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32 Thoughts: The Podcast<\/p>\nIt\u2019s not often that much comes out of the NHL\u2019s general managers’ meetings, which take place each year after the trade deadline. I don\u2019t know that this year was much different. A couple teams raised a couple concerns (namely goalie interference and head shots), NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was there to bat them back, and off we went.<\/p>\n
There\u00a0was\u00a0one quote from the commish that stood out to me, and it was about the playoff format.<\/p>\n
This year, three of the league\u2019s top five teams \u2014 and it could be the league\u2019s top three by season\u2019s end \u2014 are all in the Central Division. That means that two will have to play each other in Round 1, and two will be done by the Conference Finals.<\/p>\n
The divisional format strikes again.<\/p>\n
Maple Leafs fans in Toronto know well that over the Matthews-Marner era (nine seasons), the team compiled almost 900 points, which was third most in the league over that time. They trailed only Tampa Bay and Boston, two teams in their own division, meaning they often faced them in the first round before having long summers.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what Bettman had to say about why he likes this format:<\/p>\n
\u201cMore than comfortable. It gives us a sensational first round. Probably the best playoff first round in any sport. We get more games and longer series as a result of the format. And you can always pick at certain situations in any given year and say, \u2018Well, I\u2019d like it to be different that year.\u2019 But if you look at the body of work that our playoffs represent over time, what we have now works extraordinarily well.\u201d<\/p>\n
For owners like Craig Leipold in Minnesota \u2014 who has fought for years to get his Wild out of the league\u2019s mushy middle, committed huge money to keep stars (Kirill Kaprizov) and moved other massive assets to get more skill (Quinn Hughes) \u2014 I can\u2019t imagine he\u2019s thrilled about the idea of \u201cmore games and longer series\u201d as the reward for the team\u2019s rise to prominence.<\/p>\n
The idea is that, instead of getting more disparate matchups in 1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7 and 3 vs. 6 in the conference, you\u2019re often getting pairings like 2 vs. 3, or in the case of the Pacific, maybe 6 vs. 7.<\/p>\n
Are we not trying to have a legitimate athletic competition here or not? Shouldn\u2019t we respect the 82-game grind?<\/p>\n
I know the league is on the hook to put on a show and sell tickets, but do we not want to reward the teams who have the best regular seasons by giving them the fairest chances to move on and compete for the Stanley Cup?<\/p>\n
I hardly think a few extra first-round games from these closer matchups is worth forfeiting the integrity of the structure, which also seems short-sighted. The more top teams that move on, the better the quality of play will be by the time you get deeper into the post-season.<\/p>\n
Would it not be worth giving up a few first-round games to achieve that? Would we not prefer to say ‘the NHL has the best playoffs’ over ‘the NHL has the best first round of playoffs?’<\/p>\n
Instead, we often have a few of the best teams beat the hell out of each other and come limping into Round 2, only to play some team which came through an easier path and is suddenly equipped to take down the more star-laden team.<\/p>\n
I also think it\u2019s worth noting that while the best team often wins the Cup, perceptions and even legacies can by shaped by how deep teams get into the post-season. With 32 teams, making the final eight is something, and the final four is a feather in your cap. It\u2019s not only important that the best team wins the Cup; we want everyone to get their fair shake to go on a run when they load up.<\/p>\n
32 Thoughts: The Podcast<\/p>\n
Hockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas is a weekly deep dive into the biggest news and interviews from the hockey world.<\/p>\n