Should NHL change its point structure?

There has been talk about if NHL should change their point structure from 2-1-0 to European 3-2-1-0. This is to encourage teams to finish the game in regular time and not to encourage to take the safe one point before competing for the second one. Current system also adds phantom points in the league, which really makes no sense.

Opposing arguments seem to revolve around tradition and possible gaps in points between teams as teams are awarded more points for wins. Lets see about how things would change in 2018-2019 season if the 3-2-1-0 system is implemented. Then we can compare the results for changes in Liiga, finnish top league, and also make a change for the standings in Liiga for the NHLs 2-1-0 point system.

Explanations for abbreviations:

RW - Regulation Wins
OW - Overtime Wins
OL - Overtime Loss
RL - Regulation Loss
P - Points
P% - Point % of the maximum possible
OT% - Percentage of games going to overtime
P/PPW - Points divided by points per win
AVG - Average

	East	RW	OW	OL	RL	P	P%	P/PPW	West	RW	OW	OL	RL	P	P%	P/PPW
1	Tampa Bay	49	13	4	16	128	0,78	64	Calgary	45	5	7	25	107	0,65	54
2	Boston	38	11	9	24	107	0,65	54	San Jose	38	8	9	27	101	0,62	51
3	Toronto	40	6	8	28	100	0,61	50	Vegas	36	7	7	32	93	0,57	47

1	Washington	39	9	8	26	104	0,63	52	Nashville	38	9	6	29	100	0,61	50
2	NY Islanders	37	11	7	27	103	0,63	52	Winnipeg	38	9	5	30	99	0,60	50
3	Carolina	39	7	7	29	99	0,60	50	St. Louis	36	9	9	28	99	0,60	50

1	Pittsburgh	37	7	12	26	100	0,61	50	Dallas	36	7	7	32	93	0,57	47
2	Columbus	37	10	4	31	98	0,60	49	Colorado	33	5	14	30	90	0,55	45
3	Montreal	37	7	8	30	96	0,59	48	Arizona	30	9	8	35	86	0,52	43
4	Florida	26	10	14	32	86	0,52	43	Minnesota	33	4	9	36	83	0,51	42
5	Philadelphia	28	9	8	37	82	0,50	41	Chicago	24	12	12	34	84	0,51	42
6	NY Rangers	23	9	14	36	78	0,48	39	Anaheim	27	8	10	37	80	0,49	40
7	Buffalo	21	12	10	39	76	0,46	38	Vancouver	22	13	11	36	81	0,49	41
8	Ne w Jersey	24	7	10	41	72	0,44	36	Edmonton	24	11	9	38	79	0,48	40
9	Detroit	20	12	10	40	74	0,45	37	Los Angeles	22	9	9	42	71	0,43	36
10	Ottawa	23	6	6	47	64	0,39	32

	East	RW	OW	OL	RL	P	P%	OT%	P/PPW	West	RW	OW	OL	RL	P	P%	OT%	P/PPW
1	Tampa Bay	49	13	4	16	177	0,72	0,207	59	Calgary	45	5	7	25	152	0,62	0,146	51
2	Boston	38	11	9	24	145	0,59	0,244	48	San Jose	38	8	9	27	139	0,57	0,207	46
3	Toronto	40	6	8	28	140	0,57	0,171	47	Vegas	36	7	7	32	129	0,52	0,171	43
									0									0
1	Washington	39	9	8	26	143	0,58	0,207	48	Nashville	38	9	6	29	138	0,56	0,183	46
2	NY Islanders	37	11	7	27	140	0,57	0,220	47	Winnipeg	38	9	5	30	137	0,56	0,171	46
3	Pittsburgh	37	7	12	26	137	0,56	0,232	46	St. Louis	36	9	9	28	135	0,55	0,220	45
									0									0
1	Carolina	39	7	7	29	138	0,56	0,171	46	Dallas	36	7	7	32	129	0,52	0,171	43
2	Columbus	37	10	4	31	135	0,55	0,171	45	Colorado	33	5	14	30	123	0,50	0,232	41
3	Montreal	37	7	8	30	133	0,54	0,183	44	Arizona	30	9	8	35	116	0,47	0,207	39
4	Florida	26	10	14	32	112	0,46	0,293	37	Chicago	24	12	12	34	108	0,44	0,293	36
5	Philadelphia	28	9	8	37	110	0,45	0,207	37	Minnesota	33	4	9	36	116	0,47	0,159	39
6	NY Rangers	23	9	14	36	101	0,41	0,280	34	vancouver	22	13	11	36	103	0,42	0,293	34
7	Buffalo	21	12	10	39	97	0,39	0,268	32	Anaheim	27	8	10	37	107	0,43	0,220	36
8	Detroit	20	12	10	40	94	0,38	0,268	31	Edmonton	24	11	9	38	103	0,42	0,244	34
9	Ne w Jersey	24	7	10	41	96	0,39	0,207	32	Los Angeles	22	9	9	42	93	0,38	0,220	31
10	Ottawa	23	6	6	47	87	0,35	0,146	29
	AVG	32	9,1	9	32	124	0,5	0,22	41		32	8,3	9	33	122	0,5	0,21	41

