In the NHL there’s only one thing better than a game 7. A game 8. Think about it.
1 – If all playoff series were best of 8 then as far as owners were concerned more playoff games means more beer and hot dogs and more beer and hot dogs means more stadium renovations and more stadium renovations means higher ticket prices and higher ticket prices means more corporate handouts and more corporate handouts means your ass is stuck on the couch surrounding by a wife, 2.5 kids and a Portuguese water dog named Sir Lancelot.
2 – If all playoff series were best of 8 then the postseason would end in August which means the start of the next season would be less than a month away and players could spend their entire offseason playing ping pong in the clubhouse instead of retreating to far away destinations like Moose Jaw and Minsk.
3 – If all playoff series were best of 8 then the NHL could have a Champions League style format where goals scored by the road team count twice as much as goals scored by the home team thus eliminating the silly need to score more goals then your opponent unless you’re at home. Or is it better to score more on the road? Hmmmmmmm….
4 – If all playoff series were best of 8 then non hockey fans would stop talking to hockey fans about how exciting game 7 was and how they swear they’re going to watch more of the NHL regular season next year that is until they realize that the NHL regular season, much like the NBA, is sorta boring.
5 – If all playoff series were best of 8 then Canada may have more than one team remaining in the playoffs. Actually, that’s not true, the Montreal Canadiens were the only Canadian team to qualify for the NHL playoffs and Montreal is in Quebec which means if they had it their way the province would be a part of France not Canada.