For the Lockout Season

I’m not running the site for the lockout-shortened season because teams will not have many games in hand on each other during the condensed schedule.  I still firmly believe in the arguments presented below.  You can find a site with similar information here.

This site will return (perhaps even this season), and if all goes well it will be better than ever.

2011-2012 NHL Standings Breakdown

The prior post has the regular final standings for 2011-12.  This is the breakdown of every type of win/loss for each team.

	East	RW	RL	OTW	OTL	SOW	SOL	Points	Opponents’ Points	Total 3-Pt Games
1	NY Rangers	39	24	8	2	4	5	109	74	19
2	Pittsburgh	40	25	2	3	9	3	108	73	17
3	Philadelphia	37	26	6	2	4	7	103	80	19
4	Boston	38	29	2	1	9	3	102	77	15
5	New Jersey	32	28	4	2	12	4	102	84	22
6	Florida	31	26	1	7	6	11	94	95	25
7	Ottawa	30	31	5	6	6	4	92	93	21
8	Washington	31	32	7	4	4	4	92	91	19
9	Buffalo	27	32	5	4	7	7	89	98	23
10	Tampa Bay	25	36	10	5	3	3	84	101	21
11	Winnipeg	27	35	6	6	4	4	84	100	20
12	Carolina	29	33	3	10	1	6	82	102	20
13	Toronto	26	37	5	5	4	5	80	103	19
14	NY Islanders	24	37	3	7	7	4	79	106	21
15	Montreal	24	35	2	4	5	12	78	109	23
	West	RW	RL	OTW	OTL	SOW	SOL	Points	Opponents’ Points	Total 3-Pt Games
1	Vancouver	36	22	7	2	8	7	111	77	24
2	St. Louis	42	22	3	1	4	10	109	73	18
3	Nashville	40	26	3	3	5	5	104	76	16
4	Detroit	36	28	3	3	9	3	102	80	18
5	Chicago	34	26	4	4	7	7	101	85	22
6	Phoenix	33	27	3	3	6	10	97	89	22
7	San Jose	31	29	3	5	9	5	96	90	22
8	Los Angeles	31	27	3	6	6	9	95	93	24
9	Calgary	32	29	2	7	3	9	90	95	21
10	Dallas	31	35	4	1	7	4	89	91	16
11	Colorado	25	35	7	4	9	2	88	98	22
12	Minnesota	22	36	2	2	11	9	81	107	24
13	Anaheim	29	36	2	5	3	7	80	101	17
14	Edmonton	25	40	2	3	5	7	74	107	17
15	Columbus	23	46	2	2	4	5	65	112	13

_

RW=Regulation Win
RL=Regulation Loss
OTW=Overtime Win
OTL=Overtime Loss
SOW=Shootout Wins
SOL=Shootout Losses

Opponents’ Points=the number of points opponents earned in games against that team (this number is not the same as the number of points the team failed to earn because of three point games).  This number shows how difficult the team was to play from the opponents’ perspective.
Three Point Games=the number of games decided in overtime or shootout (resulting in two points to the winner and one to the loser).

The Standings as They Should Be, April 1 through 7, 2012

Current as of the end of the season. 

[Explanation below]

