WordsOfWisdom Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 I don't know if anyone answered this previously, but here's what I found: What will the playoffs look like? The regular season will wrap up on May 8 and then the league will return to a 16-team, best-of-seven, four-round playoff format. Four teams from each division will qualify for the playoffs. The first two rounds will be intra-divisional play. The four division winners will advance to the semifinals, reseeded based on their regular-season point totals (No. 1 would play No. 4, No. 2 would play No. 3). The two semifinal teams will play in the Stanley Cup Final -- and if you've been following along, that means it's not necessarily going to be an Eastern Conference team versus a Western Conference team competing for the Cup. Bring on the chaos! https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/30571316/nhl-2021-season-update-schedule-divisions-playoff-format-covid-protocols-more 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 Yea, its all shaping up to be one big mish mash. All teams can really do is simply beat who the league puts in front of you, no ifs, ands or buts about it. It would be easy to sit and criticize and say, "Well, so and so team has their record because look who they played during the regular season".... and they WOULDN'T be wrong! However, it all is what it is, and the team that will eventually hoist the Cup is just gonna have to beat out their division, then plow through the crap shoot Final Four, be one of the last two standing, then beat that last team senseless to claim the prize. I've made peace with that. That is how its gonna be. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WordsOfWisdom Posted February 19, 2021 Author Share Posted February 19, 2021 (edited) 2 hours ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said: It would be easy to sit and criticize and say, "Well, so and so team has their record because look who they played during the regular season".... and they WOULDN'T be wrong! But that's always the case based on the NHL's weighted divisional format. The strength of your division always plays a role in your record. 2 hours ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said: However, it all is what it is, and the team that will eventually hoist the Cup is just gonna have to beat out their division, then plow through the crap shoot Final Four, be one of the last two standing, then beat that last team senseless to claim the prize. Not sure if you watched hockey around the early 90's but that was the playoff format back then. Before they went to 1-8, 2-7, 3-6, 4-5, they used to have teams win out their division before facing a team from the other division. So in many ways, this is a throwback to the days of the Norris, Patrick, Smythe, and Adams division structured NHL and I think it's kinda cool to win your division before facing teams from the other division because it makes that inevitable matchup seem bigger and more relevant. There are some people who think the Leafs are the beneficiaries (big word, and I nailed it lol) of a system like this because they can finally get past the first round..... but if you look at the opposition the Leafs have faced in round one recently (Boston, Washington, would have been Tampa last season if not for covid, etc.) the Leafs are facing a President's trophy winner OR Stanley Cup winner in the first round every year. If the divisions were the same, the Leafs would still be facing Boston or Tampa in the first round using this playoff system, so I don't see any drawbacks to it. The only real difference is the division realignment itself. The North division doesn't include any Stanley Cup winners or any President's trophy winners so that means the Leafs are the biggest fish in the smallest pond. If that means a date with Boston in the conference final (and the inevitable 7-game defeat that follows) instead of round one "one and done" affair, I'm happy with that. The Leafs haven't seen second round playoff hockey in 20 years so it's a parade automatically if they get even that far. Edited February 19, 2021 by WordsOfWisdom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 1 minute ago, WordsOfWisdom said: But that's always the case based on the NHL's weighted divisional format. The strength of your division always plays a role in your record. Well, yes, but at least when teams play the ENTIRE NHL, us fans get a bit more of an idea how teams can stack up against certain other playstyles. This whole season feels like a bubble. There are four bubbles....and no one is coming out of the bubbles till the Final Four are revealed. Again, I've accepted that's the way it is, but it makes it very difficult to gauge teams' true strengths. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icechipper Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 I'm a big NCAA college hockey enthusiast, so just following the two-game tilts (watching and reading) is fun. Canadians must be losing lots of sleep watching pick games nightly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayk_tb Posted April 3, 2021 Share Posted April 3, 2021 Does anyone know which divisions will be paired with which to create the playoff bracket? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted April 3, 2021 Share Posted April 3, 2021 (edited) 5 hours ago, jayk_tb said: Does anyone know which divisions will be paired with which to create the playoff bracket? First two rounds of the playoffs, top four teams will play each other (yawn) again....seeded by the way they finished within their divisions (I.E. 1st vs 4th, 2nd vs 3rd). After one of each team emerges from the divisions after two rounds, in the THIRD round, the four remaining teams are reseeded 1-4 according to points record. So... top points team is 1, worst point team is 4, and then we go 1 v 4, 2 v 3 once again. Final round, for the Cup, obviously is between the last two teams standing. Edited April 3, 2021 by TropicalFruitGirl26 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puck_Pun Posted April 4, 2021 Share Posted April 4, 2021 Ahh, what a nonsense season. Guaranteed Canadian presence for longer than usual, though 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 On 4/4/2021 at 2:07 AM, Puck_Pun said: Ahh, what a nonsense season. Guaranteed Canadian presence for longer than usual, though Well, it is what it is. I am honestly burnt out by the same ol match ups already. Really am hoping schedules and divisions go back to normal next season. Tough to really gauge how good ANY team is because they are only facing about 7 teams out of 31! