THN.com/free The Los Angeles Kings won the 2011-12 Stanley Cup. They entered the playoff spot as the eighth seed in the Western Conference despite having two fewer losses than the Dallas Stars. [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MTk2NjQ2MDQxODY3NTI4MTU5/usatsi_6313920.jpg] The Los Angeles Kings won the 2011-12 Stanley Cup. They entered the playoff spot as the eighth seed in the Western Conference despite having two fewer losses than the Dallas Stars. If a team loses in overtime or a shootout, it’s a loss – end of story. And teams shouldn’t be rewarded with a point in the standings for losing a game. Here are nine examples of how ludicrous the NHL standings and playoff seeding have been since the 2005-06 season when the league introduced the shootout format to break ties. 1. 2005-06 VANCOUVER CANUCKS & LOS ANGELES KINGS Fresh out of the 2004-05 lockout, NHL hockey had returned. With its return, the NHL had a new format of settling games - the shootout. Like with the previous formats with ties, the shootout resulted in the losing team earning a point. The 2005-06 Vancouver Canucks had eight overtime or shootout losses compared to the 13 the Edmonton Oilers had. The Canucks’ record that season was 42-32-8, and they finished with 92 points, which ranked ninth among Western Conference teams. The Los Angeles Kings finished 10th, also winning 42 games. The Oilers, meanwhile, finished eighth in the conference with a record of 41-28-13 for 95 points. The Oilers embarked on a magical playoff run which ended in defeat to the Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup final. But they shouldn’t have qualified for the playoffs at all because the Canucks’ and Kings’ winning percentages (both .512) were better than the Oilers' (.500). 2. 2006-07 COLORADO AVALANCHE Six years after winning their second Stanley Cup, the Avalanche missed the playoffs for the first time since they were the Quebec Nordiques in 1993-94. The Avs finished ninth in the Western Conference with a 44-31-7 record, good for 91 points - which was one less point than the eighth-seeded Calgary Flames, who finished 43-29-10. Colorado won one more game and finished with a better winning percentage (.537) than Calgary’s (.524). 3. 2011-12 DALLAS STARS In 2011-12, the Stars were in the middle of a five-year playoff drought. The Stars’ record that season was 42-35-5. Despite losing their last five games, they had a superior winning percentage than Calgary (37-29-16) and eventual Stanley Cup-champion Los Angeles Kings (40-27-15). The Stars’ winning percentage (.512) was above .500, while the Flames (.451) and Kings (.488) finished with worse marks. But thanks to the loser point, the Flames and Kings also finished with 90-plus points, while the Stars finished with 89. Without the loser point, the Kings wouldn’t have won the franchise’s first Stanley Cup - because they wouldn’t have even made the playoffs. 4. 2015-16 BOSTON BRUINS The NHL changed its playoff format in 2013-14 to have teams qualify as wild cards. The Bruins dominated the early 2010s, with two Stanley Cup final appearances, including a Cup championship in 2011. From 2010-11 through 2013-14, Boston made the playoffs every year and won at least one round in all but one season (2011-12). But the Bruins missed the playoffs in 2014-15 for the first time since 2006-07. The following year, they missed the playoffs again - but they shouldn’t have. The Bruins finished with a 42-31-9 record and 93 points, which put them in ninth place in the Eastern Conference, three points behind the Philadelphia Flyers in the second wild card with 96 points on a 41-27-14 record. The Flyers won one fewer game than the Bruins and made the playoffs with an inferior winning percentage. 5. 2015-16 COLORADO AVALANCHE The 2015-16 Avs won one more game than the Minnesota Wild, who finished in the last wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Colorado finished with 82 points, while Minnesota had 87. Both teams had winning percentages below .500, but the Avalanche (.476) had a better mark than the Wild (.463), who had seven more overtime losses. 6. 2016-17 TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING The Toronto Maple Leafs clinched the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference in 2016-17, finishing ahead of the New York Islanders and Tampa Bay Lightning. The Lightning, however, won more games than the Leafs and Islanders. The Islanders’ regular season record was 41-29-12 for 94 points, while the Leafs’ record was 40-27-15 for 95 points. New York had a .500 winning percentage, but Toronto's was just below. The Lightning, on the other hand, had a winning percentage of .512 thanks to a 42-30-10 record for 94 points. It’s egregious that the Lightning missed the playoffs and finished below two teams despite winning more matches than them. 7. 2017-18 ST. LOUIS BLUES The respective seasons of the St. Louis Blues and Colorado Avalanche were on the line in a regular-season finale on April 7, 2018. Colorado won 5-2 and clinched the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference with 95 points. With a winning percentage of .524, the Avalanche bounced the Blues from a playoff spot. But St. Louis should’ve taken Colorado’s place in the post-season, as the Blues had a better winning percentage at .537. Fortunately for St. Louis, they rebounded with the franchise’s first Stanley Cup championship the following year. 8. 2018-19 ARIZONA COYOTES The Coyotes hadn't made the playoffs since they changed their name to Arizona from Phoenix. Their last playoff appearance was their run to the Western Conference final in 2012. But 2018-19 should have been their return to the post-season. They finished the regular season with a 39-35-8 record for 86 points. That put them four points behind Colorado, who clinched the final wild-card spot in the West. The Avs’ record, however, was 38-30-14, which meant Colorado had a worse winning percentage (.463) than the Coyotes (.476). 9. 2020-21 CALGARY FLAMES After the 2019-20 season was extended until September 2020, the NHL returned in January 2021 with a regular season that lasted 56 games. The Flames’ 2020 playoffs ended with a blown 3-0 lead in Game 6 of their first-round matchup against the Dallas Stars. In 2021, they missed the playoffs, ranking fifth in the North Division behind the Montreal Canadiens. Calgary won two more games than Montreal, but the Canadiens had 11 'loser points' to the Flames' three. The Canadiens went all the way to the Stanley Cup final against the Tampa Bay Lightning - but they shouldn’t have even made the playoffs at all.
