The North-East division.

[PB]

Is the North-East division the strongest in its Conference ?

It most likely is. What would then be the disadvantages...or advantages if any,..of a team belonging to such grouping ?

[Tony_]

Yes it is.

Advantages...well we get to see the best match ups in the NHL.

Disadvantages...well so much competition in the division that it's going to be hard getting a playoff spot. Right now, if we assume Ottawa will completly dominate and hold onto the first spot in the division, only 5 other playoff spots will be up for grabs since the other two will go to the leaders of the other two divisions in the Eastern Conference.

If you do the math, the odds are slim for the remaining four teams in the Northeast clenching a playoff spot when there's so much competition in the remainder of the Conference.

[shortcat1]

Originally posted by PB

Is the North-East division the strongest in its Conference ?

It most likely is. What would then be the disadvantages...or advantages if any,..of a team belonging to such grouping ?

Everywhere I've read, it says that the North-Eastern division is the toughest in the LEAGUE.

As to disadvantages, it's pretty obvious. It'll be harder to get enough points to make it to the playoffs, especially if you're one of the weaker of those teams because of the high number of inter-divisional games to be played. :puke:

As to advantages, if you make the playoffs, you can be assured that, at the very least, you should be one of the stronger contenders (if the other teams in your division haven't seriously damaged your players :puke: ).

Pros & cons... always to be considered.

1998 - ho-hum, sleepy hollow time in Sudbury...:zzz:

[PB]

What is the logic behind the decision that gave outright play-off participation to division's leaders regardless of their accumulated points ?

[shortcat1]

Originally posted by PB

What is the logic behind the decision that gave outright play-off participation to division's leaders regardless of their accumulated points ?

Is this a snap-quiz question? I didn't study for that, you know... it wasn't on the reading list... does that mean that I have to redo it or something? I don't know the answer to that one...:puke:

2002 - bought a 2001 Toyota Echo - traveled out to Edmonton & back - very comfortable car.

[BTH]

Hey I've got an Echo now (Obviosuly I don't drive, though).

Anway, a major disadvatage is that we play Ottawa 8 times along with Boston 8 times. Toronto and Buffalo are average. Our division will only have 3 playoff teams this year insted of four.

Not really any advantages except that the playoffs will seem easy after playing tough teams through the entire season.

[PB]

My English is limited shorcat1 but I think I get the humourus tone of your post,...but my question conscerning my interest to know the reasons that are behind giving previledge access to play-off for dvisional leaders stem from the fact that I see that situation as being unfair.

The new CAP limits gives fairness to all teams.....more skillfull GM and organisations will be rewarded as a result.

To the contrary I find divisional leaders's privilege to be unfair as far as a way to decide which teams deserved best a play-off participation........and it bug me,....well enought anyway to ask why does it have to be this way.

[redondo]

Well I would say another side effect of more divisional play is that with emphasis on all the rivalries, you also end up being more banged up come playoff time due to the intensity of the games. Yes in theory the new rules should cut down on some of the dirty stuff, but in reality our best friend Darcy Tucker and those like him will still be looking for an opportunity to take someone out every chance he gets.

As far as the Division leaders making it into the playoffs over other teams with more points, yeah it's unfair, part of the reason may be that the league wants to make sure enough regions are represented, so that fans of teams from sucky divisions and non-hockey markets that didn't make it to the dance still maintain some interest throughout the playoffs.

[shortcat1]

Originally posted by PB

My English is limited shorcat1 but I think I get the humourus tone of your post,...but my question conscerning my interest to know the reasons that are behind giving previledge access to play-off for dvisional leaders stem from the fact that I see that situation as being unfair.

The new CAP limits gives fairness to all teams.....more skillfull GM and organisations will be rewarded as a result.

To the contrary I find divisional leaders's privilege to be unfair as far as a way to decide which teams deserved best a play-off participation........and it bug me,....well enought anyway to ask why does it have to be this way.

C'est vrai, PB que je faisais une blague.

Quant à tes inquiétudes à ce sujet, elles sont très comprenables. Je dois avouer que je n'ai pas vraiment la réponse ou même où la trouver. J'imagine que le raisonement est que la ligue veut encourager la présence de plus de spectateurs en développant des sens de rivalité et une très bonne façon de le faire c'est d'avoir plus de match en dedans d'une division. Peut-être qu'ils pensent, qu'à la longue, les divisions deviendront de plus en plus égales en force avec une plus grand parité dans la ligue. Est-ce cela LA réponse? Je ne le sais pas. :eyes::eyes:

[kaos]

THe biggest advantage is that Montreal plays the best teams 8 times each. When you play better teams, you get better yourself. It will only help in the long term development of the younger players.

