142 replies to this topic

['7']

That didn't happen in the old format?  When there were unbalanced divisions?  The Devils to make it in 1988, they had to scrape in with 85 points.  Six teams made the playoffs with fewer points that year.

 

Under the old format, in 1987, no one in the Norris finished over .500, but one was guaranteed entry to the Western Conference Finals.

 

it's tough to compare points across different eras of hockey. 2 fewer games were played back then. There were no cheap shootout points or points just for making it to OT. Bad teams couldn't shot block or clutch and grab their way to NHL .500.

 

The west had two dominant teams that year in Calgary and Edmonton (both would be 110+ point teams today) They beat up on everybody else

 

The Patrick had no dominant teams

 

What could you do. It was a 21 team league and you needed 8 out of 10 out west. I suppose it would've been fair to give Detroit and Calgary bye's and have the Blues play the Hawks and the Oil play the Jets, but the NHL wanted as many teams in the playoffs as possible

 

the 86-87 Campbell was prob better than the 87-88. Only you didn't have 4 on 4 gimmick OT and penalty shot derby's artificially inflating totals. 

Edited by '7', 01 March 2013 - 02:46 PM.

[NJDevs4978]

Just wondering, do teams in the Western half of the US in other sports leagues whine about travel as much as the ones in the NHL?

 

It's only really a similar factor in the NBA since MLB only has fifteen or so road trips in a year (and almost half the schedule is in-division games so not as much travel), and in the NBA you have pockets of teams in the Central/South/West that you don't have in the NHL.

 

http://www.nba.com/s...ew_Std_Div.html

 

How many NBA teams are really going to be complaining about their IN-division travel the way NHL teams do?  They have three Texas teams, four California teams, etc.

Edited by NJDevs4978, 01 March 2013 - 05:12 PM.

[DevsMan84]

It's only really a similar factor in the NBA since MLB only has fifteen or so road trips in a year (and almost half the schedule is in-division games so not as much travel), and in the NBA you have pockets of teams in the Central/South/West that you don't have in the NHL.

 

http://www.nba.com/s...ew_Std_Div.html

 

How many NBA teams are really going to be complaining about their IN-division travel the way NHL teams do?  They have three Texas teams, four California teams, etc.

 

Fair enough with the NBA, but the MLB has it pretty bad.  Even the Texas teams in the MLB have a lot of ground to cover for in-division games.  Yet I rarely hear about them whining and demanding re-alignment like NHL teams.

Edited by DevsMan84, 01 March 2013 - 05:25 PM.

[NJDevs4978]

Fair enough with the NBA, but the MLB has it pretty bad.  Even the Texas teams in the MLB have a lot of ground to cover for in-division games.  Yet I rarely hear about them whining and demanding re-alignment like NHL teams.

 

How many teams really have travel/time zone issues in MLB besides Houston/Texas though?  Pittsburgh playing teams an hour behind them in the NL Central?  Atlanta/Florida have some traveling with the NY/Philly/Washington part of the division but at least they're in the same time zone.  Other than that, there aren't really a lot of teams that stick out like a sore thumb.  Tampa Bay, same deal...they have more travel than the other teams in the AL East but at least all their games are at 7:30.  

 

The time zone factor in the NHL seems to be the bigger deal than actual distance traveled.

[MadDog2020]

@RealKyper: Hearing #NHL #NHLPA will soon announce an agreement in principle on realignment. Players appear comfortable enough moving forward.

Fantastic. Bracing for what I'm sure will be a disaster, it's the NHL Way.

[maxpower]

How many teams really have travel/time zone issues in MLB besides Houston/Texas though?  Pittsburgh playing teams an hour behind them in the NL Central?  Atlanta/Florida have some traveling with the NY/Philly/Washington part of the division but at least they're in the same time zone.  Other than that, there aren't really a lot of teams that stick out like a sore thumb.  Tampa Bay, same deal...they have more travel than the other teams in the AL East but at least all their games are at 7:30.  

 

The time zone factor in the NHL seems to be the bigger deal than actual distance traveled.

 

Time zone issues can be *mostly* resolved under the current format.   It would take going back to the experimental system where you played a thousand games against your own division, and limited games against the other conference, but really this format isn't going to be much different when it comes to that.

[bobilly45]

Believe i heard lous against the reallignment. Hopefully more gms of the eastern teams are against it and it doesnt get a passing vote

[Devs4LordStanley]

NHLPA approved it thru 14-15 per tg

[Z-Man]

Accepted as is, with the promise to re-evaluate after 2 full seasons (13-14, 14-15).

 

Say hello to 5 or 6 games a year with Columbus and Carolina.

Edited by Z-Man, 07 March 2013 - 05:48 PM.

[devils744]

So are wild cards in each division? This is so stupid.

[Satans Hockey]

This league really does suck.

[MadDog2020]

Not surprised. Hopefully this dumbass format only lasts for the two years.

[JWomp]

So are wild cards in each division? This is so stupid.

 

Not in each division....the wild cards are conference-wide.

 

There are now 4 divisions: two in the West, and two in the East.

 

The two West divisions have 7 teams each. The top three teams in each division will make the playoffs, so that's the first 6 playoff spots. The remaining 2 playoff spots will be the "wild card" spots, and the 8 teams who aren't in the top 3 in their divisions will battle for them. So, 6 teams will miss the playoffs in the West.

 

The two East divisions have 8 teams each. The top three in each division make it, and the remaining 10 teams will fight for the last two wild card spots...meaning 8 teams will miss the playoffs in the East.

 

Not fair to the teams in the East, I don't like it.

[halfsharkalligatorhalfman]

Well it sounds good for the Sharks...

Edit: Again I'm curious what it means for expansion. Especially if Phoenix moves.

Edited by halfsharkalligatorhalfman, 07 March 2013 - 08:28 PM.

[David Puddy]

Say hello to 5 or 6 games a year with Columbus and Carolina.

Great for me if I'm still living in Ohio!

[cgb6397]

I can't believe this hasn't been discussed a lot already. Columbus? What the hell, why do we get Columbus dumped on us? I mean maybe it will yield a few wins a year, but can anyone really get excited over seeing the Blue Jackets more than we have to?

[MadDog2020]

I need clarification on one thing, that being playoff seeding: since 8 teams in each conference still make the playoffs, are the teams still going to be seeded 1-8, 2-7, 3-6, 4-5? I'm taking it it will not be strictly divisional playoffs in the first 2 rounds now that they implemented these wild cards, correct?

[SterioDesign]

What i hate about it is more with the playoffs thing, wtv who were playing and how often.

 

but i hate how the top 3 of each division automatically make the playoffs... some of those could simply be there not cause they really made their way there but cause other teams has been terrible and by default they were the 3rd best one out of the bunch

[Satans Hockey]

I need clarification on one thing, that being playoff seeding: since 8 teams in each conference still make the playoffs, are the teams still going to be seeded 1-8, 2-7, 3-6, 4-5? I'm taking it it will not be strictly divisional playoffs in the first 2 rounds now that they implemented these wild cards, correct?

From espn...

http://m.espn.go.com...414&src=desktop

The new plan calls for divisional playoffs, not conference playoffs as the NHL currently has. The division winner with the most regular-season points will play the lowest-seeded wild-card team in the first round, with the other division winner playing the other wild-card team.

[NJDevs4978]

I don't get them sticking to division playoffs if five teams from one division can make it.  So someone like Carolina can finish fifth in our division, yet win another division's 'title'?