they wanted to promote rivalries
by DavidAddison (2018-04-28 15:47:12)

In reply to: Why are the two best teams in the NHLs regular season  posted by wearendhockey

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and, (somebody correct me if I'm wrong, I'm not following it that closely yet), the difference is only one round of the playoffs. Meaning they are only playing one round earlier than if they'd been seeded by record and both kept advancing.

I'm not really arguing for or against. It is somewhat unfortunate but the rivalries part makes sense.

Wasn't it also because they wanted more divisions
by G.K.Chesterton  (2018-04-29 23:11:25)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

represented deeper into the playoffs?
That isn't necessarily true with this format
by wearendhockey  (2018-04-30 09:48:46)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

They could theoretically have 3 divisions represented in each conference's second round under the previous format and now that there are only 2 divisions, the most you could have is two. I suppose in the old way of seeding the playoffs you could have had one division in the second round, so all in all that's kind of a wash.