A Winning Habit
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Could the Montreal Canadiens survive a March Madness Stanley Cup run?

By Omar L|
RALEIGH, NC - NOVEMBER 18: General view of the game between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Montreal Canadiens at PNC Arena on November 18, 2016 in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Hurricanes won 3-2. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
RALEIGH, NC - NOVEMBER 18: General view of the game between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Montreal Canadiens at PNC Arena on November 18, 2016 in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Hurricanes won 3-2. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
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Montreal Canadiens
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – FEBRUARY 12: Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Seeding

Instead of 16 teams qualifying, as usual, every time would get an opportunity to play. The normal March Madness has 68 teams involved, and the selection process for who gets to take part is pretty extensive. Thirty-two teams automatically qualify for winning their respective season conferences while the remaining 34 are chosen by a selection based on factors such as game results, the strength of their schedule, and the quality of those wins and losses, to name a few.

We’ll make seeding here simple in the NHL March Madness Stanley Cup Playoffs and just seed teams based on points percentage.

  1. Boston Bruins – .714
  2. St. Louis Blues – .662
  3. Tampa Bay Lightning – .657 (more wins)
  4. Colorado Avalanche – .657
  5. Washington Capitals – .652
  6. Philadelphia Flyers – .645
  7. Pittsburgh Penguins – .623
  8. Vegas Golden Knights – .600
  9. Carolina Hurricanes – .595
  10. Dallas Stars – .594
  11. New York Islanders – .588
  12. Edmonton Oilers – .585
  13. Toronto Maple Leafs – .579 (more wins)
  14. Columbus Blue Jackets – .579
  15. Vancouver Canucks – .565 (more wins)
  16. Florida Panthers – .565 (higher goal differential)
  17. Nashville Predators – .565
  18. New York Rangers – .564 (more wins)
  19. Calgary Flames – .564
  20. Winnipeg Jets – .563
  21. Minnesota Wild – .558
  22. Arizona Coyotes – .529
  23. Chicago Blackhawks – .514
  24. Montreal Canadiens – .500
  25. Buffalo Sabres – .493 (more wins)
  26. New Jersey Devils – .493
  27. Anaheim Ducks – .472
  28. Los Angeles Kings – .457
  29. San Jose Sharks – .450
  30. Ottawa Senators – .437
  31. Detroit Red Wings – .275

The NHL wouldn’t have that issue as there are only 31 teams in the league. However, we do have an odd number of teams here. The Boston Bruins are the top team in the league in both points and points percentage, so they would get a bypass to the second round while the remaining 30 teams duke it out in the preliminary round.

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