Marvin A Azrak Kevin Durant demonstrated on July 4, 2016, when he left the Thunder to join the rival Warriors, “If you can’t beat them, join them.” That unequivocally is the relationship I have with the NHL points system. While the uniqueness of it is that, unlike the MLB, NFL, and NBA, where you are what your record says you are, hockey hands out a “Loser point” for losses in extra time. Non-hockey enthusiasts may laud the league to “toughen up,” but the sport is arguably the other three morphed into one, so I’ve been hooked(pun intended) into it ever since. Aside from its trademark speed, hockey also requires the mastery of handling the object from basketball, sizzling shots equal to that of a fastball down the heart of the plate, and the physicality we often see in the game of football. So over the excruciating 82-game campaign, I, too, would try to find ways for a team to take solace out of a devastating overtime/shootout defeat.
As an avid hockey fan, I couldn’t be more excited about the upcoming Stanley Cup playoffs, peculiarly after the unprecedented regular season we’ve had out East where all eight teams reached the century point plateau and the chaos that is the Western Conference playoff race, which will be decided over the season’s final days. Intrigued, I took a peek at the league’s tie-breaking system but came across a horrific sight that shook me to the syllabus of the hockey fan that lies in me. Instead of head-head or even straight wins where you exclude the overtime point leading the way, it was regulation wins. This meant that a team could have won more games yet had the same amount of points as their counterpart, and due to sporting fewer “RW’s,” they would miss the playoffs or finish lower in the standings. While I’m aware this has been the procedure since 2011, it’s infuriating that we’ve gone more than a decade without the topic of a three-point system circulating within the league.
The next tiebreaker is overtime wins, but I commend the NHL for doing so since it excludes wins via the individual skills competition from the equation, which has been in place since 2006 when ties were mercifully banned from the sport. However, the prospect of a three-point system where a regulation win is worth three, an extra-time win is worth two, and the “loser point” remains a system worth enticing for it creates drama towards 60 minutes when instead of milking the clock in a tie game for a point, teams would have a sense of exigency knowing there’s an incentive up for grabs if they can finish things off here. I’ve taken the liberty of converting the NHL standings heading into play on April 27th, 2022, and calculated what effects it would have on the playoff picture should this system be in place.
EASTERN CONFERENCE: (parenthesis are how many points a team has today)
|
ATLANTIC DIVISION |
|||||
|
TEAM |
RW(3) |
WINS |
L |
OTL |
PTS |
|
1. Florida Panthers |
41 |
57 |
17 |
6 |
161 (120) |
|
2. Toronto Maple Leafs |
44 |
53 |
21 |
7 |
157(113) |
|
3. Tampa Bay Lightning |
38 |
50 |
22 |
8 |
146(108) |
|
4. Boston Bruins |
39 |
50 |
25 |
5 |
144(105) |
|
5. Buffalo Sabers |
25 |
31 |
38 |
11 |
98(73) |
|
6. Ottawa Senators |
25 |
32 |
41 |
7 |
96(71) |
|
7. Detroit Red Wings |
20 |
31 |
40 |
10 |
92(72) |
|
8. Montreal Canadiens |
14 |
20 |
49 |
11 |
65(51) |
METROPOLITAN DIVISION
|
TEAM |
RW(3) |
WINS |
L |
OTL |
PTS |
|
1. Carolina Hurricanes |
46 |
53 |
20 |
8 |
160(114) |
|
2. New York Rangers |
43 |
51 |
23 |
6 |
151(108) |
|
3. Pittsburgh Penguins |
36 |
45 |
25 |
11 |
137(101) |
|
4. Washington Capitals |
35 |
44 |
24 |
12 |
135(100) |
|
5. New York Islanders |
33 |
36 |
34 |
10 |
115(82) |
|
6. Columbus Blue Jackets |
25 |
36 |
37 |
7 |
104(79) |
|
7. New Jersey Devils |
19 |
27 |
44 |
9 |
82(63) |
|
8. Philadelphia Flyers |
20 |
25 |
44 |
11 |
81(61) |
CURRENT EAST PLAYOFF GLANCE:
Florida Panthers vs Washington Capitals(WC2)
Toronto Maple Leafs vs Tampa bay Lightning
Carolina Hurricanes vs Boston Bruins(WC1)
New York Rangers vs Pittsburgh Penguins
WITH THREE POINT SYSTEM:
Florida Panthers vs Washington Capitals(WC2)
Toronto Maple Leafs vs Tampa bay Lightning
Carolina Hurricanes vs Boston Bruins(WC1)
New York Rangers vs Pittsburgh Penguins
OBSERVATION:
The East has been historically lopsided this year,that this system would fit right in, and if anything make these races dramatic instead of handing Florida the one seed and Atlantic division title as is the case today.
