That extra point beyond OT means a whole lot more than the average fan may think...

I skimmed a few message boards this morning and came up with an interesting stat: the NHL standings minus getting a point after overtime.

When the new NHL came out and the old NHL became a page in the history book, there were many changes that needed to be brought to a faulty game.

-First off, the NHL decided to abolish ties and add a thrilling shootout round that would please fans more than anything else and would allow teams to earn that extra point if overtime solved nothing.

-There was also the sizing-down of goaltender equipment, which has shown us the true face of certain goalies, more notably Jose Theodore.
The move was smart because it gave shooters more room to score in a low-scoring NHL league.

-And argurably the most important move the NHL made, was to call a whole new rash of penalties per game. The hooking gesture became chronic and just by touching a player around his waist would cost you two minutes for the intention and not the result.
Power plays are hugely important for some teams.
The Canadiens could've been the worst team in the NHL had it not been for their absolutely dominant powerplays which saw them finish first in the league.
Sheldon Souray set a record for powerplay goals by a defenceman.
That's all that you need to know...Montreal's 5-on-5 play was so horrendous that they were incapable to score consistently when needed, but only when the opposing team gave them the opportunity to do so with a man advantage.

-The removal of the "red line" in itself, the two line pass, was just a way to make the game quicker and avoid more stoppages in play, the delayed offside rule was also a great addition to the refereeing rulebook.

-Commericals were made shorter and instead of something like 4 minutes of beer and car commercials they shortened it to 2 minutes.
And plenty a lot of technical stuff I don't want to get into.

But the point is, the extra point beyond overtime is SOOO important to the current NHL standings, why, here's how the standings would've looked if some people got their way and there were no points for a shootout loss.

(e.g. The Canadiens went 5-5 in shootouts this season, which means they earned 10 points for their wins and 5 points for their losses, these standings portray how the conference would've finished up had the Canadiens-and other teams- not earned those 5 points for losing.)

1.*Ottawa - 103 points
2.*New Jersey Devils - 96 points
3.*Atlanta - 90 points
4. Buffalo - 103 points
5. Pittsburgh - 95 points
6. Carolina - 88 points
7. Toronto - 87 points
8. Montreal - 85 points
---------------------
9. NY Rangers - 85 points
10. Florida - 84 points
11. NY Islanders - 83 points
12. Tampa Bay - 83 points
13. Washington - 69 points
14. Boston - 67 points
15. Philadelphia - 55 points

AND..the west
1. *Detroit - 111 points
2. *Anaheim - 106 points
3. *Vancouver - 100 points
4. San Jose - 105 points
5. Nashville - 104 points
6. Dallas - 100 points
7. Minnesota - 94 points
8. Calgary - 93 points
------------------------
9. Colorado - 90 points
10. St. Louis - 75 points
11. Columbus - 68 points
12. Edmonton - 68 points
13. Chicago - 65 points
14. Los Angeles - 64 points
15. Phoenix - 60 points

(This includes apparently the tie breaking and division tying procedures, so these would be the final final standings.)

Miraculously, the Western Conference standings have been unaffected by this flurry of points removed, but, the East is where it gets interesting.

The Canadiens, as well all know so unfortunately well, missed the playoffs this season because of a devastating and dissapointing 6-5 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs last Saturday night, the loss cost the Canadiens badly as they missed the playoffs by a single point.

The Leafs lost because of all their missed opportunities to beat opposing teams in the shootout (they went 4-6, and stumbled horribly in the second half) and did not advance to the post-season because of the one overtime loss that seperates them from the Islanders.

If, however, there was no shootout loss point, the Leafs and Habs would've made it to the playoffs, so would've the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Rangers would have been tied with the Canadiens but, Montreal wins out the tiebreaker.

The Lightning went 10-2 in shootouts this season, led by goalie Johan Holmqvist, and if all went as I said before, they'd have their current point total reduced by 2 and just for that, they'd miss a chance to make it.

As you can see, that point means more than meets the eye.

Teams make it past the 3rd and if they lose, it's all cool because they earned a point.

That's not cool for fans of the Maple Leafs, Canadiens and Hurricanes, who just saw their teams miss a chance to win hockey's coveted trophy...