It isn’t a quirk that the Rangers and Islanders will meet just three times this season and just once at UBS. It isn’t a quirk that the Oilers and Flames will play only three times and just once at Edmonton. It isn’t a quirk that the Flyers and Penguins will face off only three times and just once in Philadelphia.
It is instead a feature of the NHL schedule and a league that has made it its business to devalue rivalries in favor of a more universal schedule that has become a significant factor in the wavering passion and diluted intensity across the league’s six-month tour.
Twelve of the 16 playoff spots are awarded by division standings, yet teams play a touch under 32-percent of the schedule within the division. Teams play more games against non-conference opponents than they do against division rivals…well, not really rivals, but instead, foes.
Thirty-two games against the other conference, 26 within the division. That translates to 16 at home against the other conference and 13 against division opponents. Thirteen out of 41! The National Hockey League is taking itself a bit too literally. It has turned itself into the Generic Hockey League.
No, it is not worth enduring — sorry, watching — a procession of games against essentially sum-neutral opponents for the opportunity to catch Connor McDavid one time, if he isn’t injured, when the Oilers come to town.
If four-point games haven’t been turned into an anachronism by the losers’ point, they surely have been by the schedule that produces fewer showdowns. The Rangers were done at UBS with 36 more home games remaining on the Island. The Flames were done in Edmonton on Oct. 15. The Flyers won’t get to Pittsburgh until March 11.
The Battle of New York, the Battle of Alberta, the Battle of Pennsylvania, all diffused by general Gary Bettman and the folks on Ninth Avenue.
You start with six games a piece against clubs within the division and then figure out the rest. Forty-two out of 82 and 21 out of 41 at home. Value for value. The league needs to make it its business to restore rivalries rather than simply giving lip service to the historical significance of them.
Rangers-Islanders three times. Oilers-Flames three times. Flyers-Penguins three times. Just how the NHL designed it.
No goals yet (through Friday) at five-on-five for: Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, Kevin Fiala, John Tavares, Mathew Barzal (none at all), the Strome Boys (Ryan Strome and Dylan Strome), Jamie Benn (nada , total) and Matt Duchene.
All Hallows Snapshot. Elite Eight: 1. Boston; 2. Calgary; 3. Vegas; 4. Colorado; 5. Dallas; 6. Philadelphia; 7. Carolina; 8. Edmonton.
New York Metro Area Rankings: 1. Devils; 2. Islanders; 3. Rangers.
And then there are those Devils fans who are just delighted with their team’s 5-3-0 getaway, and why wouldn’t they be?
By the way, that is 5-3-0 with the league’s worst five-on-five save percentage, while at the same time limiting the opposition to two goals or fewer in five contests.
It is early and the burden of proof remains on the organization, but the product is beginning to at least equal the sum of its parts.
Nothing the Maple Leafs do is going to matter until the playoffs and they know it. They can earn no more than faint praise.
They are the equivalent of the 1979-80 regular-season Islanders, who, after being upset by the Maple Leafs in the 1978 quarters and by the Rangers in the 1979 semis, wandered somewhat aimlessly through months of the following season.
Indeed, those Islanders were just 31-28-9 after a loss to Washington on March 9. The next day, the Islanders traded for Butch Goring. They did not lose the rest of the regular season, going 8-0-4 down the stretch. They did not lose a playoff series for four years.
October didn’t matter and neither did November, December, January or February. The same holds true for this Toronto team. Of course, getting an equivalent to Denis Potvin and Billy Smith might be more worthwhile than that historical reference.
Yes, the shootout has been, is, and will always be a gimmick. So is the ghost runner to start on second base in extra innings in regular-season baseball. But both have brought added entertainment value to their sports.
No. The match Tuesday at the Garden between the Rangers and Avalanche should not have ended in a tie following the five-minute scoreless three-on-three (gimmick!). The shootout showdown between Igor Shesterkin and Alexandar Georgiev produced high drama, great entertainment and, ultimately, fulfillment.
Remember a few years ago when referees convened to overturn an incorrect minor penalty call against Sir Sidney Crosby? The explanation by referee Brad Watson, both accepted and applauded, was that the refs wanted to get the call right.
Tuesday at the Garden, referees Brian Pochmara and Eric Furlatt decided to get the call wrong. Spending five minutes reviewing a play they were technically not permitted to review, they saw that Alexis Lafreniere had not been guilty of the high-sticking infraction against Cale Makar for which he had been called.
Indeed, it was clear that Colorado’s Devon Toews had clipped his teammate. And yet, because officials are only permitted to review high-sticking infractions that result in a double-minor, the five-minute review the officials had just conducted was tossed to the side.
The referees stood by their incorrect call because, they said, they had no choice. Of course they had a choice, just like the one Watson made when reversing that call against Crosby, which a quick search revealed, was one of three minors reversed following similar referee conferences during the 2014-15 season.
This time, though, the refs just decided to get the call wrong. Seems like the wrong kind of progress to me.
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