With playoff matchups, it’s about who plays hot and has the goalie playing the best. The 2012 Kings proved that it’s about getting into the playoffs and playing the best.

@WFM

2 ай бұрын

Even last years Panthers as well showed that it’s not about who you’re facing or how stacked your roster is

@bigdaddytrips6197

2 ай бұрын

It's not how you start but how you finish...

@nathanbork2479

2 ай бұрын

The 2022 Avs disproved the goalie thing

@primozvilfan2361

2 ай бұрын

Kings were playing playoff hockey for two months, battling with Sharks an Coyotes for playoff berth., Same Predators in 2016, Blues in 2019, ...

@Commentsurveillance

2 ай бұрын

Yeah, playing the best is kind of how the thing goes 😂

5:08 I remember that CBJ even played your "Columbus is dead" clip on the cube 🤣

THG, in 2014, I went to Game 2 of the BOS/MTL series. It was a noon time game in Boston and the bars opened at 9am! Bruins were down 3-1 going into the 3rd and ended up winning that game 5-3. Never heard the Garden be louder than in that moment. Series didn't go our way, but it was one of my best experiences watching hockey live.

They have this gripe in baseball too that "we're not seeing the best teams" advance, but if you're the best team...win the games. That's the fun part about hockey, it's easily the most unpredictable of the major sports playoffs where you can have the 5-8 seeds win the first round of their bracket.

@closethockeyfan5284

2 ай бұрын

Interesting how those complaints didn't really materialize among the national mainstream baseball media until it was the major metro areas losing 🤔

@crushdavis7048

2 ай бұрын

I also think with the league expanding to 32 teams, it makes all of the playoff teams better as well. 16/32 making the playoffs is a lot tougher than 16/30.

@pomerlain8924

2 ай бұрын

Baseball's playoff issue is simple. Teams play 162 games with no more than one day off at a time. And the top 2 division winners get byes, but the trade off is they don't play for almost a week, while they wait for their opponent, who is playing at least 2 games in the WC round. So you have a team who's been continuously playing going up against a team who hasn't played in almost 6 days. In baseball, more than any other sport, having a good rhythm is key for pitching and hitting. 6 days off after a continuous 162-game season disrupts that.

@crushdavis7048

2 ай бұрын

@@pomerlain8924 the teams with byes also get to start their ace pitchers vs the teams that didnt have the bye who will prpb be on their 3rd or 4th best starter. I just think last year was wierd year in general. Houston had a bye and steamrolled their way to a world series. And teams like the dodgers have been choking in the divisional round long before they introduced byes anyways.

Thats why i love the first round of HOCKEY playoffs, there is plenty of upsets, less predictable

Honestly it's often easier to start a series on the road. Pressure is less for that team that opens on the road, if you get a split home ice swings to you, if you win both it's massive pressure on the higher seed, even if you lose both games on the road you can take solace that if you hold your home ice the series is tied. Almost any way you spin it there are positives to starting on the road.

@user-dl3uo3we2z

2 ай бұрын

I would agree And add some teams who have struggled in recent playoffs , better to be on the road to start, you lose first and or second gm, it's OK..having home ice adv,,lose one of first 2 gms pressure is magnified "Here we go again"

@duckydonne11

2 ай бұрын

I would agree but I think hockey home ice is one of the least impactful of the 4 major American sports. Still an advantage, you have teams like Colorado that have a home away record like an NBA record, and then you have a team or two every year that play way better away

Wonderful content ❤ so lovely to hear you talk about Hockey. Thank you for all the work you put in.

This is the kind of content that gets me thru the work day, thank you THG

The problem with the current play-off format is that #1 vs lower wild card can in theory be #1 vs #5. In theory #6 can miss the play-offs completely. With the way the west is going right now it's likely #2 vs #3 is a first round series.

The craziest year for me was 2010 especially in the East where the top 3 seeds were out in the first round and the conference title came down to the #7 Flyers vs #8 Canadiens. It was the exact opposite in the West where the only "upset" was #5 over #4.

