Article: The Wild (And The Rest of the NHL) Would Benefit From A Different Playoff Format

[Chris Schad]

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[SkolWild73]

I have never really liked the new playoff format.  As much as I dislike Colorado and Dallas and am happy that one of them will be eliminated in round one, I wish it was based on points for seeding.  Teams would have more games to play for at the end of the year.  

[MNCountryLife]

Top 2 seeds from each division play the bottom 2 wild cards.  That makes sense. 

But the middle 4 teams should also be seeded allowing them to cross divisions.  In theory this would allow the 4 best conference seeds to all advance.

[BeanPole Harvester]

I like the old format of taking the top 8 teams with seeding based off that. I don't think it's happened recently but with this current format we will see a team miss the playoffs that should have made it.

Imagine a team from the Pacific getting the 3rd playoff spot in their division with 88 points and a team from the Central finishing 6th in the division with 90 points...

[Patrick]

This is a prime example of how the NHL is mismanaged. I don't know a single hockey fan who likes the current formant and yet its still here.  Similarly, the 2 point game makes zero sense and yet its still here.  Bettman needs to go. He too arrogant for the position.

[Scalptrash]

Can we talk about the playoff game start times? The second game is 10 PM on a weeknight...really?! Does the NHL want to grow the fanbase at all? It sure doesn't seem like it. Screw you kids, too bad your favorite team starts playing hours after your bedtime.

And those are the road games. The home games are no better. It may say 8 PM, but it depends on what time the East game finishes. Everyone knows it's actually around 8:50. Screw you again kids. Not only can't you stay up to watch them on the road, you can't even attend (or watch) a playoff game at home.

It's plainly obvious that the NHL/Bettman could care less about the Minnesota Wild and it's fans. This is flyover country and the big market coast teams are all that matters.

I'm not surprised at all that my son is rapidly losing interest in the Wild and gaining interest in the Timberwolves. I'm a hockey guy and could never stand basketball, but between the Jekyll and Hyde performances, the star player always being hurt, and the ridiculous playoff start times, I don't blame my son for losing interest.

Oh yeah, back on topic, the playoff format is pure stupidity. It's completely illogical and unbalanced. One should play eight and so on, and then reset every round, highest to lowest.

[FredJohnson]

Aren’t the Oilers and Kings playing each other in the first round for the 86th time? (Sarcasm…kinda)

[joebou15]

The Canucks were the Wild’s first rival even before that playoff series. Even before Todd Bertuzzi talked mad shit.

That being said, over the last decade and a half, the central division has been one of, if not, the most competitive divisions in the entire league. The Wild ran into some really great teams over that time, while also having great teams of their own that completely shat the bed. 

The hill to climb through this kind of playoff format does seem unbalanced based on year to year strength of the two divisions. And if you've been in the Central, it's been hard since they've re-aligned. 

I don't find this playoff format confusing (like some) or inherently bad. Frankly, even the arguments laid out in this article aren't enough to sway me in either direction. It's just that the way it's set up now makes for a less than balanced approach to playoff bracketing rather than a 1-8, or even a 1-16 seeding based on standings points can provide.

But frankly, to shut any of this kind of talk up is for the Wild to actually do something in the postseason for once in a decade. Win, and we won't have to bitch.

[1Brotherbill]

This rant is like picking low hanging fruit.  Seed one plays seed eight, just like every other sport.  Seed two plays seed seven, once again like every other sport.  The middle four play each other just like every other sport.  

Changing the format would have Edmonton playing Dallas and LA playing Colorado.  If that is a monumental change to the playoff system I am not seeing it.  This attitude that it would be better for the league is very weak when you realize you have to win 16 games against 4 playoff teams.  It doesn't matter if you get a weaker or stronger team in the first round you still have to play the games. 

The only flaw in this format is that a division could have six teams better than the third place team in the other division which would mean a better team was left out of the playoffs.  That came close to happening only once.  

[Dango]

Heres my 1 year trial plan  ,  every team plays a 4 game series against every playoff team in their own conference , who ever has the best records from each conference faces off in a 7 game series . 