			Eastern Conference
	CITY	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	SW	ROW	OTW	Pctg.	GB	Pace	Div
1*	NY Rangers	82	51	24	7	109	4	47	8	0.665	0	109.00	ATL
2*	Boston	82	49	29	4	102	9	40	2	0.622	3.5	102.00	NE
3*	Florida	82	38	26	18	94	6	32	1	0.573	7.5	94.00	SE
4	Pittsburgh	82	51	25	6	108	9	42	2	0.659	0.5	108.00	ATL
5	Philadelphia	82	47	26	9	103	4	43	6	0.628	3	103.00	ATL
6	New Jersey	82	48	28	6	102	12	36	4	0.622	3.5	102.00	ATL
7	Washington	82	42	32	8	92	4	38	7	0.561	8.5	92.00	SE
8	Ottawa	82	41	31	10	92	6	35	5	0.561	8.5	92.00	NE
9	Buffalo	82	39	32	11	89	7	32	5	0.543	10	89.00	NE
10	Tampa Bay	82	38	36	8	84	3	35	10	0.512	12.5	84.00	SE
11	Winnipeg	82	37	35	10	84	4	33	6	0.512	12.5	84.00	SE
12	Carolina	82	33	33	16	82	1	32	3	0.500	13.5	82.00	SE
13	Toronto	82	35	37	10	80	4	31	5	0.488	14.5	80.00	NE
14	NY Islanders	82	34	37	11	79	7	27	3	0.482	15	79.00	ATL
15	Montreal	82	31	35	16	78	5	26	2	0.476	15.5	78.00	NE
			Western Conference
	CITY	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	SW	ROW	OTW	Pctg.	GB	Pace	Div
1*	Vancouver	82	51	22	9	111	8	43	7	0.677	0	111.00	NW
2*	St. Louis	82	49	22	11	109	4	45	3	0.665	1	109.00	CTL
3*	Phoenix	82	42	27	13	97	6	36	3	0.591	7	97.00	PAC
4	Nashville	82	48	26	8	104	5	43	3	0.634	3.5	104.00	CTL
5	Detroit	82	48	28	6	102	9	39	3	0.622	4.5	102.00	CTL
6	Chicago	82	45	26	11	101	7	38	4	0.616	5	101.00	CTL
7	San Jose	82	43	29	10	96	9	34	3	0.585	7.5	96.00	PAC
8	Los Angeles	82	40	27	15	95	6	34	3	0.579	8	95.00	PAC
9	Calgary	82	37	29	16	90	3	34	2	0.549	10.5	90.00	NW
10	Dallas	82	42	35	5	89	7	35	4	0.543	11	89.00	PAC
11	Colorado	82	41	35	6	88	9	32	7	0.537	11.5	88.00	NW
12	Minnesota	82	35	36	11	81	11	24	2	0.494	15	81.00	NW
13	Anaheim	82	34	36	12	80	3	31	2	0.488	15.5	80.00	PAC
14	Edmonton	82	32	40	10	74	5	27	2	0.451	18.5	74.00	NW
15	Columbus	82	29	46	7	65	4	25	2	0.396	23	65.00	CTL
			League Statistics
	DIV/CONF	GP		PTS		Pctg.		Avg. Pace
	Atlantic	410		501		0.611		100.20
	Northeast	410		441		0.538		88.20
	Southeast	410		436		0.532		87.20
	Pacific	410		457		0.557		91.40
	Central	410		481		0.587		96.20
	Northwest	410		444		0.541		88.80
	ECF Avg.	1230		1378		0.560		91.87
	WCF Avg.	1230		1382		0.562		92.13
	3-pt Game Pctg:		24.39%
	True .500:	0.561

_

*Note that the leaders of each division are given top-three seeds in the conference, per NHL playoff seeding rules.

SW: Shootout Wins; ROW: Regulation and Overtime Wins (i.e. non-shootout wins)**; OTW: Overtime Wins (not including shootout wins); GB: Games Back; Pace: points accumulated at end of season based on current points/game (here is a great site with weighted projections of playoff chances based on the remaining schedule for each team).  For a further glossary of terms, click here.

**Per NHL rules, the first tie-breaker for teams that are tied in points and games played is the number of non-shootout wins (ROW), i.e. wins in regulation and overtime but not the shootout.

Explanation of The NHL Standings As They Should Be

This site is not an “alternative hypothetical standings” based on a dispute with the current NHL system of two points for a win, one for an overtime or shootout loss, and zero for a regulation loss (thus creating the “three-point game” for overtime finishes).  As silly as that system may be, the numbers above are all based on the current NHL standings, with the same value assigned to wins (2 points), regulation losses (0 points), and overtime/shootout losses (1 point).

Even so, the order of teams in the commonly published NHL standings is flawed and misleading.  Every other professional sports league standings are ordered by winning percentage.  It makes more sense to order the NHL standings by points earned divided by points possible rather than simply total points, just as other leagues divide wins by wins possible rather than simply total wins.  This removes the “games in hand” anomaly which gives a false impression of the best record (really, would you rather your team be 4-0-0 or   4-3-1?) and instead orders the teams by the most desirable and successful record.  At the end of the season, the TrueStandings and the standings in the newspaper will be identical.  It is worth noting that the NHL actually uses the percentage method to determine the order of waivers (i.e. the worst team by percentage and not by points gets the first priority in selecting a player off of waivers; see CBA Article 13.19), so even the NHL knows how the standings should be kept, but the published standings order the teams by total points regardless of games played.  In MLB or NBA standings, this would be the equivalent of ordering teams by the number of wins, regardless of losses or winning percentage.