Fun topic. Been watching thr playoffs since '80. Shoukd be another fun 1st rd . Thnx thg!😊

Great Video, as usual, Shannon

Can you make an Anze Kopitar video!? I think he deserves it especially being in LA where nobody even cares we exist

@heldermoreira8554

2 ай бұрын

I think he already did a video on Anze in a previous milestone ...

@Lakingsfan140

2 ай бұрын

@@heldermoreira8554 ah, I don’t remember the video tbh but maybe I’m wrong, not sure.

@gokingsgoful

2 ай бұрын

The goon got a misconduct yesterday! No video!

As a Bruins fan I totally agree. I would not be surprised if they’re out in the first two rounds. I doesn’t made us bad fans, just if you look at Boston’s track record it supports us being so skeptical

You are seriously my go to source for everything NHL now. As an American its hard to get CONSISTENT/daily news on hockey. You fill that role for me to perfection. Idk how the hell you do it, this much info on a daily basis... but your hard work doesnt go unnoticed and I for one am EXTREMELY grateful that you do it. 💪 🏒🥅

Every single team who has had 55 wins in a season has won a cup within 3 years of that season. This is the Panthers last season to try to do this.

@bigdaddytrips6197

2 ай бұрын

Not gonna happen kid

@GregAllenF1

2 ай бұрын

@@bigdaddytrips6197Panthers are the favorite for sure

@jetswhiteout961

2 ай бұрын

@@GregAllenF1Don't count out Winnipeg. Well balanced team

@joehung1552

2 ай бұрын

Does that count before the 55+ win season?

@Hrybread

2 ай бұрын

Bruins are unlikely to do this and they just set the record. I don't think this means much

I think the cup playoffs are awesome and that the only change should be putting the stanley cup playoffs wordmark back on the ice

@ethanparker7900

2 ай бұрын

yah idk why they stopped doing that

@fantasticvoyage262

2 ай бұрын

​@@ethanparker7900I'm sure it had something to do with putting annoying flashing ads there.

@ethanparker7900

2 ай бұрын

@@fantasticvoyage262oh yah I don't like the fact they do those digital screen like ads on the boards and on helmets. It made sense during the covid shortened year to make up for lost revenue but now that they are in a better financial spot they should not be doing that anymore

Another big advantage to home ice is getting the last change. That's where coaching comes in.

Avs vs Stars in the first round is robbing us of a conference final matchup

@lelouchvibritannia4028

2 ай бұрын

This is exactly why the current playoff format is garbage. The NHL needs to go back to 1 vs 8.

@Nathanielhiggerson66

2 ай бұрын

Jets are not winning the division lol. Im a biased Avs fan but still they probably take it

I think we don't seem to give enough attention to how many upsets there were last season in the playoffs. Seattle beats Colorado, Florida beats Boston, New Jersey beat Rangers and Toronto beat Tampa Bay. That was unprecedented

Sadly for Edmonton they first tripped up Dallas in the 97 playoffs only for Dallas to totally own them for the next few years. Despite the excellence of Tommy Salo he just couldn't replicate Cujo and steal the series. Great fun few years for the young shoestring Oilers back then.

Changing the home and away splits in the playoffs is ridiculous imo. Its as fair as possible to both the higher and lower seeds unless you want to alternate every single game in the series. Why are we trying to prevent upsets? The favored (higher seed) team should be the only ones trying to prevent that. They dont need any help. The advantage of getting a higher seed start the playoffs is playing the 'worst' team on paper and having a home game 7 if it gets to that point. Thats enough

NYR had not lost a home game 7 EVER until that day in 2015. That was the whole storyline of the series. My rangers blew it 😢

I think the current home game format is fine. It does give the higher seed an early advantage, and if the underdog team pulls out some early wins, the advantage goes to them. I think that;s how it should be. People are just looking for guaranteed wins for their team after a strong season, and that's not what competitive sports are about.

I don't have stats to back it up but at least for me, it feels like every recent season has been ultra competitive. I know TB won a few cups but every season it feels like when the playoffs start, more teams have a legit chance to win.

The older I get the more i like the european football concept where the league is one competition and the cup its own. All teams compete in the cup, including lower series, all teirs and seeds based on last seasons results.

@closethockeyfan5284

2 ай бұрын

I will say we grossly underrate regular-season success in U.S. sports culture.

