Quote:
Originally Posted by btimbit
I don't mind it that much.
But when Seattle arrives and the divisions are balanced, just have 1-4 in each division make the playoffs. Easy peasy
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Add 4v5 play in games so there are no dead days between reg. season and round 1. Also mitigates a situation where a decent 5th place team could gripe about missing out compared to a worse 4th place team from another division (ie. this year Colorado would be 100% out and Arizona in)
If season were already over:
Colorado @ Dallas; winner plays NAS
Vancouver @ Arizona; winner plays CGY
Columbus @ Carolina; winner plays WAS
Florida @ Montreal; winner plays TBL
Actually, this format would make the last game of this season matter a lot more for all of the bubble teams; COL, DAL, CAR, and CBJ would all be fighting like hell for the right to host their play-in game.
Further advantage for each division winner, as their opponent will not get any extra rest, or be able to really start game planning until after their play-in game.
The NHL refuses to go to 3 pt games in order to keep more teams in the playoff hunt for longer. The 4v5 game would do a great job of that (though ideally I'd go to 3-2-1-0 pt structure, too)