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As always I will keep you up-to-date on the rumors I am tracking, but today we get back to one of my favorite topics..This is one of the ones I most look forward to putting into my book on the Great Hockey Debates...
What's the Buzz?
What teams should be gone?
What new cities should be granted teams?
How would you fix the schedule?
How would you fix the playoffs?
I am re-printing below my "solution to everything" from last year which I actually have gotten great feedback on from people around the NHL who like my answer....
How many of you have said:
"I wish the season wasn't so long, but I know the owners need all those gates to pay the bills, so we have to deal with it."
Ever wish there was a way to make 80 some games more intriguing?
More meaningful?
More like playoff intensity?
I don't know how many noticed, but it was kind of interesting to me how during the last GM meetings the NHL sort of "threw" out a concept (in the midst of all the headshot talk) of a system that would see all 30 NHL teams making the playoffs. The concept was relatively simple enough. We would get to see the 8th-15th seeds play a mini, single-game-elimination, 3-round-tournament to determine who would get to essentially limp into the 8th seed. Because we were all Cooke/Savard obsessed, there was very little outcry from fans and very little support from the GMs. Yet this is kind of idea you can't put back in the toothpaste tube, and would go a long way in helping the NHL's economic woes...while also giving the fans who support teams who have tough years a little carrot.
I don't love the idea myself, but I see where they are heading...
Now of course, hockey fans everywhere were saying...
"Well what the hell does a long regular season mean if EVERYONE makes the playoffs?"
and this got me thinking...
In general, what DOES the regular season mean?
Obviously we have a regular season because we need to pay the bills. We have a long regular season and we have all sorts of rules (like getting a point for losing in overtime) in order to keep hope alive for all 30 teams so their respective fan bases stay interested. So they stay in it. The point for the overtime loss essentially assures most teams will stay within striking distance into March.
But is there a better way to keep us all interested? A better way to make 80 plus games really matter? We were discussing this on Hockeybuzz Live this week and Ryan Garner came up with an idea of splitting the season into segments.
This shot a lightbulb off in my head as to what I feel is the perfect solution. (and if it isn't blame Ryan..he is a Canadian after all)
I really believe there is simple solution staring us in the face here..
OK, this is a little complicated, but please stay with me as I try to describe it all simply. Allow me to play hockey God and lay this all out, and then you are going to tell me why this would be worse than what we currently have. Why this shouldn't happen.
In order to set it all up and make the numbers work, I am expanding to 32 teams and granting expansion franchises back to Quebec and Winnipeg. Of course, many will argue the talent level is already watered down. It may be, but this is changing as youth hockey in America is booming like never before and while we may not see it yet, all those kids playing hockey in a country with ten times the population of Canada is about to explode onto the scene...littering us with talent in numbers never imagined prior. Did you know there are more kids playing organized hockey under the age of 12 in either of the states of Texas or California, than there are in Alberta?
But expansion is another argument...stay with me here...
I am adding these 2 teams so we can go back to 4 divisions and an 80 game schedule. We need 4, 8 team divisions, and I feel we need divisional playoffs once again....the best thing ever for creating great rivals was the divisional playoff system.
But this is all still about the playoffs...my plan is for the regular season.
For the sake of my experiment, here are my four divisions re-aligned.... (again how you align them is another discussion/heated debate. Part of me thinks there would be a benefit to putting all 8 Canadian teams in one division...but any way, I didn't)
The Northeast Division (Five of the Original 6)
Montreal
Toronto
Ottawa
Quebec
Boston
Buffalo
Detroit
Chicago
The Northwest Division (The Division that Gretzky Built)
Edmonton
Calgary
Vancouver
Winnipeg
Minnesota
LA
Anaheim
San Jose
The Eastern Division (the 1967 expansion division)
NY Rangers
NY Islanders
New Jersey
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
Columbus
Washington
St. Louis
The Southern Division (The College Football Rivalry Division)
Atlanta
Tampa
Florida
Carolina
Nashville
Dallas
Colorado
Phoenix
Ok, so I have my reasons for some of these re-alignments and I admit they are far from perfect. However, I am doing this in a way where no team would be relocated as well. Oh and I am getting rid of the Conferences. As you will see soon...
So here is how my regular season works and how teams qualify for the playoffs.
#1. The entirety of the NHL regular season is reduced to 80 games.
#2 The regular season is then split into three-22 game segments or "mini-seasons" and one final 14 game "divisional tourney"
Here is how the segments would work..
