Where does the NHL rank among the most competitive sports leagues?

Everyone says their favorite sports league is the most competitive. But which one actually is?

I love sports. I watch just about every one that exists, and follow all the five major American men’s sports leagues very closely. However, whenever the playoffs roll around, I always feel like the NHL playoffs are the most exciting and competitive.

As the Stanley Cup Playoffs wrap up, I’ve felt the same way. This led me to wonder, what is the most competitive of the four major American sports leagues? I’ve excluded the MLS due to the age of the league.

The four metrics across the leagues I decided to look at are as follows.

Which league has had the most bottom half seed win a finals?
Which league has had the most game 7’s in a finals?
Which league has had the most overtime games in a finals?
Which league has had the most variety with teams winning in the finals?

More from Puck Prose

I decided to start stat tracking since 1980 because that was the first year all four major leagues had at least 20 teams following the NHL-WHA merger. I used a point system to rank each league. For every league that was top in a category, they got 3 points.

For second place, the league would get 2 points. For third place, the league would get 1 point. And for last, the league would get 0 points. I will display a chart at the end to highlight the rankings. More metrics of course could be used, but that would start to teeter along the lines of writing a book.

NHL

The NHL has seen 5 bottom half seeds win the Stanley Cup. This does include three since 2010, with the Blues having done it last as the 5 seed in 2019. However, from 1980-2010, it had only been done two other times.
9 NHL Stanley Cup Finals have gone to game 7s, including last years between the Blue and the Bruins.
In the 217 Stanley Cup Finals games that have been played since 1980, 39 have gone to overtime. This marks a 17.9% clip of Stanley Cup finals games having gone into OT.
18 different teams have hoisted the Stanley Cup since 1980

NBA

Since 1980, the NBA has had just 1 bottom half win the NBA finals. This was the Houston Rockets winning in 1995 as a 6th seed. The Miami Heat this season are trying to become the second team to do so as a 5 seed still in the playoffs this season.
7 NBA Finals series have gone to game 7s. The last time it happened was in 2016, when the Cleveland Cavaliers came back down 3-1 to beat the Golden State Warriors.
There have been 226 NBA Finals games played since 1980, and 19 have gone to OT. This makes the OT to games played rate 8.9%
12 different teams have won the NBA title since 1980

NFL

Since 1980, 8.5 bottom half seeds have won in the NFL, with the most recent being the 4 seed New York Giants winning in 2011 over the New England Patriots.
- *The “.5” comes from the fact that the Washington Redskins won in the 1980s as a 3 seed when there were 5 teams from each conference that made playoffs*
13 Super Bowls have been decided by 6 points or less. The last Super Bowl that was decided by 6 points or less was when the Patriots beat the Atlanta Falcons in overtime in 2017 in the infamous “28-3” game.
- *Since there are no game 7’s in the NFL, I decided to look at games decided by 6 points or less. I did this because a 7-point win, a traditional one possession game, doesn’t equal going to a game 7. With a game 7, you’ve had it go down to the absolute wire, where a single goal or run or basket could make the difference. In a 6-point contest in football, it typically only takes one possession to win the game, not to tie it*
Only one Super Bowl has gone to OT since 1980, the above-mentioned Patriots Falcons game. This makes the Super Bowl an OT affairs 2.5% of the time.
18 different teams have hoisted the Lombardi trophy since 1980.

MLB

Since 1995, 9 bottom half seeds have won in the MLB. The most recent time this happened was last season, when the 4 seed Washington Nationals beat the Houston Astros.
- *Before 1995, only 2 teams from each conference made playoffs. It didn’t feel right to consider a 2 seed a bottom half seed. It didn’t matter anyways because the MLB is still tops in this category*
Since 1980, 13 MLB World Series’ have gone to a game 7. Last year was the most recent time it happened with the above mentioned Nationals Astros series.
Of the 222 World Series games that have been played since 1980, 23 have gone to extra innings. This marks 10.4% of World Series games.
Since 1980, 23 different teams have won the MLB playoffs. If 1979 was included, that would’ve made it 24, the last season the Pittsburgh Pirates won.

Final Rankings

Most Bottom Half Teams Winning

Most Finals Game 7’s (6-Point Super Bowls)

(Tie) NFL, MLB
NHL
NBA

Most Overtime Finals Games

Highest Variety of Teams Winning the Finals

MLB
(Tie) NFL, NHL
NBA

Results

MLB – 11 Points
NHL – 8 Points
NFL – 7 Points
NBA – 3 Points

So there you have it. Since 1980, the MLB is the most competitive league, the NHL is second, the NFL is third, and the NBA is fourth. This was certainly a surprise to me, perhaps because out of the four major leagues, MLB is the one I follow the least.

Next. 2020 NHL Mock Draft. dark

I certainly was not surprised by the NBA being last. I think I felt the NHL is the most competitive because it’s the highest paced game and because of the amount of OT games you see in the playoffs.

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