The NHL’s schedule-making process is hopelessly broken

You would think it would be a mathematical impossibility for the Rangers to clinch a spot in the playoffs by defeating the Flyers on the Orange’s first trip of the season to Madison Square Garden, but this is the National Hockey League and so you would be wrong.

It gets even crazier upon the realization that the Blueshirts might have been able to nail down their third straight playoff appearance before the Penguins even made it to MSG this year. There is a chance that by the time the Pens make it to New York on April 1 for their only tilt on Broadway, they will have already been eliminated from postseason contention.

The Rangers have been in a division with the Flyers since 1974-75 and with the Penguins since 1981-82 and neither one of the Pennsylvania clubs made it to Penn Station for the first 5  ¹/₂ months of the season.

Now try to tell me again that the reason the league doesn’t break down into 1-8, 2-7, 3-6, 4-5 conference-based first-round matchups is to foster divisional rivalries and I will tell you that is about the most idiotic explanation you could attempt to offer.

Ninth Avenue does not believe in rivalries.

The schedule matrix is hopelessly broken. The Islanders were the designated home team for the Stadium Series match in New Jersey, so the Rangers haven’t even been to UBS this season. Indeed, the Blueshirts have not played a regular season game on the Island since Oct. 22, 2022.