[JLP]

correct me if I'm wrong but it seems a relatively geographically tight division, so less total travel time for the NE teams.

[simonus]

definitely correct. It's basically the hockey corridor. Not to mention that the northeast has the highest population density in the US

[johnnyhasbeen]

Why Div leaders? simple, they are trying to sell this game to Americans, make it easy to understand, like football. Make sure some lame teams from the south have to make it. Then the stands will be half full instead of half empty down there

[simonus]

this might have been true at one point, but we should note that Tampa Bay led the Eastern Conference with 106 pts and that even without the benefit of division spots, the San Jose Sharks would have been 2nd (above Colorado) in the West.

[shortcat1]

Originally posted by johnnyhasbeen

Why Div leaders? simple, they are trying to sell this game to Americans, make it easy to understand, like football. Make sure some lame teams from the south have to make it. Then the stands will be half full instead of half empty down there

that's a bit sarcastic but i imagine that it's a means to follow an already accepted format with the other sports. in baseball, it's the top teams of each division (+ the best second to make it 4). it's likely that this is the best method to move on from the regular season to the post-season. ironically, the best of one division might only finish third in the other two but that's the system that's in place.

[redondo]

Originally posted by simonus

this might have been true at one point, but we should note that Tampa Bay led the Eastern Conference with 106 pts and that even without the benefit of division spots, the San Jose Sharks would have been 2nd (above Colorado) in the West.

True, however they can't be changing the rules every few years, and the current setup is a pretty surefire way to ensure at least couple of the teams from the Nascar markets make it to the dance every year.

In Montreal or Toronto, if you miss playoffs for 10 years straight, you may have yourself a riot, but you're still gonna have a hockey team no matter what. Even as Cup winners, if TB were to suck for that long, I don't see them staying put.

However with the new CBA and the parity that's supposed to take place it may be a moot point. I for one am for having the best 16 teams play every year, it must suck to be fighting for a full regular season just to see a team you handled make it to the playoffs and you don't.

[GoHabs2002]

It also adds some validity to the dvision format...

What would be the point of the Habs playing TOr, Bos, Ott., Buff. more times than any other team in the league (or the conference for more relevance) if it didn't matter, to some extent.

Guaranteed home ice advantage for the first round and a good chance for the second round is quite a reward for winning your divison.

My format, if the NHL decides to go with 10 teams per conference (with a 78 game regular season)

Top 2 division teams qualify for playoffs, next best 4 teams in an "extended regular season". 1st wildcard team vs. 4th, etc. in a first to win 2 games home-home-home series with 3 games in 4 nights format.

After the two final spots for the official Stanley Cup Playoff in each conference is decided, the 8 teams are seeded 1 through 8 according to points, divison standings do not matter anymore.

For simplicity purposes, let's assume the regular season ended today:

The qualified teams in the east would be:

Southeast: Florida, Tampa Bay

Atlantic: NYR, Philadelphia

Northeast: Ottawa, Montreal

The wildcard teams would be: Buffalo, Toronto, Carolina and New Jersey

Buffalo vs. New jersey (at Buf, at NJ, at Buf)

Toronto vs. Carolina (at Tor, at Car. at Tor).

Let's assume Buffalo and Toronto qualify for the official playoffs.

Teams would be seeded as follows:

1- Ottawa

2- NYR

3- Florida

4-Montreal

5- Buffalo

6- Toronto

7- Tampa Bay

8- Philadelphia

Ottawa vs. PHiladelphia

NYR vs. TB

Flo vs. Tor

Mont vs. Buf

How's that for making games matter?

1 - Divison games mean even more, with guaranteed playoff spots according to division standing, like the old days

2- Conference games still matter, as teams will battle for the right to finish the season to qualify for the playoffs.

3 - The "final" few games ("extended season") will have direct playoff implications for 25% of the league's teams (therefore, the fans). That is what every league wants, 25% of its playoffs up for grabs during the final weekend of play. The NHL could guarantee that.

I like the format. If they do go with 10 "playoff teams" i hope its under a format quite similar to this one.

A little off topic- but it can be applied to the advantages/disadvantages of playing in a particualar division.

P.S feel free to try it for the 03-04 season and see what would be the result. I didn't feel like looking for the standings on the web :/)

[shortcat1]

Originally posted by GoHabs2002

It also adds some validity to the dvision format...

What would be the point of the Habs playing TOr, Bos, Ott., Buff. more times than any other team in the league (or the conference for more relevance) if it didn't matter, to some extent.

