Playoff Format

[PromisedLand]

As fans what do you prefer?

1. Go back to conference based playoff match ups
   • 1 Vs 8, 2 Vs 7, 3 Vs 6, 4 Vs 5
2. No I prefer the divisional match ups the way they are now
3. Something else (Other: Discuss)

 

[AlwaysSunnyInTampa]

In order to win a Cup Tampa's going to have to beat

1. The best record in the NHL (FLA)
2. The 2nd best record in the NHL (COL)
3. The 4th best record in the NHL (TOR)
4. 8th best record in the NHL (NYR)

Literally the only way this could have been harder would be had CAR (3rd best record the NHL) beaten the NYR and it would've just been 1-2-3-4 in no particular order

Forget the threepeat for 2 seconds and realize just how f***ing nonsense that level of strength of schedule is. Now think about how it is literally because of divisional formatting that we gotta do the "LA Kings 8th seed in the West" route.


The divisional format needs to be abolished immediately along with complete and total divisional realignment

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

1v8, 2v7, etc is the best set up.

This forced divisional match ups are hurting the league by wasting conference finals match ups in the first round.

I'm a Bruins fan, but let's be honest Tampa vs Toronto should've been the ECF.

You can't force rivalries artificially and they're trying to do that with this crap

 

[Price is Wright]

Bring back the 1981 format.

 

[Big Daddy Cane]

Assuming 2 divisions with the winners seeded 1 and 2, Toronto would have faced Boston in a 3 v 6. That’s no soft matchup. The Bruins were really good this past season; don’t let the 1st round loss to a better team fool you.

Facing really good teams in succession is life in the East in this era. Timing is important and it doesn’t look promising at this time for a lot of teams.

 

[thaman8765678]

I like the divisional format because it ensures the Leafs will never win a playoff series again.

 

[BrettHullsToe]

In order to win a Cup Tampa's going to have to beat

1. The best record in the NHL (FLA)
2. The 2nd best record in the NHL (COL)
3. The 4th best record in the NHL (TOR)
4. 8th best record in the NHL (NYR)

Literally the only way this could have been harder would be had CAR (3rd best record the NHL) beaten the NYR and it would've just been 1-2-3-4 in no particular order

Forget the threepeat for 2 seconds and realize just how f***ing nonsense that level of strength of schedule is. Now think about how it is literally because of divisional formatting that we gotta do the "LA Kings 8th seed in the West" route.


The divisional format needs to be abolished immediately along with complete and total divisional realignment

Yes, this is what happens when a team coasts through the regular season and ends up with a lower seed. There's no bonus standings points for being a 2-time Cup winner.

If the playoffs were 1v8, Tampa would have most likely faced NYR, then FLA, and then CAR (or possibly TOR) - so same thing, different order. If you want an "easier" trip to the finals, then play harder in the regular season.


Unless you're arguing for 1v16, in which case, good luck convincing NHL owners who have to pay for the extra travel, the NHLPA who have to suffer through the extra travel, and the networks who have to deal with worse ratings due to East vs West time zones making a mess of start times.

On top of that, do fans even want to deal with East vs West starting right from round 1? Away games possibly starting at either 4 PM or 10 PM? Yuck.

 

[AlwaysSunnyInTampa]

Yes, this is what happens when a team coasts through the regular season and ends up with a lower seed. There's no bonus standings points for being a 2-time Cup winner.

If the playoffs were 1v8, Tampa would have most likely faced NYR, then FLA, and then CAR (or possibly TOR) - so same thing, different order. If you want an "easier" trip to the finals, then play harder in the regular season.


Unless you're arguing for 1v16, in which case, good luck convincing NHL owners who have to pay for the extra travel, the NHLPA who have to suffer through the extra travel, and the networks who have to deal with worse ratings due to East vs West time zones making a mess of start times.

On top of that, do fans even want to deal with East vs West starting right from round 1? Away games possibly starting at either 4 PM or 10 PM? Yuck.

I'm proposing 1 vs 8. You are consistently being punished for having a great division. Not how you finished that year. The East was as follows

1. FLA
2. CAR
3. TOR
4. NYR
5. TBL
6. BOS
7. PIT
8. WAS

But that's not what we got

We got
1 vs 8
2 vs 6
3 vs 5
4 vs 7

Edit: had a longer response and forget it. The ECF was a 1st round matchup. A better season for Tampa means winning the President's Trophy. That having to be the benchmark to escape 2 vs 3 in divisions is whacked out. Boston was forced to play Carolina for that reason alone.

The East being the bloodbath it was this year exposes the flaws of the divisional format worse than we have ever seen before and it needs to stop. Tampa was not this dead last team. They've had to play 1, 2, 4 and 8 (or 7 if you wanna count that NYR had home ice) with 110 points in the regular season.

That is f***ed up

 

[Johnny Tomala]

Bring back 1-8, 2-7, 3-6, 4-5. Seeding based on points, not on being division winners. Re-sedding after every round.

 

[Sky04]

In order to win a Cup Tampa's going to have to beat

1. The best record in the NHL (FLA)
2. The 2nd best record in the NHL (COL)
3. The 4th best record in the NHL (TOR)
4. 8th best record in the NHL (NYR)

Literally the only way this could have been harder would be had CAR (3rd best record the NHL) beaten the NYR and it would've just been 1-2-3-4 in no particular order

Forget the threepeat for 2 seconds and realize just how f***ing nonsense that level of strength of schedule is. Now think about how it is literally because of divisional formatting that we gotta do the "LA Kings 8th seed in the West" route.


The divisional format needs to be abolished immediately along with complete and total divisional realignment

The divisional format doesn't punish Tampa, it punishes teams who did well in the regular season who have to play Tampa early. We can all troll the leafs but to finish 4th in the league and have to playof TB first is a stinker. This format demeans the regular season more.

