The prospect of adding teams to the NHL's Stanley Cup playoffs is not new. This 2009 story put forth the argument in favor of expanding the post-season to 20 teams.
As speculation around whether the NHL is moving closer to expanding to 34 teams continues, the question of an expanded Stanley Cup playoff tournament is resonating across the hockey community.
But an expanded post-season is hardly a new idea – and in this feature story from The Hockey News’ April 13, 2009, edition (Volume 62, Issue 22), then-senior editor Brian Costello made the argument to increase the number of teams in the playoffs from 16 to 20.
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Costello based his argument on three key ideas: increased parity in the NHL, increased marketing of the league and a public relations boost.
A play-in playoff round “gives solid teams extra incentive from sliding into that precarious No. 8 slot, while it provides a repechage of sorts for four teams that (currently) just fall short,” Costello wrote. “Two play-in games in each conference (would have) the added benefit of giving the other 14 playoff teams an extra couple days to mend and prep for the opening round. And the compressed format makes it an uphill battle for the play-in teams to do any long-term damage in the playoffs. That’s what they get for finishing ninth and 10th.”
This writer agrees with all of Costello’s points, especially now that we’re on course to increase the league by two teams. Games would matter more, deeper into the season, for more teams. That’s a reality that an expanded playoffs would address, and Costello summed things up by projecting what would happen if play-in games were a reality.
"(I)t makes sense for the top seed in the conference to face a first-round foe that’s already battle weary from the play-in games and the stretch drive,” Costello said. “Really, what does the NHL have to lose?”
EXPAND TO 20
Vol. 62, No. 22, April 13, 2009
By Brian Costello
It's time to expand the NHL playoff structure to 20 teams from the current 16.
It’s way overdue. Think about it: Way back in the days of the Original 21, the NHL had a 16-team playoff format. So the pool of non-playoff teams has risen from five to 14 without so much as a revision?
Doesn’t make sense.
Even if you’re a critic of the idea of allowing more teams in the playoffs, open your mind for just five minutes. The time is right for a few reasons:
(a) More parity in the NHL than ever before. You hear hockey people say they’ve never seen such parity. There are no more easy victories. Because of the loser point in overtime/shootout, only six of 30 teams have a losing record this season. What if we gave the bubble teams – those in ninth and 10th place in each conference – a chance to thrill their fans with a dark horse qualification that include play-in game dramatics.
(b) For marketing purposes. Down the stretch in the Eastern Conference this season, three of the six bubble teams that were touch and go to make the playoffs were NHL cornerstone franchises: Montreal, because of the game’s most passionate fans; the New York Rangers because of the magnitude of the city where the league has its headquarters; and Pittsburgh because of Sidney Crosby, the game’s most influential personality. The NHL quietly would have been devastated had any of those teams missed the post-season cash grab because of the archaic eight-team format. Moreover, a berth in the playoffs for the other three bubble teams (Florida, Buffalo and Carolina) is crucial to the growth of those small-market teams.
(c) Adding a short preliminary round would be a public relations boost on a number of fronts. The key word being “short.” Here’s how I see a 20-team playoff working:
The NHL regular season typically ends on a Sunday. On Tuesday, the 10th-place team in each conference travels to the home of the ninth-place team for a one-game winner-take-all tilt. The winner of that game then travels to the home of the eighth-place team for a Wednesday game that decides the eighth seed in the conference. The playoff format then unfolds as per usual with three conference series beginning on the Thursday and the fourth, involving the play-in games survivor, on the Friday after a day off.
So hypothetically, if Toronto finished 10th next year, the Leafs would have to win play-in games versus No. 9, say Pittsburgh, then No. 8, say Montreal, in order to advance to the first round against, say Boston. Think those mid-week preliminary games would generate good ratings and coverage? You bet.
It gives solid teams extra incentive from sliding into that precarious No. 8 slot, while it provides a repechage of sorts for four teams that now just fall short.
Critics of proposals to add more playoff teams claim the season is already long enough, stretching well into June. But this format adds just two more days and would generate continued hockey interest in four additional markets. Let’s lop off a week from the laborious pre-season schedule to compensate. And let’s not forget each playoff game adds about $1 million to the home team’s coffers. As for the argument teams have 82 games to prove their worth? Hey, life is all about second chances.
The NCAA men’s basketball championship added the play-in game in 2001 for the 64th- and 65th-rated teams and it generated additional interest and build-up to the March Madness tournament. Fact is, the winner of that play-in game has to face the top seed and is surely cannon fodder anyway, but it gives the tournament an element of opening the door for the long shot.
Two play-in games in each conference has the added benefit of giving the other 14 playoff teams an extra couple days to mend and prep for the opening round. And the compressed format makes it an uphill battle for the play-in teams to do any long-term damage in the playoffs. That’s what they get for finishing ninth and 10th.
And it makes sense for the top seed in the conference to face a first-round foe that’s already battle weary from the play-in games and the stretch drive. Really, what does the NHL have to lose?
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