In Red Wings Land

Mobsters convinced the Detroit Red Wings to play a team of prisoners, and it was a blowout | SBNation

I knew the Red Wings did this back in the day, but didn’t really know the full story behind it. Pretty interesting.

The more you know, right?

Around the League

Why (and how) the NHL should expand the playoffs | ESPN

My first reaction to playoff expansion was “no thanks,” buuuuuuuuuut...

One Eastern Conference governor told ESPN that “nearly everyone in this room wants to expand the playoffs.” Gary Bettman? Not so much.

It’s a simple plan these governors have rallied around: 10 teams qualify for the playoffs in each conference, but the bottom four have to play for their lives in a one-game play-in game at the higher seed. The No. 7 seed hosts the No. 10 seed. The No. 8 seed hosts the No. 9 seed. The winners of those games get no time to celebrate, as they open against the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds the very next night on the road.

I don’t hate this. I kind of like the play-in game chaos that could occur. I didn’t originally love the idea of a play-in game when MLB decided to add it, but now, I think it’s been pretty enjoyable to watch. Plus, I feel like we’ve given the current divisional/wild card format a chance and it sucks.