Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

How About A Lottery For Playoff Seedings

05/11/2019 at 2:26pm EDT

from Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe,

So, why not a lottery to determine first-round matchups?

Every league loves a TV event, and what would be better than another bounce of the ping-pong balls on the final Sunday of the season? A ratings bonanza, for sure, across Canada and the 24 NHL-loving cities of the US.

Does it run contrary to the tried-and-true current system? Of course. But what’s the point of tried-and-true when the four best teams are all melting ice at the end of Round 1? If a lottery produced the same outcomes, well, it’s no worse than the 0 for 4 tried-and-true. At least there would be some suspense, hand in hand with some fun programming.

For the sake of discussion, keep the regular-season chase the same, and even lock in Round 1 home ice for the four division winners.

Beyond that, make the matchups a scramble, even to the point that home ice for the other four series isn’t automatically awarded to the team that would have earned it on the outcome of the regular-seasons standings.

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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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