Stamkos no fan of playoff bracketing
Lightning captain calls rivalry-based seeding unfair to Leafs, Bruins
From his perch as captain of the team that will likely have homeice advantage throughout the playoffs, Steve Stamkos doesn’t think it’s fair that the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins will meet in the first round.
If they advance to the second round, Stamkos and the Tampa Bay Lightning, who have already clinched a berth in the post-season, will face the winner of that series. That means two of the NHL’s best three teams will be gone by the time the conference finals roll around.
“I understand where (the league) is coming from, (from) a marketing perspective, wanting to get some rivalries early on,” said Stamkos, “from a perspective of what you’re grinding 82 games for during a season is to finish as high as you can so you can have an advantage come playoffs.
“I don’t think it’s an advantage to Toronto or Boston. What could be the top three teams in the whole league from one division, and have to play that team in the first round — I don’t think that’s right.”
The league’s division-based, bracketed playoff format has been a hot-button issue around these parts, perhaps because the Leafs look as if they’re going to play Boston in the first round again and have had difficulty beating the Bruins in the playoffs.
There have been calls to change things back to a conference-based system: No. 1 vs. No. 8, No. 2 vs. No. 7 and so on, with reseeding after each round to reward the team that finished with the most points.
But before the Leafs fell 6-2 to the Lightning on Monday night, few outside of Stamkos were complaining too loudly, though Leafs centre John Tavares did call the current format strange.
“Mostly, it affects home ice,” said Tavares. “It’s odd. It’s unusual. At the same time, if you want to get to the ultimate prize, you’ve got to beat some really good teams — the best teams in the league, the best players in the world. Whether that comes early or later on, you’ve got to find a way to do it.”
It’s been this way since 201415. Last year, the top two teams, Winnipeg and Nashville, met in the second round. Prior to that, Washington and Pittsburgh had their run-ins in the Metropolitan Division. Lightning coach Jon Cooper said there’s no perfect system because what goes around comes around.
“It’s hard to get into that debate because this is one of those years where three of the top teams are in our division, but it wasn’t too long ago it was the Metro (that was tops) and you’d think, ‘Thank goodness we can stay in our division,’ ” said Cooper. “That changes every year.
“The first round is a pretty dynamic round. You’re going to have to go through everybody anyway. It is unfortunate that some teams are not going to last. Some say, ‘It would be great if these teams met later,’ but it’s pretty cool these teams meet in the first place, no matter the round.
“Our game is in a really good spot. Playoffs are as exciting as ever. I’m not so sure it needs to be changed.”
The fate of the Leafs is more tangible to the league as both a driver of revenue — which helps generate the hockey-related revenue that pays players’ salaries — and TV ratings.
Leafs coach Mike Babcock was asked twice on Monday about the format, but wouldn’t bite.
“You know what everybody thinks, but it doesn’t matter,” said Babcock. “I get paid to coach the hockey club. I’m going to do everything I can to get us in the best situation.
“In the end, you’ve got to be able to beat everybody.”