SHAUN BEST
The New York Islanders' controversial owner Charles Wang came up with an idea about a play-in game in advance of the annual NHL playoffs that was sure to be rejected by general managers' meetings this past week - and it was. But just because Wang got too fanciful with his suggestion doesn't mean there wasn't some merit to the germ of his idea.
What doomed the proposal - which was officially presented by Islanders' general manager Garth Snow - was that Wang wanted every team outside of the top seven in each conference to salvage a chance at post-season play through a complicated 16-team play-in round that would feature a week-long tournament in each conference. Basically, No. 8 would play No. 15, No. 9 against No. 14 and so on, with a quarter-final, a semi-final and a final round in each conference, just to settle the eighth and final playoff spot.
Sorry, but just too long, too complicated - and it would significantly diminish the value of the NHL's six-month regular season.
What Wang should have done was start in a more modest place, with a single play-in game, No. 8 against No. 9 in each conference, similar to what the NCAA does in its annual college basketball tournament.
Think of it this way: Six times in the four post-lockout seasons, a ninth-place team has missed the playoffs by two or fewer points. In 2009, the Montreal Canadiens and Florida Panthers were actually tied in points with 93 apiece and identical records - 41-30-11 - but the Habs got in on the third tie-breaker, head-to-head results. After a six-month regular season, it would have been fairer to have that final playoff spot decided on the ice, rather than some complicated tie-breaking system.
In 2007, two ninth-placed teams - the Toronto Maple Leafs in the East and the Colorado Avalanche in the West - finished just a single point behind the eighth-place finishers, the Islanders and the Calgary Flames respectively. In 2006, Toronto was ninth as well, two behind the Tampa Bay Lightning. Nowadays, the races at the bottom are so close for so long that it wouldn't be a bad thing to give a surging ninth-place squad a shot at making the playoffs.
That way, 18 out of 30 teams would effectively have a chance to win the Stanley Cup - or about 60 per cent. In the pre-1967 days of the Original Six, when four of six teams qualified for the playoffs, it meant that 66.6 per cent of teams made the playoffs. Introducing a single play-in game would bring the league closer to its more historical percentages of playoff versus non-playoff teams.
If you added just a single game, you wouldn't need a week to do it - which is the other fatal flaw in Wang's suggestion. A single play-in game could be played within the first 48 hours of the end of the regular season on a Tuesday; and the opening round match-up between the surviving team and the No. 1 seed could start on the Thursday, same as always.
It would create an incentive to finish seventh - to avoid the extra game - but it would also give ninth-placed team that's virtually indistinguishable from No. 8 a chance to decide it on the ice. I like that.
Not sure if Wang dreamed up his proposal because that's what happened at the Olympics this year. After a preliminary round-robin, every team in the tournament still had a chance to play in the gold-medal game, with four teams getting byes in the quarter-finals and eight others needing to come through the qualifying round. In the blush of Sidney Crosby's game-winning overtime goal against the United States in the gold-medal game, it is easy to forget that Canada won the tournament by starting out as a sixth seed and coming through the qualifying round. It didn't seem to diminish or tarnish the victory in any meaningful way either, did it?
WINGS ON THE RISE?: If the Detroit Red Wings miss the playoffs for the first time in 20 years, a primary contributing factor will be their inability to win games in overtime. Detroit is just 6-12 overall in extra time, with eight of the losses coming in shootouts. Only the Columbus Blue Jackets and Boston Bruins (9) have lost more. The Calgary Flames, Detroit's closest challengers, aren't much better in extra time (5-9, with six of shootout losses), but the Nashville Predators are (8-5), the primary reason they're seventh and still in the thick of the race with two more talented squads. At this past week's general managers meetings, the Blue Jackets' Scott Howson tried to interest his colleagues in changing the NHL's point system and grant 1.5 points for an overtime win instead of the usual two, but sadly, his proposal fell on deaf ears.
THE WEBER WATCH: Shea Weber returned to the Predators line-up in time for Thursday night's game against the San Jose Sharks, missing just two games, and picked up an assist in the first period on Patric Hornqvist's power-play goal. Weber's short stay on the injury list is considered pivotal to the Predators' playoff hopes, not just because he is arguably their MVP, but because the player they picked up to provide insurance on defence, Denis Grebeshkov, is injured as well. Grebeshkov took a puck in what is euphemistically known as the groin area during last Sunday's game versus Vancouver and required surgery on one of his testicles as a result. He is out indefinitely with what can fairly be described as a lower body injury.
