Interesting - thanks for the info.
It's too bad this hasn't happened for a while.
You're right Snippit. Maybe rules can be changed to see that it does happen more often.
After all, this sort of thing (wild card game) does work in major-league baseball.
I'm not talking about doing it every year having the 8th and 9th seeds playing a play in game for the right to be the 8th seed. I mean, the regular season has to mean something right? But perhaps rules can be altered to see that it does happen much more often.
I have a couple play in game proposals to throw out there for discussion:
Proposal number one:
No matter how many points the 9th seed has in relation to the 8th seed, in the event the 9th seed won their season series versus the 8th seed, that gives them the right to play the 8th seed in a play in game for the right to make the playoffs. That would mean the 9th and 10th seeds could have something to play for down the stretch even though the 8th seed is out of reach points wise. If one or both the 9th and 10th seeds have winning records against 8th seed, you may see them going all in, in every game down the stretch, especially if they are close to each other points wise, to try to be the 9th seed for the chance to play in the play in game. Likewise, the 8th seed would be life and death to try and pass the 7th seed to insure they don't have to be involved in a play in game.
Of course, if the 8th and 9th seeds are tied, current rules would apply.
Proposal number two:
It seems that quite often, one or both of the teams in one conference has more points than one or two of the teams who made the playoffs in the other conference.
With that in mind, if one or both of the 9th and 10th seeds in one conference have more points than the 7th or 8th seeds in the other conference, that would give those teams the right to play those teams in the other conference in a play in game to see who makes the playoffs.
Using last year's final standings as an example, Saginaw was the 9th seed in the Western Conference. They had 63 points. However, three teams in the Eastern conference finished with less points but were playoff teams. Under this proposal, Saginaw would have the right to play the 8th seed, Niagara, in a play in game. Should Saginaw win that game, they would either bump Niagara out of the 8th seed in the Eastern conference (they would have played Peterboro in the first round), or they would be seeded based on their points in that conference (they would have been the 6th seed and played Oshawa in the first round).
Sure that could possibly mean a couple distant first round opponents, but whatever. We already have the possibility of distant first round opponents within the conferences. For example, Sudbury could be playing Niagara, or the Soo could be playing Erie.
Under both proposals, I would contend that draft position could be based on the regular season standings before any play in games are played. That would be up for discussion.
I would play these play in games on the Tuesday after the end of the regular season. That would give the teams involved at least one off day going into these games. Unlike years ago, there are usually four or five off days between the end of the season at the beginning of the playoffs. Therefore, there is room to squeeze these games in comfortably before the playoffs begin.
I would also see that these games are televised across the league. I believe there would be huge interest generated in these games.
I think this is something that the league should look into.