Preferred playoff format?

[ole ole]

1-16. I like the possibility of any 2 teams can meet for the cup.

 

[um]

1-16. I like the possibility of any 2 teams can meet for the cup.

That would be cool, but I hate the idea of watching a playoff game for my eastern team at 10pm on a weeknight. It really screws over a large portion of your audience.

It’s the same for playoff games happening at 4pm for western conference teams.

 

[Dr Pepper]

The old way, obviously, since it continues to make the most sense.

Why Gary clings to his goofy wild card system is beyond me.

Too stubborn to ever admit when he's wrong about anything.

 

[Dr Pepper]

That would be cool, but I hate the idea of watching a playoff game for my eastern team at 10pm on a weeknight. It really screws over a large portion of your audience.

It’s the same for playoff games happening at 4pm for western conference teams.

Well.....depending on who makes it out of the west, that's inevitable for any fanbase of an eastern conference team. You're gonna have games with late starts no matter what.

Agreed that it should at least be minimized though; I can't think of many positives for a leaguewide 1v16 format.

 

[um]

Well.....depending on who makes it out of the west, that's inevitable for any fanbase of an eastern conference team. You're gonna have games with late starts no matter what.

Agreed that it should at least be minimized though; I can't think of many positives for a leaguewide 1v16 format.

Stanley Cup final games are usually at 8pm. The NHL avoids the late start.

 

[BLNY]

Other.

I don't think 1-8 has created the multitude of new rivalries the league thought it would. It's also just as big a marketing gimmick as the loser point imo. I still contend some of the most compelling playoff series - and certainly memorable - come from the days of 1-4, by division. It didn't matter that the Norris Division might have been statistically weak compared to the others. The games from those divisional series were always great. That the format might have made it more possible for a Cinderella team to find itself in the Conference Finals or Finals didn't detract from the experience imo. Having said that, with the cap and parity, we're far less likely to see a drastically weaker division today than 30-40 years ago.

If we're going to maintain two conferences and four divisions, my preference would be to go back to 1-4. The top 4 teams from each division make it to the playoffs.

If the playoffs started today, the seeding would be:

East - Boston, Carolina, New Jersey, NYR, Toronto, Tampa Bay, Florida, NYI
West - Las Vegas, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Colorado, Dallas, Minnesota, Seattle, Winnipeg

Series would be Boston-NYI, Carolina-Florida, New Jersey-Tampa Bay, NYR-Toronto and Las Vegas-Winnipeg, Edmonton-Seattle, Los Angeles-Minnesota, Colorado-Dallas

If we had a 1-4, divisional, format:

Eastern - Carolina, New Jersey, NYR, NYI
Atlantic - Boston, Toronto, Tampa Bay, Florida
Western - Colorado, Dallas, Minnesota, Winnipeg
Pacific - Las Vegas, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Seattle

Series would be Carolina-NYI, New Jersey-NYR | Boston-Florida, Toronto-Tampa Bay | Colorado-Winnipeg, Dallas-Minnesota | Las Vegas-Seattle, Edmonton-Los Angeles

The same teams. The only difference being that under a divisional format the Panthers are a lock barring a collapse.

 

[RapidKnight]

The divisional / wild card format is too repetitive in my opinion but the second round matchups are the problem, not the first round. I think divisional seeding in the first round is fine followed by conference reseeding in the second round; it would provide a good balance between rivalries and repetitiveness.

The semifinals are not repetitive but league reseeding would be nice and uniform, makes any matchup possible, follows the theme of rewarding regular season success, and saves the best for last.

For example Pittsburgh and Washington couldn’t face off until the finals in 2016 and 2017.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Bumping old thread to note that in the Eastern Conference, this year’s playoff matchups are exactly the same under both the 1v8 and divisional systems. The rare season where format made no difference.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

Which ever one causes the most pain and suffering for leaf fans

 

[King Woodballs]

If it wasn’t for stupid travel. I would say 1-16.
That just reallly isn’t feasible.
So I vote for 1-8 in the conference

And no stupid play in. You had 82 games to make the playoffs.
Should have won more games in November.