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gordfish

Membre depuis
26 févr. 2017
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Canucks de Vancouver
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Red Wings de Detroit
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Forum: NHL17 févr. à 14 h 3
I grew up in the 80's, the glory days of divisional rivalries, when divisions only had 5 or 6 teams and teams played each team in their division 7 or 8 times a year. The size of the divisions combined with the divisional playoff format significantly increased the frequency with which teams met in the playoffs. So in the 80's, teams that had already played each other 8 times were meeting 3 or 4 times over 5 or 6 years. Familiarity bred contempt, and we ended up with the best rivalry decade of hockey in the expansion era; instead of getting one or two Colorado/Detroit of Vancouver/Chicago series every year, we got 7or 8 in the first round alone.

Here we are in 2024. I'm 50 years old, and thanks to Bettman abandoning the divisional rivalries, we haven't seen the Canucks and Oilers meet in the playoffs, who are each one of each other's closest regional rivals, since my graduating year of high school. We have divisions that are too big, and a schedule that puts almost as much weight on cross conference play as it does on regional rivals. The last time the Canucks and Oilers met this season, back in November, it was their 3rd meeting in about 5 weeks. Things got so intense, that at one point, McDavid, Draisaitl and Hyman were all crammed in the penalty box at the same time. And then the schedule makers decided to put about 60 games between the Canucks and the Oilers to cool things off; they don't meet again until game 80. We are less than three weeks out from the trade deadline, and the Canucks and Kings haven't played each other once. We finally get Seattle in the league, and when the Canucks and Kraken meet, it has all the emotional appeal of a gathering of third cousins.

Regular season play has become so sterile, we're left with Canucks Twitter trying to drum up intensity with the Wings because some bottom pairing defenseman danced a jig after scoring what will probably be the biggest goal of his career.

The league is getting a tonne of interest from markets looking for expansion teams. Salt Lake City, Quebec City, Houston and Atlanta will all likely have teams by the end of the decade. And with this expansion, the league will have no choice but to reduce the size of the divisions, and once again realign it's playoff format. Until then, there are tweaks to the schedule and playoff format that can help put some much needed energy back into divisional play.

First, abandon the idea that every team has to play in every city each season, and there is a recent example to support this. The Penguins played in Chicago this last week. It was Crosby's only visit to Chicago this season, and marked Bedard's return from injury. This is an original six market with two of the game's biggest stars sharing the same sheet of ice, and the building was just over halfway full. Why? Because the Hawks aren't winning right now. Even in the league's most robust markets, it's winning that sells tickets above all else, including the draw of star players. We're in the digital age. If I want to watch every game Connor McDavid plays, I can do it from the comfort of my own home, and I don't even live in Alberta. Should the league be so focused on the 20,000 fans in the building, or rather on the hundreds of thousands of fans potentially streaming the game on their laptops and cell phones?

Play every team in your own division 6 times, for 42 games. Play each remaining team in your conference 3 times, for 24 games. That leaves 16 games. Play each team in the opposing conference once.

Second, abandon the Wild Card and just have the top 4 teams in each division make the playoffs. One plays four, two plays three. Yes, there is an entire generation of fans that grew up with the conference playoff format, 1 vs 8 etc., that want the league to return to that format. At any given time during the year, if you look at the standings and set the playoff matchups using the conference seeding, and then compare it to how the matchups would look with the current format, you realize that there is virtually no difference. Usually at least 6 of 8 matchups are the same either way.

Maybe I'm a dinosaur, a waning fan on the verge of old age just pining away for an era that is gone forever. I'm certainly not representative of the demographic that the NHL is selling the game to these days. But for those of you who grew up after the 1980s teams had run their course, you really missed something special. To most of those who saw it, the 1994 Stanley Final was one of the greatest Finals ever played. There was an emotion that went beyond two franchises and cities that were desperate to lift that Cup of Cups, and if you saw Coach's Corner prior to game one, you probably understand why. Grapes showed footage of the second regular season meeting between the Canucks and Rangers that year, and they included scenes such as Sergio Momesso literally trying to cut Glenn Anderson in half with his stick. That Rangers team was comprised almost entirely of ex Oilers. Guys the players on the Canucks were very familiar with because they had played them 8 times a year for half a decade, and had already lost that playoff series to, back in my graduation year of '92.

If you're truly looking to bring more meaning back to the regular schedule, forget about these Frankensteinish in season tournaments, and bring back the division rivalries. Get the emotion back into the Islanders/Rangers, Flyers/Penguins, Habs/Bruins and Flames/Oilers. Sport is tribal. Embrace it.
Forum: Armchair-GM17 janv. à 11 h 5
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Forum: Armchair-GM31 déc. 2023 à 11 h 49
Sujet: Pete
Forum: Armchair-GM28 déc. 2023 à 13 h 26
Forum: Armchair-GM23 déc. 2023 à 11 h 56
Sujet: Deadline