Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Tom Dundon, The Owner Of The Carolina Hurricanes On Expanding The Playoffs

12/11/2018 at 8:29am EST

from Dave Feschuk of the Toronto Star,

...if Dundon had his way, he said he’d include as many as 24 teams in the post-season while reducing the regular season from 82 to 78 games. While critics have argued expanding the playoffs would make the regular season less relevant, Dundon makes a case for the opposite.

“I just think it makes the regular season much more interesting,” Dundon said. “You don’t get the last two months where some teams aren’t trying anymore and you get a lot of bad games. If everyone’s in it all year fighting for seeds and fighting for playoffs, I think it’s just a better product.”

Dundon, for his part, acknowledges a considerable stumbling block to making such a change. Commissioner Gary Bettman isn’t an advocate of playoff expansion. Which is not to say Bettman’s mind can’t change. It wasn’t long ago that Bettman was among the pro-sports commissioners who saw gambling as a scourge. In October the NHL signed a sports-betting partnership with MGM Resorts. Which is perhaps why Dundon offered up a prediction of sorts.

“I think something around (playoff expansion) ultimately gets done, because there’s no one that loses,” Dundon said. “I will keep speaking to people about it, and we’ll keep trying. I think this is something that’s got a real chance.”

more on Dundon....

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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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