My proposal would aim to make regular season a little less boring and less of a grind by putting together 3 distinct Cups to play for in addition to the regular standings for the NHL Playoffs. All games would feel more meaningful as there would be multiple championships available to win during the year.
All of these games would be played throughout the year (out of order) with the final few games coming in late March for all these seperate tournaments.
-46 games ''NHL'' Cup : each teams play once against teams from the other conference (16 games) and twice against teams from their own conference (30 games). The top 8 teams ranked by points in this Cup would then enter a single-game elimination tournament, 1 vs 8 and 2 vs 7, etc, in order to determine the ''NHL'' Cup winner.
-12 games ''Rivals'' Cup : the NHL would determine 4-team sets that are considered ''rivals'' and would play each other in this tournament, for exemple Montreal, Toronto, Boston and Ottawa could play together. The top 2 teams at the end play a single-elimination game to determine the winner of the ''Rivals'' Cup. There would be 8 champions throughout the league.
-14 games ''Division'' Cup : each teams play their division teams twice (7 teams x 2 games). The top 2 teams at the end play a winner-takes-all elimination game to determine the winner of the ''Division'' Cup. There would be 4 Division champs throughout the league.
-The NHL Playoffs would go on as usual after the season (8 teams from the West, 8 teams from the East). All games played during these 3 Cups count as regular season games and teams are ranked according to the number of points they have won for the NHL Playoffs. This is meaningful because even if you lose too many games in a season Cup, you still need to play all-out because the points count towards your regular season total.
*Note: the final championship games of each Cup do not count towards regular season points total otherwise teams wouldn't end up with same number of games played.
Each winners of these Cups would be awarded money for the team, money for the MVP, and money towards charity of their choice.
All of these games would be played throughout the year (out of order) with the final few games coming in late March for all these seperate tournaments.
-46 games ''NHL'' Cup : each teams play once against teams from the other conference (16 games) and twice against teams from their own conference (30 games). The top 8 teams ranked by points in this Cup would then enter a single-game elimination tournament, 1 vs 8 and 2 vs 7, etc, in order to determine the ''NHL'' Cup winner.
-12 games ''Rivals'' Cup : the NHL would determine 4-team sets that are considered ''rivals'' and would play each other in this tournament, for exemple Montreal, Toronto, Boston and Ottawa could play together. The top 2 teams at the end play a single-elimination game to determine the winner of the ''Rivals'' Cup. There would be 8 champions throughout the league.
-14 games ''Division'' Cup : each teams play their division teams twice (7 teams x 2 games). The top 2 teams at the end play a winner-takes-all elimination game to determine the winner of the ''Division'' Cup. There would be 4 Division champs throughout the league.
-The NHL Playoffs would go on as usual after the season (8 teams from the West, 8 teams from the East). All games played during these 3 Cups count as regular season games and teams are ranked according to the number of points they have won for the NHL Playoffs. This is meaningful because even if you lose too many games in a season Cup, you still need to play all-out because the points count towards your regular season total.
*Note: the final championship games of each Cup do not count towards regular season points total otherwise teams wouldn't end up with same number of games played.
Each winners of these Cups would be awarded money for the team, money for the MVP, and money towards charity of their choice.
