LPHF: First choice goes to the team with the most points after elimination

So far, things are going well for the new women’s hockey league.

We keep hearing the players in the LPHF (Ligue Professionnelle de Hockey Féminine) say how much fun they’re having, and how happy they are with the way things are going…

And so are the fans, obviously, because the crowds have been very good since the start of the season.

The LPHF is a league that continues to develop quietly, and today the format for the playoffs was unveiled.

It looks like this:

• The league’s top four teams will compete in a 3-of-5 playoff format.
• The team finishing first in the league will have the choice of playing the team finishing 3rd or 4th.

However, a new rule has also been introduced that really deserves everyone’s attention.

Once a team is mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, it will start earning “draft points” in all subsequent games.

This means that eliminated teams will have an incentive to win games for the first overall pick in the draft, which is pretty interesting:

I really like this because it will allow fans to see competitive games throughout the season.

Many feel that the NHL should go this route too, because it would limit tanking…

But on the other hand, perhaps the teams that have no real chance of making the playoffs at the start of the season will race to be eliminated as quickly as possible, to then accumulate “important” points in the standings.

The format will have to be different in the NHL if it ever follows in the footsteps of the AFHL, especially as there are 32 teams in the Bettman Circuit (as opposed to six in the AFHL).

In all this, one also wonders whether the players will really want to give it their all for the first pick in the draft. It’s not necessarily rewarding for a player who could change address the following year, for example.

But to see that the league is innovating and trying new things is really pleasing for everyone. And even if the new format doesn’t work out, the LPHF won’t be able to say it didn’t try.

In brief

– Brady Tkachuk will not be traded.

– What do you think?

– It’s always the same story in Vegas.

– The opposite would have been surprising.