As the NHL season winds down, fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs find themselves cheering for their team’s loss against the Florida Panthers.
Just one season ago, those two teams were locked in a tough, second-round battle. Congratulating the loss was unthinkable. But with both teams eliminated from this year’s playoffs, a loss was the best path toward better pastures for a top draft pick.
In the final week of the PWHL regular season, it’s a completely different story. With the Seattle Torrent and Vancouver Goldeneyes both eliminated from playoff contention, there is encouragement for both teams to win games.
That’s the only way the team can get the first overall pick in this year’s draft, which could be Caroline Harvey, a defender who was the MVP of the most recent Olympic tournament.
Welcome to the PWHL Gold Program.
Although fans of other leagues complained about the impact of shooting tanks, Gold Plan dismissed that.
Adapted from the league’s first season, the system sees relegated teams earn “draft order points” by winning games. A regulation win earns three points, an overtime win earns two, and an overtime loss earns one point. The eliminated team that earns the most Gold Plan points wins the first pick in the entry draft.
The New York Sirens have won the right to draft first overall the past two seasons, adding Sarah Fillier once Kristýna Kaltounková.
This year, the race for the most Gold Program points is more interesting than ever. Only four of the PWHL’s eight teams will make the playoffs, meaning many teams are competing for top draft picks.
“With this draft plan, there are no more easy games,” Gold Plan creator Adam Gold told CBC Sports. “Everyone is trying to win. There is really no future for these teams. They are playing for the chance to win in the coming seasons. To win too. [top prospects] Caroline Harvey or winning with Laila Edwards or Abbey Murphy, they have to show that they can win without them. “
Not only does this concept give fans of lower-tier teams something to cheer about if their team doesn’t compete for the Walter Cup, but it also takes the chance of the lottery out of the equation.
‘The biggest loser is no longer the winner’
It’s an idea Gold, a fan of St. Louis Blues, a senior data scientist in plant science at Bayer, came up with it almost 20 years ago.
In 2012, when Gold was a PhD student at the University of Missouri, he presented at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference.
“To make it really clear, the biggest loser is no longer the biggest winner,” Gold summed up.
But it wasn’t until 2024, when the PWHL was launched, that a major sports league included Gold’s work.
Powerplay goals by Toronto’s Savannah Harmon and Daryl Watts gave the Scepters a 2-0 victory over the Minnesota Frost on Sunday in the finale of PWHL regular season play.
It is one of several unique rules and adaptations the PWHL has adopted, along with the idea that the team that finishes first will receive their first round opponent, and the jailbreak rule that sees a player released from the penalty box if their team falls short.
“We wanted to find ways to improve the game, make it more attractive to the fans, make it more fun,” PWHL senior vice president of hockey Jayna Hefford said at the end of the league’s inaugural season. “We didn’t want to change hockey and the culture of hockey, but we wanted to do things a little differently.”
For Golide, it was the call he had been waiting 15 years to receive.
“I’m very happy that I was able to see it play,” said Gold.
Would it work elsewhere?
New York did not face any competition for Gold Plan points in the last two seasons, as other teams competed for the final playoff spots until the final day of the regular season.
This season, it’s different.
In Saturday’s game between Seattle and Vancouver, both teams had something. Relegated Seattle was looking to earn Gold Plan points in the first round. Meanwhile, Vancouver had to win in regulation to stay in the playoff race.
Vancouver won 6-5 in overtime, eliminating the Goldeneyes and earning only one point for Torrent Gold Plan.
From a story point of view, it adds more drama. Gold suggested the race for a top draft pick could add another layer to the rivalry between Seattle and Vancouver.
“We’re going to see somebody score that first Caroline Harvey goal,” Gold said. “Who’s going to score? Who’s going to play that?”
As Gold said, it’s not just about adding points by winning. It’s also the strategy behind preventing competitors from earning Gold Program points.
Rebecca Leslie and Payton Hemp scored shorthanded goals to lead Ottawa to a 5-1 victory over the New York Sirens, as the Charge currently hold the fourth and final playoff spot in the PWHL.
The New York Sirens could be the next team to be eliminated, which will add even more intrigue to the final week of the regular season. Not only will there be a race for the fourth and final playoff spot, but also for the top draft pick.
New York Sirens GM Pascal Daoust, who has also worked in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League, sees it as an example that other organizations can follow.
“They will have to customize it, customize it, but there is a good foundation that they should use in any league to keep fans coming to watch the game, to maintain the level of competition,” Daoust said in an interview.
Gold believes that the acceptance of his program will force the NHL and NBA to pay attention to the way the PWHL does things.
Equality was the goal when the PWHL was created. So far, the games of the last three seasons show that anyone can win. That’s not always the case in the NHL or the NBA.
“What possible solutions can we change about the NHL or the NBA, where we can expect either team to win on any given night?” It means gold. “It allows leagues to look for new opportunities and contribute to the development of women’s sports.”
