How To Make the NHL Playoffs Better for Everybody

Another big problem I have with the NHL playoff system is the way that home-ice advantage is structured. Right now, the way it is structured is 2-2-1-1-1 with the home team receiving the first two games. With this system, the “home ice” can be taken away within the first two games, putting all the pressure on the higher ranked team. I agree with the pressure aspect, but I feel it could be evened out a little and put some pressure on the lower ranked team as well.

I have found a solution to this, and I found it in the NBA. The league should use the 2-3-2 format with the home team getting the first two and last two games. This way, if the road team wins in the first five games of the series, the last two games are rightfully at the rink of the higher ranked team. This format works not only for building more suspense (just look at the Lakers vs. Celtics 2008 NBA Finals) but also for logistical reasons: There would be far less travel.

One other thing about the NHL playoffs that bugs me is the actual length of each individual series. It makes no sense to me why a series that ends in six games takes almost two weeks to complete. Why does a team play on back-to-back nights all the time during the regular season, but come playoff time, a team hardly ever plays on consecutive nights? This makes no sense to me at all.

Each series should only break on days needed to travel. Under my proposed solution, the 2-3-2 format would only require two travel days, making it possible to complete a seven-game series in nine days.

I understand it is a long season, and especially in the playoffs players need all the rest they can get. But these guys are professionals in tip-top shape and have, in my opinion, NO excuse for getting tired to the point that they need a day off. Not only would this approach to a series save time, it would also save lots of money on travel and hotel expenses.

Also, the Stanley Cup is already the hardest trophy in sports to win, so what’s the problem in making it a little more challenging? The series would be completed quicker, making it possible for the Stanley Cup to be awarded before we are all thinking about golfing and the beach.

In closing, if the NHL playoffs were a tournament of just 10 teams (instead of 16), with the top two teams rewarded first round byes, if the way teams were ranked was changed, and if they followed the NBA model of a playoff series, I think that the NHL playoffs would truly be the best, most exciting tournament in North America. Not to mention the toughest to win.

Long live hockey!

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