Guaranteed home ice advantage for the first round and a good chance for the second round is quite a reward for winning your divison.

My format, if the NHL decides to go with 10 teams per conference (with a 78 game regular season)

Top 2 division teams qualify for playoffs, next best 4 teams in an "extended regular season". 1st wildcard team vs. 4th, etc. in a first to win 2 games home-home-home series with 3 games in 4 nights format.

After the two final spots for the official Stanley Cup Playoff in each conference is decided, the 8 teams are seeded 1 through 8 according to points, divison standings do not matter anymore.

For simplicity purposes, let's assume the regular season ended today:

The qualified teams in the east would be:

Southeast: Florida, Tampa Bay

Atlantic: NYR, Philadelphia

Northeast: Ottawa, Montreal

The wildcard teams would be: Buffalo, Toronto, Carolina and New Jersey

Buffalo vs. New jersey (at Buf, at NJ, at Buf)

Toronto vs. Carolina (at Tor, at Car. at Tor).

Let's assume Buffalo and Toronto qualify for the official playoffs.

Teams would be seeded as follows:

1- Ottawa

2- NYR

3- Florida

4-Montreal

5- Buffalo

6- Toronto

7- Tampa Bay

8- Philadelphia

Ottawa vs. PHiladelphia

NYR vs. TB

Flo vs. Tor

Mont vs. Buf

How's that for making games matter?

1 - Divison games mean even more, with guaranteed playoff spots according to division standing, like the old days

2- Conference games still matter, as teams will battle for the right to finish the season to qualify for the playoffs.

3 - The "final" few games ("extended season") will have direct playoff implications for 25% of the league's teams (therefore, the fans). That is what every league wants, 25% of its playoffs up for grabs during the final weekend of play. The NHL could guarantee that.

I like the format. If they do go with 10 "playoff teams" i hope its under a format quite similar to this one.

A little off topic- but it can be applied to the advantages/disadvantages of playing in a particualar division.

P.S feel free to try it for the 03-04 season and see what would be the result. I didn't feel like looking for the standings on the web :/)

Some very interesting ideas. Lots of thought has been put into this. I'm serious when I say this, have you thought of presenting this idea to some league officials? Likely it wouldn't get much attention or consideration or just simply some sort of a symbolic 'pat on the head and that's a very nice idea, boy... we'll look at it and let you know' kind of response at best but hey, why not?

:hockey:

[~moeman]

Can't wait for torontosportsnetwork's new power rankings.

[GoHabs2002]

Some very interesting ideas. Lots of thought has been put into this. I'm serious when I say this, have you thought of presenting this idea to some league officials? Likely it wouldn't get much attention or consideration or just simply some sort of a symbolic 'pat on the head and that's a very nice idea, boy... we'll look at it and let you know' kind of response at best but hey, why not?  

Well, in the past, (lock out, pre-lock out) I've had ideas in terms of CBA (who didn't, eh?), but more thorough ideas about scheduling issues, rules, league formats, etc. I presented them through e-mail to a variety of people and got some sincere remarks. I never once seriously considered the application of any of my ideas, but getting some sort of feedback was nice indeed.

Some of the people were James Duthie, Bob MacKenzie, Ken King (president of the Flames), Eric Duhatchek (sorry for spelling...it's not the most common family name).

King: " Thank you for your input Jonathan. I'm happy to acknowledge receipt of your concept and find it interesting. I cannot, as you might expect, pass comment of it's liklihood of consideration or my views on it's viability. I do appreciate your interest. Ken King"

Duthie: "well my first thought is...damn...Bishops must be a good school.

this detail on this and the time that must have gone into it is impressive.

i'll be honest...i'm swmaped today so i couldn't go through every single

item, but to me it looks similar to the deal i thought would eventually get

done.

you may end up being quite close in many respects...

if the players give in on cap...which at some point they will...

jd"

Mackenzie: "Jonathon, nice job. I'm sure when it is all said and done, many of the components and mechanisms you have included will be part of a new CBA. That said, what's frustrating about your proposal is that the NHLPA would not even consider it because it has a cap. The league would reject it on the grounds of it being not enough, that the tax and cap figures are too high. Gives you some idea of where this is all headed.

Thanks for the input, though.

Bob"

Also, a guy from THN sent me a nice detailed feedback, but my e-mail account deleted it!

I probably will send the playoff idea eventually. I usually use this forum as a place of feedback before I decide to do anything!

I really think it would add incredible suspense to the end of the season and ultimately provide hope to most, in not all, of the fans.

:ghg: