Proposal: New Playoff Format Proposal

[HuGo Burner Acc]

So I was just having fun the other day and thought up some alternatives to the current playoff format. Firstly, I don't think the NHL goes back to the 1-8 format. Just for some pretext, I would get rid of the divisional barriers in the standings. So here's my crazy proposal. It's kind of like a hybrid of the NBA and NFL format:

Wildcard Round

Teams placed 1-4 get a by. Teams 5-10 matchup and have a 3 game series. This would be the equivalency of the NBA wildcard tournament but an extended version of it.

Round 1

The 1st place team in each conference gets a by. Teams 2-7 matchup and have a normal 7 game series

Rounds 2-4 stay the same format.


One thing Sidney Crosby said in his recent infamous interview was that teams don't really drive as hard for seeding near the end of the year as it doesn't mean as much to get those extra points as matchups are pretty much set. The first round by for the 1st place team mirrors the NFL. It gives a reward to the best teams in each conference. Similarly the 1-4 placed teams getting a by in the wildcard Round is another example of rewarding certain teams for performance. I think this will address Crosby's issue. This system would bring back and exaggerate a merit based seeding format. Offers a fun wildcard week where more teams get to participate for a chance at making the playoffs. And I believe this format would offer more compelling and fair matchups in the playoffs/wildcard

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[Team_Spirit]

Teams would be penalized financially for finishing at the top

Big fan of 1-8 or 1-16

 

[Chili]

16 of 21 used to make the playoffs, 11 teams added since then.

Believe sooner or later the format will be tweaked to include more teams.

Bettman has made it clear he is against that, maybe it will have to wait until he rides into the sunset.

 

[HuGo Burner Acc]

Teams would be penalized financially for finishing at the top

Big fan of 1-8 or 1-16

That's true but the NFL does the exact same thing. The Patriots for basically 2 decades always played 1 less playoff game. I included the by to better reward teams that get 1stbin their conference, making the regular season more competitive and meaningful

 

[Whalers Fan]

That's true but the NFL does the exact same thing. The Patriots for basically 2 decades always played 1 less playoff game. I included the by to better reward teams that get 1stbin their conference, making the regular season more competitive and meaningful

The NFL does not rely on ticket sales to make a profit, unlike the NHL. Most of their income comes from their massive TV contracts.

 

[HuGo Burner Acc]

The NFL does not rely on ticket sales to make a profit, unlike the NHL. Most of their income comes from their massive TV contracts.

I mean technically it's bad for tv networks to exclude 2 potential matchups with the best NFL teams every year but I get your point. This proposal means at most 4 less games per 1st place team. Some propose a lessened season which technically would be more detrimental to ticket sales

 

[themilosh]

16 of 21 used to make the playoffs, 11 teams added since then.

Believe sooner or later the format will be tweaked to include more teams.

Bettman has made it clear he is against that, maybe it will have to wait until he rides into the sunset.

I certainly think a wiold card play-in is the way to go. Personally I love the whole wild card run for a spot, and would enjoy a 1 game play-in for 8th spot in each conference.

8th (home) v 11th (away) Game 1
9th (home) v 10th (away) Game 2

winner game 1 v winner game 2 (1 game) = winner becomes 8th seed and will play whichever division has the higher 1 seed.

it's the perfect way to give all seeded teams 1-7 a 5 days rest prior to the "playoffs" starting, but giving the fans excitement after end of season and prior to playoffs.

 

[SensHulk]

I certainly think a wiold card play-in is the way to go. Personally I love the whole wild card run for a spot, and would enjoy a 1 game play-in for 8th spot in each conference.

8th (home) v 11th (away) Game 1
9th (home) v 10th (away) Game 2

winner game 1 v winner game 2 (1 game) = winner becomes 8th seed and will play whichever division has the higher 1 seed.

it's the perfect way to give all seeded teams 1-7 a 5 days rest prior to the "playoffs" starting, but giving the fans excitement after end of season and prior to playoffs.

