We were having a discussion at work the other day about whether a hockey team could go 0-0-82 and still make the playoffs. While that's obviously never going to happen, the point-a-game pace has traditionally been the standard by how you judge a team's playoff chances. Generally, 82 points is good enough to be in the middle of the pack, which means it's borderline playoffs.
However, that's no longer the case in the NHL. Ever since they came back from Lockout 1.0 and decided that there would be no more ties, that means one of the teams is guaranteed to get two points in every game. So, out of the 1230 NHL games played every season, there are at least 2460 points to be handed out, plus the extra one for losing in overtime or a shootout. And that, of course, means the point totals to get into the playoffs have steadily increased.
Last year, there were 10 teams with 100 points, Minnesota had 98, and it took 91 to get into the playoffs. With the exception of Lockout 2.0, there have been multiple 100-point teams each season, and it's required at least 90 points to make the playoffs in all but two instances. In 2010, Philadelphia and Montreal both made it with 88. That's the lowest in the shootout era. That's it, only twice in 10 seasons. In 2007, Colorado had 95 points and finished ninth in the West! The same thing happened again with Dallas in 2011.
Anyway, my point is that the NHL standings have been skewed ever since shootouts have entered the equation. How well you do in shootouts might determine whether you make the postseason or not...or change your playoff seeding. This year's a perfect example. The Islanders are 7-1 in shootouts. Pittsburgh's 3-4. As a result, the Islanders have one more point than the Penguins and are currently in first place.
Being good at shootouts might be a key to playoff seeding, but they're a little misleading. There are no shootouts in the playoffs. Because of that, I decided to go back and adjust the NHL standings to the old pre-shootout days. There obviously aren't ties in the standings anymore, but if you take away the extra point you get for winning a shootout, the standings would look quite different:
Atlantic: Tampa Bay 72, Montreal 69, Detroit 69, Boston 61, Florida 54, Ottawa 49, Toronto 47, Buffalo 29
Metropolitan: Pittsburgh 69, Rangers 67, Islanders 66, Washington 66, Philadelphia 53, New Jersey 48, Columbus 45, Carolina 41
Central: Nashville 75, St. Louis 70, Chicago 64, Winnipeg 62, Minnesota 59, Dallas 56, Colorado 48
Pacific: Anaheim 70, San Jose 62, Vancouver 61, Calgary 60, Los Angeles 57, Arizona 43, Edmonton 37
As you can see, the results are kind of interesting. None of the 16 playoff teams would change, but some of the seedings certainly would. The Islanders would move from first to third in the Met, while Montreal would also drop out of first place.
A discussion of the international hockey point system also broke out. In international hockey, there are four columns in the standings. You get three points for a ROW, two for a shootout win, one for an OT/shootout loss, and zero for a regulation loss. This obviously works better in these short tournaments where there are fewer games, but it's interesting to see how things might look in the NHL if this was the format. Of course, it never will be. Because then everyone would have 100 points and there'd be teams hovering near 200 some seasons.
I still want to see how that would change things in the NHL, so lets see the way it would work:
Atlantic: Tampa Bay 106, Montreal 104, Detroit 100, Boston 91, Florida 78, Ottawa 70, Toronto 70, Buffalo 45
Metropolitan: Islanders 102, Pittsburgh 101, Rangers 99, Washington 95, Philadelphia 76, New Jersey 69, Columbus 68, Carolina 60
Central: Nashville 117, St. Louis 106, Chicago 97, Winnipeg 90, Minnesota 86, Dallas 81, Colorado 70
Pacific: Anaheim 105, Vancouver 91, San Jose 90, Calgary 90, Los Angeles 80, Arizona 63, Edmonton 53
Of course, none of this proves anything or makes any difference whatsoever. The NHL point format is fine and it's not going to change anytime soon. You've gotta admit it is kinda interesting, though. Those overtime/shootout points can prove to be quite a difference after all.
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