At the NHL General Managers meetings held recently, the main talking point was, rightfully so, about blindside hits and checks targeting the head area. But their was another item brought up. It wasn't talked about with nearly the urgency of the high hits but it was an interesting one nonetheless.
The topic was a change from the current NHL playoff format (the top 8 teams in each conference qualify and play best of seven series' until a winner is decided) to something very close to the popular format used at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics (The top teams in each group earn a bye while all the other teams in the tournament play single-elimination games to determine the final entrants in a traditional playoff structure.)
The way that this would work in the NHL is very similar to the current system. The top 7 teams after the regular season would be guaranteed a playoff spot. The eighth spot would be determined by a single elimination play-in tournament between the other teams ranked 8-15 in the conference.
I think its only fair in a debate such as this to list the pros and cons of each format, and then end by influencing your decision by telling you how I think.
The Current NHL Playoff System
If it ain't broke, don't fix it. And there are very few people who would argue that their is very much wrong with the current playoff format. Teams who earn their way into the playoffs could play 4 best-of-seven series before the silver hardware known as Lord Stanley's Cup is handed out.
Cities who's teams make the playoffs are also rewarded. With at least 2 home games in each round, cities of winning teams can see a huge boom to tourism related industries as fans converge on the city for important games.
A seven game series among the best of the best in each conference also adds to the intensity and the importance of the event. Teams can come to hate each other and fans will be far more into the series when your facing the same foe for as much as two weeks straight.
The lone downside many see with the current system is the length of the season. Every team in the league must play 82 games between October and early April. And teams hoping to win the Cup must soldier through 16-28 more games and continue to play well into June. This leaves players and fans with less than 3 months to prepare for the next season and arguably leads to injuries and fatigue among players (i.e. Evgeni Malkin, who over the past calender year has played over 100 games and has been plagued with injuries this year).
The "Olympic"-style Playoff System
I'm not going to hide it any longer. I am all for a playoff system more closely resembling what was seen at the Vancouver Games.
One of the biggest criticisms of this systems is that it would lower the importance of the regular season. "If everyone is allowed in than why does it matter?" Seeding is why it all matters. Being one of the top-7 teams carries the same level of importance as being one of the top-8 teams does under the current system, with the added benefit of the 8-15 ranked teams actually having something to play for after the trade deadline.
The length of the season is something that would need to be addressed. Adding the play-in rounds would add 3 games and at least another week to an already elongated schedule. There are two solutions to these problems. The first is to shorten the regular season to around 76 games. Another would be to make the Conference Quarterfinals and Conference Semifinals best-of-5 games instead of best-of-7.
Even keeping the regular season at 82 games and shortening the first two playoff rounds would be enough to keep the season length roughly the same. This also would not have much of a negative impact on the economies of NHL cities due to a shortening of a couple playoff rounds. Under the current system, there can be anywhere from 60-105 playoff games, with something close to 80 being average. The Olympic style system with a shortened first and second round would see 62-81 playoff games, with an average of 70-72. There are less games and ultimately less revenue, but the money is spread more evenly among all 30 NHL teams.
The main reason I love this system so much is simply the fact that it keeps more people interested in the NHL for longer. The Olympic Games had record numbers of Americans glued to their television, and it would be naive to think that a setup where every team had a chance had nothing to do with it.
The fact that this system effectively changes nothing over the old system other than allowing a couple teams a few more playoff games a a slight redistribution of playoff revenue will likely keep it on the shelf for the foreseeable future, but if it can ever be proven that a shorter regular season followed by a shorter, more intense playoffs can generate a greater interest in hockey and the NHL than this change may just happen.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Who's left to pick up?
Its a question that many fantasy owners are undoubtedly asking themselves as we near the time of year when playoffs begin. Every team is looking for that one extra piece or hidden gem that everyone else forgot about to push them over the top and win them some hard-earned cash/glory.
The problem is that it is unlikely that there will be very many quality players left on your waiver wire. Most of the teams competing for the playoffs will have snapped them up a long time time ago. But there is one place to look for some added fantasy talent that comes with a huge risk/reward potential: the Injured Reserve list.