The jets haven't won a home game in the playoffs WITH fans in the building since game 1 of the conference final vs. VGK in 2018

In defense of Philadelphia, they've been making it harder to beat them. They nearly came back against Boston last Saturday, beat Toronto Tuesday and lost in OT to Carolina tonight. Whether or without the captain, the Flyers have shown they're not going down without a fight. This is coming from a die-hard Flyers fan who expected 6th in the Metro at best this season.

Unfortunately, the way the point system is set up now is that the team with the most points at the end of the season is not the best team in the NHL I feel like if any wins past 60 minutes were only a single point, and you get nothing for losing, there would be a lot more separation between the true elite teams and that mushy middle we see so often now

@MC-cv8sv

2 ай бұрын

Personally I like the way the PWHL awards points. 3 for a regulation win, 2 for an OT win, 1 for an OT loss, 0 for a regulation loss. Teams should be rewarded for winning in regulation since in the playoffs overtime will be 5 on 5. 3 on 3 is a great way to speed up OT in the regular season but still getting the maximum points allowed for an overtime win just encourages hockey that won't occur in the playoffs anyways

@gokingsgoful

2 ай бұрын

@@MC-cv8svYeah, that's the standings people have been suggesting for a long time. I think Bettman's said that people were confused by the four-column standings the NHL had for a while, but I think they'd get over it soon enough. Before anyone raises the obvious objection: just go back and tweak the "most points in a season" record to use the same system.

@MC-cv8sv

2 ай бұрын

@gokingsgoful for sure it would be so easy to do, I've seen lots of posts showing how this seasons NHL standings would look if they used the 3 point format and it definitely would have made for an interesting playoffs ! That and going back to 1st to 8th playoff seeding for Eastern and western conference would be sweet

@pomerlain8924

2 ай бұрын

@@Kokobazonkos The extra point was up for grabs well before 3-on-3. That was the whole point of the addition of the OTL point in 99-00. They wanted teams to play for the win instead of playing safe to secure the point.

@lelouchvibritannia4028

2 ай бұрын

​@@MC-cv8svSomeone needs to make people like you league commissioner. Anyone of us could do a better job than Bettman, though.

There's almost nothing more I despise in sports than "if the playoffs started today..." talk

Great video. How about instead of seeding, the top three teams get to pick their opponent from 5-8? Fourth gets home advantage and whoever is left.

If I were Vancouver, I'd probably actually pick Vegas. Happens so often where the Stanley Cup champion loses in the first round the next season.

Okay we can stop reminding me of the 2015-16 and 16-17 now.... FR great vid Shanon! I'd also like to note those years Pittsburgh was the second best team in the league points wise at least one of those years

0:20 - I might misunderstand the seeding, but I don’t think we do have 1 v. 8, 2 v. 7 currently. If the playoffs started today, wouldn’t Florida (2 seed in the conference) be playing Toronto (5 seed in the conference), rather than Philadelphia (7th seed)? I understand divisional winners getting the higher seed, but conference-wise, FLA outranks NYR. I’m a rangers fan and I’d actually prefer they drop out of the divisional lead to not draw Tampa and instead play the 3rd-in-the-division Flyers, who have a worse record.

@TheHockeyGuy

2 ай бұрын

The division winners have always been the top seeds, even in 1 vs 8 and 2 vs 7. If they scrap that, then divisions likely get scrapped too.

@Frenyt84

2 ай бұрын

Ahh, thanks for the clarification. Keep up the great work!

The only change I would argue; is because some teams clearly performed better on the road then they did at home; that all the higher seeded teams should be able to choose whether or not they want Home Ice Advantage. I will use Colorado versus Seattle from last year. Both Colorado and Seattle had better road records then home records heading into the playoffs; which meant Seattle having more away games (being the lower seeded team) played to their strengths and played against Colorado's strength of also being a stronger road team. I am not saying Seattle wouldn't have defeated Colorado; but I argue if Colorado could have chosen to play 4 games in Seattle versus 4 games at home; they would have performed better. And that is why I argue the higher seeded teams in each round should be able to select if they want Home Ice or Away Ice advantage.

