Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Get In And You Could Win

05/28/2017 at 8:00am EDT

from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

As coaches are so fond of saying, however, don’t focus on the result, but on the process. This year’s playoffs bring just the latest example of the postseason tournament essentially nullifying the regular season, which is so important it cannot be disrupted for anything as mundane as, for example, the Olympics.

In a dozen playoffs since the introduction of the hard cap, the Presidents’ Trophy winners not only have won the Cup only twice (Chicago in 2013 and Detroit in 2008) but have appeared in the finals just three times (with Vancouver losing to Boston in 2011). What’s more, teams with the NHL’s best regular-season records have made it to the conference finals just one other time. That was in 2015, when the Rangers lost in seven games to Tampa Bay.

Of the 48 conference finalists since 2006, 13 have finished lower than 10th in the overall standings, including this year’s 12th-overall Senators. Had Game 7 overtime of the Eastern finals broken the other way, the league would have had its second all-double-digit final in five years — after the 2014 Kings-Rangers matchup between No. 10 and No. 12, respectively.

So what, exactly, is the incentive to pursue excellence in a league that dilutes the impact of regular-season victories by doling out losers’ points and makes life as treacherous as possible for clubs at the top with a playoff format that can (and does) match up each conference’s best two teams as soon as the second round?

What is the rationale for an owner or general manager to go above and beyond merely trying to finish in the top 16, when 16th apparently is good enough to be recognized for an award?

more plus other topics of interest...

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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