Is there a better way to sort teams in the NHL standings?

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

[mackel 679]

The one quirk of the NHL standings that drives me wild is the ranking by division... this means a team with fewer points can be ranked higher than a non division leading team with more points.

Case and point:

1. Nashville 77

2. Anaheim 74

3. Calgary 65 <----

4. Detroit 76

5. San Jose 71

6. Dallas 66

7. Vancouver 64

8. Minnesota 62

Some people will say that this is because some divisions are stronger than others... personally I think that's BS... you have to win the games if not then you didn't its that simple.... Calgary should by all rights be 6th in the conference.

[WingsFan2007 0]

The one quirk of the NHL standings that drives me wild is the ranking by division... this means a team with fewer points can be ranked higher than a non division leading team with more points.

Case and point:

1. Nashville 77

2. Anaheim 74

3. Calgary 65 <----

4. Detroit 76

5. San Jose 71

6. Dallas 66

7. Vancouver 64

8. Minnesota 62

Some people will say that this is because some divisions are stronger than others... personally I think that's BS... you have to win the games if not then you didn't its that simple.... Calgary should by all rights be 6th in the conference.

Take a look at http://nhl.jzap.com/standings

1. Nashville 77

2. Anaheim 74

3. Calgary 65 <----

4. Detroit 76

5. San Jose 71

6. Dallas 66

7. Vancouver 64

8. Minnesota 62

I agree with you that it's a little skewed that the leader of the Northwest is guaranteed at least a third seed. Perhaps this is one of those things that should be changed.

Another thing you don't take into consideration in your list is games played. Without knowing games played, points earned doesn't provide any information on a team's loss total.

[YzermanForever 0]

I agree, I do not care, but I already tried that argument and it didn't get across effectively.

Wasn't intended to be a shot against you, just against this topic in general.

[TheLegend19 1]

Yes, the Blackhawks would never be 21-10-0

When I ask why the NHL does it this way, what I'm really getting at is why they use points to sort teams when the method used in baseball seems to be a more viable option.

Because baseball doesn't have OT losses or ties like the NHL does (and used to).

[WingsFan2007 0]

Because baseball doesn't have OT losses or ties like the NHL does (and used to).

Those can't be the reasons the NHL needs to use the points system, as an OTL (or used to be a tie) is the net equivalent of half a win and half a regulation loss. Take the OTLs and disperse them half to the W column and half to the L column and you'll get the same PE and GP. Therefore, the NHL is effectively just a win/loss league.

[eva unit zero 271]

Those can't be the reasons the NHL needs to use the points system, as an OTL (or used to be a tie) is the net equivalent of half a win and half a regulation loss. Take the OTLs and disperse them half to the W column and half to the L column and you'll get the same PE and GP. Therefore, the NHL is effectively just a win/loss league.

The NHL uses points for one simple reason:

The All-Star game coaches are decided by what team has the most points at a certain time in the season. Without a point system, every team's coach is the coach of the team with the most points.

[T-Ruff 47]

Look what I came across on the Leafs' forums :

If the Leafs are 19-18-0 and the Bruins are 20-21-0, the Bruins will be listed ahead of the Leafs. Yet if the Blue Jays are 19-18 and the Red Sox are 20-21, the Blue Jays would be listed ahead of the Red Sox.

Also, let's say the Leafs are 20-10-0 and the Bruins are 21-10-0. The Bruins will be listed ahead of the Leafs. If the Bruins lose three games while the Leafs don't play, the Bruins (21-13-0) will still be listed ahead of the Leafs (20-10-0).

Now let's say the Blue Jays are 20-10 and the Red Sox are 21-10. The Red Sox will be listed ahead of the Blue Jays. If the Red Sox lose three straight games (to become 21-13) while the Blue Jays don't play, the Blue Jays (20-10) will move ahead of the Red Sox (21-13).

Perhaps I'm missing something, but why does the NHL do it this way?

Compare to:

If the Wings are 19-18-0 and the Blackhawks are 20-21-0, the Blackhawks will be listed ahead of the Wings. Yet if the Tigers are 19-18 and the White Sox are 20-21, the Tigers would be listed ahead of the White Sox.

