WCF: Edmonton Oilers (P3) vs Dallas Stars (C2) - Oilers win 4-1

[trackercowe]

It also doesn't work when two divisions (Atlantic and Central) are clearly better than the other two. Washington won the Metro, yet three... maybe even four teams in the Atlantic could have beat them in round one. It needs to be 1 vs. 8, and there should be crossovers at some point. It's about time they allow for possible West vs. West or East vs. East finals.

[Tbull8]

Originally Posted by trackercowe

It also doesn't work when two divisions (Atlantic and Central) are clearly better than the other two. Washington won the Metro, yet three... maybe even four teams in the Atlantic could have beat them in round one. It needs to be 1 vs. 8, and there should be crossovers at some point. It's about time they allow for possible West vs. West or East vs. East finals.

Needs to be 1v8 and a reseed after each round. There should be an actual incentive to finish as high as possible

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by trackercowe

It also doesn't work when two divisions (Atlantic and Central) are clearly better than the other two. Washington won the Metro, yet three... maybe even four teams in the Atlantic could have beat them in round one. It needs to be 1 vs. 8, and there should be crossovers at some point. It's about time they allow for possible West vs. West or East vs. East finals.

For the most part 1v8 and 2v7 doesn't change but the 4v5 and 3v6 matchups are messed up.

The manufactured rivalries are not working. You won't get Detroit vs Colorado type bad blood.

Now we have the WCF which should be a 1st round matchup and ECF which should be a 1st round matchup.

[Manhattanboy]

Has anyone heard from Darryl Sutter? Curious what his take is on these things.

I miss him. Wish we had a do over on the unfinished business.

[trackercowe]

I'm curious with the concept where the higher ranked teams get to pick their opponents in the first round. Isn't that being tested out in the AHL? It might be a little too gimmicky, but having home ice isn't as much of an advantage as it once was. I wish there were more advantages to those teams finishing higher in the standings. Upsets are now expected, and rarely a surprise.

[PepsiFree]

1v8 works, and reseeding with conference crossovers after the 2nd or even 1st round would add some intrigue.

I don’t entirely mind the way it is now but it is a bit boring. The rivalry angle makes sense, but it hasn’t completely manifested itself in the way NHL intended. Sure, there’s storylines going into matchups like EDM/LA, but the storylines really just revolve around how one team is built to dominate the other and whether the other can overcome that. And considering the 3-5 year cycle of team building where contenders remain fairly similar in makeup, usually no, they aren’t. And if they do? Then that storyline is gone and they still might have to play each other the next year and it’ll be just another series.

I don’t expect it to or particularly care if it changes, but the current format definitely doesn’t do anything for me.

[YYC in LAX]

Originally Posted by Shazam

Skinner will also get a shutout. Guaranteed.

A shutout? You think Skinner is getting a shutout?
















Shutout.

[vilzeh]

Originally Posted by trackercowe

I'm curious with the concept where the higher ranked teams get to pick their opponents in the first round. Isn't that being tested out in the AHL? It might be a little too gimmicky, but having home ice isn't as much of an advantage as it once was. I wish there were more advantages to those teams finishing higher in the standings. Upsets are now expected, and rarely a surprise.

They had it in Sweden, not a good idea. Dropped it quickly, like 2 years tops, might have been only the one year.

[kevman]

Originally Posted by YYC in LAX

A shutout? You think Skinner is getting a shutout?
















Shutout.

Based on the way he's been playing? Probably.

Oilers fans, players, and the media owe him an apology. After being the scape goat for the teams poor performance, he's the sole reason they're up 2-1 in this series. Skinner gets all the blame for when the team lets him down and none of the glory when he steals them a game.

[Groot]

The NHL will only ever use a playoff format that let's them have a fixed playoff bracket, so reseeding will never happen again. Too much money in the fixed bracket.

https://bracketchallenge.nhl.com/en/home

They could do 2 division winners seeded 1-2 with 3-8 ranked normally, then stagger the 1 and 2 seeds. This would be the same as 1-8 95% of the time anyway.

1v8 (A1)
3v6 (A2)
2v7 (A3)
4v5 (A4)

2nd Round
A1 vs A2
A3 vs A4

For the West this year, that would have been..

Winnipeg vs St Louis
Dallas vs Edmonton
Vegas vs Minnesota
LA vs Colorado

For the East this year, that would have been..

Washington vs Montreal
Tampa vs Ottawa
Toronto vs NJ
Carolina vs Florida

[Erick Estrada]

Tampa and Colorado got totally screwed with this new format.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by Groot

The NHL will only ever use a playoff format that let's them have a fixed playoff bracket, so reseeding will never happen again. Too much money in the fixed bracket.

https://bracketchallenge.nhl.com/en/home

They could do 2 division winners seeded 1-2 with 3-8 ranked normally, then stagger the 1 and 2 seeds. This would be the same as 1-8 95% of the time anyway.

1v8 (A1)
3v6 (A2)
2v7 (A3)
4v5 (A4)

2nd Round
A1 vs A2
A3 vs A4

For the West this year, that would have been..

Winnipeg vs St Louis
Dallas vs Edmonton
Vegas vs Minnesota
LA vs Colorado

For the East this year, that would have been..

Washington vs Montreal
Tampa vs Ottawa
Toronto vs NJ
Carolina vs Florida

The NHL can absolutely do 1v8 and use the format you proposed for brackets. They are definitely obsessed with doing a bracket format. This follows was the NBA does but they do it a bit different.

1v8
4v5

2v7
3v6

This keeps 1 and 2 away from each other until the conference finals. This year they have 3v4 in the east and 1v7 in the west.

[kevman]

The Oilers are pretty heavy favourites coming into tonight's game. Hopefully they start believing their own hype. Money puck has had the Oilers as underdogs most games this playoffs so I'm hoping their model continues to be wrong.

[Chi-Town Hustler]

I'm ready to be disappointed again. Dallas better not lay another rotten egg.

[WideReceiver]

Go Canada’s team

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by WideReceiver

Go Canada’s team

Disgusting. Apologize at once.

[Finger Cookin]

Originally Posted by direwolf

McDavid is a perennial loser and doesn't deserve anything.

He deserves our spite, mockery, and hatred.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by WideReceiver

Go Canada’s team

Indeed! Go Dallas Go!

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by WideReceiver

Go Canada’s team

Panthers don’t play tonight.

[Chi-Town Hustler]

If the stars don't start actually hitting, they'll be done for quickly. Again.