@goon8058

2 ай бұрын

Strange that Colorado was better on the road than at home. Seems Denver has the best home ice advantage in sports. Actually been studies done on it with the altitude.

1 vs 8, bring bring back 2-3-2 playoff format.

Nope, that’s an honest Bruins fan. Our history is perpetually winning, 2nd most playoff appearances all time, 20 appearances in the finals…. 6 championships all time, 3 since the 67’ expansion. It’s an interesting franchise to be a fan of for sure.

@ethanparker7900

2 ай бұрын

go robbed in 2019 as well. Game 7 in 2019 will always haunt me

Unlucky for the caps, yes they were president trophy winners twice in a row, but they ran into insanely good Pittsburgh teams.. in the second round too. Evident as pens won the cup both years

As a bruins as a bruins fan I'm scared to players this year

12:00 also, can you do the PCWL playoffs womene hockey league ?

I loved 1 through 16 and two survivors playing for cup. Made hockey playoffs unique

There is only one verifiable curse in hockey and it belongs to Harold Ballard. They haven't won a Cup since 1967 and Pal Hal put the curse on the Leafs from his grave.

Last year, second round in the West, we had Vegas - Oilers, which was #1 seed and #2 seed, and then Dallas, the #4 seed, against Seattle, the #7 seed. So Dallas, as a reward for finishing #4 in the confrerence, got to play the #7 team, whereas the teams who finished #1 and #2, got to play each other. I don't understand how anyone can claim that to be fair. It should've been Vegas - Seattle, Edmonton - Dallas.

@user-dl3uo3we2z

2 ай бұрын

I agree if seedings go right the top 2 seeds meet in confrence final Current system 2nd rd has those top teams meeting in 2nd rd , making it easier for lower seeds

@jefflarson1652

2 ай бұрын

A division winner is always the 1 or 2 seed because the schedule isn't balanced. You can't seed the teams by conference because of this. If Vegas had lost to Winnipeg, Edmonton would have been playing the 8 seed and you wouldn't even be bringing this up.

@somerandomidiot1333

2 ай бұрын

@@jefflarson1652Still. You could technically have three of the best teams in the NHL playing in one division. Both systems have flaws but basing matchups via conference standings would be so much better. My version would be you could have the 2 divisions in a conference as normal and have 3 teams from each division make it to the playoffs and keep the two wildcards but make the seeding 1-8, 2-7, 3-6, 4-5.

@jefflarson1652

2 ай бұрын

@@somerandomidiot1333 As Shannon has replied here, the 2 division winners have always been the #1 and #2 seeds, even when it was 1 vs 8. If you want to seed it differently, get rid of divisions and play a balanced schedule against every other team in your conference. Your way is not fair because you can't determine which are the best two teams when they play a different schedule, no matter what your opinion is. You could technically have the 6 best teams in one conference. Why are people so hung up on the divisional matchups?

@Pajo25ify

2 ай бұрын

@@jefflarson1652 Teams play 26 times against teams in their own division (3-4 times per team) and 24 times against teams not in their division but in their Conference (3 times per team). That is definitely close enough to have 1 vs 8 with re-seeding every round be a lot more "fair" than the bracket crap they have now.

Vancouver has beaten Vegas in the playoffs recently and they've been hotter than Vegas over the past 10 or so games, so I like that matchup.

You forgot the Caps choking to the habs in 2010.

I really want a Detroit matchup with Boston. I think Detroit could surprise in that series. I don't see any way that Detroit gets through Florida if they take 1st seed.

The 2012 Kings were analytically dominant even before the coaching change and the Carter trade, but they were snakebit. After those tweaks (... Jack Johnson was a curse for so long for so many teams...), they were on an insane run from mid-February on. The Canucks and their fans completely overlooked them, but they shouldn't have; frankly, a much weaker / less developed Kings team (they were still giving big minutes to Ryan Smyth) probably should have beaten Vancouver two years earlier (Luongo pulled two pucks off the goal line in close games that the Canucks went on to barely win). By the time the series started, there was a lot of "Vancouver might be in trouble here" talk on the analytics side. Kings won and it gave us the epic "To the rest of Canada outside BC, you're welcome" tweet that changed sports Twitter forever, plus Jim Hughson choking on his words after the Stoll goal as they desperately tried to look for a missed penalty. Lots of positives.

