NHL revolution and the three-point system? It’s been thought of before. The women’s NHL may be the inspiration

It’s often the case that the view of the NHL regular season standings hardly changes during the season. In fact, the Canadian-American hockey competition still maintains a two-point system, in which it is very difficult to move up the table dramatically. But at the same time, it offers extraordinary balance even during the eighty-two game portion. Can this system ever change?

NHL revolution?

The NHL is conservative in this regard. While the rules have been upgraded over the years, the system of competition remains the same despite fan criticism. Like, for example, the seeding of teams in the Stanley Cup playoffs, where fans have been calling for change for years.

One of the other issues is the points system in the regular season. There are virtually two options in hockey today:

The two-point system
Win in regulation = 2 points
Win in overtime = 2 points
Loss in overtime = 1 point
Loss in regulation = 0 points

Three-point system
Win in regulation = 3 points
Win in overtime = 2 points
Loss in overtime = 1 point
Loss in regulation = 0 points

While the European competitions have almost uniformly switched to the three-point system, the NHL still keeps the original version. All IIHF competitions, including the World Championships, also switched to three points after 60 minutes a few years ago.

“TheNHL toyed with the idea of adopting this 3-2-1-0 model as early as the 2005 lockout, but ultimately opposed it,” Canadian sports commentator Pierre LeBrun wrote last week. His words were quoted by The Athletic.

Inspiration in the women’s league?

1. the inaugural season of the professional women’s hockey league, known as the PWHL, kicked off overseas on January 2024. It is a fully professional competition that is intended to be a sort of women’s version of the NHL, with six teams participating in the inaugural season. And this particular competition, perhaps a little surprisingly, has implemented a three-point system from the start.

“So far, it looks like the decision was basically a no-brainer for the PWHL. In fact, there hasn’t been much discussion about the point system,” wrote Pierre LeBrun.

LeBrun himself believes that most people believe that a win in regulation time is worth more than a win in overtime or a shootout. “The disadvantages we discussed were that a significant gap in the table can quickly develop,” LeBrun wrote further on the subject.

Adding that just as a large point gap can form in the table, a team can make up that gap very quickly. The Athletic also wonders how the introduction of a three-point system in the NHL would change the strategy of coaches. If they saw a three-point gain in a tie, wouldn’t they be more adventurous on offense.

Is it realistic to introduce such a change in the NHL? It’s hard to say, the traditional league usually sticks to traditional habits. But who knows, maybe the PWHL will show the hockey giant that innovating long-established rules may not always be a bad thing.

Source: NHL, The Athletic