In my view, the NHL “standings” ought to show where the teams “stand” in relation to each other.  No rational person would rather that their favorite team have a 4-3-1 record than a   4-0-0 record.  The team with the 4-0-0 record stands in a superior position to that of the team with the 4-3-1 record.  The standings provided in this website provide a better picture of where the teams stand in relation to each other based on desirability of record.

The “games back” column is just like the one the MLB and NBA standings employ to give you an idea of how far one team trails behind another.  It is based on the teams’ records above or below .500.  If one team is four games above .500 (i.e. four more points than games played, or four more wins than regulation losses), a team that is two games above .500 is one game back of that other team.

In the league stats, “3-pt Game Pctg.” is the percentage of NHL games which go to overtime or a shootout, resulting in a 3-point game.  “True .500” is the average record (by percentage) of NHL teams.  In sports leagues that don’t have a 3-point game, .500 is always average (and thus, being “above .500” in those leagues means “above average”).  To be above average in the NHL, a team’s record must be better than the “True .500” listed here.

The posts are divided into weekly segments so you can scroll down and see where teams stood in prior weeks, but the most recent post is updated every night at the end of all games.

Feel free to leave any questions or comments.

The Standings as They Should Be, March 25 through 31, 2012

Updated after all games on March 31, 2012.

[Explanation below]

			Eastern Conference
	CITY	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	SW	ROW	OTW	Pctg.	GB	Pace	Div
1*	NY Rangers	78	50	21	7	107	4	46	8	0.686	0	112.49	ATL
2*	Boston	78	46	28	4	96	8	38	2	0.615	5.5	100.92	NE
3*	Florida	78	37	25	16	90	6	31	1	0.577	8.5	94.62	SE
4	Pittsburgh	78	48	24	6	102	9	39	2	0.654	2.5	107.23	ATL
5	Philadelphia	78	45	24	9	99	4	41	6	0.635	4	104.08	ATL
6	New Jersey	79	45	28	6	96	12	33	4	0.608	6	99.65	ATL
7	Ottawa	78	40	28	10	90	6	34	5	0.577	8.5	94.62	NE
8	Washington	79	40	31	8	88	4	36	7	0.557	10	91.34	SE
9	Buffalo	79	38	31	10	86	7	31	4	0.544	11	89.27	NE
10	Winnipeg	79	36	34	9	81	4	32	5	0.513	13.5	84.08	SE
11	Tampa Bay	78	36	35	7	79	3	33	9	0.506	14	83.05	SE
12	Carolina	79	31	32	16	78	0	31	3	0.494	15	80.96	SE
13	NY Islanders	78	33	34	11	77	7	26	3	0.494	15	80.95	ATL
14	Toronto	79	34	36	9	77	4	30	4	0.487	15.5	79.92	NE
15	Montreal	79	29	35	15	73	5	24	2	0.462	17.5	75.77	NE
			Western Conference
	CITY	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	SW	ROW	OTW	Pctg.	GB	Pace	Div
1*	Vancouver	79	49	21	9	107	7	42	7	0.677	0	111.06	NW
2*	St. Louis	79	48	21	10	106	4	44	3	0.671	0.5	110.03	CTL
3*	Los Angeles	79	39	27	13	91	6	33	3	0.576	8	94.46	PAC
4	Detroit	78	46	27	5	97	7	39	3	0.622	4.5	101.97	CTL
5	Nashville	79	45	26	8	98	4	41	3	0.620	4.5	101.72	CTL
6	Chicago	79	44	26	9	97	6	38	4	0.614	5	100.68	CTL
7	Phoenix	79	39	27	13	91	6	33	3	0.576	8	94.46	PAC
8	San Jose	79	40	29	10	90	8	32	2	0.570	8.5	93.42	PAC
9	Dallas	79	42	32	5	89	7	35	4	0.563	9	92.38	PAC
10	Colorado	80	41	33	6	88	9	32	7	0.550	10	90.20	NW
11	Calgary	80	35	29	16	86	3	32	2	0.538	11	88.15	NW
12	Anaheim	78	33	34	11	77	3	30	1	0.494	14.5	80.95	PAC
13	Minnesota	78	33	35	10	76	9	24	2	0.487	15	79.90	NW
14	Edmonton	78	31	38	9	71	5	26	2	0.455	17.5	74.64	NW
15	Columbus	79	27	45	7	61	4	23	2	0.386	23	63.32	CTL
			League Statistics
	DIV/CONF	GP		PTS		Pctg.		Avg. Pace
	Atlantic	391		481		0.615		100.87
	Northeast	393		422		0.537		88.05
	Southeast	393		416		0.529		86.80
	Pacific	394		438		0.556		91.16
	Central	394		459		0.582		95.53
	Northwest	395		428		0.542		88.85
	ECF Avg.	1177		1319		0.560		91.89
	WCF Avg.	1183		1325		0.560		91.84
	3-pt Game Pctg:		24.07%
	True .500:	0.560