Wrong forum sorry. Please delete

 

[themilosh]

Wrong forum sorry. Please delete

i agree, no doubt.... the play in tourney (after reg season / before playoffs) would bring in a lot more viewers, very exciting for the fans, gives more fan bases a "shot" but the reality is the 7th and 8th seed will have short rest prior to the Playoffs.. which should and will give the div champs and edge, again something of value for the div race.

 

[BLONG7]

Reward the Top 8 teams in the conference............no questions. You could do 9 and create a wild card game, or series.....2 out of 3?
8 from the east..............8 from the west.
1 vs 8 2 vs 7 3 vs 6 and 4 vs 5

Got to think outside the box.......even just a little....

 

[WeThreeKings]

Just go back to 1-8, the only flaw with it previously were the 4 divisions and there were division winners getting home ice that barely deserved playoffs.

With only 2 divisions per conference, that goes away.

 

[Rapala]

So I was just having fun the other day and thought up some alternatives to the current playoff format. Firstly, I don't think the NHL goes back to the 1-8 format. Just for some pretext, I would get rid of the divisional barriers in the standings. So here's my crazy proposal. It's kind of like a hybrid of the NBA and NFL format:

Wildcard Round

Teams placed 1-4 get a by. Teams 5-10 matchup and have a 3 game series. This would be the equivalency of the NBA wildcard tournament but an extended version of it.

Round 1

The 1st place team in each conference gets a by. Teams 2-7 matchup and have a normal 7 game series

Rounds 2-4 stay the same format.


One thing Sidney Crosby said in his recent infamous interview was that teams don't really drive as hard for seeding near the end of the year as it doesn't mean as much to get those extra points as matchups are pretty much set. The first round by for the 1st place team mirrors the NFL. It gives a reward to the best teams in each conference. Similarly the 1-4 placed teams getting a by in the wildcard Round is another example of rewarding certain teams for performance. I think this will address Crosby's issue. This system would bring back and exaggerate a merit based seeding format. Offers a fun wildcard week where more teams get to participate for a chance at making the playoffs. And I believe this format would offer more compelling and fair matchups in the playoffs/wildcard

I still prefer a play in of some sort if the idea is to include more teams.
But please do not mess with the 16 WINS of playoff hockey to hoist the Stanley Cup.
If we do that we may as well dump the cup altogether and play for the Betteman Cup.

 

[HuGo Burner Acc]

I still prefer a play in of some sort if the idea is to include more teams.
But please do not mess with the 16 WINS of playoff hockey to hoist the Stanley Cup.
If we do that we may as well dump the cup altogether and play for the Betteman Cup.

I mean before expansion it was only 12 wins. So it's not like it's tradition from the beginning relative to the Stanley Cup. You're gonna have to give up something in order for get wins in the context of reforms. The format I mentioned has a play in but also a by. I feel as though the play in can't include too many teams or it would make the regular season pretty useless.

Another option is just steal the current NBA format and do a 7-10 seed play in tournament, showing the NHL once again lacks creativity.

 

[WeThreeKings]

I mean before expansion it was only 12 wins. So it's not like it's tradition from the beginning relative to the Stanley Cup. You're gonna have to give up something in order for get wins in the context of reforms. The format I mentioned has a play in but also a by. I feel as though the play in can't include too many teams or it would make the regular season pretty useless.

Another option is just steal the current NBA format and do a 7-10 seed play in tournament, showing the NHL once again lacks creativity.

The NBA model sucks.

You have 82 games to make the playoffs, stop trying to bring in extra teams who couldn't get it done.

 

[Deebs]

Just go back to 1-8, the only flaw with it previously were the 4 divisions and there were division winners getting home ice that barely deserved playoffs.

With only 2 divisions per conference, that goes away.

Sometimes the simplest solution is the most effective and this is it.

 

[Adam Michaels]

I think going back to 1v8 is the best and simplest scenario.

The only thing I would add if there would be a change would be to make the Wild Card race be for 4 teams. And in that race, it's 1v4 and 2v3 and they play a Best-of-3. So you add two more teams who can go for it rather than throw in the towel. Some teams can get an extra game or 2 of playoff revenue.

