Three Conference Playoff Format Example 3
In this third example, an unfair bracketed group is narrowly averted by not having the Western or Eastern Conferences send only 4 teams to the playoffs (resulting in a weak or strong bracket of 4 teams unaffected by crossovers):
This scenario shows the importance of the “fairest matchup possible” rule: with the Central involved in 2 crossovers yet again, one would think #1 Carolina or #16 Dallas would have to cross over, but since there is more than 1 team that can cross over each way, and there is no more fair possible matchup here than #1 vs. #16, Carolina and Dallas stay within their group and draw each other instead:
Now, we see one of the rare drawbacks for the Eastern time zone teams that are in the Central Conference. Against the odds, there is both a Western-Central crossover in the 2nd round, and the only Central conference teams remaining are all in the Eastern time zone, so the immunity that these Eastern time zone teams normally have against meeting Western teams cannot occur. Instead, the most fair matchup to complete the crossover determines which team goes west:
#1 Carolina ends up being the team that goes west, but in exchange, they draw the most favourable matchup (standings-wise) that they possibly could, and are not locked into a Western bracket either. The Eastern Conference, by being down to 2 teams, becomes a bracket free from crossovers until the next round:
Carolina has the misfortune of again drawing a Western team, though in the 3rd round, this is somewhat expected considering the distribution of Eastern time zone teams compared to all other time zones. If Ottawa had defeated New Jersey instead, in the previous round, their lower position in the standings would have allowed Carolina to draw them, so Carolina was not obligated to draw a Western team:
The Stanley Cup Finals in this example again shows how this format allows matchups that were not possible in the Western/Eastern setup:
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