Also, let's say the Wings are 20-10-0 and the Blackhawks are 21-10-0. The Blackhawks will be listed ahead of the Wings. If the Blackhawks lose three games while the Wings don't play, the Blackhawks (21-13-0) will still be listed ahead of the Wings (20-10-0).

Now let's say the Tigers are 20-10 and the White Sox are 21-10. The White Sox will be listed ahead of the Tigers. If the White Sox lose three straight games (to become 21-13) while the Tigers don't play, the Tigers (20-10) will move ahead of the White Sox (21-13).

Perhaps I'm missing something, but why does the NHL do it this way?

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

Look what I came across on the Leafs' forums :

Compare to:

Busted again!!!

Like I said previously, he just likes to make ridiculous discussions for the sake of making them.

It's not even to make a point.

EDIT: Someone registered on the Leaf's site should spread the word of what's going on here.

Edited February 9, 2007 by haroldsnepsts

[stevie for president 42]

if im not mistaken, total points only matter twice. once in december for the all star coach, which is no big deal. and 2, in april when playoff standings are made, and the one day in april when points actually matter,every team played 82 games, so total points and win percentage give the same results.

[T-Ruff 47]

Busted again!!!

Like I said previously, he just likes to make ridiculous discussions for the sake of making them.

It's not even to make a point.

EDIT: Someone registered on the Leaf's site should spread the word of what's going on here.

Done and Done......

[WingsFan2007 0]

Look what I came across on the Leafs' forums :

Compare to:

Well, we will find out who is smarter, Leafs fans or Wings fans. Should be interesting. If you read some of the nonsense one of the participants on the Leafs board is going on about, I would give the nod to Wings fans for now.

Busted again!!!

Like I said previously, he just likes to make ridiculous discussions for the sake of making them.

It's not even to make a point.

EDIT: Someone registered on the Leaf's site should spread the word of what's going on here.

These aren't ridiculous discussions. If you don't like them or you have no interest in the topic, you're free to not participate. The game winning goal is a common stat in the NHL and if you read my first post in the GWG thread, and some of the responses, you'll see that I'm raising a very good point about what appears to be a very flawed and useless statistic.

Points earned has long been the way the NHL sorts teams in the standings, but since losses are the equivalent of not playing in a points earned sort, i'm raising the question of why not use the baseball model of games back or winning percentage - both of which could be easily used in the NHL. This is a very viable and meaningful topic of discussion in a hockey forum. It's not like I'm a baseball junkie who is trying to get hockey to replace the puck with a baseball!

if im not mistaken, total points only matter twice. once in december for the all star coach, which is no big deal. and 2, in april when playoff standings are made, and the one day in april when points actually matter,every team played 82 games, so total points and win percentage give the same results.

If that's the only time when points earned matters, then why does virtually every major newspaper in the USA and Canada publish the NHL standings - sorted by points earned - on a daily basis during the season?

If the selection of the All Star coach is based on points, what if one team has had the benefit of playing a greater number of games? For example, let's say the Wings have 45 points in 30 games while the Predators have 46 points in 33 games. Wings have a better points pct, but do you still give the coaching job to the Preds coach?

[Inultus 12]

The one quirk of the NHL standings that drives me wild is the ranking by division... this means a team with fewer points can be ranked higher than a non division leading team with more points.

Some people will say that this is because some divisions are stronger than others... personally I think that's BS... you have to win the games if not then you didn't its that simple.... Calgary should by all rights be 6th in the conference.

I agree it's BS, in fact when I saw those standings I wasn't even sure why a team with less points was ranked above us...

[WingsFan2007 0]

I agree it's BS, in fact when I saw those standings I wasn't even sure why a team with less points was ranked above us...

If all the teams in one conference were going to be ranked together, then shouldn't the schedule be a little more balanced and each team plays each other team in the conference the same number of times.

[Inultus 12]

Yes.

[WingsFan2007 0]

I agree it's BS, in fact when I saw those standings I wasn't even sure why a team with less points was ranked above us...

Aside from the division leaders being ranked 1, 2, 3, there are other cases where a team with less points should be ranked higher.

For example, let's say the Wings are 20-10-1 and the Predators are 21-12-1. While the Preds may have more points earned, the Wings have a better W-L-OTL record and putting aside strength of schedule should be ranked higher. That is unless you want to completely ignore the detrimental value of losses, in which you're really just comparing 20-x-1 vs. 21-x-1.