_

The Standings as They Should Be, March 18 through 24, 2012

Current as of the end of action on March 24, 2012.

[Explanation below]

			Eastern Conference
	CITY	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	SW	ROW	OTW	Pctg.	GB	Pace	Div
1*	NY Rangers	75	47	21	7	101	4	43	8	0.673	0	110.43	ATL
2*	Boston	74	43	28	3	89	8	35	2	0.601	5.5	98.62	NE
3*	Florida	74	36	24	14	86	5	31	1	0.581	7	95.30	SE
4	Pittsburgh	74	46	22	6	98	9	37	2	0.662	1	108.59	ATL
5	Philadelphia	75	44	23	8	96	4	40	6	0.640	2.5	104.96	ATL
6	New Jersey	75	42	27	6	90	11	31	4	0.600	5.5	98.40	ATL
7	Ottawa	76	38	28	10	86	5	33	5	0.566	8	92.79	NE
8	Buffalo	76	37	29	10	84	7	30	4	0.553	9	90.63	NE
9	Washington	75	37	30	8	82	2	35	7	0.547	9.5	89.65	SE
10	Winnipeg	75	35	32	8	78	4	31	4	0.520	11.5	85.28	SE
11	Tampa Bay	74	34	33	7	75	3	31	8	0.507	12.5	83.11	SE
12	Carolina	76	30	31	15	75	0	30	3	0.493	13.5	80.92	SE
13	Toronto	76	33	34	9	75	4	29	4	0.493	13.5	80.92	NE
14	NY Islanders	74	30	33	11	71	6	24	3	0.480	14.5	78.68	ATL
15	Montreal	76	29	34	13	71	5	24	2	0.467	15.5	76.61	NE
			Western Conference
	CITY	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	SW	ROW	OTW	Pctg.	GB	Pace	Div
1*	St. Louis	75	46	20	9	101	4	42	3	0.673	0	110.43	CTL
2*	Vancouver	75	45	21	9	99	7	38	6	0.660	1	108.24	NW
3*	Dallas	75	41	29	5	87	7	34	4	0.580	7	95.12	PAC
4	Detroit	75	45	25	5	95	7	38	3	0.633	3	103.87	CTL
5	Nashville	75	43	24	8	94	4	39	3	0.627	3.5	102.77	CTL
6	Chicago	75	42	25	8	92	5	37	4	0.613	4.5	100.59	CTL
7	Los Angeles	75	37	26	12	86	6	31	3	0.573	7.5	94.03	PAC
8	San Jose	75	38	27	10	86	8	30	2	0.573	7.5	94.03	PAC
9	Phoenix	76	37	26	13	87	6	31	3	0.572	7.5	93.87	PAC
10	Colorado	77	40	31	6	86	9	31	7	0.558	8.5	91.58	NW
11	Calgary	76	34	27	15	83	3	31	2	0.546	9.5	89.55	NW
12	Anaheim	75	32	32	11	75	3	29	1	0.500	13	82.00	PAC
13	Minnesota	74	31	33	10	72	8	23	1	0.486	14	79.78	NW
14	Edmonton	75	30	36	9	69	5	25	2	0.460	16	75.44	NW
15	Columbus	74	24	43	7	55	4	20	2	0.372	22.5	60.95	CTL
			League Statistics
	DIV/CONF	GP		PTS		Pctg.		Avg. Pace
	Atlantic	373		456		0.611		100.25
	Northeast	378		405		0.536		87.86
	Southeast	374		396		0.529		86.82
	Pacific	376		421		0.560		91.81
	Central	374		437		0.584		95.81
	Northwest	377		409		0.542		88.96
	ECF Avg.	1125		1257		0.559		91.62
	WCF Avg.	1127		1267		0.562		92.19
	3-pt Game Pctg:		24.16%
	True .500:	0.560