WESTERN CONFERENCE (parenthesis are how many points a team has today)
CENTRAL DIVISION:
|
TEAM |
RW(3) |
WINS |
L |
OTL |
PTS |
|
1.Colorado Avalanche |
46 |
56 |
18 |
6 |
164(118) |
|
2. St Louis Blues |
43 |
49 |
21 |
11 |
151(109) |
|
3. Minnesota Wild |
36 |
51 |
22 |
7 |
145(109) |
|
4. Nashville Predators |
35 |
44 |
29 |
7 |
129(95) |
|
5. Dallas Stars |
30 |
45 |
30 |
5 |
125(95) |
|
6. Winnipeg Jets |
29 |
36 |
32 |
11 |
112(83) |
|
7. Chicago Blackhawks |
16 |
27 |
42 |
11 |
81(65) |
|
8. Arizona Coyotes |
17 |
23 |
50 |
7 |
70(53) |
PACIFIC DIVISION:
|
TEAM |
RW(3) |
WINS |
L |
OTL |
PTS |
|
1.Calgary Flames |
44 |
50 |
20 |
10 |
154(110) |
|
2. Edmonton Oilers |
38 |
47 |
27 |
6 |
138(100) |
|
3. Los Angeles Kings |
34 |
43 |
27 |
10 |
130(96) |
|
4. Vegas Golden Knights |
33 |
42 |
31 |
7 |
124(91) |
|
5. Vancouver Canucks |
32 |
39 |
30 |
11 |
121(89) |
|
6. San Jose Sharks |
22 |
32 |
35 |
12 |
98(76) |
|
7. Anaheim Ducks |
22 |
31 |
36 |
14 |
98(76) |
|
8. Seattle Kraken |
22 |
26 |
47 |
6 |
80(58) |
CURRENT WESTERN CONFERENCE PLAYOFF GLANCE:
Colorado Avalanche vs Dallas Stars(WC2)
ST Louis Blues vs Minnesota Wild
Calgary Flames vs Nashville Predators(WC1)
Edmonton Oilers vs Los Angeles Kings
WITH THREE POINT SYSTEM, THESE TEAMS WOULD BE IN THE PLAYOFF HUNT:
Vegas Golden Knights 124 points (Currently trail Stars by four points with two games left.)
Vancouver Canucks 121 points(Currently eliminated)
Observation:
While it wouldn’t change much, it would make for fascinating hockey until the last whistle of the regular season on April 29th. This would significantly benefit the Avalanche who would control their Presidents trophy fate, instead of fighting from behind against Florida.
WHY THE NHL SHOULD DO IT:
By this juncture, your thought bubble has extracted the phrase”What difference does it make?”, and my answer to you is that’s exactly why the league should implement it. I understand the traditional system and how it keeps older generations of the game involved, but at the very least the tie-breaking procedure should be changed to reflect what it’s like in basketball and football today. However, since the league has shown no signs of that, this can be something that all hockey fans, players, and owners can comprehend without making things sophisticated as they currently are. Like KD said, “if you can’t beat them, join them”.
