We all talk about Overtime, the loser point, the shootout, etc...and how it kind of blurs how good and how bad teams actually are. The reality is there are teams who absolutely benefitted and/or were killed by either excelling at or NOT being good at the NHL Mini Challenges of 3 v 3 and the Shootout. I realize these gimmicks are indeed part of the game, and everyone plays by the same rules, but to get an idea of what the league might be like without them I decided to rework the standings pretending that every team went 500 in the extra time, When you look at this, you see how the teams that were great at the mini games looked way better in the standings than they might have been otherwise...
check it out...The number in parenthesis is the difference in points the team would have had it gone 500...
The NHL Standings if all teams were .500 in OT
Atlantic Division 1. Toronto (-2) 113 2. Florida (-10) 112 3. Tampa (-4) 106 4. Boston (-6) 101 5. Buffalo (+4) 79 6. Detroit (-1) 73 7. Ottawa (even) 73 8. Montreal (+5) 60
Metro Division 1. Carolina (+1) 117 2. NY Rangers (-2) 108 3. Pittsburgh (+2)105 4. Washington (+3) 103 5. NY Islanders (+7) 91 6. Columbus (-4) 77 7. Philadelphia (+6) 67 8. NJ (+1) 64
Central 1. Colorado (-3) 116 2. St Louis (+5) 114 3. Minnesota (-9) 104 4. Nashville (-3) 94 5. Winnipeg (+4) 93 6. Dallas (-9) 89 7. Chicago (0) 68 8. Arizona (0) 57
Pacific 1. Calgary (+5) 116 2. Los Angeles (+2) 101 3. Edmonton (-5) 99 4. Vancouver (+4) 96 5. Vegas (-3) 91 6. Anaheim (+5) 81 7. San Jose (+3) 80 8. Seattle (+2) 62
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— Michael Augello (@MikeInBuffalo) January 5, 2021