The current playoffs format is BROKEN

[GIN ANTONIC]

It’s worse on weeknight games than weekends.
Look at the viewership thread in the business of hockey, the west coast games are always lower, with weekday games being worse.

My point is that even in the current system you have time zone issues that are worse than what might happen with east-west intermingling.

I guess scheduling as is would be better for the first 2 rounds because you are 'in division' so time zones are the same or very close. Conference final for the west could be bad though if you have Central time playing Pacific time. East coast is obviously going to be fine no matter what.

 

[Summer Rose]

Actually there was, when there were 3 divisions winners getting 1-3, there was always one weak division..

One of the ideas I had to help mitigate this factor was more of just copying another league (in this case the Arena Football League) than my own idea: for the purposes of matchups, don't give out the top three seeds to the division winners automatically (of course, the 1 seed would still always go to a division winner). Then, to give division winners at least somewhat of a reward for winning their division, guarantee them home ice advantage in their first-round series.

At the time I had that thought, I gave no consideration to the possible scenario where the worst division winner finished 8th in the conference, or any other combination of results would result in two division winners facing each other in the first round. I don't really have any ideas to solve that issue, except maybe perhaps bumping the division winner up one seed until you end up with first round matchups that don't involve two division winners against each other.

Another format that helps a bit was copying the NBA's format at the time (which they still might do). The team with the best record that does not win its division can get as high as the 2 seed if they have a better record than one of the division winners.

Obviously, none of these really apply anymore since we now have 2 divisions of 8 teams each rather than 3 divisions per conference. I suppose you could rearrange it to do 1-8 and assign seeds based on record alone, without guaranteeing the top 2 seeds to the two division winners, I guess.

Edit: by now, however, my opinion is that I don't really care either way. To me, the point of the playoffs is to crown a champion and nothing else. I'm not really bothered about the order in which the eventual champion has to defeat their opponents, nor how the matchups are determined along the way.

 

[I Hate Blake Coleman]

This is one of those "you don't know what you have until it's gone" moments but the current format leaves a lot to be desired. LA vs Edmonton four years in a row is not entertaining.

Go back to 1v8 but division winners are not guaranteed playoff births. That way, you can avoid having a lower seed take the 3 spot and get a home ice advantage over potentially better teams in the 4-6 range.

 

[sampollock]

call me crazy
but I liked

1-16 format

 

[T REX]

Travel wouldn't be much of an issue with 2-3-2 format, but I get the point about scheduling and viewership. It would be trickier but maybe that means more 4-6pm weekend starts on the west coast and more 8pm starts on the east coast. It would really depend on the teams playing.

For example, Chicago is in the west but they are closer to east coast time than west coast time. It they were playing an east coast team having 7 or 7:30pm EST starts would be better for the media and fanbases vs them playing in LA at 7 or 7:30pm PST.

1-8 seeding has a much better chance of happening than 1-16 all across NA

That would be dumber than this crap format.

There's a reason all the major conferences have an EAST vs WEST format(baseball being the oddball but they have massive viewership problems as it stands)

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

LA vs Edmonton four years in a row is not entertaining.

Just using this post as a place to ask a question.

Isn't the assumption that LA versus EDM four years in a row is exactly what this format was meant to give us? Kinda? Rivalries? Building/making them, in the playoffs.

 

[Summer Rose]

Just using this post as a place to ask a question.

Isn't the assumption that LA versus EDM four years in a row is exactly what this format was meant to give us? Kinda? Rivalries? Building/making them, in the playoffs.

I would assume so, and they're going by the adage that familiarity breeds contempt. I don't personally think it's working out very well, but I'd assume that's what they were going for.

 

[Curufinwe]

1-8 seeding has a much better chance of happening than 1-16 all across NA

That would be dumber than this crap format.

There's a reason all the major conferences have an EAST vs WEST format(baseball being the oddball but they have massive viewership problems as it stands)

Yeah, 1-16 would be a waste of time and money spent on travel. And the broadcasters don't want to deal with a 1st round matchup like Washington-Calgary or LA-Fla where half the games games would have to start at 9pm or later.

Win - NJ
Was - Cal
VGK - StL
Tor - Min
Dal - Ott
LA - Fla
Col - Car
TB - Edm

 

[VaporTrail]

The old format wasn't broke so the league had to try and fix it.

 

[SirJW]

The NHL wants brackets, this is the only way to do it. They are not gonna change as long as sports gambling is encouraged by the league.

 

[VivaLasVegas]

Why is the league hell bent on this terrible format? And why is there not more noise about it among execs, media and fans?

