Should the NHL learn from the Olympics and switch to a 3-2-1-0 standings format?

With the Olympics in the rearview mirror, we’re back to… what was it again? That league with all the teams and the six-month season? Right, the NHL, that was it. The NHL is back. Feel the excitement.

But while the Olympic tournament is over and some of us might be eager to move on, now might be a good time to wonder about whether the NHL could learn something from how the tournament was structured.

No, I don’t mean using 3-on-3 overtime to settle championships – fans around the world seem to agree that that part was bad. And I don’t mean the smaller rules that we debated last week in Rules Court. I’m thinking of an element you may have already forgotten about, since it was only in place for the round robin: Should the NHL borrow a page from the Olympics and move to a 3-2-1-0 points system?

That’s where teams receive three points for a regulation win, two points for an overtime/shootout win, one point for an overtime/shootout loss, and zero points for a regulation loss. Is that better than what we have now?

>> Read the full post at The Athletic

(Want to read this post on The Athletic for free? Sign up for a free trial.)

A brief history of the Selanne Trophy, a fake award for best combined NHL/Olympics year

It’s been a while since we added anything to our fake trophy case. That’s where we store the Carson (for best sophomore season), the Bourque (for best final season), the Pollock (for best trade) and the Thornton (for best debut with a new team).

Today, we’re unveiling a new fake trophy, for the best combination NHL and Olympic performance in the same season. Please ooh and awe at the shiny new Teemu Selanne Trophy.

Selanne was a relatively easy choice for the honor of having the award named after him. After all, he’s the all-time leading scorer in Olympic hockey among NHLers, and it’s not all that close. He’d also been tied for the most points in any NHL-attended tournament until Connor McDavid broke the record this year. Oh, and when Selanne wasn’t dominating best-on-best, he found time to score nearly 700 NHL goals. He was good.

So our trophy for the best combination NHL/Olympic year will be the Selanne. We used the combo concept to build some all-time all-star teams a few weeks ago, but now we’re looking for single seasons.

>> Read the full post at The Athletic

(Want to read this post on The Athletic for free? Sign up for a free trial.)

Ejections for fighting? 3-on-3 playoff overtime? Olympics rules court is in session

Welcome back to Rules Court, where we’re fixing the NHL, one new rule at a time.

Usually, that means considering your suggestions. But occasionally, we like to look elsewhere for inspiration, such as stealing ideas form other leagues. We’re doing that again today, because as you may have heard, there’s an international tournament going on. It’s called the Olympics, and the NHL was kind enough to send its players over for a change.

That NHL participation has meant that the rulebook used in the Olympics is almost identical to the one we all know and love. Almost, but not quite. As Pierre LeBrun reported last week, the “blended” approach to officiating still left a few differences between the IIHF and the NHL. And that got us wondering: Could the NHL learn something from international hockey?

Let’s see. Pierre’s article included nine differences between the two rulebooks. We’re going to put seven of them on trial today. (We cut the ones about switching ends for overtime and players losing their helmets during play, since they’re relatively minor and we don’t have a “meh” option for our rulings.) 

We convened the usual jurors – Sean Gentille, Shayna Goldman and Sean McIndoe – and cut-and-pasted Pierre’s description of the differences. If at least two of us approve the change, it becomes a new NHL rule, effective immediately. (Editor’s note: That’s not true.) (McIndoe’s note: OK, but it should be.)

While most hockey fans agree that the NHL is a perfectly run league with zero room for improvement, could we still find some inspiration from elsewhere? Let’s find out.

>> Read the full post at The Athletic

(Want to read this post on The Athletic for free? Sign up for a free trial.)

Ranking the 14 potential Olympic men’s hockey gold medal matchups

With all 12 teams technically still alive in the Olympic men’s hockey tournament entering Tuesday’s qualification games, there are a huge number of possibilities ahead for the medal rounds.

As of this moment, however, there are only 14 gold-medal game matchups, however, that are plausible — which we’re defining as odds of 1 percent or greater.

>> Read the full post at The Athletic

(Want to read this post on The Athletic for free? Sign up for a free trial.)

Weekend rankings, Olympic edition: Ghosts, bridesmaids, a fight and more

Welcome to the NHL weekend rankings, in which we don’t have an NHL to talk about.

You may have noticed that the league is on hold while some tournament is played over in Italy. It feels like it’s kind of a big deal. People seem to be enjoying it.

OK, so let’s go with the flow. It’s like the old cliché goes: When in Rome, or at least in the same country as Rome, do as every other hockey writer in the world is doing and serve up some Olympic hockey takes.

This week, we’ll take the rough format of the Weekend Rankings you know and love and/or tolerate, and use them for some men’s Olympic hockey observations. We’ll get to the good and bad, but let's start with a few stragglers I'm still working on.

>> Read the full post at The Athletic

(Want to read this post on The Athletic for free? Sign up for a free trial.)