If the NHL playoffs weren't unpredictably crazy enough, the recently adopted seeding structure kindles the chaos.
Under the playoff formatting introduced last year, each division winner faces one of two wild-card teams. The champion with more points gets the wild-card club with the lower point tally.
Rounding out the other two opening matchups, each second-place squad will battle the third-place representative within the same grouping. Those rules particularly create some wacky matchups in the Western Conference.
Although the Nashville Predators and Chicago Blackhawks finished third and fourth in points, respectively, the two Central foes will clash. Meanwhile, the bottom-seeded Calgary Flames, who barely edged out the much more dangerous Los Angeles Kings, will encounter a Vancouver Canucks unit with only four more points on the year.
With no clear-cut favorite, anything can happen leading up to the 2015 Stanley Cup Final. Heading into the postseason, fans should prepare not to be surprised by any outcome.
Predictions
Winnipeg Upsets Anaheim
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Andrew Gould
NHL Playoffs 2015: Format, Stanley Cup Bracket and Predictions
April 13th, 2015 by Andrew Gould Leave a reply »
Advertisement