NHL Hockey should expand to 33 teams and realign into three divisions—Atlantic, Central, and Western—with 11 teams in each division. This would create better balance across the league and simplify the structure.
Right now, there are several teams located in the Central Time Zone
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should be about rewarding the best teams over an 82-game season—not setting up matchups that eliminate top contenders right away. Go back to 1 through 8. It’s simpler, fairer, and makes the playoffs better
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@Nhl @NHLPA @TheAthleticNHL
right. There’s no reason a team like the Tampa Bay Lightning with 106 points should be facing a team like the Montreal Canadiens with 103 points in the first round. Those are two high-level teams that earned strong seeds, and they shouldn’t be knocking each other out that early.
The playoffs
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I’ve never been a fan of the National Hockey League playoff format. I really wish they would go back to the traditional 1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7, 3 vs. 6, and so on. That format made more sense and rewarded teams properly for their regular-season performance.
Right now, the system just doesn’t feel
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Steph Banatte