At the end of every season, I like to crunch the numbers and see what the standings would look like under a number of different overtime and point allocation scenarios.
Of course, any adjustments should be taken with a grain of salt (as changing the points system would likely change the coaching strategy, altering the results). Nonetheless, I think this is a good exercise. It can help us get a...
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Hello again.
As usual, my compulsions toward both hockey and numbers have led to to create a big ol' NHL spreadsheet, in which every team's record is broken down into its constituent components -- regulation wins, overtime wins, shootout wins, shootout loses, overtime loses and regulation loses.
With these numbers, I can run any kind of standings adjustment I choose. While these standings ad...
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CALGARY FLAMES
In games that ended in regulation:
Record: 32-29
Winning/points percentage: .[b]525[/b]
In games that ended after regulation:
Record: 5-16
Winning percentage: .238 (5 wins in 21 attempts)
Points percentage: .[b]619[/b] (26 out of 42 possible points)
So, just to be clear, going 5-16 in overtime is considered more successful and efficient than going 32-29 in regulation....
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In a 30-team league where 16 teams make the playoffs, the policy of guaranteeing top-3 seeds (or even playoff spots, really) to division winners has always been stupid. But this season, more than any in recent memory, really drives the point home.
I’m writing this on Tuesday, March 22, 2012, with the regular season about 90 percent finished. Here’s the NHL top 10 by points accumulated this...
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At differing points each year, I like to get out the spreadsheet and calculate how the standings might look if the NHL reweighted its points system. These adjustments must always be taken with a grain of salt -- changing the points system invariably would change team strategies, especially late in games -- but I do think they provide additional perspective that can help us evaluate and compare tea...
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