The standings as of the completion of all games on October 15, 2011.
[Explanation below]
| Eastern Conference | |||||||||||
| CITY | GP | W | L | OTL | PTS | SW | NSW | Pctg. | GB | Pace | |
| 1 | Washington | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 1.000 | 0 | 164.00 |
| 2 | Toronto | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 1.000 | 0.5 | 164.00 |
| 3 | Philadelphia | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0.875 | 0.5 | 143.50 |
| 4 | Buffalo | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0.750 | 1 | 123.00 |
| 5 | NY Islanders | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0.750 | 1 | 123.00 |
| 6 | New Jersey | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0.750 | 1 | 123.00 |
| 7 | Pittsburgh | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 0.667 | 1 | 109.33 |
| 8 | Florida | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0.667 | 1.5 | 109.33 |
| 9 | Carolina | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0.500 | 2 | 82.00 |
| 10 | Tampa Bay | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0.400 | 2.5 | 65.60 |
| 11 | Boston | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0.400 | 2.5 | 65.60 |
| 12 | Montreal | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0.375 | 2.5 | 61.50 |
| 13 | NY Rangers | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.333 | 2.5 | 54.67 |
| 14 | Ottawa | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0.200 | 3.5 | 32.80 |
| 15 | Winnipeg | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 3.5 | 0.00 |
| Western Conference | |||||||||||
| CITY | GP | W | L | OTL | PTS | SW | NSW | Pctg. | GB | Pace | |
| 1 | Detroit | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 1.000 | 0 | 164.00 |
| 2 | Dallas | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 0.800 | 0.5 | 131.20 |
| 3 | Colorado | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 0.800 | 0.5 | 131.20 |
| 4 | Anaheim | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0.667 | 1.5 | 109.33 |
| 5 | Los Angeles | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0.625 | 1.5 | 102.50 |
| 6 | Chicago | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0.625 | 1.5 | 102.50 |
| 7 | Nashville | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0.625 | 1.5 | 102.50 |
| 8 | Phoenix | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0.625 | 1.5 | 102.50 |
| 9 | Minnesota | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0.600 | 1.5 | 98.40 |
| 10 | Vancouver | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0.500 | 2 | 82.00 |
| 11 | St. Louis | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0.500 | 2 | 82.00 |
| 12 | Edmonton | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0.500 | 2 | 82.00 |
| 13 | San Jose | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0.333 | 2.5 | 54.67 |
| 14 | Calgary | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0.250 | 3 | 41.00 |
| 15 | Columbus | 5 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.100 | 4 | 16.40 |
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Note that the leaders of each division are given top-three seeds in the conference, per NHL playoff seeding rules.
SW: Shootout Wins; NSW: Non-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.
*The first tie-breaker for teams that are tied in points and games played is the number of non-shootout wins (NSW).
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 (wins, losses, OTL, points, games played, etc.) are all based on the current NHL standings.
Even so, the way the NHL orders its standings is flawed and misleading. Every other professional sports league orders its standings by winning percentage. It makes more sense to order the NHL standings by points earned divided by points possible, just as other leagues divide wins by wins possible. 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 official standings 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 winning percentage and not points gets the first priority in selecting a player off of waivers), so even the NHL knows how the standings should be kept, they just don’t publish it that way in the newspaper.
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.
NHL TrueStandings 