For each of the first 3 mini segments a team would play each team in its own division twice (once home and away) and all the teams in that division would face off against all the same teams of another division. (4 home, 4 away, alternating years)
Example.
In season 1..
The Northeast Division of (Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Quebec, Boston, Buffalo, Detroit, Chicago) would play each other (home and home) and play all 8 teams of the Northwest Division.
In season 2..
The Northeast Division of (Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Quebec, Boston, Buffalo, Detroit, Chicago) would play each other (home and home) and play all 8 teams of the Eastern Division.
In season 3...
The Northeast Division of (Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Quebec, Boston, Buffalo, Detroit, Chicago) would play each other (home and home) and all 8 teams of the Southern Division.
Once these 3 segments are completed all teams would have played all teams over the course 66 games and the divisional teams have played each other 6 times. (3 home and 3away)
In season 4....
The Northeast Division of (Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Quebec, Boston, Buffalo, Detroit, Chicago) would play each other home and home ONLY.
Ok so here is what makes this interesting...How you qualify for the playoffs...
If you win any of the 4 mini-seasons (segment) you are guaranteed a spot in the playoffs
In other words, your team may struggle early, yet they still will have a chance to wipe the slate clean three times throughout the year and rev it up again. A good example right now would be Carolina. The Canes are 8-1-1 in their last ten. They are a good enough team right now to compete with teams that will make the playoffs ahead of them, and yet they really have no shot at making the playoffs.
I see these "mini seasons" as incredibly exciting. The first three are intriguing, and the final 14 game sprint against just your own division could turn into an all out war as teams see it as possibly their last shot to get in.
Some obvious questions....
#1. If a team wins more than one segment, how do you determine who else makes the playoffs (since we need four playoff teams in each division)
Answer> We would still keep track of each teams regular season record, in its entirety, so if a team wins 2 segements and 2 teams win two, the other seeds would be given to the team with the best overall record(s) who did not win a segment
#2. If a team wins a segment, and clinches a playoff spot 22 games in, what is the motivation for them to keep playing hard. For their fans to keep watching?
Answer> Here is my solution for this. For every team segment after the first segment a team wins, they will have to win one less game in their opening round best of seven. In other words, say the Canadiens win 2 segments, the Red Wings win 1, and the Hawks win 1. Now lets just say the team with the best record that didn't win a segment is the Sabres.
The playoff seedings for the Northeast playoffs could look like this...
#1. Montreal
#2. Chicago (106 full season points)
#3. Detroit (104 full season points)
#4. Buffalo
The Hawks and Wings would play a standard best of 7. However, since Montreal won two segments and Buffalo won none they would play a quasi "best of 6" where Montreal could win the series by winning 3 games only....but the Sabres would have to win 4. If Montreal won 3 segments they would only have to win 2 games. If Montreal donimated the division and won all four segments, the Sabres would have to sweep the Canadiens.
Given the amount of first round upsets we see in the NHL, I think a team that wins 1 segment will play incredibly hard to win other segments and make a first round victory far more likely.
(Note: An alternative to this method would be to play a normal best of 7, but give the Canadiens and Extra home game in the series. Less radical, but also less incentive.)
After the Divisional Playoffs the 4 Division Champion Teams would then be re-seated based on Full Season Records. 1-4, 2-3. Again, another advantage given for regular season performance.
In conclusion...
I know only the die-hards have made it through all of this, but I truly believe this is the best way to maximize an NHL regular season's excitement, as well as end up with the best 16 teams in the playoffs competing with the most intriguing matchups imaginable.
Imagine some of the regular season scenarios and positives...
*A great team can get hit with an injury bug, but still recover to salvage a playoff spot. Imagine a great team that hasn't won any of the first three 22 game segments needed to win the final 14 game divisional only segment.
*Or imagine a team that changes coaches getting hot after a dismal beginning but getting a shot to play in in the final 14 games.
And there you have what may be the biggest benefit to this schedule...
With 14 games to go, EVERYONE still has a shot at a Stanley Cup...and isn't that what this is all about?
I am very curious to hear your opinions/suggestions to this concept. I know it is radical, but it feels to me where sports can head and make every game more interesting... be it November or March.
Think about it. Don't you want the regular season to mean more then "we have to play 80 some games to pay the bills?"
Let me know. And if you really, REALLY hate it...blame Ryan.
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