Picking up your MVP at the hospital
I am currently playing in a couple of ESPN custom leagues that offer IR roster slots to each owner. This is both a good thing and a bit annoying. The good is that when one of my guys that I invested a top draft pick on, say a guy like Daniel Sedin, goes down for a couple weeks, you have a place to store him until he's ready for game action. The annoying thing is that everybody in the league can do this, and consequently many of the best players to hit the IR don't become available.
In leagues without these extra IR roster slots however, fantasy owners face a tough choice when a player of the caliber of Sedin, or more recently Marc Savard, go down to injury. They can hold on to the player and lose out on potential production for the time the player is out, or they can cut their loses, drop the star player and grab whatever has risen to the top of the free agent cesspool.
Enterprising fantasy owners face another option. They can pick up dropped IR-eligible players and store them on their roster. Losing out on some points for a couple weeks is a big gamble, but if you can survive with a corpse on your team the rewards when said player returns can make the acquisition seem like a steal.
The Top 5 IR Eligible Players for Fantasy Owners Who Like Stealing
These guys are ranked in no particular order, but they could provide the biggest boost of the current crop of injured players. Pick these guys up at your own risk though: while they will be huge if they return, many may have played their last games of the season and could be a wasted pickup.
Mike Cammalleri, Left Wing, Montreal Canadiens (87.5% ownership in ESPN Leagues)
Mike is currently rehabbing a knee injury, and Canadiens coach Jacques Martin has said the winger could return March 27 against the New Jersey Devils. This would leave Cammalleri with 2 weeks of the regular season, right about when most fantasy hockey championship games are being decided. He's being horded in most leagues already, but you should grab him if he's available.
Nathan Horton, Right Wing, Florida Panthers (89.9%)
Horton has missed the last 16 games for the Panthers with a fractured leg, but many believe he can return for the final 2-3 weeks of the season. Despite being out for nearly 3 months, he will be unavailable in a majority of leagues. He does deserve a look if available, but is probably at the bottom of this list as far as forwards go.
Marc Savard, Center, Boston Bruins (89.7%)
Savard is another who remains unavailable in nearly 90% of leagues, though his ownership has seen over a 10% plunge since being blindsided by the Pittsburgh Penguins Matt Cooke. IF Savard returns this season, he will be of more value than any player picked up on the waiver wire this year. The problem is that his return is a major if: concussions are way too difficult a thing to predict. He can be symptom free and return within a couple weeks, or his career could be threatened. Marc will be the ultimate risk/reward pickup.
Denis Grebeshkov, Defensemen, Nashville Predators (53.5%)
Denis is one of the more available players on this list, which isn't too surprising. He's had a ho-hum season with only 7 goals and 21 points to this point, though he has had 3 in 5 games since joining the Preds following a trade from Edmonton. His lower body injury is the most minor of these players, and he could actually resume game action within a week. Sorta the opposite of Savard here: not much risk for not too much reward. Just remember how hard it is to find a good defensemen this time of year.
Cam Ward, Goaltender, Carolina Hurricanes (68.5%)
When I began this list, I had no intention of giving one player from each position, but what are you going to do?
Ward has had a very forgettable season. First his team sucks and his play wasn't too much better. Then things start to improve for the team and he gets cut by a skate blade and goes on IR. He returns and starts getting into a rhythm and he goes back onto IR with a back injury. The original prognosis had Ward's season being over: he was injured way too often and the Hurricanes weren't even playing what most people would call "hockey." But now the 'Canes are racing towards a playoff spot in the weak Eastern Conference and Cam Ward is working towards a second return from injury. He'll likely be good for some wins and an average save percentage and goals against if he does return, and could make a solid #2 or #3 netminder.
The problem is that it is unlikely that there will be very many quality players left on your waiver wire. Most of the teams competing for the playoffs will have snapped them up a long time time ago. But there is one place to look for some added fantasy talent that comes with a huge risk/reward potential: the Injured Reserve list.
