NHL standings points system: Toss it, keep it or change it?

Somebody make a notation – I actually agree with JR.

I was in the same boat, highly skeptical when the shootout came, but I have warmed up to it since. My one problem with it is, it should be a minimum five round shootout. I find the three round shootout anti-climatic, that it's over with before it really gets going. Besides the five round shootout I seem to rember as the format long used by international hockey.

 

No points, just wins and losses.

Giving a losing team a point for an overtime or shootout loss is ridiculous. Why reward a team for not winning?

 

Winning in regulation (like the Lightning did tonight --- hi, Rosie) should matter, and a team shouldn't be able to equal one win with two shootout losses. 3 to win, 2 in OT, 1 for forcing the extra period.

 

I think getting a point for a loss is dumb. Dumb. You lose, you lose out on points. I liked it the old way: Two points for a win, one point for a tie, but there are no ties. So, how about 2 points for a win and nothing else?

 

I'm actually warming to the idea of wins and losses only. Your place in the standings would be determined by your winning percentage and your GBL, just like in baseball and basketball.

That said, increase the shootout to five players per team. Either that or play a 10-minute overtime in which the first five minutes would feature four-on-four play and the last five would have three-on-three. Or give us both -- more exciting hockey is never a bad thing.

 

You're close, DoubleJ.

How about giving up the contrived 4-on-4 bullshit, playing up to 10-minutes of sudden death and then going to shootout.
And still, it's win or lose. No bullshit 1 point for OT loss.
If it's win or lose, wouldn't teams play the OT to win instead of not to lose, as they do now?

 

Goddamn, Headbutt. 'bout time somebody around here started respectin' the elders.

 

Yup...this is dead on.

In the WJC's, there's a ten minute OT. If neither team scores, they go to the shootout. It makes for exciting hockey, instead of the NHL OT which just sees both teams try to take it to the shootout.

 

It should be like chicken on the highway. One team has to decide when to get out of the way and take a loss.

If the game ends in a tie, each team should get minus-10 points.

That would eliminate the tie bullshit and the unnecessary OTs.

 

Good to see rational thought return to this thread.....

 

Win. Loss. Period.

Why should anyone get rewarded for "extending the game?"

One team wins. One teams loses. Seems pretty simple now that there are no ties.