No, this post is not about the fact that the Blackhawks sit 3 points out of the last playoff spot (and given the fact that the Hawks won the Stanley Cup last year, it does not even feel right to complain about their struggles this year, but I digress).
The NHL standings suffer from a fundamental flaw. Games that go into overtime, or are settled in a shootout, carry greater weight in the standings than a game that ends in regulation. Now, what I am saying is not news. Plenty of people smarter than myself have written about this, but it needs to be repeated continuously until addressed: the NHL needs to fix the way they value wins and losses.
For those of you who do not follow hockey (and are still reading this), a win in the NHL is worth 2 points, regardless of how it happens, whether that be in a shootout, in overtime, or in regulation. A team that loses in overtime or in a shootout picks up 1 point in the standings. Thus, a game settled in overtime is worth 3 points. A game settled in regulation is only worth 2 points.
I get that the NHL needs to figure out how to handle ties. Everyone likes shootouts (players and fans both) so I would never champion the NHL taking on a system like soccer (3 points for a win, 1 for a tie, no shootouts). But soccer has a better system for allocating points. A win is worth more than a draw. The NHL standings look ridiculous because of this problem. Currently, in the West, Dallas sits in 3rd with 68 points and the Hawks are in 11th with 61 points. 7 points distinguish 3rd from 11th. The Blackhawks have 28 wins and 27 losses, but they actually sit 4 points behind the Phoenix Coyotes with 28 wins and 28 losses and 3 points behind the Calgary Flames who have 28 wins and 29 losses. In the East, it is even worse. The Atlanta Thrashers are in the final playoff spot right now, even though they have 25 wins and 32 losses, because they have 10 overtime losses. Meanwhile, the Buffalo Sabres have 26 wins and 27 losses and sit 3 points back. Madness.
The fix is easy. The NHL needs to adopt a system wherein each game is worth 3 points total. If you win in regulation, you get the full three points. If you are tied after three periods, you each get one point and battle for the third. Yes, a new column would need to be added to the standings, signifying overtime wins. But you reward teams for winning in regulation, which is the ultimate goal! In a tie game late, what is the reward in pushing everything forward to get that winning goal? The risk in losing the game and ending up with 0 points outweighs the risk in playing for the win (same 2 points you get if you bunker and win in overtime).
The NHL has made many, many positive improvements since the season was canceled in 04-05. It is time for the NHL to do the right thing and fix the standings.
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