@lonelycake4114

2 ай бұрын

Don’t forget the Penner series clinching goal against Phoenix Fond memories. Quick was unbelievable

@gokingsgoful

2 ай бұрын

@@lonelycake4114Honestly my big memory of that game is the Brown hit just before the goal (... that was about as borderline as you can get) and then Phoenix losing their s**t in the handshake line. To this day I don't know what they were complaining about on the Penner goal, and believe me I watched that one a LOT.

@antioch1975

2 ай бұрын

I still remember Sedin trying to dial 911 on the boards after that hit by Brown.

@lonelycake4114

2 ай бұрын

@@gokingsgoful They were furious about the hit obviously. LA got lucky Brown wasn’t thrown out of the game. Honestly it looked like a collision live, much worse on the replay.

I’d like a 2A - 3H - 1A - 1H for the higher seed. Starting on the road seems like such a big advantage

I'm going to keep pounding sand on this one, but I think the playoff format as it is doesn't work. You want your most exciting teams in each conference meeting in the conference final. I would argue rivalry matchups are more fun at that round too. For example, going through the West as Edmonton or Colorado, or Dallas, is going to be a MEAT GRINDER. I'm also going to beat this one eternally. I think the Red Wings would give Boston a run for their money. Since being the first team to beat them in regulation during their crazy run last year, Detroit has always managed to give the Bruins fits, except in their catastrophic slumps. The team has playoff experience from all their recent contenders or champions they've taken in the offseason.

Being the top seed isn’t much of an advantage… and it’s perfect that way. The reality is that the top 10 (or more) teams in the league are usually pretty well matched. That’s what you want. Leagues without parity are boring for me

That’s the point of the playoffs. This is what annoys me good team ain’t supposed to have an easy ride anyone can get beat in the playoffs. People need to stop crying.

@Jalreal

2 ай бұрын

Exactly

@pomerlain8924

2 ай бұрын

It's not about having an easy ride. We want to have the chance to get the best match-ups the further the playoff go. What this current format does is front-load the playoffs where the #2 or #3 team, if in the same division, will knock each other out in the first round. With the 1-8 format, the series matchups got better the further along the playoffs went, not worse.

@lelouchvibritannia4028

2 ай бұрын

L take. 1 vs 8 is superior.

@ethanparker7900

2 ай бұрын

yessiirr. Anything can happen in the playoffs. it is about the present not the regular season

Home ice like this. HHAHAHH

the main reason I'd be against letting teams choose who they play in the playoffs is that no matter who they pick, they automatically give that team motivation to want to beat them. like "ah they think we're the worst team, well we'll show them." And then if the top seed team loses, think of all the ridicule and comments about how stupid they are for choosing that team and blah blah blah

Boston is getting in post season form…who wins the “Ullmark-Buckner Trophy?

Yeah 2-3-2 format isnt great You are favored team, they come in and split the opening two, they can go and win at home. Sometimes its momentum, sometimes its a nervous favorite struggling to get going....amd a lesser team feeling little pressure in the higher seeds opening hone games

In 2019 I picked the Jackets to beat the Lightning just for the Torts factor. Boy, did I clean up that year in the Bracket Challenge with my friends. Go B’s!

They need to go back to the 1v8 fornat

I can see a curse placed around 1967...😹😹😹

The problem is that sometimes you'll have a really good team finishing 2-5 in the conference being forced to play a juggernaut in the 1st round, because one certain division **cough** the Atlantic **cough** is stacked. Instead of playing a team below or further below them in the standings with home ice like what would happen in a 1v8 setting.

@TheHockeyGuy

2 ай бұрын

Toronto would be a #5 seed and would start on the road against the Canes if the playoffs started today. The top 2 in the Metro are excellent as well.

@jareklilly4200

2 ай бұрын

Same thing happened in 2022 St. Louis / Minnesota were the 2nd and 3rd best teams in the West behind Colorado. But had to play each other first round. Then St. Louis plays the Avs in the 2nd round and nearly sends that series to 7 games. Then Oilers get shellacked in the WCF and Avs win Cup in 5. 😢

@FilterBySubgenre

2 ай бұрын

​@@TheHockeyGuyI'd take the canes in a heart beat as a leafs fan, please not Boston or Florida or Tampa Bay anymore for the love of god.

@bsfm6990

2 ай бұрын

@@FilterBySubgenre canes play a defensive style that is all about sticks in lanes and forechecking tell me how can the leafs beat that. Especially considering canes are too team in both special teams

@boltinabottle6307

2 ай бұрын

@@FilterBySubgenre Toronto needs to beat FL or Boston in the first round, or they simply aren't going to win in the playoffs. The Leafs beat a very diminished and injured TB team last year, yet the Leafs looked beatable and would have lost if Vasi wasn't ailing. The Leafs players seemed to have more of a fear of losing rather than a fire to win (minus Auston Matthews and John Tavares, they were awesome in that series). You can't win the Cup that way. Maybe eliminating Boston would give them some damn confidence.

We don't really have 2v7 though, it might end up that way but there's actually an unlikely chance that the number 2 seed could finish 6th or lower in their conference. Also, overtime loss points should only count as a tiebreaker, I'm so sick of seeing the illusion where there's a team sitting on top of the standings that's actually 12th in wins per games played, Boston. 😅

No we don't have 1v8 or 2v7 in this format. Lets say the two wildcards are from the same division. That makes it very possible that last wildcard team has more points than the 3rd place team in the other division. Which is very possible in the East this year. So no this system still sucks top to bottom. 2-3-2 should never be done. The lower seed should never have played more home games than the top seed at any point in the series.

Personally the nhl should go back to the 1v8 format

As a bruins fan, the president trophy curse is real

After knocking out Dallas, the next year the Oilers knocked out Colorado. It was crazy.

@lelouchvibritannia4028

2 ай бұрын

No, they didn't. They got swept by the Avs.

yeah extra home team games I don't see as an edge. The only real edge you can give the top couple of teams is expand the playoffs and give the top 2 teams a first round bye, but the way to do that probably causes more problems than it solves.

Re the President's Trophy "Curse", most of the teams that have won the President's Trophy in the post-lockout era go to the cup finals at least, and often win a cup, either the year before, the year of, or the year after the win. There's no curse.

I would personally enjoy home, away, home, away, home, home, home. You get arguably all the most pivotal games at home.

We never know who's gonna show up come playoffs but we all know the Leafs' outcome every year 😆

The West is so close that it's hard to pick a team. Obviously, the Avs and Vegas are easy picks because they've won recently, but I'd hate it if the top 3 seeds got to pick their opponent. That's a trap waiting to happen. It would be brutal if whoever finished first picked who they thought was the weakest team, a team that had been playing playoff hockey all year just to get in, and then lose the series because they took that opponent lightly. No sane hockey fan wants their team to win the Presidents Trophy for that reason.

I'd still like to have somebody figure out what the distribution of the 2-16 teams winning the cup are so that we can figure out if there really is a President's Trophy "curse." I mean, is there a better ratio than 8/37 for any other seed?

8th seed can win. Just depends what team clinched it ...😊

It hurts seeing us here twice

I really don't like the word 'curse' to describe anything. The idea that a team with a 5-11 percent chance to win a cup has a curse for not winning is asinine. Every team in the league is overwhelmingly unlikely to win.

@fantasticvoyage262

2 ай бұрын

It's always a lazy excuse to justify someone's ineptitude.

There was a time when Calgary Flames surpassed Oilers as the best team in the league....you would see Flames beat the top contenders more convincingly, better team game. Oilers still a powerhouse... But by 2nd rd they met in the playoffs and Calgary had the trying to beat the older brother syndrome.....not having done it vs confidence of winning it all Oilers had confidence from previous success to dig into Or ive seen better teams lose to a hot goalie with a harder working team( not that the higher seed wasnt working hard either)

Sometimes you see powerhouses come in playoffs with good 5 on 5 numbers, and a solid PP. Tighter gms means tighter 5 on 5 numbers, and the team with the better PK, gives an edge to the one team ( to me PK is slighlty more important than PP, going into the playoffs) And sometimes those better teams who have a mediocre PK, or worse struggle....and their Vaunted PP may not get as many chances

5 home games in the playoffs makes a big difference financially. It would lead to owners wanting to push the chips in at the dealine more often. My take anyway.

