Once again I renew my call (which no one answers) for playoff reform in the NHL and in the NBA.

In the NHL:

• No points for losses already. This is so stupid. No other professional league does this, that I know of. It is retarded. There is no rationalization for it. It skews the standings. Bad teams get better.

For both leagues:

• Division winners shouldn’t be guaranteed even home ice / court. They should only be guaranteed a playoff spot. Home ice / court should be for deserving (i.e. good) teams. All too often, weak division winners get 3rd (in the NHL) or 4th (in the NBA) just because they play against other weaker teams more than the other teams in the league. How is this fair? The exemplary example (tehe) is the southeast in the NHL. Every year some team gets 3rd when they’re really 6th or even worse. It’s ridiculous.
• Adopt a CFL crossover rule. This is particularly glaring in the NBA, but it would help both leagues. In both leagues, one conference is almost always better than the other other. The playoffs should be about the best teams, and should not be fixated on geography (especially when Detroit and Columbus are “west” in one league). In the NBA last year, two good western teams didn’t make it while lots of mediocre teams in the east did. It’s simple: teams with better records (or more points) get playoff spots. We don’t have to give them home ice / court. It could just be the lower four spots. If your team is in danger of missing the playoffs in one conference but it has a better record than playoff slotted teams in the other conference (in the lower four), your team gets that spot. We might get a dreaded “west-west” final! Shock! Horror! What’s the big deal? The teams would be better.