If you think expanded Stanley Cup Playoffs are coming in the NHL… Think again. At least while Gary Bettman is Commissioner of the NHL.
During the annual Board of Governors meeting in Florida, Bettman was asked by reporters about the idea of expanding the Stanley Cup Playoffs and he immediately shot that idea down.
“People think the system we have in place right now is working extraordinarily well, and frankly there’s nothing better in sports playoffs than our first round,” Commissioner Gary Bettman said to the attending media. “And so, I’m not sensing much of an appetite for change.”
“I think what we have now works. You’re looking to fix a problem that doesn’t exist,” Bettman continued.
But why continue to bring it up when Bettman, who is now in his 30th season as Commissioner continues to shoot the idea down?
Clearly, the owners and executives are not talking to him about it as he clearly has no appetite for it. While internally these owners and executives might want to see an expanded playoff format, they will not speak on the record or openly with Bettman about it as he does not want to do it.
Everyone is pointing to the expanded playoffs in the NFL, MLB, and NBA. Not to mention College Football expanding its playoff format from four to 12 teams. However, take the NFL out of it, because it is a 17-game regular season. Football is the most popular sport in North America and people watch it in waves. Not to mention they only went from 12 to 14 teams. So one additional Wild card spot in each conference.
As Bettman points out and whether you agree or not, the NHL regular season would be deluded. If expanding the playoffs actually means more revenue, then wouldn’t it make sense to shorten the regular season to make it meaningful?
But no owner is going to want to take away any regular season games. Even though there are some that would like the season to start later and avoid the beginning of the College Football and NFL regular seasons.
If we go to MLB they have expanded from 10 to 12 teams. There are only 30 teams in the league and over 162 game regular season, 40 percent of the league makes the playoffs. And if you watched the wild-card series this year, it was not entertaining. The best of the three series saw three sweeps and one go the distance. Again, it is the first year, but is that entertaining?
Now let’s get to the most comparable which is the NBA. The format they use is basically the 7th and 8th highest winning percentages play each other, and the winner gets the 7th seed. The loser of the Seven-Eight Game will host the winner of the Nine-10 Game. Sounds a little confusing to me.
Plus the games have not been that good despite what the final score says.
What those who cover the NHL would like to see was something similar to the Return To Play Stanley Cup Playoff Bubble Tournament. Those Play-In Rounds were best-of-five series. In this world, it would be a best-of-three series, with the higher seed hosting all three games. No travel benefits the team hosting these games.
This all sounds well and good, but as previously mentioned the Stanley Cup Playoffs are a grind, to begin with. A team needs 16 wins, four wins over four rounds. That’s about two to two and half months more of hockey after playing an 82-game regular season. Adding another round taxes the body.
Not to mention the Stanley Cup is the most difficult trophy to win in all of sports for a reason. Why reward mediocrity? Besides last season, there were play-in games down the stretch, especially in the Western Conference. Nashville, Dallas, and Vegas were all battling for a playoff spot. It definitely made the games more entertaining.
Commissioner Bettman also isn’t buying the argument that more is better when it comes to revenues. Sure the TV partners will be happy considering the success last year. But everyone loves postseason hockey. But will the quality of the games be better?
Again look at the games this year alone in the NFL, MLB, and NBA. It is a fun topic to talk about and maybe one day it will happen, but right now the NHL is a good place.
The only change the playoff format needs is going back to the one through eight format they had before the divisional format came back into existence. Too many good teams are going home early. It is about building rivalries, which it has done, but there has to be a reward for finishing first in your division and conference.
Again, never say never in this business. Just look at helmet ads and jersey sponsors, which the NHL needed for revenue coming out of the pandemic. Change can happen. When the expanded Stanley Cup Playoffs come, who knows? Most likely when Commissioner Bettman has retired.
But for now, the number of teams is just right. Just go back to the old format.