THE FIRST MAN: What you need to know about Chicago Blackhawks' centre Adam Burish: A pesky and important agitator during last year's run to the conference final, Burish once worked as a guest bouncer on the Jerry Springer show. On Wednesday, Burish made his season debut after missing the first five months recovering from off-season knee surgery. Within the first three minutes, Burish recorded his first assist of the season and also got into a fight. Burish, as told to the Chicago Daily Herald: "I wanted to get in a fight; it's been so long I got out there for the first shift, jumped out there quick with (Patrick) Kane and Sharpie and, boom, we get a goal right away. I said, 'All right, this is easy, now I'm going to grab the first guy I can find who wants to go,' and Clune came over. It was a fun way to start the game. It couldn't have had it any better other than if I would have scored."
CHELLY MADE ME SMILE: No, not a song by the immortal Lisle, but news that Methuselah - aka former Blackhawk Chris Chelios - is back in the NHL at the age of 48, replacing injured defenceman Christoph Schubert on the Atlanta Thrashers' defence. Schubert is out a minimum of three weeks with a hip injury; the Thrashers, desperate to make the playoffs in the East, despite the loss of Ilya Kovalchuk, figured Chelios's leadership couldn't hurt - and might even provide a push for a team floundering at this important stage of the season. Chelios had been playing for the AHL Wolves, Atlanta's primary minor-league affiliate. The Thrashers are also without rookie Evander Kane, who fractured his left foot. Depending upon where they are in the three weeks or more that it may require Kane to heal, Atlanta might just shut him down for the season. Kane was ninth overall in rookie scoring, just ahead of the New York Islanders' Rob Schremp and just behind the New York Rangers' Michael Del Zotto.
SCHREMP OUT: Schremp, the former Oilers' prospect who got a chance to play in the NHL as a waiver addition with the Isles, tore cartilage in his right knee in a 3-2 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers earlier this week and is not expected to play again this season. The Islanders played Schremp under 14 minutes per night and were using him mostly as an offensive specialist. Five of his seven goals came on the power play (which gave him the third highest total on the team behind John Tavares and Mark Streit). Overall, he had 25 points in 44 games, respectable totals given his ice time; and most importantly, was just minus-four, not bad on a team where five players were minus-13 or worse, including Tavares at minus-18 … As for Del Zotto, he had an exceptional first month, but - like Tavares - is struggling in even-strength situations, with an overall minus-20 rating. Among Rangers' defenceman, the next lowest is Dan Girardi at minus-5. The leader, at plus-five, is the much maligned Wade Reden.
WILD ABOUT DONE: After an awful start under new coach Todd Richards, the Minnesota Wild have been thoroughly respectable since about November, but their chances of making the playoffs became ever more distant this past week, after losing a 3-2 shootout decision to the out-of-contention Florida Panthers. Florida went into the game having allowed more shots than any team in the league. They emerged with a franchise record for fewest shots allowed - 11 overall including two in overtime. Or to put it another way, Minnesota managed nine shots in 60 minutes of regulation, at home, against the most porous defensive team in the league. Not nearly good enough. And Thursday's lopsided 5-1 loss to the Red Wings pretty much put the icing on the cake.
AND FINALLY: Normally, the cover boys for sports video games are in the Alexander Ovechkin stratosphere, but this week, 2K Sports struck a blow for the common man - or at least the all-around player - when it signed Ryan Kesler as its cover athlete for NHL 2K11. Kesler was featured prominently in the promotion of last year's game - he and Ovechkin did a motion capture session outdoors on artificial ice at Caesar's Palace during NHL awards festivities last June - but apparently Kesler's play in the Olympics (and presumably his high profile among the American players) convinced them to choose him. Kesler is currently 25th in NHL scoring, but in a statement, 2K Sports described him as "a vital member of the upstart 2010 U.S. Olympic hockey team (who) captured the collective attention of sports fans around the world with his gritty and awe-inspiring performance, and will now look to bring the same electrifying play to NHL 2K11. Kesler, in a statement, said: "Having the opportunity to participate in the Olympics and play in front of my home crowd was one of the best experiences of my life. To now be chosen as the next cover athlete for NHL 2K11 is another dream come true."