What kind of playoff dynamic would you prefer for the future of the league?

What kind of playoff dynamic would you prefer for the future of the league?


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    63

Captain Bowie

Registered User
Jan 18, 2012
27,139
4,414
These are two extremes. I like the odd upset though.
Exactly this.

If upsets happen as often as not, they aren't really upsets, and at that point the playoffs are a 100% random event and the regular season means nothing. I don't want that.

If upsets never happen, and the better overall team wins every time, then the first two rounds essentially mean nothing and we get the NBA in the last decade. I don't want that either.

The way it is right now, upsets happen often enough to know they're possible at any given time, but they happen infrequently enough that they are still a big deal when they do happen. This is what I want.
 
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member 151739

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I'm pretty sure the dynamic would change and favor "great teams" if the on-ice officials actually called everything rather than allowing assault for ten minutes, but then calling a light hooking penalty shortly thereafter. How the referees operate is universally bad. Not a conspiracy like some would suggest. There's too much focus on teams being "soft" like that's a bad thing when the other team is essentially dogpiling the opposing skill players.

It doesn't benefit the good players, only the checking line players. And that's why a lot of fans like playoff hockey. It's a "different beast." There's a huge disconnect here with the NHL fanbase. Folks want the refs to put away the whistles. Being overly physical and committing literal penalties is championed for whatever reason in the playoffs. On the flip side, folks don't want constant powerplays because it "ruins the flow" of a game, and that just ignores the problem of so many penalties being committed each play, and that hurts skilled teams. So...

That said, I enjoy upsets. And I'm loving these playoffs.
 
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KingsFan7824

Registered User
Dec 4, 2003
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What's the cutoff for an upset? How deep do you go? I'll play it safe, and say the top 5 records.

Since the merger, 79-80, to last year, 64 of the top 5 teams from the 38 seasons have lost in the 1st round. That's an average of 1.7 top 5 teams going out early every year. That includes various playoff formats, different free agent rules, caps and no caps, anywhere from 21 to 31 teams. So there are a lot of ways to break things down if you want to get crazy with it. The only years(so far) where a top 5 overall team didn't go out in the 1st round have been 79-80, 87-88, 95-96, and 17-18. That's basically 90% of the time, for nearly 40 years, that at least one top 5 team goes out in the 1st.
 

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