_

The Standings as They Should Be, March 11 through 17, 2012

As of the end of action on March 17, 2012.

[Explanation here or below]

			Eastern Conference
	CITY	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	SW	NSW	OTW	Pctg.	GB	Pace	Div
1*	NY Rangers	71	44	20	7	95	3	41	7	0.669	0	109.72	ATL
2*	Boston	71	41	27	3	85	8	33	2	0.599	5	98.17	NE
3*	Florida	71	35	23	13	83	5	30	1	0.585	6	95.86	SE
4	Pittsburgh	70	44	21	5	93	9	35	2	0.664	0.5	108.94	ATL
5	Philadelphia	71	41	22	8	90	3	38	5	0.634	2.5	103.94	ATL
6	New Jersey	72	41	26	5	87	11	30	4	0.604	4.5	99.08	ATL
7	Ottawa	73	37	26	10	84	5	32	5	0.575	6.5	94.36	NE
8	Washington	71	36	29	6	78	2	34	7	0.549	8.5	90.08	SE
9	Winnipeg	71	34	29	8	76	4	30	3	0.535	9.5	87.77	SE
10	Buffalo	72	33	29	10	76	7	26	4	0.528	10	86.56	NE
11	Tampa Bay	71	32	32	7	71	2	30	8	0.500	12	82.00	SE
12	Toronto	72	32	32	8	72	3	29	4	0.500	12	82.00	NE
13	Carolina	72	28	29	15	71	0	28	3	0.493	12.5	80.86	SE
14	NY Islanders	72	29	32	11	69	6	23	3	0.479	13.5	78.58	ATL
15	Montreal	73	28	32	13	69	5	23	2	0.473	14	77.51	NE
			Western Conference
	CITY	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	SW	NSW	OTW	Pctg.	GB	Pace	Div
1*	St. Louis	73	46	19	8	100	4	42	3	0.685	0	112.33	CTL
2*	Vancouver	71	43	20	8	94	7	36	5	0.662	2	108.56	NW
3*	San Jose	71	36	25	10	82	7	29	2	0.577	8	94.70	PAC
4	Detroit	72	44	24	4	92	7	37	3	0.639	3.5	104.78	CTL
5	Nashville	71	41	22	8	90	4	37	3	0.634	4	103.94	CTL
6	Chicago	72	39	25	8	86	5	34	3	0.597	6.5	97.94	CTL
7	Dallas	72	39	28	5	83	6	33	4	0.576	8	94.53	PAC
8	Los Angeles	72	35	25	12	82	5	30	3	0.569	8.5	93.39	PAC
9	Phoenix	72	35	26	11	81	5	30	3	0.563	9	92.25	PAC
10	Colorado	74	39	30	5	83	9	30	6	0.561	9	91.97	NW
11	Calgary	72	34	26	12	80	3	31	2	0.556	9.5	91.11	NW
12	Anaheim	72	30	31	11	71	3	27	1	0.493	14	80.86	PAC
13	Minnesota	71	29	32	10	68	7	22	1	0.479	15	78.54	NW
14	Edmonton	71	28	36	7	63	4	24	2	0.444	17.5	72.76	NW
15	Columbus	71	22	42	7	51	3	19	2	0.359	23.5	58.90	CTL
			League Statistics
	DIV/CONF	GP		PTS		Pctg.		Avg. Pace
	Atlantic	356		434		0.610		99.97
	Northeast	361		386		0.535		87.68
	Southeast	356		379		0.532		87.30
	Pacific	359		399		0.556		91.14
	Central	359		419		0.584		95.70
	Northwest	359		388		0.540		88.62
	ECF Avg.	1073		1199		0.559		91.63
	WCF Avg.	1077		1206		0.560		91.82
	3-pt Game Pctg:		23.72%
	True .500:	0.559

_

The Standings as They Should Be, March 4 through 10, 2012

Current as of the end of action on March 10, 2012.

