Comments on: NHL, NHLPA reportedly discussing 20-team postseason

By: klownboy

klownboy — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 22:15:46 +0000

Way to reward mediocrity NHL

By: jtrain1966

jtrain1966 — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 05:28:14 +0000

This is the problem with society nowadays . It seems like everybody has to get a trophy for participation ! NEWS FLASH, If you weren’t good enough to finish on the podium, you don’t deserve JACK S#!T ! But, that’s just my humble opinion .

By: klownboy

klownboy — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 21:10:37 +0000

20 teams in the playoffs?! I get the NHL wants to make money and increase fan interest whenever the hell the lockout ends, but what is the NHL trying to be? The NCAA tournament???

By: omniusprime

omniusprime — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 13:58:47 +0000

This is the kind of scummy nonsense that the NHL is famous for, letting too many garbage teams into the playoffs. There aren’t 16 teams worthy of playoff contention much less 20. A bad idea to sucker NHL fans into wasting more of their hard earned money on a bunch of padded sissies on ice with hockey sticks applied directly to foreheads. Hopefully there won’t be any playoffs this year.

By: rainyday56

rainyday56 — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 08:33:33 +0000

Listen, adding teams to the playoff mix makes a ton of sense to me. Look what happened last year. The lard-arse Kings (sorry Blom) backed into 8th place and won it all. One could argue that the true Stanley Cup champ (could be Dallas or the Jets) never made the playoffs last year. Now with 20 playoff spots available, LA would even have a chance to repeat.

By: nothanksimdriving123

nothanksimdriving123 — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 07:03:54 +0000

Good golly, even labeling my comment sarcasm seems not to have been clear enough for some of the dimmer bulbs here. No place for a diagram so let me be clear: I dislike the idea of hockey in June, so extending the playoffs would thus strike me as a bad idea. Get it?

By: midwestwarrior

midwestwarrior — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 01:21:31 +0000

the NHL sure is trying hard to make sure toronto makes the playoffs every year. that is the only reason for this proposal is to do all they can for the lame leafs to somehow make the playoffs

By: nyrnashty

nyrnashty — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 23:12:37 +0000

More than half of NHL teams already make the playoffs 2/3 would be ridiculous. If the league ever decides to increase the number of playoff teams, regular season games should be cheaper to the fans since they wouldn’t matter as much as they do now. Some think 16 teams is already too much.Just my opinion.

By: atwatercrushesokoye

atwatercrushesokoye — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 22:39:23 +0000

Eliotte Friedman talked about this on Prime Time Sports last Friday, apparently this is a one time thing only for this season, the reason being that one bad week could kill a team and drive fans away. I’m not sure I believe it’s just a one year thing, I think it’s a one year test with the possibility that it will last if it’s successful.

If they really going to do something like the for a year I think I’d prefer they just have every team play a 25 game seeding round, rank them 1-30 and have every team compete in an elimination tournament for the Stanley Cup. Because of numbers you’d either have to give the top 2 teams a first round bye or the top remaining team a second round bye. My final twist would be that 1 doesn’t necessarily play 30, instead one gets to pick their opponent then 2 then 3 and so on.

Granted my idea is ridiculous but I think it makes as much sense as having 2/3 of the league make the playoffs.

By: dprouse

dprouse — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 22:38:59 +0000

Beware of unintended consequences. Expanding the playoffs leaves more teams home and cooled out in the last few weeks of the season, their playoff spot secure and nothing to play for. These teams will, predictably, start resting guys and filling the lineup with rookies. This means fewer meaningful games down the stretch, and less fan interest.

It also cheapens the playoffs themselves. Fans aren’t stupid, and you’ll see some early playoff games with lots of empty seats. Fans will be waiting for the “real” playoffs to start in round two. You see this in junior hockey in Canada – 16 out of 20 teams in each league make the playoffs, so the first round is a snoozer with zero fan excitement. Leave it the way it is right now…

By: richc111

richc111 — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 22:35:55 +0000

I can tell you exactly what this is all about. It is about increasing revenue, PERIOD! This is a way to pad the pockets of the owners and the players at the fans expense. This is what happens when you have a system of salaries that is built off of revenues. More teams in the playoff means more money.

By: sadhockeyfan

sadhockeyfan — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 22:19:18 +0000

Why bother talking about a post season? Lets start a season first a-holes! Greed greed greed. Ugh!

By: inhokewetrust

inhokewetrust — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 22:00:22 +0000

So let me get this straight….the league made 200 million dollars the leafs made 150 million on their own….and NOW the league wants to expand playoffs to ensure leafs make money…”THE LEAFS RULE” ensures the league makes money…wow

By: tatdue

tatdue — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 21:36:57 +0000

Ya sure buddy having more teams make the playoffs is going to make the players better passers and stop blocking shots ~ Can I have some of what you’re smoking?

