Ongoing discussions about how to finish the 2019-20 NHL season appear to be making progress this week with various reports that the NHL and NHL Players’ Association (NHLPA) are devising an unprecedented 24-team playoff format. While the timeline to close out the season remains undecided, the playoff format being discussed would create a postseason unlike anything the league has ever seen.
According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the playoff structure is expected to include an additional best-of-five play-in round in which teams that had very little chance of making the playoffs — like the 12th-seeded Montreal Canadiens in the East — have a chance to earn a spot in the 16-team bracket.
NHL Players’ Association (NHLPA) Executive Director Donald Fehr (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
The top four seeds in each conference would receive a bye to the traditional 16-team, best-of-seven series bracket, leaving the 5-12 seeds to battle it out in the play-in round. As it stands, the Eastern Conference playoff would look like this:
Play-In Round:
No. 5 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. No. 12 Montreal Canadiens
No. 6 Carolina Hurricanes vs. No. 11 NY Rangers
No. 7 NY Islanders vs. No. 10 Florida Panthers
No. 8 Toronto Maple Leafs vs. No. 9 Columbus Blue Jackets
Byes: No. 1 Boston, No. 2 Tampa Bay, No. 3 Washington, No. 4 Philadelphia
The winners of the play-in round will advance to face the teams receiving a bye in a traditional bracket without re-seeding.
NHLPA executive board approved this format on Friday, although certain details still need to be fleshed out, according to CBS Sports. Technically, the NHLPA’s decision only authorized further negotiation on the format, so no official decisions have been made, but the 24-team format has been approved.
Here’s how the proposed format could affect the Bruins:
How it Affects the Bruins
As the top seed in the Eastern Conference, the Bruins wouldn’t participate in the play-in round. That being said, there are still a few concerns that could make things weird for the defending Eastern Conference champions.
Under the proposal, the top-four teams receiving byes would play a three-game round-robin to determine seeding. This means that the Bruins, who built an eight-point lead over their closest competitors (Tampa Bay) in the Eastern Conference over the course of 70 games, could lose their number one seed as a result of three games.
Despite being the top seed in the Eastern Conference, the Bruins might not get the most favorable match-up when their postseason kicks off. (Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers)
On top of that, even if the Bruins did re-earn their number one seed, there’s no guarantee that they’d face the weakest opponent remaining. Since the 16-team bracket taking place after the play-in round would proceed without re-seeding, the top seed would play the winner of the eight/nine seed match-up between the Maple Leafs and the Blue Jackets, regardless of how the other series’ go. So, even if the lowest-seeded team in the conference, (the Canadiens) knocked off No. 5 Pittsburgh in the play-in round, the top-seeded team wouldn’t be shifted to take on the weakest opponent.
As a result of this, there could be a scenario where the fourth-seeded team (the one that performs the worst in the round-robin) could match-up with the 12th-seeded team while the top-seeded team has to play the eight-seed.
Cassidy’s Concerns
The proposed format threatens the advantages that the Bruins earned during the regular season. As a result, Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy has already expressed his dislike for the proposed format:
“I don’t have a say in all of this, but I’d rather it be 16 teams, four rounds of four-out-of-seven, let’s go,” Cassidy told 98.5 The Sports Hub. “That’s the integrity of the playoffs. It’s always been that way.”
Cassidy’s concerns are certainly understandable. The Bruins were the top team in the NHL by a fair margin when the league was suspended. Boston was the only team to reach the 100-point mark. They had an eleven point lead over the Flyers, the fourth-ranked team in the conference (though the Flyers did have one game in hand).
Boston Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)
The Bruins earned that top seed over the course of 70 games, and yet it could be lost as a result of three. It’s not hard to see why that could be tough to swallow. As Cassidy mentioned, however, there’s no perfect solution. Somebody’s going to be upset no matter what.
“Hopefully we get to that 16 in the right way and it doesn’t hurt us. I guess that’s where I’m coming from, that we don’t get kind of screwed in this process, because we shouldn’t be. We should be rewarded for our regular season. But I don’t think any scenario is going to be perfectly fair, I understand that.”
Nothing is set in stone yet, but all signs point to the 24-team format if and when the NHL resumes. On that note, with the ongoing coronavirus crisis, there are additional factors that are out of the league’s hands. We all want to see hockey return, but any return to the game must ensure the safety of players, team staff, arena workers, media, etc., which the league is still trying to figure out.
Bruce Cassidy has expressed his dislike for the proposed playoff format. (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)
So, at this point, the question is still if the league will come back this season. If it does, though, nothing will be given to the Bruins. After all, this is playoff hockey, and everything must be earned.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe remain undefeated in women’s doubles at the WTA Finals.
The 2023 U.S. Open champions, seeded second at the event, secured a 1-6, 7-6 (1), (11-9) super-tiebreak win over fourth-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in round-robin play on Tuesday.
The season-ending tournament features the WTA Tour’s top eight women’s doubles teams.
Dabrowski and Routliffe lost the first set in 22 minutes but levelled the match by breaking Errani’s serve three times in the second, including at 6-5. They clinched victory with Routliffe saving a match point on her serve and Dabrowski ending Errani’s final serve-and-volley attempt.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will next face fifth-seeded Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk on Thursday, where a win would secure a spot in the semifinals.
The final is scheduled for Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 5, 2024.
EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.
The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.
Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.
TAKEAWAYS
Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.
Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.
KEY MOMENT
New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.
KEY RETURN?
Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.
OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN
The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.
The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.
UP NEXT
Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
DeAndre Hopkins had two touchdown receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go in regulation time.
Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a two-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.
Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.
Mayfield finished with 200 yards and two TDs passing for the Bucs, who have lost four of their last five.
It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.
The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up on a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.
Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football into the second deck.
Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.
The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain inside the Tampa Bay five-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”
Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a TD pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.
The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter. Mahomes marched them through the rain 70 yards for a tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ five-yard line to give Kansas City the lead.
Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out, but its defence got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down field. His capped the drive with a touchdown throw to Miller — his first career TD catch — with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.
UP NEXT
Buccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
