Buffalo Boy's Blog
Giving You More Than Just My Two Cents
Overtime Loss is Deceiving
The NHL really has to do away with this overtime loss format and the pity point. A look up and down the NHL standings would have the average fan believe that only 5 teams sit with below .500 records. That is far from the truth.
You want the real record: Add the L column and the OTL column that will tell you if your team is really bad or not, take away the pity point and teams really come down to earth.
In the East the real first place team right now is the New Jersey Devils, they have lost just once in overtime, all other losses have come in regulation. They currently have 43 points, 3 behind the Washington Capitals. Subtract New Jersey's pity point and they still have 42 points.
Washington has 46 points but if you take out their 6 pity points they come down to 40 points and 2 behind New Jersey.
Buffalo would drop two points after removing their pity points and would remain comfortably in 3rd place overall. Take away pity points from Boston, Ottawa and Montreal and their lead in the Northeast division widens significantly.
Without overtime losses the following teams would have losing records:
NY Rangers: 14-16
Philadelphia Flyers: 14-15
Montreal Canadiens: 15-17
Tampa Bay Lightning: 11-20 (9 overtime losses)
Detroit Red Wings: 15-16 (Yes the mighty Detroit Red Wings have 5 OTL, they are currently sitting out of a playoff spot even with the pity points)
Columbus Blue Jackets: 14-17
St. Louis Blues: 13-17
Edmonton Oilers: 15-17
Minnesota Wild: 15-16
Dallas Stars: 14-17 (Without their 9 OTL the Stars have a very impressive 14-8-9 record at first glance until as an eductated fan you realize the third column are all losses. The Stars probably have the most to lose if they lose their points they would sink from 8th place and in the playoffs to 13th and a good 6 points or so out of a playoff spot.)
When you readjust the points and records you go from 5 teams with losing records to 15, half the league which is really how it should be. The bad teams now become even worse:
Toronto would drop from 27 to 20 points and way out in the standings, Carolina would go from 20 points to just 14 lousy points on the season and the Islanders would go from 29 points to 22 points.
Mr. Bettman and the league office I beg of you as a rational hockey fan, restore some integrity to the NHL, do the right thing after this season is over and do away with pity points for overtime losses and call them what they are, losses. If you want to keep track of a stat, keep track of overtime wins. Reward teams for winning in overtime, those are the teams who deserve the point. Make overtime wins worth 3 points instead of two and the winner gets nothing. OTW's instead of OTL's.
Professionals don't need to be rewarded for losing, they are pros they can take it.
The only integrity Buttman can bestow on the NHL is to step down, period!
MIke, the one thing that I can't believe is his inability to get the league a halfway respectable TV contract, when you are negotiating TV contracts and stations are telling you to pay them if they don't make money you have a problem negotiating a deal...
Get someone in there who can progress this league. One of the things I start doing is:
Send Phoenix back to Winnipeg
Put a second team in Minnesota (Send Either Tampa or Florida there)
Carolina can go back to Hartford
and I would fold: Anaheim who doesn't get any thing in their building but tourists or Id put them in Seattle for a natural rivalry with Vancouver.
Id also pull Tampa out of Florida and put them in Quebec City and bring back the Nordique
Then I Would go back to ESPN and say look, we want to renegotiate based on half of what you paid us in our previous contracts it would be a lot more than what they get now, only if we are going to do this we have the announcers that we choose to do the games, I would have:
Ron Mclean, the NHL on the Fly Crew from the NHL network and Grapes on for NHL game nights...Grapesmight be controversial but he will get ratings in the US just by wearing his funky ass suits.
Id also try bringing in local announcers from other teams to join the crew because lets face it the national guys in Versus are absolutely awful, no wonder why no one watches it when its on I can't stand the announcers they let do the games, Melrose is ridiculous, how he ever had a coaching job is beyond me.