Picking up your MVP at the hospital
I am currently playing in a couple of ESPN custom leagues that offer IR roster slots to each owner. This is both a good thing and a bit annoying. The good is that when one of my guys that I invested a top draft pick on, say a guy like Daniel Sedin, goes down for a couple weeks, you have a place to store him until he's ready for game action. The annoying thing is that everybody in the league can do this, and consequently many of the best players to hit the IR don't become available.
In leagues without these extra IR roster slots however, fantasy owners face a tough choice when a player of the caliber of Sedin, or more recently Marc Savard, go down to injury. They can hold on to the player and lose out on potential production for the time the player is out, or they can cut their loses, drop the star player and grab whatever has risen to the top of the free agent cesspool.
Enterprising fantasy owners face another option. They can pick up dropped IR-eligible players and store them on their roster. Losing out on some points for a couple weeks is a big gamble, but if you can survive with a corpse on your team the rewards when said player returns can make the acquisition seem like a steal.
The Top 5 IR Eligible Players for Fantasy Owners Who Like Stealing
These guys are ranked in no particular order, but they could provide the biggest boost of the current crop of injured players. Pick these guys up at your own risk though: while they will be huge if they return, many may have played their last games of the season and could be a wasted pickup.
Mike Cammalleri, Left Wing, Montreal Canadiens (87.5% ownership in ESPN Leagues)
Mike is currently rehabbing a knee injury, and Canadiens coach Jacques Martin has said the winger could return March 27 against the New Jersey Devils. This would leave Cammalleri with 2 weeks of the regular season, right about when most fantasy hockey championship games are being decided. He's being horded in most leagues already, but you should grab him if he's available.
Nathan Horton, Right Wing, Florida Panthers (89.9%)
Horton has missed the last 16 games for the Panthers with a fractured leg, but many believe he can return for the final 2-3 weeks of the season. Despite being out for nearly 3 months, he will be unavailable in a majority of leagues. He does deserve a look if available, but is probably at the bottom of this list as far as forwards go.
Marc Savard, Center, Boston Bruins (89.7%)
Savard is another who remains unavailable in nearly 90% of leagues, though his ownership has seen over a 10% plunge since being blindsided by the Pittsburgh Penguins Matt Cooke. IF Savard returns this season, he will be of more value than any player picked up on the waiver wire this year. The problem is that his return is a major if: concussions are way too difficult a thing to predict. He can be symptom free and return within a couple weeks, or his career could be threatened. Marc will be the ultimate risk/reward pickup.
Denis Grebeshkov, Defensemen, Nashville Predators (53.5%)
Denis is one of the more available players on this list, which isn't too surprising. He's had a ho-hum season with only 7 goals and 21 points to this point, though he has had 3 in 5 games since joining the Preds following a trade from Edmonton. His lower body injury is the most minor of these players, and he could actually resume game action within a week. Sorta the opposite of Savard here: not much risk for not too much reward. Just remember how hard it is to find a good defensemen this time of year.
Cam Ward, Goaltender, Carolina Hurricanes (68.5%)
When I began this list, I had no intention of giving one player from each position, but what are you going to do?
Ward has had a very forgettable season. First his team sucks and his play wasn't too much better. Then things start to improve for the team and he gets cut by a skate blade and goes on IR. He returns and starts getting into a rhythm and he goes back onto IR with a back injury. The original prognosis had Ward's season being over: he was injured way too often and the Hurricanes weren't even playing what most people would call "hockey." But now the 'Canes are racing towards a playoff spot in the weak Eastern Conference and Cam Ward is working towards a second return from injury. He'll likely be good for some wins and an average save percentage and goals against if he does return, and could make a solid #2 or #3 netminder.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Miracle on Ice
Sidney Crosby scored the biggest goal to win the highest prize for the greatest nation in hockey. So what if Canada's 3-2 overtime victory over Team USA Sunday wasn't actually a miracle. When you look at it objectively, could there have been a more fitting, riveting finish to one of the greatest hockey games in history?
Most people in the Pittsburgh area who don't follow hockey nearly as much as they follow the Penguins are unaware of the animosity that so many worldwide (or more specifically, outside of Canada) feel for Sid. I checked a couple of blogs and forums during gold-medal game and, let me tell you, there were many harsh words for Crosby and for Canada.