It's a toss up

..no Canadian teams on the board..sad..maybe Habs in 27..?

I think home team advantage is a lot different these days then back in the days. All the arenas are basically the same. Back in the day if you had to start the playoffs in the old Boston Gardens or Montreal Forum even Toronto Gardens it must have felt really intimidating. I actually think the teams would rather start on the road now.

@gokingsgoful

2 ай бұрын

It's not so much the arenas as the hideous travel that you had to endure. A team like the Kings or Seals (wait, did they even MAKE the playoffs) would have to travel for HOURS to start the playoffs.

@fredbrandl880

2 ай бұрын

Yup! That’s so true.

I'd make it 1 vs 8 from the second round , so no East-West split except in first round.

it dosent matter how faces how in playoffs if you want to win cup you need to have ability to beat any team😁

When will we have a 24 teams playoffs bonanza????

@fantasticvoyage262

2 ай бұрын

Probably after the next wave of expansion.

There's no need to fix something that isn't broken. 2 - 2- 1 - 1 - 1 is perfect.

Don’t sleep on Toronto may be a panthers fan but the leafs have good odds against us

Home ice advantage isn't an advantage in the current system unless the series goes to 7. Of the four possible games that a series can be clinched, games 4-7, both teams are home for two and away for two. For a series that goes only 6 games then of the 3 possible clinching games, games 4-6, the team with the "advantage" is on the road twice and only home once. For these reasons I almost think that it would be more of an advantage to change the schedule so that (from the perspective of the higher seed) it's away, away, home, home, away, home, home. This would mean that the higher seed gets 3 of the 4 possible clinching games at home, and that both games 6 and 7 are at home. Though the higher seed would lose the initial advantage of starting the series at home, they would have the more critical clinching games at home at the end of the series. Shannon makes a good point though that home ice advantage isn't even really that much of an advantage at most times, but for the sake of this idea let's just ignore that fact. I think that this system would give the higher seeds a more real advantage, and would love to hear people's thoughts even though no one is going to read this.

@jefflarson1652

2 ай бұрын

Teams that go up 2-0 in the Stanley Cup playoffs win the series 85.9% of the time. Playing at home the first two games is clearly a huge advantage.

PLAYOFFS? DON'T TALK TO US ABOUT PLAYOFFS! PLAYOFFS? PLAYOFFS??????-Jim Mora

@felixeur1276

2 ай бұрын

Sens fans right now....😅

Hypothetically, #2 could be 2nd in the Division and #3 could be the top of the other division.

@TheHockeyGuy

2 ай бұрын

Nope, they have never done it that way. Division winners are the top seeds. If they change that, then they have to scrap divisions and just have two conferences.

@ericmcmanimon9142

2 ай бұрын

I think they're saying #1 and #2 in the conference could be in the same division. With the current playoffs, #2 in the conference would not necessarily get the #7 seed.

@pomerlain8924

2 ай бұрын

​@@ericmcmanimon9142Prime example being the Wild 2 years ago. They had the 2nd best record in the West, but because they finished 2nd in the Central, they had to play the team with the #4 best record, in the third place St. Louis Blues.

@maxfish4270

2 ай бұрын

@@TheHockeyGuy Technically you could keep divisions for regular season play (4 games each instead of 3) and have a Conference #2 and all you get for winning a division is a nice banner for the arena rafters.

@TheHockeyGuy

2 ай бұрын

Again, the NHL has never done that in its history. If they do it that way, division wins mean nothing.

This year Toronto May finally be over that hump. If Toronto wins it will be a big celebration.

pick a good road team, they know how to close

Rangers were 21 games deep vs tampa 2015 iirc

6/8 x3 + 3/8 x2 that's 60/40 for higher seed. that's significant. that might be due to being better teams not home advantage but I don't know how to isolate that. so I don't know 52 seems too much. to give a little more advantage to higher seed maybe 2-2-2-1? but that means 7th becoming home game for lower seed. so maybe keep as is?

