scamperdog
02-01-2007, 09:46 PM
The great playoff debate begins again
by Gregg Drinnan
www.kamloopsnews.ca
When the 2005-06 WHL season ended, Dean Clark says he was “the only one raising a fuss.”
The general manager and head coach of the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers now has some company.
Clark was upset last spring because his team missed the playoffs despite having a better record than two conference opponents who qualified for postseason play.
“I was raising a fuss, not because it happened to us,” Clark said. “All I said was, ‘I hope it doesn’t happen to anyone else.’ ”
Well, guess what? Yes, it looks as though it is going to happen again. And, suddenly, there is more pressure being applied to the league to change its playoff format.
Last season, the Blazers didn’t qualify despite finishing with a record (34-33-2-3) that was better than the Portland Winter Hawks (32-32-3-5) and Tri-City Americans (30-35-4-3).
This is allowed to happen because teams play within their divisions in the first round of the playoffs. They move into conference play in the second round.
The Blazers, out of the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, made their concerns known but nothing was done.
Following the 2005-06 season, the expansion Chilliwack Bruins were welcomed into the B.C. Division. The Kootenay Ice moved from the B.C. Division to the Central Division. The Swift Current Broncos shifted from the Central Division to the East Division.
When all was said and done, the East Division was left with six teams. So the WHL incorporated a wild-card system that allows the fifth-place team in the East to be slotted into the Central for the first round of playoffs should it finish with more points than the third- or fourth-place team.
On top of that, the league decided that should the East’s fifth-place team and the Central’s fourth-place club finish tied in points, they will play a sudden-death tiebreaker game to see which will qualify for playoffs.
However, a glance at the standings reveals that neither of these scenarios is likely to unfold, what with the East’s fifth-place team having considerably fewer points than any of the Central Division teams.
What this means, then, is that one Central Division team is going to miss the playoffs and it will almost certainly have more points than the fourth-place East Division team.
So why not allow the fifth-place Central Division team to cross over in that situation? When this week began, that fifth-place team (the Lethbridge Hurricanes) had more points than the second-place team in the East.
This also means that the mood at the WHL board of governors’ table may be changing. There may be more teams leaning towards slotting teams by conference right from the start.
“It has to go 1-to-8,” Clark said. “I don’t think (the present system) is fair. It happened to us and I wouldn’t want it to happen to anyone else.”
Brent Sutter, the owner, GM and head coach of the Red Deer Rebels, now sides with Clark.
“Personally, I think it’s the fairest thing to do,” Sutter told the Red Deer Advocate. “The top team in each division within our conference should be seeded one-two for the playoffs, with the other six teams falling in line based on points.
“I don’t buy the fact that your attendance is any better in the first round by playing a divisional opponent rather than someone outside of the division. You get into a Game 6 or 7 with any team in any series and your attendance is always going to increase.”
Last season, the B.C. Division included three of the WHL’s best teams — the Vancouver Giants, Kelowna Rockets and Kootenay Ice. With the first round featuring divisional matchups, it was guaranteed that one of those teams wouldn’t advance — the Rockets took out the Ice in six games. That wouldn’t happen if teams played in the conferences.
“Why should teams make the playoffs when their win-loss records don’t show that they’re deserving?” Sutter said. “At the end of the day, it should be about your performance on the ice.”
• • •
by Gregg Drinnan
www.kamloopsnews.ca
When the 2005-06 WHL season ended, Dean Clark says he was “the only one raising a fuss.”
The general manager and head coach of the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers now has some company.
Clark was upset last spring because his team missed the playoffs despite having a better record than two conference opponents who qualified for postseason play.
“I was raising a fuss, not because it happened to us,” Clark said. “All I said was, ‘I hope it doesn’t happen to anyone else.’ ”
Well, guess what? Yes, it looks as though it is going to happen again. And, suddenly, there is more pressure being applied to the league to change its playoff format.
Last season, the Blazers didn’t qualify despite finishing with a record (34-33-2-3) that was better than the Portland Winter Hawks (32-32-3-5) and Tri-City Americans (30-35-4-3).
This is allowed to happen because teams play within their divisions in the first round of the playoffs. They move into conference play in the second round.
The Blazers, out of the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, made their concerns known but nothing was done.
Following the 2005-06 season, the expansion Chilliwack Bruins were welcomed into the B.C. Division. The Kootenay Ice moved from the B.C. Division to the Central Division. The Swift Current Broncos shifted from the Central Division to the East Division.
When all was said and done, the East Division was left with six teams. So the WHL incorporated a wild-card system that allows the fifth-place team in the East to be slotted into the Central for the first round of playoffs should it finish with more points than the third- or fourth-place team.
On top of that, the league decided that should the East’s fifth-place team and the Central’s fourth-place club finish tied in points, they will play a sudden-death tiebreaker game to see which will qualify for playoffs.
However, a glance at the standings reveals that neither of these scenarios is likely to unfold, what with the East’s fifth-place team having considerably fewer points than any of the Central Division teams.
What this means, then, is that one Central Division team is going to miss the playoffs and it will almost certainly have more points than the fourth-place East Division team.
So why not allow the fifth-place Central Division team to cross over in that situation? When this week began, that fifth-place team (the Lethbridge Hurricanes) had more points than the second-place team in the East.
This also means that the mood at the WHL board of governors’ table may be changing. There may be more teams leaning towards slotting teams by conference right from the start.
“It has to go 1-to-8,” Clark said. “I don’t think (the present system) is fair. It happened to us and I wouldn’t want it to happen to anyone else.”
Brent Sutter, the owner, GM and head coach of the Red Deer Rebels, now sides with Clark.
“Personally, I think it’s the fairest thing to do,” Sutter told the Red Deer Advocate. “The top team in each division within our conference should be seeded one-two for the playoffs, with the other six teams falling in line based on points.
“I don’t buy the fact that your attendance is any better in the first round by playing a divisional opponent rather than someone outside of the division. You get into a Game 6 or 7 with any team in any series and your attendance is always going to increase.”
Last season, the B.C. Division included three of the WHL’s best teams — the Vancouver Giants, Kelowna Rockets and Kootenay Ice. With the first round featuring divisional matchups, it was guaranteed that one of those teams wouldn’t advance — the Rockets took out the Ice in six games. That wouldn’t happen if teams played in the conferences.
“Why should teams make the playoffs when their win-loss records don’t show that they’re deserving?” Sutter said. “At the end of the day, it should be about your performance on the ice.”
• • •