The Real(er) Standings and a(n im)modest proposal

Like we always do about this time: The “real” standings, minus the bonus points.


Northeast             W   L   T    Pts
Hartford (3)          41  29   6    88    
Syracuse (7)          38  35   3    79  
Albany                35  33   8    78    
Springfield           33  36   7    73
Bridgeport            25  47   4    54    

Atlantic              W   L   T    Pts
Manchester (1)        48  23   5   101    
Providence (5)        40  33   3    83        
Worcester (6)         39  33   4    82
Portland  (8)         37  35   4    78
St. John's            27  42   7    61

East                  W   L   T    Pts
WB/Scranton (2)       45  27   4    94    
Hershey (4)           44  27   5    93     
Binghamton            33  41   2    68
Lehigh Valley         26  42   8    60    
Norfolk               27  45   4    58    

North                 W   L   T    Pts
Utica (1)             45  27   4    94
Toronto (7)           39  36   1    79
Adirondack            34  39   3    71    
Hamilton              34  41   1    69
Rochester             27  46   3    57

Midwest               W   L   T    Pts
Grand Rapids (2)      44  28   4    92    
Rockford (4)          43  28   5    91    
Chicago (6)           39  35   2    80    
Lake Erie             33  37   6    72    
Milwaukee             31  36   9    71    

West                  W   L   T    Pts
Oklahoma City (3)     41  32   3    85    
San Antonio (5)       39  30   7    85    
Texas (8)             38  35   3    79    
Charlotte             26  44   6    58    
Iowa                  22  51   3    47    

(Shootout games converted to ties. Overtime losses converted to losses. Yes, teams would play differently under these rules, but we’ve been doing this for years; lay off us.)

BUT. You can see in those records how three-on-three overtime changed the game down here. (Here are last year’s, for instance.) Fewer shootouts. (Bridgeport set a franchise record for longest stretch without a tie or a shootout, the last 53 games since Dec. 6, though it only got to three-on-three once in that stretch.) Maybe it’s worth it to just separate all the overtime games. Hence: The “REALER” standings.


Northeast             W   L   T    Pts
Syracuse (3)          32  25  19    83   
Hartford (6)          30  24  22    82
Albany                30  28  18    78    
Springfield           26  28  22    74    
Bridgeport            21  40  15    57    

Atlantic              W   L   T    Pts
Manchester (1)        41  17  18   100    
Providence (5)        35  26  15    85    
Worcester (7)         33  29  14    80    
Portland (8)          32  28  16    80    
St. John's            18  33  25    61    

East                  W   L   T    Pts
Hershey (2)           37  22  17    91
WB/Scranton (4)       38  24  14    90    
Binghamton            24  34  18    66    
Lehigh Valley         19  35  22    60    
Norfolk               20  39  17    57    

North                 W   L   T    Pts
Utica (1)             39  20  17    95    
Toronto (6)           31  27  18    80    
Hamilton              28  29  19    75    
Adirondack            30  33  13    73    
Rochester             23  41  12    58    

Midwest               W   L   T    Pts
Rockford (2)          38  23  15    91    
Grand Rapids (4)      35  22  19    89    
Chicago (7)           31  29  16    78    
Lake Erie             24  29  23    71    
Milwaukee             23  28  25    71    

West                  W   L   T    Pts
Texas (3)             35  22  19    89    
San Antonio (5)       30  23  23    83    
Oklahoma City (8)     27  27  22    76    
Charlotte             24  38  14    62    
Iowa                  18  49   9    45    

(Overtime wins and losses and shootout wins and losses ALL converted to ties. Sixty-minute games only. Boy, was overtime unkind to Texas. YES, teams would play differently, etc., heard you the first time)

Further tweakage appears set to come to the NHL; something along the lines of what we saw this year in the AHL, further bastardizing the game to award some team two points in every game. I’m kind of stodgy, admittedly, but this just drives me nuts, as you know if you’ve been following the blog or the Twitter account. My issue isn’t so much “the shootout is bad.” It may be entertaining (sometimes), but it should not be worth a point in the standings.

Nate Silver suggested recently that the NHL eliminate ties the easy way: keep playing. Yes, like the playoffs, until someone wins. But he’s encouraging three-on-three within that framework, so, well, can’t get behind that too hard.

I come back to something I suggested to friends in jest a decade ago, only to hear that at least one other person had suggested it seriously. I’ve come around to it: The more gimmicky things get to break ties, the more I like the idea of eliminating ties altogether.

To get rid of the shootout after tie games, have a shootout every night. First intermission. Three shooters or five, whatever you’d like. The winner of the shootout is designated as the winner if the game is tied after 60 minutes. The standings would be wins and losses. The first tiebreaker would be “regulation wins,” that is, games that weren’t ties.

So no matter the score, the game is never really tied. If Hartford leads the game 2-1 with seconds to go (Hartford 2, Bridgeport 1, final), but Bridgeport won the shootout, a Bridgeport goal makes them winners (Bridgeport 2* (or Bridgeport 2s?), Hartford 2, final — no phantom bonus goals).

Tell me that’s not better than dudes taking fake penalty shots or guys running practice drills at the end of a 60- to 67-minute effort.

(The playoffs, obviously, would be unchanged. It’s impossible to make playoff overtime more special, but making overtime unique to the playoffs would come as close as you can.)

Michael Fornabaio