24 teams making it. 77% of the teams make the playoffs...talk about rendering the regular season meaningless.

 

[member 96824]

I understand why, but....WHY?!?!?!

Glancing at the COVID dashboard, with the exception of NYI and NYR, I honestly can't think of a worse arena if you're going to have one of 8 teams be the "home team" for the East. Yes, we have 4 locker rooms. (More?) Yes, we have Warrior. But we also are also a good-sized nidus of infection whose main saving grace is that we also happen to have medical facilities that are second to none.

The Board of Governors would be idiotic to make this decision, and I'm sure the Chairman is a reasonable person who will look beyond the financial implica...oh, crap. Can someone remind Jacobs that he can't sell his goddamn hot dogs when there are no people in the stands - unless maybe he's counting on Kessel to pick up the slack?

Hopefully it will be pointed out that TD Garden has some of the worst (if not THE worst) ice in the league. Prioritizing shrinking the seating to pack more fans in (HA!), instead of fixing real problems like bad ice, will hopefully come back to bite JJ in the rear. I swear that the ice was to blame for Carlo's 2018 pre-playoff injury.

Good point on the ice. TD ice in July is going to have the consistency of a gas station slush puppy

 

[Smitty93]

There is chatter now that the round-robin would be weighted - Boston would be given 8 points, Tampa 6 points, Washington 4 points, and Philly 2.



There would be no loser point in the round-robin.

Still no clue on WHERE teams will play except we do know TD Garden is still in the mix.

I'm assuming by weighted you mean that those are the points teams would start off with? I think I can get behind this situation a little more than if they were all at an equal level and all the Bruins got was last change. However, considering how far ahead of everyone else the Bruins are, they should get even heavier waiting than what you have listed above. What they should do is just convert each point % to as if they had all played 70 games (which the Bruins and Tampa already had) and then just play as if the season had restarted. Bruins would have 100 points, Tampa: 92, Washington: 91, and Philly: 90. That would make the round robin pointless for the Bruins, but they were basically guaranteed to come in 1st in the conference anyway.

I think the reality is that no one wants to have to play Pittsburgh in the "1st round". While I'd rather not have to play the Leafs again, and the Rangers are certainly more dangerous now with Shesterkin, the other potential 1st round opponents aren't nearly as good as Pittsburgh.

 

[BMC]

I'm also happy this will eliminate Montreal from getting a top 5 pick

After reading your post I feel much better about the intended solution.

 

[BMC]

@talkinaway

I look at the East and Columbus looks like the safest pod

I am thinking they are looking at 2 pod locations - one East - one West to minimize travel BUT you are going to need a city with enough practice rinks which is where Boston jumps up.

What I am certain of - the NHL intends to play.

Will MA governor & Boston mayor agree to this???

 

[LucicIsABeast]

I keep thinking if Buffalo was involved, how great they are out of the gate, then fade. Would they have dominated if they got in?

 

[DominicT]

Edmonton pushing hard to be a hub. The have the accommodations, the practice facilities have 12 dining rooms set up so each of the 12 teams can keep separated and are even offering up a golf course open to NHL players only. The have great ice. And most importantly, they only have 61 active cases and have done more testing per capita then most countries in the world have.

Apparently, the video they sent to the NHL looks like they've hired the best production companies in the world to produce it.

 

[Spooner st]

Edmonton pushing hard to be a hub. The have the accommodations, the practice facilities have 12 dining rooms set up so each of the 12 teams can keep separated and are even offering up a golf course open to NHL players only. The have great ice. And most importantly, they only have 61 active cases and have done more testing per capita then most countries in the world have.

Apparently, the video they sent to the NHL looks like they've hired the best production companies in the world to produce it.

Read the same thing a few days ago... to me it's a no brainer.

 

[Mr. Make-Believe]

I am sure that's part of.

No way to address that Buffalo is 3 pts behind Montreal, with 2 less games played. 2 Buffalo wins and they'd be ahead of Montreal.

There's no perfect solution, but there are varying degrees to which the solution might be imperfect and some aspects of this idea are way out there, IMO, including 24 teams making it. 77% of the teams make the playoffs...talk about rendering the regular season meaningless.

I’m not suggesting this as the perfect solution.

I would say however, that I have yet to see a proposal that couldn’t easily be picked apart for being unfair to certain teams, short of just finishing the regular season schedule and entering the playoffs as normal. Which is entirely off the table.

 

[RoccoF14]

I am sure that's part of.

No way to address that Buffalo is 3 pts behind Montreal, with 2 less games played. 2 Buffalo wins and they'd be ahead of Montreal.

There's no perfect solution, but there are varying degrees to which the solution might be imperfect and some aspects of this idea are way out there, IMO, including 24 teams making it. 77% of the teams make the playoffs...talk about rendering the regular season meaningless.

The regular season IS meaningless. By the time this all gets started the last game will have happened over 4 months ago! Quit trying to pretend that this is some type of legitimate continuation of the 2019-20 season. It isn't. Its a hockey tournament.

I don't know how many times I have to say this......the league DOESN'T CARE about the integrity of the regular season. Nor should they.

This is a revenue grab to generate TV ratings.

 

[RoccoF14]

I’m not suggesting this as the perfect solution.

I would say however, that I have yet to see a proposal that couldn’t easily be picked apart for being unfair to certain teams, short of just finishing the regular season schedule and entering the playoffs as normal. Which is entirely off the table.

