The True NHL Standings
Posted by Mother Pucker on December 4th, 2008Ok, well maybe they aren’t the real NHL standings so far this year, but I decided to take a look at how things would be different if there wasn’t a freebie point issued for an overtime or shootout loss.
Let’s start with the Eastern Conference. Here are the current standings according to NHL.com:
Now, lets flip things around here, and put the teams in order of where they would be if there wasn’t a free point awarded. No fancy table cuz I’m not the NHL haha:
1. New York Rangers 18-10 36
2. Boston Bruins 16-8 32
3. Washington Capitals 13-12 26
4. Pittsburgh Penguins 14-10 28
5. Montreal Canadiens 14-10 28
6. Philadelphia Flyers 12-12 24
7. New Jersey Devils 12-10 24
8. Carolina Hurricanes 12-13 24
9. Buffalo Sabres 11-13 22
10. Florida Panthers 10-14 20
11. New York Islanders 10-14 20
12. Toronto Maple Leafs 9-16 18
13. Ottawa Senators 9-14 18
14. Atlanta Thrashers 8-17 16
15. Tampa Bay Lightning 6-18 12
As you can see, spots 1-9 remain unchanged, with the bottom feeders seeing the biggest difference in the standings. The way it currently stands, the Toronto Maple Leafs are 2 points out of a playoff spot, but when you take away the freebies they are 6 points out. The Thrashers and Lightning, especially the Lightning also take a huge hit due to those points being taken away.
Ok, lets head out west to see whats going on there:
And without the freebie points:
1. San Jose Sharks 21-4 42
2. Detroit Red Wings 16-8 32
3. Minnesota Wild 15-9 30
4. Anaheim Ducks 14-13 28
5. Vancouver Canucks 14-11 28
6. Calgary Flames 14-11 28
7. Nashville Predators 12-12 24
8. Colorado Avalanche 12-12 24
9. Chicago Blackhawks 11-12 22
10. Columbus Blue Jackets 11-13 22
11. Phoenix Coyotes 11-13 22
12. Edmonton Oilers 11-13 22
13. LA Kings 11-14 22
14. St. Louis Blues 10-13 20
15. Dallas Stars 9-16 18
Out West, the Chicago Blackhawks get trashed the most by taking away those points. They are sitting pretty good with them, but take them away, and they are in a 5 way tie for 13th in the conference. For the most part everything else stays the same, and the Avalanche are the only ones so far without an overtime loss so they are solidly stuck in that 8th position (by my stats anyway).
I’ll run this once again once the season is over to see what kind of a difference the freebie points would make. Any predictions?
I’m thinking you will see a difference of one or two teams makeing the playoffs with the use of the OTL points.
This is interesting, but as the old saying goes “the rules are the rules”.
What do you think has been accomplished by giving the teams one point for an OTL? Has it made the overtime games more exciting?
One might argue not based on the increased number of shootouts this season. Thoughts?
I think the lesson is not to go to overtime. If you win in regulation you control your destiny. It’s kind of like blaming the refs for losing. Sure they make some bad calls, but if you are too weak to overcome that it’s your own fault.
As a BLUES fan I know what I’m talking about
Interesting to see how this pans out. I think it makes the OT games more exciting… I don’t know if it’s better or not but I guess everyone plays by the same rules so we can’t worry to much about it. I know for me, I’m a huge Bruins fan and I know when they are chasing a team and that team gets a freebie I’m upset but then when they get a freebie I think it’s a great new rule! lol
I think it is kind of stupid.. I don’t know why you guys would think it makes it more exciting, i think it makes it less exciting. By the time players make it to OT they are all tired and win or lose they still get the point.. why try?
[...] December 4, 2008 · No Comments Our friends over at Mother Pucker did at little analysis of what the league would look like sans those free OT points. The beloved Buds who currently sit in 10th spot with 24 points would drop down to 12th and 18 points. A great read and some awesome research…check it out here [...]
[...] would drop down to 12th and 18 points. A great read and some awesome research…check it out here Share and [...]