We are back to a divisional playoff format this season. Top six in each division make the playoffs.
1st and 2nd get byes and 3rd plays 6th and 4th plays 5th. 1st then plays lowest seed in 2nd round and 2nd plays other team. The remaining 2 teams play for division and then East plays South with West playing North in semifinal round.
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I think the important thing is that we are done with the ridiculous cross-over confusion that very few of us could understand last season. Once the season is done, we will basically know who is playing whom, and what the possibilities are for next round will be much clearer than last year.
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The only problem having this setup is when one division is clearly superior to the other in the conference.
And of course, we DO have this problem. The East is soooooo much deeper than the South.
Take nothing away from Toronto Lakeshore, but I don't personally see any other team in the South being able to compete with the top four or five in the East.
So there becomes a real possiblity that a very good team gets beat out that much earlier.
The easiest way to make the whole thing fair is to play a balance schedule throughout the conference. Rank them accordingly come playoff time, having the highest seed play the lowest each and every round.
By the way, I really enjoyed the cross-over last season. It was a neat rinkle in my opinion. It was exciting that teams didn't play the same old clubs year after year!
And it would've allowed for rivals to meet in the championship.....and that would've been great!
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