Fun With Numbers: We are better than you
I've never been a fan of giving a point to the team that lost, and neither should you. As Red Wings fans we are winners, and winners don't need handouts.
Click the jump to see why we should be running away with the central division, western conference and even the Presidents trophy.
How many times have teams lost their way to a better seeding in the playoffs?
Detroit has 1 overtime loss this season. 1 measly point for being the first loser in a game that wasn't decided in 60 minutes. Chicago and St. Louis however have been handsomely rewarded 6 points over the course of the season for being losers. Hell, Los Angeles and Florida have been handed a free point 10 different times this season. That's over 20% of their games! Do you think Dallas is happy sitting in 10th when they could be in the playoff picture?
Do they give the Stanley cup loser a mini cup for participation? Does a salesman get half their commission for almost selling a product? So tell me why a Hockey team gets a point for almost winning? last I checked, almost winning was the same thing as losing.
Check out how the standings would and should look without the losers getting points they don't deserve.
| Rank (actual) | Team | GP | W | L | OTL | Points |
| 1 (1) | Detroit Red Wings | 47 | 31 | 15 | 1 | 62 |
| 2 (2) | Vancouver Canucks | 47 | 28 | 15 | 4 | 56 |
| 3 (3) | San Jose Sharks | 44 | 26 | 13 | 5 | 52 |
| 4 (4) | St Louis Blues | 46 | 28 | 12 | 6 | 56 |
| 5 (5) | Chicago Blackhawks | 47 | 28 | 13 | 6 | 56 |
| 6 (6) | Nashville Predators | 47 | 27 | 16 | 4 | 54 |
| 7 (8) | Colorado Avalanche |
48 | 25 | 21 |
2 | 50 |
| 8 (10) | Dallas Stars |
45 | 24 | 19 |
2 | 48 |
| 9 (7) | Los Angeles Kings | 48 | 23 | 15 | 10 | 46 |
| 10 (9) | Minnesota Wild | 47 | 22 | 18 | 7 | 44 |
| 11 (11) | Calgary Flames | 48 | 22 | 20 | 6 | 44 |
| 12 (12) | Phoenix Coyotes | 48 | 21 | 19 | 8 | 42 |
| 13 (14) | Edmonton Oilers | 46 | 17 | 25 | 4 | 34 |
| 14 (13) | Anaheim Ducks | 45 | 16 | 22 | 7 | 32 |
| 15 (15) | Columbus Blue Jackets | 46 | 13 | 28 | 5 | 26 |
I want my son to go to a school that will prepare him for the real world. Not coddle him and tell him that he doesn't have to work hard all the time, because people won't just let him slide through like half-assing things.
I also want my hockey team to play to win each and every night, because if they don't get in the habit of it now, then they won't play the do or die hockey it takes to bring home that silver chalice that rightfully belongs to us.
| Rank (actual) |
Team | GP | Win | Loss | OTL | Points |
| 1 (1) | Detroit Red Wings | 47 | 31 | 15 | 1 | 62 |
| 2 (5) | Boston Bruins | 44 | 30 | 13 | 1 | 60 |
| 3 (2) | New York Rangers | 45 | 29 | 12 | 4 | 58 |
| 4 (3) | St Louis Blues | 46 | 28 | 12 | 6 | 56 |
| 5 (4) | Chicago Blackhawks | 47 | 28 | 13 | 6 | 56 |
| 6 (6) | Vancouver Canucks | 47 | 28 | 15 | 4 | 56 |
| 7 (8) | Philadelphia Flyers | 45 | 27 | 14 | 4 | 54 |
| 8 (9) | Nashville Predators | 47 | 27 | 16 | 4 | 54 |
| 9 (7) | Ottawa Senators | 49 | 27 | 16 | 6 | 54 |
| 10 (10) | San Jose Sharks | 44 | 26 | 13 | 5 | 52 |
| 11 (13) | New Jersey Devils | 46 | 26 | 18 | 2 | 52 |
| 13 (14) | Washington Capitals | 45 | 25 | 18 | 2 | 50 |
| 12 (12) | Pittsburgh Penguins | 46 | 25 | 17 | 4 | 50 |
| 14 (16) | Colorado Avalanche | 48 | 25 | 21 | 2 | 50 |
| 15 (19) | Dallas Stars | 45 | 24 | 19 | 2 | 48 |
| 17 (17) | Toronto Maple Leafs | 46 | 23 | 18 | 5 | 46 |
| 16 (11) | Los Angeles Kings | 48 | 23 | 15 | 10 | 46 |
| 18 (18) | Minnesota Wild | 47 | 22 | 18 | 7 | 44 |
| 20 (22) | Winnipeg Jets | 47 | 22 | 20 | 5 | 44 |
| 19 (20) | Calgary Flames | 48 | 22 | 20 | 6 | 44 |
| 21 (15) | Florida Panthers | 45 | 21 | 14 | 10 | 42 |