Heh, like the fans matter ... much less the media. For whatever reason, this is the format that the NHL and NHLPA want and have agreed on, so we're stuck with it unless and until they decide on something else.

[Personally, I would like to see a straight 1-16 but doubt that the NHLPA will go for that because of the cross-continent travel for some matchups which is now reserved for only the SCF.]

 

[Pez68]

The 1 vs. 8 format was better. It's not even really debatable. The playoffs should get better as it goes on. As it stands, some of the best matchups happen in round 1... and the conference finals tend to be boring. I don't think that's the intent? I want the two best teams in the conference battling to see who goes to the SCF. Not battling to see who sweeps their next opponent.

 

[Mr. Fancy Pants]

This format is better. Win your division -> win the conference -> win the cup. You know who you're going to play the next round without needing reseeding. I like seeing the same matchups again - you get to see better how teams have changed.

The season after the 1 vs 8 format was adopted there were 4 SCF sweeps in a row.

 

[ES]

It's funny that three different teams have won the Pacific division regular season in the midst of four series between Oilers and Kings who have always been 2nd and 3rd.

Flames in 2022
Golden Knights in 2023
Canucks in 2024
Golden Knights in 2025

 

[Nikishin al Gaib]

Its funny, I remember the hand wringing about the old 1-8 because people were upset the Southeast, made up of who is now Washington, Carolina, Florida and Winnipeg, would get home ice in the first round.

Funny how people want to change the rules again now that those teams made up 4 of the final 8 in the playoffs.

 

[KingsFan7824]

1-8 seeding has a much better chance of happening than 1-16 all across NA

That would be dumber than this crap format.

There's a reason all the major conferences have an EAST vs WEST format(baseball being the oddball but they have massive viewership problems as it stands)

Then the leagues should have East and West then. But they don't. They have the Eastern time zone, and then whatever is left over goes in the other group. Chicago and Nashville are much closer to Detroit, or Boston, than they are to LA, or Edmonton, but they're in the conference with the Kings and Oilers. Dallas is closer to Wash DC than LA. Split the league into an eastern half, and a western half, go 1-12 in the East, 1-4 in the West.

The NFL is split the same way as MLB. Why? Because it was a merging of two leagues in each case, with teams in both spread out over the country. The NHL and NBA both absorbed teams from a rival league. Chicago is even in the Eastern conference in the NBA.

 

[Machinehead]

Just using this post as a place to ask a question.

Isn't the assumption that LA versus EDM four years in a row is exactly what this format was meant to give us? Kinda? Rivalries? Building/making them, in the playoffs.

But it hasn't done that. I don't know one neutral fan who's changing their plans to watch an Oilers-Kings game.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

But it hasn't done that. I don't know one neutral fan who's changing their plans to watch an Oilers-Kings game.

But it's not the fault of the league/plan/format.

 

[Machinehead]

But it's not the fault of the league/plan/format.

When the format was put in to build rivalries, the format forced those two teams together several times, and still nobody really cares about the matchup, then it is a failure of the format.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

When the format was put in to build rivalries, the format forced those two teams together several times, and still nobody really cares about the matchup, then it is a failure of the format.

That two teams (LA and Edmonton for example) haven't developed a rivalry that produces games people want to watch is absolutely not a failure of the format. It is doing exactly what was intended. It's a failure of the clubs and/or the players.

 

[Pucklington]

I used real life to simulate the results of the 2024-2025 playoffs, and it looks like the 2 best teams will play in the Finals.

 

[Machinehead]

That two teams (LA and Edmonton for example) haven't developed a rivalry that produces games people want to watch is absolutely not a failure of the format. It is doing exactly what was intended. It's a failure of the clubs and/or the players.

Or perhaps the format is built on a flawed concept that just playing each other a bunch of times with no significant recent history or incident builds rivalries.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

I used real life to simulate the results of the 2024-2025 playoffs, and it looks like the 2 best teams will play in the Finals.

Yes but real life and simulations are the two things we hate the most.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

Or perhaps the format is built on a flawed concept that just playing each other a bunch of times with no significant recent history or incident builds rivalries.

Now we're talking. But every format is subject to being flawed because there's one thing they all have in common. They all, for whatever reason, necessitate the playing of actual games.

 

[Fatass]

1 vs 8 2 for 7 and so on. That's the way to go

Isn’t it already?
This current system has 1-8 and 2-7.
The Conferences don't play a balanced schedule between the divisions, so to get a true 1-8, 2-7, and so on that would need to change and then there’s no point in having divisions.