Winner Take All Points System!

Despite what this site says, there are many things I do love about the NHL and one of those fine elements is this time in the yearly schedule. February may bring the wonders of Groundhog Day, Valentine's and the shortest month of the year, but it also brings the yearly get together of the grizzled GM's down in sunny Florida or one of the other tropical locations in the league.

Each gathering brings potential trades to the surface, but more importantly, the thirty brothers in arms, bring up potential ideas to improve the game which then get introduced to the competition group from the NHL for final approval. Ideas get nixed, new concepts are laid out for discussion and we the fan, get the high level breakdown at the end of the day. It's like waiting to see what Santa Claus left under the tree in my opinion.

One hot topic that has been passed around since the lockout is the potential for a new point system. The main concept was a 3-2-1 point system which saw three points for a regulation win, two points for an OT/SO win and 1 point for an OT/SO loss. This concept was put to bed today as the GM"s thought that the current system is working fine, and that there are great races in the NHL's playoff hunt.

Well...maybe someone needs to show the GM's the latest standings!

While the comments may hold true in the East, the Western Conference looks to be all but decided barring a huge skid by any of the current top eight seeds. Having said that, the current system is broken in many ways and while Colin Campbell claims that the NHL needs to take a break from constant change, nothing but great things can come from changing the game to improve the product, and let's face it, the NHL is far from perfect.

While I think the 3-2-1 system is flawed, I think an even simpler system would provide better excitement, even more dramatic playoff races and a better product for fans every night they drop $50 for a seat in the house. My main concept sees only points being awarded to the winner and zero points for the loser. One of the biggest drawbacks to watching the current NHL is that teams play for the guaranteed point. If you have a points lead, one point just keeps you further ahead and it's more beneficial to slow the game down, clamp down and get out of dodge with a single point. And after watching the conclusion of the Ducks/Canucks game this past Tuesday, I would love to see how a 2-2 game with 10:00 left in the third would be played out if the loser got diddly squat for losing.

Gone would be the days of the neutral zone trap, teams way behind would push like you have never seen before and dare I say, more regular seasons games would feature a playoff like atmosphere. Go one step further and offer three points for a regulation win and only two for an OT/SO loss. Guaranteed, you would see balls to the wall hockey for sixty minutes and then a crazed overtime. And then come playoff race time, you trail the 8th seed by six points, that is only two regulation wins to catch them as opposed to three games now.

So sure...the NHL has undergone lots of change, but change is good. Welcome change. It oftens creates new opportunities, and if embraced and introduced for the right reasons, could even make something good...great!

So as we say here, Puck Off NHL and don't be afraid of changes to the point system. What you currently have while could be great, has shown that it breeds boring traps, uninspired regular season games and in the case of the Western Conference, a playoff race that in a week or so, could be all but over.