Opinion | 13 Musings: ‘The Toronto-Tampa thing is silly’ and other thoughts on the NHL playoff format

It was Nathan MacKinnon, a Stanley Cup champion and someone with no skin in the game, who crystallized the problem with the current playoff format.

“The Toronto-Tampa thing is silly,” MacKinnon said over the all-star weekend. “You come second in the conference, you play the third-place team in your conference the first round. I don’t understand that.”

That’s what establishing a “conference champion” through divisional playoffs does. Based on points, Boston, Toronto and Tampa are three of the top six teams in the league. Two of them will be eliminated by the end of the second round.

The NHL likes to brag that the first round is the toughest, most exciting round in playoffs across all leagues. They’re probably right. But shouldn’t the playoffs get tougher and more exciting as you get closer to the championship? Getting rid of good teams early doesn’t build ratings.

Other players, like Sidney Crosby, thought seeding teams one through eight in each conference would be better.

“I like one-to-eight just because the regular season is as difficult as it is,” Crosby said. “Teams should be rewarded and I guess that’s probably the best way you can be rewarded, even though there isn’t a ton of difference. I like that version a little bit better.”

There was no appetite for a “play-in” among players. Hockey used to be the easiest playoffs to make, now it is among the hardest. It used to be 16 of 21 teams making the post-season. Now it’s 16 of 32. Players like that.

Commissioner Gary Bettman listed no shortage of reasons why things would stay the same, suggesting it would require a change to the scheduling matrix to ensure fairness in the schedule.

The idea behind the switch to divisional playoffs was to create rivalries. It feels like that has failed. The other idea was to promote gambling with easily predicted playoff brackets. Last I saw, the NHL wasn’t even close to college basketball’s March Madness.

In truth, Bettman will change it if the players want the change. They’ll have to collectively bargain for it. In other words, give something to the league to get that back. The general managers could have some sway, but it feels like we’ve got this format for a while.

If you have a question, email me at [email protected] and I’ll answer it in the next Mailbag. Everything around the all-star event was fun, except for what happened on the ice. Here are some all-star based musings as I empty my notebook.

1. Given Roberto Luongo’s appearance as the celebrity goalie in the Breakaway Challenge, the Maple Leafs should prove they have a sense of humour and invite David Ayres in that capacity to the All-Star Game next year.

2. If you’re into betting, bet that the Leafs do not have that big a sense of humour.

3. It seems obvious, but I’m already hearing rumblings that the Mattamy Centre, formerly known as Maple Leaf Gardens, will somehow be part of next year’s game. I’ve heard Justin Bieber’s people have been looking into it.

4. A celebrity game that includes Bieber would get a lot of buzz. A celebrity game in 2017 in Los Angeles went over really well.

5. One story idea that fizzled on the vine for me was a piece about chirping. Players were either unwilling or unable to remember their favourite chirps. Some players tried. MacKinnon tried to praise a chirp he once heard from Nazem Kadri. “He told someone he could do his laundry at home that night or something like that. Naz said it a lot funnier than I did.” You can see why the story fizzled.

6. I asked Mitch Marner what he thought when Boston’s Brad Marchand told everyone the Marner can’t really chirp, and only talks about his dog and skates. “I loved it. I think he said I say that on the ice, but I don’t really talk,” Marner said. “He doesn’t talk a lot to me on the ice. He says, ‘Hey,’ every once in a while. That’s about it.”

7. Marchand is the king of the chirps, according to the handful of players I talked to, but other names came up. “Drew Doughty, but you can’t tell if he’s talking or chirping. He’s a talker. He’s pretty vocal out there,” said Dylan Larkin.

8. What makes a good chirp? According to Brady Tkachuk: “If you’re thinking about it the next day, that’s what makes a good chirp. You think, ‘Oh, that one hurt.’ Once you start thinking about it past the moment, that was a good one.”

9. How best to chirp? “You just got to have some material and you got to be witty and on your toes and be ready to fire back,” said Kadri.

10. Marner was later asked what event he’d like to see at the skills competition. “If I could play Call of Duty against anyone, I think I’d have a great chance.”

11. Somehow Connor McDavid went 8-for-8 in the shooting accuracy contest, and lost.

12. Speaking of changing the playoff format, here’s an idea that has been floated but will never sail: Have the top seeds choose their opponents from the bottom seeds. That would create spectacular drama. It would be must-see TV.

13. The GMs would never go for it. Can you imagine the President’s Trophy winner choosing an opponent and losing in the first round? It would be a magnificent tale, but that GM would probably get fired.

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