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radoran Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 On 2/18/2021 at 8:45 PM, TropicalFruitGirl26 said: Well, yes, but at least when teams play the ENTIRE NHL, us fans get a bit more of an idea how teams can stack up against certain other playstyles. This whole season feels like a bubble. There are four bubbles....and no one is coming out of the bubbles till the Final Four are revealed. Again, I've accepted that's the way it is, but it makes it very difficult to gauge teams' true strengths. Second straight year we don't need an * for the Cup winner... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WordsOfWisdom Posted April 8, 2021 Author Share Posted April 8, 2021 On 4/4/2021 at 3:07 AM, Puck_Pun said: Ahh, what a nonsense season. Guaranteed Canadian presence for longer than usual, though The NHL used to have a format similar to this in the early 1990's. Top 4 in each division made the playoffs and you had 1 vs 4, 2 vs 3. Round 1 was called the division semi-final. Round 2 was called the division final. Round 3 was the conference final. Round 4 was the Stanley Cup final. I agree. Seeing a Canadian team as one of the final four teams is definitely nice. Still only a 25% chance of winning the Cup, and we all know they're going to get smashed in the conference final to make a US vs US final, but at least it's two playoff rounds more than what the Canadian teams usually see so that's something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WordsOfWisdom Posted April 8, 2021 Author Share Posted April 8, 2021 On 4/5/2021 at 11:41 AM, radoran said: Second straight year we don't need an * for the Cup winner... Not to make this all about Toronto again........ but if the Leafs can't have fans in the arena, and if we can't have a parade to celebrate winning the Cup after, then I hope this isn't the year the Leafs break the drought. It would feel like the cheapest, shi__est victory ever to win now given the current circumstances. I want the Leafs to win when everything is back to normal. Asses in seats, and crowds of people not wearing masks for the parade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radoran Posted April 8, 2021 Share Posted April 8, 2021 9 minutes ago, WordsOfWisdom said: Not to make this all about Toronto again........ but if the Leafs can't have fans in the arena, and if we can't have a parade to celebrate winning the Cup after, then I hope this isn't the year the Leafs break the drought. It would feel like the cheapest, shi__est victory ever to win now given the current circumstances. I want the Leafs to win when everything is back to normal. Asses in seats, and crowds of people not wearing masks for the parade. Well, you needn't worry. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WordsOfWisdom Posted April 8, 2021 Author Share Posted April 8, 2021 10 hours ago, radoran said: Well, you needn't worry. You get good mileage out of that emoji lol! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynxrattle Posted April 8, 2021 Share Posted April 8, 2021 One can't go wrong with a twin axe and a twin horn helmet! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WordsOfWisdom Posted April 8, 2021 Author Share Posted April 8, 2021 32 minutes ago, lynxrattle said: One can't go wrong with a twin axe and a twin horn helmet! Interesting tidbit of knowledge: Rarely (if ever) did a medieval battle axe have an axe blade on both sides. Why? Well, it adds a lot of extra weight to the weapon, and you only need one side to strike with. Typically, the opposite side of a medieval axe had a spiked end designed to penetrate armor. Like this: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radoran Posted April 8, 2021 Share Posted April 8, 2021 2 hours ago, lynxrattle said: One can't go wrong with a twin axe and a twin horn helmet! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynxrattle Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 Interesting. Thanks for the point and the Bugs Bunny clip! I found out that a double axe has been used a divine symbol. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labrys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pilldoc Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 (edited) On 4/8/2021 at 1:44 PM, radoran said: LOL ....Classic! Edited April 13, 2021 by pilldoc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OccamsRazor Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 On 4/8/2021 at 12:02 PM, WordsOfWisdom said: Interesting tidbit of knowledge Yeah and the Vikings never wore horns on their helmets either yet we see it every time a Viking is shown... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 (edited) 56 minutes ago, OccamsRazor said: Yeah and the Vikings never wore horns on their helmets either yet we see it every time a Viking is shown... This guy may be partly to blame for that myth Edited April 13, 2021 by TropicalFruitGirl26 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radoran Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 22 minutes ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said: This guy may be partly to blame for that myth more likely this dude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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