 

[Rosy Cheeks]

As a european fan of a central division team I do not want my team to risk having to start their away games at 04:30 in the morning so I prefer divisional matchups until the WCF.

If Arizona gets relocated and Detroit or Columbus have to switch to the central I think they might refuse if they have to travel to the west coast too much.

 

[member 305909]

Divisions and conferences make sense in the regular season when it is wiser to play more often against teams which are close to you.

However, in the playoffs the divisions and conferences should be forgotten. It should be 1-16, 2-15 etc.

However, divisions and conferences have become institutions in themselves. What should be called as Stanley Cup-semifinals ate actually called as Conference-finals.

 

[JKG33]

I remember having this format from day 1 and being told I was overreacting. 10 years later and pretty much every season we've seen some kind of f***ed seed imbalance because of this format. It doesn't take a rocket surgeon to have foreseen this was going to happen.

This is the big leagues. They can afford to travel out of division starting in round 1. Bring back 1v8 with a reseed every round.

 

[Danny__K]

Love the divisional format and the guarantee of more rivalry matchups.

If ya wanna be the best ya gotta beat the best, sometimes the matchups break in your favour and sometimes they don't.

 

[Calad]

Divisional playoff structure is stupid. Manufactured drama for the first 2 rounds under the guise of "less travel". Bring me back the conference standings where 1st and 2nd seed are the 2 division winners.

 

[meatwad4343]

I mean if I was a leafs fan I'd sure be hating the current format

 

[sonic92]

I've never understood the complaints of "we should have to face X in the 3rd round, not the 1st or 2nd round."

If there's a particular team you know you have to get through, what difference does it make in what round you face them?

Besides, did these divisional playoff format "complaints" exist in the 80's and early 90's?

 

[TropicOfNoReturn]

To win the cup you have to be able to beat anyone. So who cares if you have to play better teams earlier? Likely you are healthier.

When matchups occur doesn't matter to me. The best team comes out of it and wins the Cup no matter what.

 

[wetcoast]

In order to win a Cup Tampa's going to have to beat

1. The best record in the NHL (FLA)
2. The 2nd best record in the NHL (COL)
3. The 4th best record in the NHL (TOR)
4. 8th best record in the NHL (NYR)

Literally the only way this could have been harder would be had CAR (3rd best record the NHL) beaten the NYR and it would've just been 1-2-3-4 in no particular order

Forget the threepeat for 2 seconds and realize just how f***ing nonsense that level of strength of schedule is. Now think about how it is literally because of divisional formatting that we gotta do the "LA Kings 8th seed in the West" route.


The divisional format needs to be abolished immediately along with complete and total divisional realignment

I wonder how often (if TB wins) this has been beaten in a 16 team playoff?

I voted other but realize that it will never happen but I would like to see a 1-16, 2-15 ect and then eastern teams wouldn't have the travel advantage that they do.

But it will never happen as they would oppose it and Bettman could never get it through as it would cost more money with travel ct....

 

[Braunbaer]

In order to win a Cup Tampa's going to have to beat

1. The best record in the NHL (FLA)
2. The 2nd best record in the NHL (COL)
3. The 4th best record in the NHL (TOR)
4. 8th best record in the NHL (NYR)

Literally the only way this could have been harder would be had CAR (3rd best record the NHL) beaten the NYR and it would've just been 1-2-3-4 in no particular order

Forget the threepeat for 2 seconds and realize just how f***ing nonsense that level of strength of schedule is. Now think about how it is literally because of divisional formatting that we gotta do the "LA Kings 8th seed in the West" route.


The divisional format needs to be abolished immediately along with complete and total divisional realignment

It's not only that, but you just know that Tampa will be playing Toronto and Florida in the first 2 rounds next season as well.

At some point you might ask yourself "we even bother with the regular season?".

 

[G50]

It just makes far more sense in the AHL than the NHL. Don't know why the NHL likes copying AHL's changes lol. What's next? A best of 3 play-in like MLB and AHL 2022 every year? The reason it works in the AHL is that inner-divisional games are what teams have been doing the entire season, so it makes sense for that format.

 

[stealth1]

I love the division format. The only I would change is ditch the wildcards. Top 4 in each division get in. Similar to how it was in the 80s.
It's funny how many here say hint at not wanting to see the same teams play each other year and year. During the regular season the division games sell more then every other game.

 

[AuraSphere]

I've never understood the complaints of "we should have to face X in the 3rd round, not the 1st or 2nd round."

If there's a particular team you know you have to get through, what difference does it make in what round you face them?

Besides, did these divisional playoff format "complaints" exist in the 80's and early 90's?

To win the cup you have to be able to beat anyone. So who cares if you have to play better teams earlier? Likely you are healthier.

When matchups occur doesn't matter to me. The best team comes out of it and wins the Cup no matter what.

See - realistically it shouldn't matter. But then you have the entire HFBoards (especially Oilers fans) bashing the Leafs for being a bad team and appreciating the Oilers for making it to the WCF.


It's quite obvious to anyone without bias TOR is the better team - but most of HFBoards won't see it that way because all that matters is "rounds won"

 

[ES]

While Lightning has won previous two Cups they didn't have a brilliant regular season.

In the four-round format, Devils 1995 and Kings 2012 have won the Cup while starting all rounds with away games. Lightning would join that list.

 

[MessierII]

1-8 2-7 etc was never a thing

It was top division winner #1 second division winner #2 third division winner #3. #3 division winner sometimes had less than the 4 seed back when the southeast division was pathetic with Tampa, Florida, Atlanta, Washington, Carolina.