Is there a reason the playoff scheduling is really bad?

[FirewagonChange]

Sunday we had THREE games on within a 4 hour window. ON A SUNDAY. Then Monday there's only one game. Now on Tuesday we have two Western conference games on and tomorrow we have two Eastern conference games on, so now we cannot fully enjoy/watch both games on each day.

Just wondering if there's a good reason behind this poor scheduling.

Click to read more...

 

[hockeykicker]

Basketball games. Concerts booked. Other sport games on nbc and nbcsports

 

[theaub]

Tampa Bay's arena booking the entire world in the first two weeks of May

 

[Richiebottles]

Marie-Mai

 

[MattMartin]

Basketball games. Concerts booked. Other sport games on nbc and nbcsports

^^^^^ This is all. Funny fact. The MLB actually changed the world series scheduling (this year) so it would not conflict with Sunday or Thursday night Football. Baseball can get away with that because of the type of stadium it's played in, you can't get away with in arena sports because of previously booked dates. Citi field has the Mets and that's about it unless your doing summer concerts. When fall rolls around nothing much going on on the field.

 

[strongbad]

Honestly, I'm used to it by now.

 

[CraigsList]

The NHL is not the #1 priority in America, unfortunately.

 

[Richiebottles]

The NHL is not the #1 priority in America, unfortunately.

During the Kentucky Derby the announcer almost forgot the NHL playoffs.

It is an afterthought in the States sadly.

 

[BonMorrison]

Scheduling is incredibly difficult because of reasons listed above. It's easy to sit here and complain about it but as someone that's had to do it (on a much lower level), I can understand why it's like this.

 

[snowave]

scheduling to some degree, but TV marketing is the undertone.

 

[hockeykicker]

Basically America would love to see anything before hockey on tv. The English premier league got higher ratings then the nhl playoffs plus nbcsports has to show racing etc as part of their contracts on the weekends

 

[Burke the Legend]

Most glitches I have seen so far are due to arena bookings. A lot of money on those made 6-12 months ago, the NHL can't insist on teams blocking out April-June on the chance they (make and) go deep in playoffs.

 

[Malreg]

Some circus was booked in the Tampa arena tonight, which is why Montreal and Tampa have to play back-to-backs on Wednesday and Thursday.

Of course this circus event was cancelled yesterday, so now they are playing back-to-backs for no reason.

 

[Roomtemperature]

Most glitches I have seen so far are due to arena bookings. A lot of money on those made 6-12 months ago, the NHL can't insist on teams blocking out April-June on the chance they (make and) go deep in playoffs.

Also it allows us to mess with Eric Clapton

 

[McDonald19]

Most glitches I have seen so far are due to arena bookings. A lot of money on those made 6-12 months ago, the NHL can't insist on teams blocking out April-June on the chance they (make and) go deep in playoffs.

Staples Center has a pretty empty schedule in May anticipating the Kings to make the playoffs along with the Clippers and/or Lakers. Now they are missing out on concert revenue with Kings and Lakers missing the playoffs.

 

[TBLightningFan]

Bullseye.

Not really. An arena makes money hosting events. Amalie Arena clearing it's schedule for two months would hurt a lot. It's one of the busiest places in the country. Also, the Lightning owner Jeff Vinik is the one that would make money on those events.

Even a fool would just deal with the schedule as it is....because....

It is not a reflection on hockey.

 

[FirewagonChange]

I think the NHL season should start two weeks earlier than it currently does. How is it that the NHL and NBA playoffs start at nearly the same time but the NBA season starts close to a month later? Not only that but hockey in June should also never happen.

 

[Reality Check]

Basically America would love to see anything before hockey on tv. The English premier league got higher ratings then the nhl playoffs plus nbcsports has to show racing etc as part of their contracts on the weekends

But I've heard on here time and time again that the NHL is about to surpass _____ in America.

Clearly you're just telling lies....all lies

 

[TBLightningFan]

I think the NHL season should start two weeks earlier than it currently does. How is it that the NHL and NBA playoffs start at nearly the same time but the NBA season starts close to a month later? Not only that but hockey in June should also never happen.

Not really going to help much. Both leagues have pretty long playoffs. That will offset a round and move the start of the season within a week of summer, but that's about it.

 

[coolboarder]

Since the NHL has the divisional playoff format, it should be easier to predetermine the dates for a certain divisions. For example: the Pacific and Metro can play a playoff opener on Wednesday, Friday, Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Monday. Atlantic and Central division play on Thursday, Saturday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday, and Tuesday. That way, it is more easier for the arena to be booked on a vacant dates that is already predetermined bookings. Arenas can work around the dates for concerts, wrestling shows, any local shows booked months in advance. Arena can keep their eyes on the standing by February to start booking for any remaining vacant slots if teams are out of the playoff or being eliminated from the playoffs by March.

By the time the conference final comes around, predetermine the East/West dates in advance so the arena knows which night it is a potential dates for a playoff game be booked in advance and any remaining eliminated teams can add the dates in last minute bookings the moment they are out from the playoffs whether it's months or within days.

To have teams out of the playoff way earlier, they need to change the point system by having the wins go 3 points, OT wins, 2 points, SO win, 1 point and any type of loss 0 points. With this system, the teams can be out of the playoffs way early than anticipated. I remember the old days, the Canucks clinched the divisional title in 90's by early March and it's easier to book the dates for the playoff home games using the predetermined dates since there's only 4 spots for each division to make the playoffs.

 

[yada]

Use a dvr to watch the 2 game. Not ideal but at least you can still watch. Im gonna dvr both games tommorrow, hopefully I can avoid spoilers for tampa/Montreal (I skip entire intermission commercial break) so it's possible.

 

[KaseMeOutside]

thank you for making this thread it's garbage.

we should not be getting 2 east games 1 night and 2 west the next, why do we have to choose? it should be 1 east/1 west so fans can watch both games

 

[Savannah Skunk]

The NHL is not the #1 priority in America, unfortunately.

Exactly. But it is Gary's priority, hence the new playoff format which eliminates the Canadian teams in the first two rounds.

 

[Stephen23]

^^^^^ This is all. Funny fact. The MLB actually changed the world series scheduling (this year) so it would not conflict with Sunday or Thursday night Football. Baseball can get away with that because of the type of stadium it's played in, you can't get away with in arena sports because of previously booked dates. Citi field has the Mets and that's about it unless your doing summer concerts. When fall rolls around nothing much going on on the field.

In fact when the Ravens won the superbowl, the Orioles wouldn't budge their schedule so that the Ravens could host the traditional Thursday Night Football season opener because they had already had the arena scheduled. Thus forcing the defending Super Bowl Champions to play an away game to kick off the new football season in Denver. It's all scheduling which the league can only control so much. The stadiums should be cautious around playoff time if it means so much, but it doesn't because they will be getting the revenue either way.

 

[tony d]

Other events that would make the arena more money than the NHL unfortunately.