Joffrey Lupul dreams of an NHL wild-card game
So a Toronto Maple Leafs player favors an easier path to the postseason? The jokes pretty much write themselves.
Low hanging fruit aside, Maple Leafs forward Joffrey Lupul found Tuesday night's American League wild-card game between the Kansas City Royals and the Oakland Athletic's riveting, and took to Twitter to suggest that the NHL adopt a similar format to determine the eighth seed in the Stanley Cup playoffs:
Better ball game. Someone tell me why the NHL doesn't have a playoff between the 8th and 9th seeds. Anyone?
— Joffrey Lupul (@JLupul) October 1, 2014
In some ways it's a good idea. As the Olympic Winter Games prove every four years, single game elimination hockey is tense and electric and kind of the best. Also, you know NHL owners would approve if additional high stakes games could draw sold out crowds and solid television ratings.
The downside is ... wait, there really is no downside. The NHL already adopted a "wild-card" type playoff format last season, so why not go one step further?