Photo credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images
If you needed proof that the NHL’s obsession with artificial parity is ruining the integrity of the season, look no further than the utter nonsense happening in the standings right now.
It’s completely embarrassing.
You have two teams with identical win totals through 57 games.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have won 27 times. The Vegas Golden Knights have won 27 times.
Yet, because of the league’s geography and the “loser point” crutch, their realities couldn’t be more different.
Vegas is sitting pretty in first place in the Pacific Division. They are planning their playoff route and resting guys down the stretch.
Toronto? They are scraping for their lives in seventh place in the Atlantic and have approximately a 10% chance to qualify for the playoffs, according to Money Puck.
It makes absolutely no sense.
The difference isn’t dominance. It’s “efficient losing.”
Vegas has racked up 14 overtime or shootout losses compared to just nine for Toronto.
They are being rewarded for failing to close out games in regulation.
The current point system punishes teams for playing to win
If the Leafs played in the Pacific, their 63 points would have them tied for third, comfortably in a playoff spot.
Instead, they are suffocating in the Atlantic meat grinder, punished for playing in a bracket that actually values winning.
Gary Bettman loves this. He loves that the playoff race is tight, even if it’s manufactured by handing out participation ribbons for making it to overtime.
But it kills the product.
Why should a team that loses 14 times in extra time be considered a division leader over a team that actually throws caution to the wind and plays to win games?
It turns the regular season into a math equation instead of a competition.
Fans in Toronto have every right to be furious.
They are watching a team with the same number of wins as a conference leader fighting what appears to be a losing battle just to get a wildcard spot.
The 3-2-1 point system would fix this overnight.
Reward a regulation win with three points. Stop giving teams a reason to play for the tie in the final five minutes.
Until the league fixes this, we are going to keep seeing mediocre teams coast on “loser points” while good teams burn out trying to overcome a broken format.
It’s not parity. It’s mediocrity.
And right now, that mediocrity is costing the Leafs a fair shot.
Previously on Toronto Hockey Daily
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