But playoffs start late and end late as it is, extending it an extra few days may not be ideal.

 

[Deebs]

I think going back to 1v8 is the best and simplest scenario.

The only thing I would add if there would be a change would be to make the Wild Card race be for 4 teams. And in that race, it's 1v4 and 2v3 and they play a Best-of-3. So you add two more teams who can go for it rather than throw in the towel. Some teams can get an extra game or 2 of playoff revenue.

But playoffs start late and end late as it is, extending it an extra few days may not be ideal.

The league will definitely be adding teams to the playoff format in the future. They've seen what it's added to other leagues and they'll want to capitalize on it. I don't like that it will add another two weeks to the season, which is way too long as it is, but it seems inevitable.

Nevertheless, just keep it simple. If they are adding two teams to both conferences, then do the play-in, then 1-10, 2-9, 3-8, 4-7, 5-6 and voila, problem solved.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

16 of 21 used to make the playoffs, 11 teams added since then.

Believe sooner or later the format will be tweaked to include more teams.

Bettman has made it clear he is against that, maybe it will have to wait until he rides into the sunset.

Bettman doesn't have a say in these things, he only conveys the wishes of the board of governor's. I don't understand how people believe that Bettman is something akin to an autocrat who arbitrarily imposes his will. He is hired by the owners to push their agenda and lead negotiations as an adversarial bargaining unit to the NHLPA and to resolve disputes between owners.

Bettman is not able to arbitrarily impose his will on the league, it just doesn't work that way. He does propose a business plan that the Board of Governors need to approve but once again he answers to them and not vice versa.

 

[Habs]

go back to the old skool 1-16 2-15 etc, divisional rivalries suck bag and I'm tired of it.

 

[StCaufield]

The old way was better

 

[tinyzombies]

So I was just having fun the other day and thought up some alternatives to the current playoff format. Firstly, I don't think the NHL goes back to the 1-8 format. Just for some pretext, I would get rid of the divisional barriers in the standings. So here's my crazy proposal. It's kind of like a hybrid of the NBA and NFL format:

Wildcard Round

Teams placed 1-4 get a by. Teams 5-10 matchup and have a 3 game series. This would be the equivalency of the NBA wildcard tournament but an extended version of it.

Round 1

The 1st place team in each conference gets a by. Teams 2-7 matchup and have a normal 7 game series

Rounds 2-4 stay the same format.


One thing Sidney Crosby said in his recent infamous interview was that teams don't really drive as hard for seeding near the end of the year as it doesn't mean as much to get those extra points as matchups are pretty much set. The first round by for the 1st place team mirrors the NFL. It gives a reward to the best teams in each conference. Similarly the 1-4 placed teams getting a by in the wildcard Round is another example of rewarding certain teams for performance. I think this will address Crosby's issue. This system would bring back and exaggerate a merit based seeding format. Offers a fun wildcard week where more teams get to participate for a chance at making the playoffs. And I believe this format would offer more compelling and fair matchups in the playoffs/wildcard

Not bad, but I'd make it a one game playoff. Teams hate getting a long bye like that. It does them no favors. If the bubble teams are within a certain amount of points, have a play-in. If not, don't.

I also like 1v8, because it gives rivals a chance to meet in later rounds. Also, I would re-seed the conf finals, which would give rivals a chance to meet in the finals.

 

[The Real Timo]

I propose Habs are always in da playoffs automatically and rest of the teams can compete for the other 15 spots.

 

[Chili]

Bettman doesn't have a say in these things, he only conveys the wishes of the board of governor's. I don't understand how people believe that Bettman is something akin to an autocrat who arbitrarily imposes his will. He is hired by the owners to push their agenda and lead negotiations as an adversarial bargaining unit to the NHLPA and to resolve disputes between owners.

Bettman is not able to arbitrarily impose his will on the league, it just doesn't work that way. He does propose a business plan that the Board of Governors need to approve but once again he answers to them and not vice versa.

I don't see it that way, not on a soapbox either. Just adding 2 cents to a discussion.