To be honest seeding is not for discussion look at the matchups we might get yes they might be repetitive but they are good matchups

@pomerlain8924

2 ай бұрын

The problem is the playoffs are front-loaded with these match-ups. And thus, the playoffs go on, the matchups are less intriguing. With the 1-8 format, even if the top 2 teams are from the same division, the soonest they could meet up in the playoffs would be in the conference final. Instead, with this format, it's a second round series that will leave the winner spent heading into the conference finals. Prime example was 2018 with the Jets and Preds.

@bsfm6990

2 ай бұрын

@@pomerlain8924 every time is front loaded look at the nba for example. The idea is that the 1v2 from each division face in the second round with the conference finals facing the best teams from each division which also makes sense.

@pomerlain8924

2 ай бұрын

@@bsfm6990 The only possible front-loaded opening round match-up for the NBA would be the 4-5 match-up, which would be the two best teams that didn't win their division. And the NBA has 3 divisions in each conference, not 2 like NHL, so comparing that match-up makes no sense. One things that is for certain, though, with the 1-8 seeding, is that match-ups are not set in stone, like we see with this current NHL playoff format.

President trophy prouves your good enough to win the big Cup, but if the squad hasn't much experience in playoffs they are often upset at first attempt, but with proper knockout learning it s just delayed...

Lets go Lightning! ⚡️

Funny, the only team I would think "That team will probably be out in the first round" is the Canucks because of how far they have exceeded expectations. Those types of teams jumping up that high compared to their expectations and being that good end up not doing well in the playoffs it seems.

Actively rooting against the Avalanche winning the President's trophy for this very reason.

@thenextgreat8652

2 ай бұрын

Main reason they didn’t beat VGK in 2021 was Kadri taking the 10-game suspension for the hit on Faulk in round one. So much so that had they traded him that offseason, I’d have probably said, “don’t let the door hit you in the a** on the way out”. Obviously he redeemed himself the following season with a career year and they won the cup but it had nothing to do with having won the Presidents Trophy and everything to do with an incredibly irresponsible play from a guy they needed.

@xNeo64

2 ай бұрын

@@juniorjohnmartinwhether or not vancouver wins the presidents trophy they wont win the cup they wont win even if they won all 82 games in a season

@thenextgreat8652

2 ай бұрын

@@juniorjohnmartin What does that have to do with anything I wrote? It’s like if I asked you, “Hey, you wanna go to the game tonight” and you answered, “Pickles” 🤣

@xNeo64

2 ай бұрын

@@juniorjohnmartinthe canucks have done nothing but disappoint me for my entire life i expect nothing different this year

Yeah, LA knocked the Canucks out in 2012 thanks in large part to Duncan Keith’s cheap-shot elbow that knocked one of our best Sedins out for the playoffs!

So the reason I want 1vs8 to come back is two fold. 1 As a leafs fan I do feel its unfair we're constantly smashing our head against the locker that's Boston Florida and to a certain extent Tampa. This is NOT FAIR to Leafs fans lol. I feel like if the leafs were to paly a metro team they would go on a longer run which would be great for the ratings. I don't have the data to back it up but at least in my friend group we tend to not watch the playoffs till the finals (cause u want to see who lifts the cup) after the Leafs are knocked out and I feel like there was an increase last year when the Leafs finally made the 2 round. 2 is it builds non traditional rivalries with the other division. Yes Toronto has always had that Philly rivalry going back to the early 2000s where fans were CONVINCED Domi and Roenick hated each other when in reality they were actually good friends which got revealed when their sons were in the NHL. But I feel other than Philly Toronto doesnt really have a good rivalry with any of the other Metro teams and I feel like one way to build rivalries is playoffs.

I'd like to see them do 1 to 16 to get different matchups no one cares about conference championchip

i will say bit of a stretch to say toronto will be #3 as they can easy find themselves in WC1 facing the rangers which oddly would give the leafs a bit better odds of making rd2 (leafs took the rags 2-1 in reg season so if they could do that in the po its a 4-2 tor win) TOR vs FLA current 1-1 w/ 2 remaining and TOR vs BOS 4-0 for bruins. so thinking about it if leafs want to make the 2nd round they might want to start droppin games to let tampa pass them....