Mark Madden: Changing NHL playoff format would keep things fresh, but Maple Leafs still wouldn't win

Sidney Crosby says he’d like to see the NHL playoff format switched to seeding the teams in each conference from 1 through 8. That’s instead of playing within divisions (allowing for the possible crossover of a wild card) for the first two rounds.

This met with manic approval from Toronto fans.

The Maple Leafs seem a lock to open the postseason vs. Tampa Bay for a second straight year and thus exit the postseason in their first series for a seventh consecutive time. Tampa Bay has made the Stanley Cup Final three straight years, winning in 2020 and ’21.

But it’s not who Toronto plays. The problem is being Toronto.

Despite having the most resources in hockey, the Maple Leafs haven’t won a Stanley Cup since 1967. That hasn’t happened by accident.

Crosby was hardly lobbying for Maple Leafs fans. He supported Montreal as a boy.

If the format was changed as Crosby suggests, two current first-round matchups would stay the same: Boston vs. the Penguins (yikes) and Carolina vs. Washington.

Related

• Madden Monday: Why Ron Hextall 'shouldn't trade a 1st-round pick under any circumstances'
• Tim Benz: We keep hearing about 'volatility' within Penguins' performance - now it's time to fix it
• Penguins general manager Ron Hextall looks to improve but with limited salary cap space

In the present format, it’s Toronto vs. Tampa Bay and New Jersey vs. the New York Rangers. Do the switch discussed and it’s Toronto vs. the Rangers and Tampa Bay vs. New Jersey. Both the Leafs and Lightning get (probably) easier matchups.

But I’d bet Toronto to lose anyway. No matter who the Maple Leafs play, really.

Any complaint is extremely petty, and the format obviously won’t be changed now.

But here’s a fun way to do things that can’t help but be fair, whatever that is. Rotate the following three formats:

• You’ve got the current way.

• You’ve got Crosby’s suggested method. That could involve reseeding after each round or using a bracket. (Division winners should be seeded 1 and 2. Otherwise, there’s zero point in having divisions.)

• A third format would have the top four in each division make it, then cross over within the conference for the first round. Atlantic Division vs. Metro Division in the East. Using the current standings, it would be Carolina vs. Buffalo, New Jersey vs. Tampa Bay, Toronto vs. the New York Rangers and Boston vs. Washington. Construct a bracket: The Carolina-Buffalo winner plays the Toronto-Rangers winner. The Boston-Washington winner plays the New Jersey-Tampa Bay winner. (You could reverse those matchups: Carolina-Buffalo plays New Jersey-Tampa Bay, etc.)

The Penguins wouldn’t make it using that format. Oops.

Rotating those methods would keep it fresh and interesting. You’d get variety.

It’s best to keep the final East vs. West. Mingling the conferences before the final might necessitate too much travel.

No matter how you do the playoffs, somebody’s always going to feel hard done by. People like to be mad, mostly in cities where they haven’t won a Cup in 56 years.

Toronto’s string of futility is amazing, which is to say hilarious.

More than any team, the Maple Leafs have support across Canada. Despite not winning a Cup since before the first expansion, their fans have an unearned arrogance.

Some of the other streaks without a Cup are equally funny. Like Philadelphia with none in 48 years. Can’t wait for the golden anniversary in two years. Silver won’t be forthcoming. Have you ever seen the Flyers win the Cup?

The Rangers went 54 years without and have since gone 29 years without. They’re lucky 1994 isn’t a year that’s easy to chant, like “NINETEEN-FORTY!”

Memo to Toronto fans: Perhaps it’s not the format.