Mike Chen's Hockey Blog

Current Revamped Standings

by Mike Chen on 01/30/09 at 12:58 PM ET
Comments (5)

I have a love-hate relationship with the goofy way NHL standings are calculated. While I think the “bonus loser point” takes away from the integrity of the game, it sure does make things interesting. In the West right now, teams 5 through 11 are separated by just two points. The East is a little more defined, though teams 7 through 10 are separated by three points.

The number of games played suddenly becomes the biggest ace in the hole and almost every game holds playoff implications. It’s still January and I can find something interesting to watch in just about every game (except yesterday’s Atlanta/Islanders matchup).

That being said, how would the standings look if they used the system I’ve constantly proposed (two points for a regulation/overtime win, one point for shootout win, no points for any type of loss)? Again, I think it has more integrity as it devalues the skills competition victories and doesn’t reward losing. Here’s how things would be under this system:

(The formula here is two points for the AW column (actual wins) and one point for the SOW column (shootout wins)

You can see that the 5-11 separation in the West is now seven points—a much steeper hill to climb. Out East, it’s actually a little bit of everything. You’ll notice a slightly greater separation between the teams in the hunt and out of the hunt, but there’s more bunching in the middle as the Rangers and Canadiens have inflated totals from shootout wins. So the middle of the pack is more of a dog fight but the teams trailing are farther behind.

It’s a double-edged sword. I know why the league would want more teams in the hunt as it keeps a larger segment of fans interested for a longer part of the season. But the “at least they got a point for losing” mentality still irks me, as it does many fans.

So here’s the question to you: would you like to keep the standings the way they are to keep more teams involved in the playoff hunt or would you like to remove the loser point to put more integrity into the standings?

Filed in: NHL | Mike Chen's Hockey Blog | Permalink
Tags: Standings,

Comments

That being said, how would the standings look if they used the system I’ve constantly proposed (two points for a regulation/overtime win, one point for shootout win, no points for any type of loss)?

They would look a lot different most likely.

Anyways, not a fan of that point system, I would prefer 2 points for a regulation/OT/SO win, and 1 point for a SO loss.

OT loss and regulation loss = 0 points.

Posted by PuckHound61 from Speckville USA on 01/30/09 at 01:17 PM ET

How bout they just change it to a simple win-loss system just like the NBA. They have already altered NHL records when they introduced the shootout and eliminated the tie.

Now goalies and team records, have ties in their stats which now mean nothing.

I hate the point system, because OT and SO losses arent really losses. Best example is if a team loses 7 out of their last ten games, but those 7 losses are OT/SO, so they are 3-0-7 which is 13 points in their last 10 games. So they arent really in a slump, if they have a .650 winning (points) percentage in their last 10 games.

Posted by SJSharkie on 01/30/09 at 01:52 PM ET

I propose a soccer type system:
3 points for regulation win
2 points for winner, 1 for loser in OT games.

As the previous post says, the standings have already been ruined for any kind of historical comparisons anyway so while I realize this will result in much higher point totals over the course of a season, who cares? The current system makes a mockery of having a .500 record.

Posted by Mike in Idaho on 01/30/09 at 02:35 PM ET

Agree with Mike. If you’re going to have 3 points available on one side of the equation, you need 3 points on the other (regulation win).

Posted by Steve J from Columbus, OH on 01/30/09 at 03:14 PM ET

MLB has a winner and a loser in every game. Therefore MLB has no need for a points system.

The NHL also has a winner and a loser in every game. Therefore the NHL.... I think you get my drift.

Posted by dave in Rocha on 02/02/09 at 10:58 AM ET

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About Mike Chen’s Hockey Blog

Mike Chen prides himself in being the only hockey writer integrating puck discussion with both Morrissey quotes and Star Wars references. Since 2004, he’s blogged about all things hockey and currently contributes to FoxSports.com, the Battle of California, and RotoRob.

Questions? Comments? Hate mail? Contact Mike here.