Hockey is the national pastime of Canada. To compare, being a hockey fan in Canada is like being obese in America: everybody does it. And Sid is the symbol of the Canadian hockey fan, doing everything he can to be a part of the game's greatest moments.
So if you go back to hating Crosby because he isn't piling up points for you team, so be it. All I can ask is that you take a second to realize that while unique, this victory is as important and as storybook to Canadian hockey as the 1980 miracle was to American hockey.
And now back to your regularly scheduled blog...
The Olympics are officially over and now I can ease back into the task at hand: giving advice to get your fantasy team over the hump and into championship contention.
There was a trade minutes after the NHL's trade embargo was lifted at midnight Sunday. It will bring Jordan Leopold to the Pittsburgh Penguins while the Florida Panthers receive Pittsburgh's 2nd round draft pick in 2010.
This trade does little to the value of Leopold for fantasy purposes. He has 7 goals and 11 assists this season, but is a middle of the pack minus-7 and is nothing more than a big body. He should see a higher plus/minus with Pittsburgh and may even see an up-tick in points playing with better forwards, but his value for fantasy will be severely limited to only the most desperate of teams.
Where this deal gets interesting is in the fact that it now gives Pittsburgh 8 NHL-quality defensemen: Sergei Gonchar, Alex Goligoski, Kris Letang, Brooks Orpik, Mark Eaton, Martin Skoula, Jay McKee, and now Leopold.
One of these is very likely to be traded by the March 3rd deadline. I suspect that Letang or Goligoski will move on (perhaps packaged with Jordan Staal) in exchange for a winger to play with Sid or Evgeni Malkin. All this could lead to a change in fantasy value for Letang, Goligoski, and the party-to-be-named-later. Of course this is all just speculation and is part of the fun with the trade deadline.
Thats a wrap for today. The next entry will see what the biggest shakeups from the deadline have for fantasy teams going forward.
Jordan Leopold image courtesy of NHL.com
Most people in the Pittsburgh area who don't follow hockey nearly as much as they follow the Penguins are unaware of the animosity that so many worldwide (or more specifically, outside of Canada) feel for Sid. I checked a couple of blogs and forums during gold-medal game and, let me tell you, there were many harsh words for Crosby and for Canada.
Hockey is the national pastime of Canada. To compare, being a hockey fan in Canada is like being obese in America: everybody does it. And Sid is the symbol of the Canadian hockey fan, doing everything he can to be a part of the game's greatest moments.
So if you go back to hating Crosby because he isn't piling up points for you team, so be it. All I can ask is that you take a second to realize that while unique, this victory is as important and as storybook to Canadian hockey as the 1980 miracle was to American hockey.
And now back to your regularly scheduled blog...
The Olympics are officially over and now I can ease back into the task at hand: giving advice to get your fantasy team over the hump and into championship contention.
There was a trade minutes after the NHL's trade embargo was lifted at midnight Sunday. It will bring Jordan Leopold to the Pittsburgh Penguins while the Florida Panthers receive Pittsburgh's 2nd round draft pick in 2010.This trade does little to the value of Leopold for fantasy purposes. He has 7 goals and 11 assists this season, but is a middle of the pack minus-7 and is nothing more than a big body. He should see a higher plus/minus with Pittsburgh and may even see an up-tick in points playing with better forwards, but his value for fantasy will be severely limited to only the most desperate of teams.
Where this deal gets interesting is in the fact that it now gives Pittsburgh 8 NHL-quality defensemen: Sergei Gonchar, Alex Goligoski, Kris Letang, Brooks Orpik, Mark Eaton, Martin Skoula, Jay McKee, and now Leopold.
One of these is very likely to be traded by the March 3rd deadline. I suspect that Letang or Goligoski will move on (perhaps packaged with Jordan Staal) in exchange for a winger to play with Sid or Evgeni Malkin. All this could lead to a change in fantasy value for Letang, Goligoski, and the party-to-be-named-later. Of course this is all just speculation and is part of the fun with the trade deadline.
Thats a wrap for today. The next entry will see what the biggest shakeups from the deadline have for fantasy teams going forward.
Jordan Leopold image courtesy of NHL.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)