Corey Hirsch column: The NHL's playoff system is broken
Do you ever wonder what it would be like to be commissioner of the National Hockey League for a day? What would you keep? What would you change?
The on-ice product is absolutely awesome right now. I applaud the NHL for making the game great again, as rule changes over the last few years have put the focus on skill and talent.
So, what would I change? My beef is with the playoff format.
The NHL playoff setup, to me, is confusing at best. A team can have a great regular season, and still find itself with a daunting early-round matchup.
In the Eastern Conference, the Washington Capitals (118 regular-season points and the Presidents' trophy) having to play the Pittsburgh Penguins (111 points) in the second round of the playoffs, while the Ottawa Senators (98 points) face the New York Rangers (102 points) makes no sense to me. Then you have the Columbus Blue Jackets (108 points) truly getting the shaft, facing the defending Stanley Cup champion in the first round.
How does this even begin to make sense? What’s the point of the regular season?
Washington scratched and clawed and beat itself up during an 82-game schedule to finish as the best regular-season team in the NHL. The reward? A second-round matchup against the reigning champ and the second-best team in the league.
Meanwhile, two teams with fewer points than either Washington or Pittsburgh are playing each other for the same payoff: a trip to the conference final.
So basically, Washington and Pittsburgh are being punished for playing in the more difficult Metropolitan Division, while Ottawa is being rewarded for competing in the less-competitive Atlantic.
If that's the case, why try so hard during the regular season? As a team, you might as well focus instead on staying healthy and just getting into the playoffs. Let the other teams beat the crap out of each other beforehand, because it doesn’t matter as long as you get in.
My solution?
I say rewarded your division winners as is, and scrap the wild card. Then, reseed after the first round.
With my method, the first round would have looked like this:
Washington (118 points, division winner) vs. Toronto (95)
Montreal (103, division winner) vs. Boston (95)
Pittsburgh (111) vs. Ottawa (98)
Columbus (108) vs. N.Y. Rangers (102)
It’s a simple change and rewards teams for better regular seasons. Columbus doing what it did, and then being punished by having to play Pittsburgh in the first round isn’t right.
Some might not like this, but hey, that’s the benefit of having a better regular season. If you don’t like it, then don’t complain to me about how the regular season means nothing.
Actually, maybe playing commissioner isn’t as fun as I thought. I can hear the booing and name-calling now.
So, Mr. Bettman, you can have your job. It will never matter who the head of the National Hockey league is - you’re definitely going to get booed.