| 22 (21) | Phoenix Coyotes | 48 | 21 | 19 | 8 | 42 |
| 23 (23) | Buffalo Sabres | 47 | 19 | 23 | 5 | 38 |
| 24 (24) | New York Islanders | 45 | 18 | 21 | 6 | 36 |
| 25 (26) | Tampa Bay Lightning | 45 | 18 | 23 | 4 | 36 |
| 26 (25) | Montréal Canadiens | 46 | 17 | 21 | 8 | 34 |
| 27 (29) | Edmonton Oilers | 46 | 17 | 25 | 4 | 34 |
| 29 (28) | Anaheim Ducks | 45 | 16 | 22 | 7 | 32 |
| 28 (27) | Carolina Hurricanes | 48 | 16 | 24 | 8 | 32 |
| 30 (30) | Columbus Blue Jackets | 46 | 13 | 28 | 5 | 26 |
Just to throw it out there, Detroit would still be 1st in the west and central today even with Chicago winning last night
The central division is showing the parody of the playoff seeding more than ever this season, Detroit can be tied in points for 1st in the west yet still be a 4 seed, while teams like Washington that play in a weak division are at least a 3 seed.
There is a flaw any which way you do it.
What if we went to 10 minute 4 on 4 OT, winner gets 2 loser gets 0. After that we have the shootout and the winner of that gets 2 and the loser 1. I think this gives more incentive to win like real hockey teams do, I think it also makes the shootout less significant. Plus teams will no longer get a point for losing, just a point for getting to the shootout.
All valid points. I hate the tie too, I would like to see a full 20-minute sudden death at 4 on 4 and then possibly a shootout. A tie game just seems pointless. I know those points came in handy in 2010, but fair is fair I would rather win my way into the playoffs than lose and still get points. Maybe that would have been incentive to strap it down.
Teams should have to earn their points, Red Wings included
Also the shootout point would be just a tie for us in the old rules .... to finish in a tie only 1 point would be given to each side. This would effect your math significantly. But also you need to look at how many of the overtime losses did not go to a shootout. If the shootout is how one team got 2 points then it would be a tie in the old rules and thus means the OTL would be 1 point.
Now the easiest way to fix this is to make an overtime loss that does not require a shoot out a 2 point and the loser gets 0.... if it does go to a shoot out then the losing team would have ended with a tie getting 1 point each .... adding the shootout for the extra point would still be a good idea.
This would make winning in overtime a bigger goal to get the win than a shootout. This would make it similar to playoffs as for overtime importance.... but the overtime and shootout need to be separate in how the points are rewarded. The shootout is the same thing as a tie and would just allow the shootout winner to gain an extra point is all.
There is just a flaw in the whole thing with the old way of having a tie and each team got 1. Thus for a team to lose in a shootout definitely deserves a point. A loss in overtime however does not deserve a point to the losing team.
just to play devils advocate, the point you get when you lose in ot was very helpful to us in 2010. we were decimated by injuries and sat on the fringes of the playoff picture most of the year but gained so many points by getting the games to overtime. i truly feel we may not have made the playoffs that year without those points. we would have been further behind and even though we tore it up in the last quarter of the season, we would have had much more ground to make up. i'm just going off of memory so i could be wrong.
Maybe they should make it to where if u win in regulation, u only get 1 point n the losers still get 0. That way teams compete harder for that 2nd point in 60 mins rather then hang on to the puck so their guaranteed atleast one. What u guys think ?
