Eighty two games, the NHL season is eighty two games, a season of sweat and hard work just to make the playoffs. Teams fight hard to position themselves the best way to win a cup. The question remains, how do you position yourself the best to win a cup? Is it about getting home ice? Is it about getting hot at the right time? Or is it something else?
In order to win a series in the Stanley Cup playoffs you need to win 4 games, meaning there is no fluke in the playoffs. No great upset where you look back and say the better team did not win. The NHL playoffs are a war, not a battle, it is a long fight that takes at least 240 minutes of ice time to complete.
Tampa Bay won 62 games this year to obtain home ice advantage throughout a deep playoff run this season. Calgary won 50 games, giving them the best record in the western conference to earn them home ice in the first three rounds guaranteed. Nashville had the best record in the central division, and was guaranteed home ice in at least the first 2 rounds. Home ice was once considered key to winning a series. As long as you win your home games you had the Stanley Cup at the end. Based on who had home ice the Stanley Cup final should have been Tampa Bay against Calgary, well that did not happen.
Tampa Bay was swept in the first round against the Columbus Blue Jackets, and the Calgary Flames lost in 5 games to the Colorado Avalanche. Colorado and Columbus were the last 2 teams to make the playoffs, and they made the 2 best teams in the NHL look horrible. Tampa Bay did not win a single game, let along one home game in their series. Calgary only won one of their three home games in the series. On the flip side of that Columbus and Colorado won all of their home games in round one.
Teams play 82 games all year to guarantee they have home ice advantage, something that should mean something. Washington and Carolina are dueling it out for a trip to round two have both having won all of their home games through the first 6 games. Their game 7 will be in Washington, because Washington had the better record and has home ice. When it comes to the playoffs this is when Washington has the advantage, all they need to do is win their next home game.
Through the first 33 games of the playoffs the home team has won 70 percent of the time, but when looking at the team with home ice advantage the home team has only won 45 percent of the time. Why is that? Why is what should be the advantage for a team in the playoffs has ultimately turn into their downfall?
Sometimes the road team could hypothetically have the advantage. They are on a business trip on the road, staying in a hotel with little distractions from family or friends asking for tickets, to the away team it is just another game on their schedule, but to the home team there are expectations ad family and friends asking for things from them, they have their homes and could easily get distracted. Sometimes being the road team could mean having an advantage on the ice, instead of in the crowd. In 2012 the Los Angeles Kings won the Stanley Cup without having home ice advantage throughout the entire playoffs, and doing so by making the playoffs on the last day of the season. The 2012 Kings played great hockey on the road, and took advantage when they were home as well. With 3 game 7’s to come in the next 2 days it will be interesting to see if having home ice will mean something to these teams.
Round One of the Stanley Cup playoffs will be done in a matter of days, and the best part about the playoffs is round 2 will start by the weekend. Few people imagined the playoffs working out the way they have so far, with 8 overtime goals, and 33 games overall the playoffs have been amazing, and the action will only get better from here.
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