When is the NHL going to stop being stubborn and realize the three point game is bad for hockey? It doesn't make sense that in the same night they can award two points in some games and three in others and yet it happens.
The 2010 Winter Olympic hockey tournament is using a different system to run their tournament. They are awarding three points for a regulation win, two points for an overtime or shootout win, one point for an overtime or shootout loss and zero points for a regulation loss.
A couple of games went to overtime and the point system altered the standings considerably. If the tournament was using the NHL point system, Canada would have been a number four seed and would have had a first round bye. This is a three game tournament and just a couple of points make a world of difference. Over the course of an 82 game schedule the standings may not be altered too much.
I was surprised to find out that the standings would be altered quite considerably. Many teams would be in the very same position but others swapped spots. It affected the lower playoff seeds more than it did the top seeds. Follow the jump to see the results.
Eastern Conference
Eastern Conference Standings | Eastern Conference Standings (Olympic Style) | ||||||||||||||
Team | GP | W | L | OTL | PTS | Team | GP | W | OTW | OTL | L | PTS | |||
1 | Washington | 62 | 41 | 13 | 8 | 90 | 1 | Washington | 62 | 34 | 7 | 8 | 13 | 124 | |
2 | New Jersey | 61 | 37 | 21 | 3 | 77 | 2 | New Jersey | 61 | 29 | 8 | 3 | 21 | 106 | |
3 | Ottawa | 63 | 36 | 23 | 4 | 76 | 3 | Ottawa | 63 | 28 | 8 | 4 | 23 | 104 | |
4 | Pittsburgh | 62 | 36 | 22 | 4 | 75 | 4 | Pittsburgh | 62 | 26 | 10 | 4 | 22 | 102 | |
5 | Buffalo | 60 | 33 | 18 | 9 | 75 | 5 | Buffalo | 60 | 26 | 7 | 9 | 18 | 101 | |
6 | Philadelphia | 60 | 32 | 25 | 3 | 67 | 6 | Philadelphia | 60 | 27 | 5 | 3 | 25 | 94 | |
7 | Boston | 60 | 27 | 22 | 11 | 65 | 7 | NY Rangers | 62 | 25 | 3 | 7 | 27 | 88 | |
8 | Montreal | 63 | 29 | 28 | 6 | 64 | 8 | Tampa Bay | 61 | 20 | 6 | 11 | 24 | 83 | |
9 | NY Rangers | 62 | 28 | 27 | 7 | 63 | 9 | Atlanta | 60 | 20 | 6 | 10 | 24 | 82 | |
10 | Tampa Bay | 61 | 26 | 24 | 11 | 63 | 10 | Boston | 60 | 17 | 10 | 11 | 22 | 82 | |
11 | Atlanta | 60 | 26 | 24 | 10 | 62 | 11 | Montreal | 63 | 16 | 13 | 6 | 28 | 80 | |
12 | Florida | 61 | 24 | 27 | 10 | 58 | 12 | Florida | 61 | 18 | 6 | 10 | 27 | 76 | |
13 | NY Islanders | 62 | 25 | 29 | 8 | 58 | 13 | Carolina | 61 | 19 | 5 | 7 | 30 | 74 | |
14 | Carolina | 61 | 24 | 30 | 7 | 55 | 14 | NY Islanders | 62 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 29 | 68 | |
15 | Toronto | 61 | 19 | 31 | 11 | 49 | 15 | Toronto | 61 | 18 | 1 | 11 | 31 | 67 |
The 1-6 seeds in the Eastern Conference remained the same while big changes happened the rest of the way down the standings. It will be interesting to see how the standings finish at the end of the season but I have a feeling that some teams will make the playoffs that shouldn't actually be there.
Western Conference
Western Conference Standings | Western Conference Standings (Olympic Style) | ||||||||||||||
Team | GP | W | L | OTL | PTS | Team | GP | W | OTW | OTL | L | PTS | |||
1 | San Jose | 62 | 40 | 13 | 9 | 89 | 1 | San Jose | 62 | 33 | 7 | 9 | 13 | 122 | |
2 | Chicago | 61 | 41 | 15 | 5 | 87 | 2 | Chicago | 61 | 28 | 13 | 5 | 15 | 120 | |
3 | Vancouver | 61 | 37 | 22 | 2 | 76 | 3 | Vancouver | 63 | 32 | 5 | 2 | 22 | 108 | |
4 | Phoenix | 63 | 37 | 21 | 5 | 79 | 4 | Colorado | 61 | 29 | 6 | 6 | 20 | 105 | |
5 | Los Angeles | 61 | 37 | 20 | 4 | 78 | 5 | Los Angeles | 61 | 27 | 10 | 4 | 20 | 105 | |
6 | Colorado | 61 | 35 | 20 | 6 | 76 | 6 | Phoenix | 63 | 25 | 12 | 5 | 21 | 104 | |
7 | Nashville | 61 | 33 | 23 | 5 | 71 | 7 | Nashville | 61 | 25 | 8 | 5 | 23 | 96 | |
8 | Calgary | 62 | 30 | 23 | 9 | 69 | 8 | Calgary | 62 | 25 | 5 | 9 | 23 | 94 | |
9 | Detroit | 61 | 28 | 21 | 12 | 68 | 9 | Anaheim | 62 | 24 | 6 | 7 | 25 | 91 | |
10 | Dallas | 61 | 28 | 21 | 12 | 68 | 10 | Detroit | 61 | 22 | 6 | 12 | 21 | 90 | |
11 | Anaheim | 62 | 30 | 25 | 7 | 67 | 11 | Dallas | 61 | 22 | 6 | 12 | 21 | 90 | |
12 | St. Louis | 62 | 28 | 25 | 9 | 65 | 12 | Minnesota | 61 | 22 | 8 | 4 | 27 | 86 | |
13 | Minnesota | 61 | 30 | 27 | 4 | 64 | 13 | St. Louis | 62 | 20 | 8 | 9 | 25 | 85 | |
14 | Columbus | 63 | 25 | 28 | 10 | 60 | 14 | Columbus | 63 | 20 | 5 | 10 | 28 | 85 | |
15 | Edmonton | 61 | 19 | 36 | 6 | 44 | 15 | Edmonton | 61 | 14 | 5 | 6 | 36 | 58 |
The Western Conference doesn't have the same shakeup in the standings as the Eastern Conference had. Still the experiment shows me that the NHL should change to this point system. It will not alter the standings too much but it will eliminate the "three-point game". This system would allow three points in all games instead of only some games.
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