[Fezig]

I always have, and forever will, hate the Chicago Black Hawks.

Secord still sucks!

[Scalptrash]

18 hours ago, Patrick said:

This is a prime example of how the NHL is mismanaged. I don't know a single hockey fan who likes the current formant and yet its still here.  Similarly, the 2 point game makes zero sense and yet its still here.  Bettman needs to go. He too arrogant for the position.

The 2 points for a win exists because they used to have ties, 1 point for each. They could have, and maybe should have, changed it to 1 point, but instead decided to award 1 point to the OT loser. So a game only worth 2 points now awards 3. I would rather see ties again personally, but that was deemed too boring. I also preferred the 5 on 5 OT. 3 on 3 is a gimmick and teams quickly adapted to it and made it boring anyway.

NHL, you want excitement? 5 on 5 with no goalies, most goals in 5 minutes wins. 

[Patrick]

13 hours ago, 1Brotherbill said:

This rant is like picking low hanging fruit.  Seed one plays seed eight, just like every other sport.  Seed two plays seed seven, once again like every other sport.  The middle four play each other just like every other sport.  

Changing the format would have Edmonton playing Dallas and LA playing Colorado.  If that is a monumental change to the playoff system I am not seeing it.  This attitude that it would be better for the league is very weak when you realize you have to win 16 games against 4 playoff teams.  It doesn't matter if you get a weaker or stronger team in the first round you still have to play the games. 

The only flaw in this format is that a division could have six teams better than the third place team in the other division which would mean a better team was left out of the playoffs.  That came close to happening only once.  

You are missing the point. Its nonsensical and makes for the same first round match ups year after year.  Gets pretty boring. I skip most of the first round now a days for that reason. And just because it hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean its a good idea. You can cross the road without looking and not get hit by a car, but its still a stupid thing to do!

[FredJohnson]

47 minutes ago, Patrick said:

Its nonsensical and makes for the same first round match ups year after year.  Gets pretty boring.

Yup! Might as well do away with half the playoff teams. 👍

[SkolWild73]

4 hours ago, Scalptrash said:

The 2 points for a win exists because they used to have ties, 1 point for each. They could have, and maybe should have, changed it to 1 point, but instead decided to award 1 point to the OT loser. So a game only worth 2 points now awards 3. I would rather see ties again personally, but that was deemed too boring. I also preferred the 5 on 5 OT. 3 on 3 is a gimmick and teams quickly adapted to it and made it boring anyway.

NHL, you want excitement? 5 on 5 with no goalies, most goals in 5 minutes wins. 

I hate the 3 on 3 too.  If you don’t want to play 20 minutes, make it a ten minute 5x5 ot.   Go back to the ties, 2 points for the win.  Awarding a team two points because they win on 3x3 sucks.  To me, 3x3 isn't real hockey.

Edited 13 hours ago by SkolWild73

[Enforceror]

5 hours ago, Scalptrash said:

NHL, you want excitement? 5 on 5 with no goalies, most goals in 5 minutes wins. 

While this would undoubtedly be entertaining, I think we'd see injuries spike as D-men stand in the net to block shots.

[1Brotherbill]

10 hours ago, Patrick said:

You are missing the point. Its nonsensical and makes for the same first round match ups year after year.  Gets pretty boring. I skip most of the first round now a days for that reason. And just because it hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean its a good idea. You can cross the road without looking and not get hit by a car, but its still a stupid thing to do!

What exactly is the point?  I'm not for or against the current playoff selection process.  But this garbage about the same teams playing each other every year isn't really a thing.  It happens sometimes but in the more traditional format it would happen just as much.

Who is going to be in the playoffs next year?  Let's dust of the crystal ball.  Colorado, Vegas, Winnipeg, Dallas, Edmonton, L A, Minnesota, and some random team or maybe St. Louis again.  There really isn't a lot of parody in the NHL.  The same teams make the playoffs every year with a few acceptations.  It is a mathematical certainty that they will play against each other often.  

This article in general is just a filler article that pops up every year at this time.  Someone writes this article and basically copies and pastes one of the seven hundred thousand versions and calls it unique.