Tension in Six Cities

We're down to six NHL clubs vying for the final four playoff berths in the Eastern and Western Conferences, with the other 24 clubs watching.

Well, participating too, to some degree. If you view the "race" for the seventh and eighth playoff berths in the two conferences as truly exciting, then this is the week for you.

You could argue, in fact, that tonight's Montreal-New York contest at Madison Square Garden is the biggest game of the year for both teams.

If the Habs win in regulation, they're good to go for post-season competition. If not, it gets more complicated, and with injuries to key players like Mathieu Schneider and Andrei Markov, the snowball effect could become overwhelming.

The Rangers need a victory desperately, and the result of Florida's game in Philly will have an impact on this picture as well.

With the Habs and Rangers going head to head, it's a great time to recall one of the best finishes to an NHL regular season, or at least one of the wackiest. It's one of those hockey stories you're always looking for a reason to tell.

It was the last day of the 1969-70 season, and the Rangers trailed the Habs by two points for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Division. The Canadiens had been Stanley Cup champions in 1968 and 1969, and it seemed that despite a disappointing season, they'd make it to the playoffs at the very least.

The first tiebreaker in those days, however, was goals scored. Not goal differential, but total goals scored. Goofy, huh? Like, why not total shots against or total attendance or fewest penalty minutes?

The Habs went into the final day with a five-goal cushion, so the Rangers knew they had to score early and often in their afternoon game with the Detroit Red Wings, which they did. They pounded 65 shots at Roger Crozier, and with a 9-3 lead, New York coach Emile Francis kept pulling goalie Ed Giacomin in an attempt to get more goals, knowing it didn't matter how many his team surrendered.

The Rangers didn't get any more, and the final score was 9-5, leaving the Canadiens in need of scoring five goals against Chicago that night. They could lose 25-5, but they needed those five goals.

They didn't get them. Trailing 5-2 in the third, the Canadiens starting pulling goalie Rogie Vachon and gave up five empty netters, ultimately losing 10-2 and missing post-season play for the only time between 1948 and 1995.

So the league has come a fair ways since then. Maybe the current system isn't perfect, with too many teams home and cooled out and too many others happily losing as many games as possible down the stretch.

Then again, the image of teams just trying to devise ways of scoring as many goals as possible on the final day of the season in order to make the playoffs does have some appeal. . .

Comments

[Bill Mogulsby]

Goals for as a tie-breaker is not as bad an idea as you might think. Obviously "for" vs "against" is the best measuring stick but #1 - goal scoring should always be encouraged over defense and #2 it can produce some high scoring games where teams aren't concerned about what goes in their own net (as long as they win).

[Nathan]

The NHL Standings are already convoluted enough to add another category than fans need to keep track of.

[Steve C.]

In the current age of trying to create more offense (goals) I'm surprised the league doesn't re-instill these tie-breakers or find other ways to reward high-scoring teams.

Great story, thanks.

Now let's hope a shootout decides who can get into the 'bottom five' - just to make an even bigger mockery.

[Giller]

Thanks for the brief history lesson, Damien. I didn't realize that was how they broke ties and stuff back then. I can't imagine how something like that would work. The wild old days, eh? Cool.

[Noam Sugarman]

Damien, why are you so keen on making the playoff race more exciting? I'm so sick of how proponents of the 'new' NHL would do anything to add supposed excitement to the game, even if it compromises its integrity. Case in point, the three point game. I do not know if there is anything more ridiculous in all of sports, but the three point game is a travesty. Does it make overtime more exciting? perhaps. Does it create parity in the standings? Sort of, though given how hard it makes catching a team ahead of you, you could say it is a false parity. But regardless of the superficial benefits to a league desperate to attract sunbelters, three point games are exasperatingly pathetic; hockey fans, the ones who buy tickets and subscribe to cable just to watch hockey, were happy with the way things were. And if the league insists on using the shootout to decide games, then they should have enough confidence in it to make a shootout win equal to a regulation win. Enough with this bonus point nonsense.

It is also interesting that the cowardly gaggle of professional sports critics never say a word about the three point game. In fact, they only ever criticize the league when it comes to fighting or the NHL not having changed enough.

[Allen Ford]

You know Damien, nothing can sum up your general contrarian nature better than than your "...total goals scored. Goofy, huh?" quip.

If the object of the game is to win by scoring the most goals, using goals scored is hardly goofy.

Total attendance? Total shots? I have to imagine you are joking here. But nonetheless this post further reinforces my growing opinion that the majority of sports writers and columnists are just out of touch with what being a competitive athlete and ticket buying fan is about.

[Peter]

that was a great piece of history. :-) i don't think we gonna see anything like these games.
btw, i think the finish of the regular season two years ago was pretty good in the Eastern Conference. the Leafs beating the Habs in the last game, denying Montreal the playoffs and the Islanders creeping in behind them. :-)

[Bob Holden]

I remember listening to that Habs-Hawks game on the radio. It was the first time no Canadian teams made the playoffs in quite some time. The Leafs had traded Tim Horton to the Rangers earlier in the season.

[Hmm]

i like the goals for tie breaker... encourages offensive play.

[moe green]

damien

don't you think a far better system for the draft would be to lottery the BEST non-playoff teams instead of the worst? Seems to me that the closest to without making the playoffs should get the most lottery balls. It would sure encorage some exciting finishes down the line. The current system is just plain bad and it penalizes seriously competitive teams like our leafs. it allows teams to benefit from tanking and encourages the rent-a-player phenomenon both of which cheapen the league. Your thoughts?