[Explanation here or below]

			Eastern Conference
	CITY	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	SW	NSW	OTW	Pctg.	GB	Pace	Div
1*	NY Rangers	67	42	18	7	91	3	39	6	0.679	0	111.37	ATL
2*	Boston	67	40	24	3	83	7	33	2	0.619	4	101.58	NE
3*	Florida	67	31	23	13	75	4	27	1	0.560	8	91.79	SE
4	Pittsburgh	67	41	21	5	87	9	32	2	0.649	2	106.48	ATL
5	Philadelphia	67	39	21	7	85	3	36	5	0.634	3	104.03	ATL
6	New Jersey	68	39	24	5	83	10	29	4	0.610	4.5	100.09	ATL
7	Ottawa	70	36	25	9	81	5	31	4	0.579	6.5	94.89	NE
8	Washington	68	34	28	6	74	1	33	7	0.544	9	89.24	SE
9	Winnipeg	69	32	29	8	72	4	28	3	0.522	10.5	85.57	SE
10	Buffalo	69	32	29	8	72	7	25	3	0.522	10.5	85.57	NE
11	Tampa Bay	68	31	30	7	69	2	29	8	0.507	11.5	83.21	SE
12	Toronto	68	30	30	8	68	3	27	4	0.500	12	82.00	NE
13	Carolina	68	26	27	15	67	0	26	3	0.493	12.5	80.79	SE
14	NY Islanders	68	28	31	9	65	5	23	3	0.478	13.5	78.38	ATL
15	Montreal	69	27	32	10	64	4	23	2	0.464	14.5	76.06	NE
			Western Conference
	CITY	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	SW	NSW	OTW	Pctg.	GB	Pace	Div
1*	St. Louis	69	44	18	7	95	4	40	3	0.688	0	112.90	CTL
2*	Vancouver	69	42	19	8	92	7	35	5	0.667	1.5	109.33	NW
3*	Dallas	69	38	26	5	81	6	32	4	0.587	7	96.26	PAC
4	Detroit	69	44	22	3	91	7	37	3	0.659	2	108.14	CTL
5	Nashville	68	40	21	7	87	3	37	3	0.640	3.5	104.91	CTL
6	Chicago	69	37	25	7	81	4	33	3	0.587	7	96.26	CTL
7	Phoenix	69	34	25	10	78	5	29	3	0.565	8.5	92.70	PAC
8	San Jose	67	33	25	9	75	6	27	1	0.560	9	91.79	PAC
9	Calgary	68	31	25	12	74	3	28	1	0.544	10	89.24	NW
10	Los Angeles	68	31	25	12	74	4	27	3	0.544	10	89.24	PAC
11	Colorado	70	36	30	4	76	8	28	5	0.543	10	89.03	NW
12	Minnesota	68	29	29	10	68	7	22	1	0.500	13	82.00	NW
13	Anaheim	69	29	30	10	68	3	26	1	0.493	13.5	80.81	PAC
14	Edmonton	68	26	35	7	59	4	22	2	0.434	17.5	71.15	NW
15	Columbus	68	22	39	7	51	3	19	2	0.375	21.5	61.50	CTL
			League Statistics
	DIV/CONF	GP		PTS		Pctg.		Avg. Pace
	Atlantic	337		411		0.610		100.01
	Northeast	343		368		0.536		87.98
	Southeast	340		357		0.525		86.10
	Pacific	342		376		0.550		90.15
	Central	343		405		0.590		96.82
	Northwest	343		369		0.538		88.22
	ECF Avg.	1020		1136		0.557		91.33
	WCF Avg.	1028		1150		0.559		91.73
	3-pt Game Pctg:		23.24%
	True .500:	0.558

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