Nashville Predators

The GBU and Playoff Seeding Complaints
March 29, 2017, 8:31 AM ET [6 Comments]
Paul McCann
Nashville Predators Blogger • Predators Radio Network • RSS • Archive • CONTACT
You knew it was bound to happen, the Predators had another one of those slow starts which led to a 4-1 loss in Boston last night. An early goal… a second one… Preds settle down and begin coming back… hold the opponent even in the second, halve the lead in the third, but ultimately can’t complete the comeback due to outstanding goaltending.

Let’s look at the good the bad and the ugly from the game

The Good - You have to love the resilience of this team… they always seem to work themselves back into a game.

The Bad - Revisiting the “slow start” scenario is OK (I guess) now, but come April 12… it just can’t happen.

The Ugly - The first period… I know it was the back half of a back to back, but the team has to come out with more fire than they did.

‘Nuff said… moving on to an interesting debate that seems to get louder with each passing year. Playoff seeding. Ever since the league moved back to a more divisionally based format, right around this time of year, the bitching and whining starts…

“Waaahh, a good team will be eliminated in the first round!”

“Waaah, why don’t they just seed the top 8, so a good team doesn’t have a difficult road to the Cup?”

Sheesh, doesn’t anyone learn anything from history? Good teams go down in the first round all of the time and uh, news flash… the road to the Cup is ALWAYS difficult. Seeding just doesn’t matter that much and the method of seeding matters even less.

Just taking a snapshot of the playoff bracket today… you would have the following matchups in the east; MTL Vs. NYR, OTT vs. TOR, WSH vs. BOS, CBJ vs. PIT. OK… nothing wrong here… compelling matchups and yes… a good team… a Stanley Cup contender… may lose in the first round… so what??? Don’t the games get played to find stuff like this out? Don’t upsets help create rivalries? Well, what about the west? CHI vs. STL, MIN vs. NSH, ANA vs. CGY, SJS vs. EDM. Nothing wrong here either… higher point teams play lower point teams.

But… but… the seedings are wrong (they cry) … it would be better if you ranked them 1-8 in the conference.

OK… in the west you would end up with CHI vs. STL, MIN vs. NSH, ANA vs. CGY, SJS vs. EDM… hmmm… exactly the same. Literally, all four matchups are exact. Well there has to be something egregious in the east, let’s look there. You would get WSH vs BOS, CBJ vs. TOR, PIT vs. OTT, NYR vs. MTL.

Well… there were two minor changes, not sure if they are for the better as I would love to see an Ottawa/Toronto series as PIT/OTT doesn’t ring my bell as much. But I say again… a good team will get knocked out in the first round… it happens every year. This method changes very little.

But… but… you really need to seed the teams 1-16 with no regard for conference. That would be the fairest way… I guess if you discount the fact that method eliminates any benefit a team gets for winning its division of conference.

OK… let’s look at the matchups you get there… WSH vs. BOS, CBJ vs. TOR … you have got to be kidding me… the same??? The first two are exactly the same??? But I thought the divisional system was unfair… I have to admit, there are some intriguing matchups and it would certainly even out the inherent travel advantage eastern teams get. In this scenario, the Rangers would play Capgary and Montreal would play Edmonton… forget it… I am not even going here.

Leave the playoffs alone, the current seeding system actually works. The playoffs are compelling without any revamping. Let’s find something else to complain about… like the crazy way the DoPS doles out suspensions?

----------------------------------

Random Notes

- Where We Stand – After yesterday’s play, the Nashville Predators have 89 points in 76 games played and remain in the 3rd spot in the Central, leading the Blues by a single point. St. Louis now has a game in hand on Nashville. Per sportsclubstats.com, the Predators playoff chances are at 99.96%.

- Impact Game(s) Tonight - STL @ ARI – Any point for the Blues moves them back to 3rd in the division. The second impact game is LAK @ CGY… any Kings loss gives the Predators a chance to clinch on Thursday night.

- If the Playoffs Started Today - As the 3 seed in the Central, the Predators would play the Minnesota Wild in the first round. Chicago leads the Western Conference and Central Division.

- Teams that have clinched playoff spots - Four more teams clinched playoff spots last night, the New York Rangers, Anaheim Ducks, San Jose Sharks and Edmonton Oilers. Nine down, seven to go… Washington, Chicago, Columbus, Pittsburgh and Minnesota have punched their tickets.

- Playoff “Tragic Numbers” - In the West… Los Angeles = 4. In the East… Carolina = 11, Tampa Bay = 12, New York Islanders = 11. (Stick tap to Damian Echecarrieta for this data)

- Nice to see Craig Smith finally get a goal last night.

- The Predators had a chance to get their road record to .500 last night, now in order to do that they need to win out on the road… @ STL, @ DAL and @ WPG.

- Two streaks ended last night… the Edmonton Oliers made the playoffs, ending a 10 year stretch on non-playoff seasons and the Detroit Red Wings 25 year playoff streak is over. The last time the Red Wings missed the playoffs was eight years before the Nashville Predators began play. A tip o’ the hat to the Red Wings… one helluva run.

- Four games in the NHL tonight, all times CST – 7pm – CHI @ PIT. 8pm – LAK @ CGY. 9pm – WSH @ COL. 9:30pm – STL @ ARI.

------------------------------------




-------------------------------------

SSR’s season nine is on, our next show is tonight at 7pm on 102.5 the Game. SlapShot Radio is the longest running hockey show in the mid-south and Pete Weber and I bring you the best in hockey talk all season long. Our guest list includes the Mike Augello from HockeyBuzz, Kelly Chase, radio color analyst for the St. Louis Blues and Puck Daddy, Greg Wyshynski.

SlapShot Radio has been delivering great hockey talk to the most energetic and engaged fans in radio and advertising with us drives results. Our premier sponsors include day one sponsor Dr. Jane Bacon at Hermitage Family and Cosmetic Dentistry … make your appointment at (615) 872-7762, Mark Lonsway at ReMax Fine Homes, call him for all your real estate needs at (615) 207-7799, and TurfMasters… check out their great service at TurfMasters.com.

Advertisers… reach out to me in order to access our activated listener base though great advertising deals available when you email me at paul(@)slapshotradio(dot)com

You can also keep up with all the goings on with SlapShot Radio by following the show on Twitter @SlapShotRadio1 … Also... make sure to "like" SlapShot Radio on Facebook... here's the link.