Exactly.

 

[AngryMilkcrates]

So what happens to a top 4 team if they get injuries during the round robin tournament? They go into the actual playoffs handicapped?

We play Washington and Bergeron or Pasternak gets trucked we are in trouble. The opposing teams know this, anyone with a physical team could really do well in this format by hurtin their opponents early. ::Cough::St. Louis ::Cough::

 

[GabeTravels]

So what happens to a top 4 team if they get injuries during the round robin tournament? They go into the actual playoffs handicapped?

We play Washington and Bergeron or Pasternak gets trucked we are in trouble. The opposing teams know this, anyone with a physical team could really do well in this format by hurtin their opponents early. ::Cough::St. Louis ::Cough::

To be fair, they could've gotten hurt at the end of the regular season too.

I'm okay with a weighted round robin... But if the B's have the 1 seed they should play the lowest seed remaining. That they may not is stupid.

 

[bbfan419]

I'm also happy this will eliminate Montreal from getting a top 5 pick

Are we sure of that? The 8 teams that lose the play in series could be added back into the lottery. I hope the habs lose both in the playoffs and the draft.

 

[talkinaway]

However, considering how far ahead of everyone else the Bruins are, they should get even heavier waiting than what you have listed above.

Fenway said it was 6-4-2-0. (Wait, he said 8-6-4-2. Um, okay, that's literally the same thing.) Either way, when you're talking about a 4-team round robin where each team plays 3 times, you can't give the Bruins more than 6 points without making all three of their games 100% irrelevant. Think about it: teams can only win 3 games for 6 points. So if the Bruins have more than a 6 point edge, they basically have first place locked up.

I actually think this makes sense. It guarantees the Bruins first seed UNLESS they lose all three games. And, to be honest, if they lose all three games, they don't deserve more than second seed. And as for the other three teams, in the East, if you give TBL and PHI 1 point each for their game in hand, the regular season standings are 92-91-90, so the handicap works pretty well from their POV, too.

I almost feel like the play-in games should grant a larger advantage in certain circumstances - well, namely one circumstance in each conference. I think PIT/MTL should be played with PIT getting a 1 game advantage, because MTL had no legit shot at making the playoffs. Even CAR/FLA isn't a total mismatch. Probably same for DAL/CHI.

 

[BruinDust]

The regular season IS meaningless. By the time this all gets started the last game will have happened over 4 months ago! Quit trying to pretend that this is some type of legitimate continuation of the 2019-20 season. It isn't. Its a hockey tournament.

I don't know how many times I have to say this......the league DOESN'T CARE about the integrity of the regular season. Nor should they.

This is a revenue grab to generate TV ratings.

That is actually a really good way of looking at it.

 

[member 96824]

Are we sure of that? The 8 teams that lose the play in series could be added back into the lottery. I hope the habs lose both in the playoffs and the draft.

No f***ing way is Pittsburgh getting a shot at Alexis Lafreniere haha. Not on my watch.

Last thing I read regarding the draft was that the lottery would be going back to the old way or potentially reducing the lottery to 5 teams. Wasn't finalized, but that was the talk. I would assume if that's on the table, and you're giving a team like Montreal a shot at the cup, there's no way they can double dip into both.

 

[Smitty93]

Fenway said it was 6-4-2-0. (Wait, he said 8-6-4-2. Um, okay, that's literally the same thing.) Either way, when you're talking about a 4-team round robin where each team plays 3 times, you can't give the Bruins more than 6 points without making all three of their games 100% irrelevant. Think about it: teams can only win 3 games for 6 points. So if the Bruins have more than a 6 point edge, they basically have first place locked up.

I actually think this makes sense. It guarantees the Bruins first seed UNLESS they lose all three games. And, to be honest, if they lose all three games, they don't deserve more than second seed. And as for the other three teams, in the East, if you give TBL and PHI 1 point each for their game in hand, the regular season standings are 92-91-90, so the handicap works pretty well from their POV, too.

I almost feel like the play-in games should grant a larger advantage in certain circumstances - well, namely one circumstance in each conference. I think PIT/MTL should be played with PIT getting a 1 game advantage, because MTL had no legit shot at making the playoffs. Even CAR/FLA isn't a total mismatch. Probably same for DAL/CHI.

I did mention the bolded in my post:

That would make the round robin pointless for the Bruins, but they were basically guaranteed to come in 1st in the conference anyway.

My point was that the Bruins basically had 1st place locked up, barring an unlikely collapse. I'm also not sure where you're seeing that it guarantees the Bruins first seed unless they lose all 3 games. It depends on what the tiebreakers are, but if they win 1 game, and the Lightning win all 3, the Lightning would end up with 12 points and the Bruins would have 10. Then, there are multiple scenarios where the Bruins end up tied with other teams, and you hope that the tiebreakers will be based on regular season performance, but we don't know at this point.

I don't follow the logic that if they lose all 3 games then they don't deserve more than 2nd seed. Teams played 70 games, and then you're going to put such heavy weighting on 3 games, when teams won't have played for 3-4 months (depending on the start date). I don't know about that.

@RoccoF14 is right. It's not really a continuation of the season. It's a hockey tournament. The reality is that this isn't the Stanley Cup playoffs. They might as well just say teams are competing for the COVID Cup. I don't really care because I'd kill for some hockey right now, but I think there will be a caveat for whatever team's name ends up on the Cup.