	Liiga	RW	OW	OL	RL	P	P%	OT%
1	Kärpät	41	6	2	11	137	0,761	0,133
2	Tappara	32	3	6	19	108	0,600	0,150
3	Pelicans	30	3	8	19	104	0,578	0,183
4	TPS	29	5	6	20	103	0,572	0,183
5	HPK	25	8	8	19	99	0,550	0,267
6	HIFK	24	8	10	18	98	0,544	0,300
7	Lukko	26	5	8	21	96	0,533	0,217
8	Ilves	23	8	6	23	91	0,506	0,233
9	Saipa	21	10	5	24	88	0,489	0,250
10	JYP	7	12	7	24	52	0,289	0,317
11	Sport	17	11	8	24	81	0,450	0,317
12	Kalpa	18	7	8	27	76	0,422	0,250
13	Kookoo	18	6	7	29	73	0,406	0,217
14	Jukurit	13	8	12	27	67	0,372	0,333
15	Ässät	9	7	6	38	47	0,261	0,217
	AVG	22	7,1	7	23	88	0,49	0,24

	Liiga	RW	OW	OL	RL	P	P%
1	Kärpät	41	6	2	11	96	0,800
2	Tappara	32	3	6	19	76	0,633
3	Pelicans	30	3	8	19	74	0,617
4	TPS	29	5	6	20	74	0,617
5	HPK	25	8	8	19	74	0,617
6	HIFK	24	8	10	18	74	0,617
7	Lukko	26	5	8	21	70	0,583
8	Ilves	23	8	6	23	68	0,567
9	Saipa	21	10	5	24	67	0,558
10	Sport	17	11	8	24	64	0,533
11	Kalpa	18	7	8	27	58	0,483
12	Kookoo	18	6	7	29	55	0,458
13	Jukurit	13	8	12	27	54	0,450
14	JYP	7	12	7	24	45	0,375
15	Ässät	9	7	6	38	38	0,317

By looking at the standings above, it can be stated that there will be no significant change in standings or the gaps between the teams. I added even the P/PPW number there so it is clearly visible how many regulation wins is is the points equal to and how many wins therefore does it take to close the gap to the team above and to make the playoffs.

Other thing I was curious to check if there is a significant difference between the two leagues due to the incentive to push for the regulation wins. And there is not. Both stats taken from the 2018-2019 season and NHL has average OT% of 22% and Liiga 24%. I had even wished that there would be a visible reduction in the percentages, but there are more variables in this, like the different style of play in the league. Liiga tends to have more conservative in its style.

As a conclusion I wish to say that I think that the 3-2-1-0 would really be liked in the NHL community as it rewards teams for pushing for the regulation win, making the final minutes of the game even more intense. This system would also help poorly performing teams surge in the standings if they are able to turn it around and win games and in regulation. NHL must wish that no teams are really out of the playoff picture before christmas and this system would add a slight burst of hope in the eyes of the teams and their fans who starts the season with a struggle.

Thanks for reading! please share your thoughts, ideas and opinions in the comments.

-AvsFinland

MileHighHockey.com is a fan community, allowing members to post their own thoughts and opinions on the Colorado Avalanche and hockey in general. These views and thoughts may not be shared by the editors of MileHighHockey.com.

FanPost

Should NHL change its point structure?

Poll

Should NHL change to 3-2-1-0 point system?

Recent FanPosts

Trending Discussions