Some thoughts on overtime in the NHL

The NHL standings are based on a point system. Originally, 2 points were awarded for a win, 1 point for a tie, and 0 points for a loss. There had been no regular season overtime since before WW2.

Ties were considerably frowned upon as anticlimactic. Beginning in 1983, the NHL instituted a 5-minute sudden-death overtime period to cut down the number of tied games. The point system remained unchanged, 2 pts for wins, 1 for ties.

Beginning in 1999, however, 1 point was also awarded for teams losing in overtime. This rule saw the end of symmetrical standings. Before then, every game had two points up for grabs. Either the winning team would get both points, or in a tie each team would get one. Now, when a team wins in overtime, there are three points awarded: 2 for the winner and 1 for the loser. So a game can be worth a total of two points if it ends in regulation, but 3 points if it ends in overtime.

This also leads to a disproportionate number of teams finishing nominally over .500. Twenty-three of thirty teams finished with more wins than losses, chiefly because the win column includes both regulation and overtime wins, when the loss column only counts regulation losses.

Ties were eliminated altogether with the introduction of the shootout in 2005. If the overtime expires with no score, a 3-round shootout would decide the outcome, with 2 points going to the winner and 1 to the loser. Still unsymmetrical.

A way to preserve the symmetry would be the format used in the qualifying rounds of the 2010 Olympic ice hockey tournament. Three points for a regulation win, 2 for an overtime or shootout win, and 1 for an OT/shootout loss. Some pundits have proposed instituting this format, but there's no sign that the league is seriously considering the change.

I was curious to see how this season would have played out under the various formats listed above. Would there be a difference in playoff seeding and/or qualification?

Format 1 - Current Format: 2 pts for wins (RW, OW & SW), 1 pt for post-regulation loss (SL & OL)
Format 2 - 1983-1995: 2 pts for wins (RW & OW), 1 pt for post-overtime tie (SW & SL)
Format 3 - Pre-1983: 2 pts for win (RW), 1 pt for post-regulation tie (OW, SW, SL & OL)
Format 4 - 2010 Olympics: 3 pts for RW, 2 pts for OW & SW, 1 pt for SL & OL

RW = Regulation Win, OW = Overtime Win, SW = Shootout Win, SL = Shootout Loss, OL = Overtime Loss, RL = Regulation Loss

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Team	RW	OW	SW	SL	OL	RL	Pts	Seed	Pts	Seed	Pts	Seed	Pts	Seed
Washington	43	6	5	6	7	15	121	1E	109	1E	110	1E	164	1E
New Jersey	40	2	6	5	2	27	103	2E	95	2E	95	2E	143	2E
Buffalo	35	6	4	6	4	27	100	3E	92	3E	90	3E	135	3E
Pittsburgh	32	6	8	2	5	28	99	4E	86	5E	85	4E	131	4E
Ottawa	34	5	5	5	1	32	94	5E	88	4E	84	5E	128	5E
Boston	25	4	10	9	4	30	91	6E	77	8E	77	9E	116	8E
Philadelphia	35	2	4	3	3	35	88	7E	81	6E	82	7E	123	6E
Montreal	25	7	7	5	5	33	88	8E	76	9E	74	10E	113	9E
NY Rangers	34	1	3	4	7	33	87	9E	77	7E	83	6E	121	7E
Atlanta	29	2	4	6	7	34	83	10E	72	10E	77	8E	112	10E
Carolina	26	5	4	5	5	37	80	11E	71	11E	71	11E	106	11E
Tampa Bay	25	5	4	7	5	36	80	12E	71	12E	71	12E	105	12E
NY Islanders	20	6	8	6	4	37	78	13E	66	14E	64	15E	98	14E
Florida	24	2	6	10	3	37	77	14E	68	13E	69	13E	101	13E
Toronto	21	5	4	4	10	38	74	15E	60	15E	65	14E	95	15E

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Team	RW	OW	SW	SL	OL	RL	Pts	Seed	Pts	Seed	Pts	Seed	Pts	Seed
San Jose	43	1	7	6	5	20	113	1W	101	1W	105	1W	156	1W
Chicago	37	6	9	6	2	22	112	2W	101	2W	97	2W	149	2W
Vancouver	41	4	4	4	1	28	103	3W	98	3W	95	3W	144	3W
Phoenix	31	5	14	6	1	25	107	4W	92	4W	88	5W	138	4W
Detroit	33	5	6	9	5	24	102	5W	91	5W	91	4W	135	5W
Los Angeles	32	4	10	8	1	27	101	6W	90	7W	87	6W	133	7W
Nashville	33	6	8	4	2	29	100	7W	90	6W	86	8W	133	6W
Colorado	34	2	7	5	4	30	95	8W	84	9W	86	7W	129	8W
St Louis	30	3	7	5	5	32	90	9W	78	11W	80	11W	120	11W
Calgary	35	2	3	7	3	32	90	10W	84	8W	85	9W	125	9W
Anaheim	31	3	5	8	3	32	89	11W	81	10W	81	10W	120	10W
Dallas	28	2	7	10	4	31	88	12W	77	13W	79	12W	116	12W
Minnesota	28	5	5	7	1	36	84	13W	78	12W	74	13W	112	13W
Columbus	27	3	2	10	5	35	79	14W	72	14W	74	14W	106	14W
Edmonton	18	1	8	6	2	47	62	15W	52	15W	53	15W	80	15W

There are some interesting things to note in this breakdown. The Rangers make the playoffs (and Montreal misses) in every alternate scenario. Atlanta replaces Boston as the 6th seed in the pre-'83 setup, and in the other two alternates, the Bruins face the Caps in the first round. Over in the West, apart from a few neighbors trading places, there are few changes except Calgary qualifying in place of Colorado in the '83-'04 setup.

So is one setup better than another? I am drawn to setups where there's symmetry, and as long as there's gonna be a differentiation between overtime and regulation losses, there ought to be differentiation between overtime and regulation wins. Hence I like the Olympic format, though I don't think they'll be changing any time soon.