By: phillyphanatic77

phillyphanatic77 — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 21:23:15 +0000

There are a few problems with the current divisions but I absolutely hate the four conference idea. When they proposed it I was very disappointed. And now expanding the playoffs?? These guys are so greedy it’s beyond belief. The nhl playoffs might be the most exciting tournament in sports, and they want to water it down for a few extra bucks? Disgraceful. It would almost completely eliminate all meaning for a regular season. One of the best games I’ve seen was the regular season finale in 09-10 when the Flyers played the Rangers for a final playoff spot, and the Flyers ended up winning in a shootout and made a run to the finals. If 2/3 of the league is qualifying for the playoffs it will make those types of contests extremely rare. Leave the current system alone! The people running this league would sell their collective souls for a little extra on the bottom line.

By: tatdue

tatdue — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 21:21:01 +0000

Watch movies or something buddy ~ changing the playoff format is not a good idea especially for that reason ~ personally I think Kypreos is just running out of stuff to talk about so he justmade this crap up…..

By: ironmike778

ironmike778 — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 20:35:29 +0000

How about leaving it at 16 teams but eliminate Anaheim, Florida, Carolina, Phoenix, Columbus, and Nashville from existence? Works for me.

By: sportsinhd

sportsinhd — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 20:31:38 +0000

The playoffs aren’t broken, but divisional alignment certainly is. There’s something completely wrong about a team in the Eastern Time Zone being forced to drop the puck at 10:30 Eastern because their playoff opponent is in the Pacific Time Zone. Fans have jobs, fans have to work, it’s hard to justify staying up until 2:00 in the morning to watch a playoff game (or a regular season game, and this type of thing happens a lot if you are a fan of the Wings).

Hockey will always have more teams tilting towards the East and Midwest, that’s just how it is, and Western Conference Teams will always be forced to log more miles, happens in every sport. But the start times problem has to be fixed.

By: mattyo99

mattyo99 — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 20:24:56 +0000

Thats all about the nhl & owners tryin to make more $$ from tv networks and ticket sales…i think less teams should make it, but i still like the format now

By: kpickup

kpickup — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 20:14:53 +0000

bradd94- Thank you for clarfying. I realize that you are not trying to be sexist. I understand what you say when you mean that you want the NHL to focus on expanding their fan base (I totally agree with you, by the way). Additionally, women are not the only market the NHL should expand in to. For example, what people living in more southern cities who aren’t as familiar with hockey? I’m not trying to attack you, but in the future, I would suggest considering word choice before posting.

By: bricktop02

bricktop02 — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 20:06:41 +0000

If it’s not broken don’t fix it.

By: antkowiak666

antkowiak666 — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 19:48:07 +0000

20!?!?why not just put all 30 teams in then.

By: elvispocomo

elvispocomo — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 19:42:52 +0000

Or you could just say it’s more confusing to new fans – nothing to do with women, kids, elderly, foreign, etc. Why put a label on it that doesn’t have to be there?

By: bradd94

bradd94 — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 19:38:45 +0000

Guys, there needs to be giant bumpers on the ice to distract play. You can pass/shoot and deflect off these bumpers. This will create a whole new aspect for the game of hockey.

Everybody loves bumper pool. And everyone loves hockey. LET’S COMBINE THEM!

By: shortsxit34

shortsxit34 — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 19:35:39 +0000

Sure, why not? Except instead of 20, make it 30 teams.
And instead of being “eliminated,” they get participation medals. In the interest of fairness, every player gets their name on the Cup, regardless of team.
Oh, and each arena should get rid of their scoreboards, because they should no longer keep score.
Instead of a siren or horn going off when a goal is scored, applause will be played for the goalie to tell him “Good try, buddy! You almost had it.”
The goal light will now be yellow. Red is too negative of a color.
Players will no be allowed to celebrate when scoring. Instead they should shake hands with the goalie while both teams politely give both players a standing ovation. Fist bumps are acceptable.
Goalie’s should no longer have different gear. It’s unfair for them to have special equipment as it gives them a distinct advantage.
The puck and ice will be the same color to prevent allegations of racism.
Oh, and players get orange slices at intermission.

By: bradd94

bradd94 — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 19:34:59 +0000

I realized it sounded sexist and that’s why I clarified. Read more clear before posting next time please.

By: bradd94

bradd94 — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 19:34:05 +0000

Kpickup, i’m not being sexist i’m stating a fact. Sports leagues main focus is to attract new customers. They say they are “appealing to new customers” and they want to attract the younger and female crowd. So no, it is not sexist.

The point of the whole statement is if you complicate the rules, more people will tune out. I’m pretty damn knowledgeable about sports but if you complicate the situation it’s not fun anymore.

By: whatthepuck2012

whatthepuck2012 — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 19:26:37 +0000

Raveman I agree…why in the hell are they discussing this? They have more important things to be figuring out, IMO.

By: comeonnowguys

comeonnowguys — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 19:22:55 +0000

You cannot leave the divisions alone. You can’t have Winnepeg in the SE.

By: trick9

trick9 — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 19:13:53 +0000

This idea would work for this season only because the regular season will be so short.

Would this work every season though? No way.