Alter: Revisionist history - Are the best teams making the playoffs?

When the regular season ended on April 10, the Boston Bruins found themselves out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second straight season - and the Bs aren't often watching in the spring. In fact, the Bruins missed the postseason only once from 1968 through 1999.

Boston finished this season with a 42-31-9 record. Claude Julien's club won more games than it lost and recorded one more win than Detroit and Philadelphia, but it was the Red Wings and Flyers who took part in the playoffs.

That isn't right.

For 11 years, the NHL has used a convoluted points system to determine the standings - two points for a win of any kind, one point for an overtime or shootout loss, and zero points for a regulation-time loss. That means two overtime and/or shootout losses equate to a win.

To incentivize teams to avoid the shootout, the NHL introduced a new column in the standings ahead of the 2010-11 season: Regulation plus Overtime Wins (ROW). Its sole purpose is to serve as the first tiebreaker in the standings.

The Bruins and Red Wings finished with 93 points this season. Boston won 42 games to Detroit's 41, but since the Red Wings won 39 games in regulation and overtime to the Bruins' 38, Detroit got to play for the Cup.

Across the pond

The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) employs a different three-point system. Teams are awarded three points for a win in regulation, two points for an overtime or shootout win, one point for an overtime or shootout loss, and no points for a regulation loss. This system ensures the same amount of points are up for grabs every night, and it provides the best incentive to win - and win in 60 minutes.

Outside of North America, all professional hockey leagues use the IIHF system. We decided to apply the IIHF's point system to every season since the NHL eliminated ties ahead of the 2005-06 season, and got some interesting results.

2015-16

Eastern Conference, Metropolitan Division

Eastern Conference, Atlantic Division

Western Conference, Central Division

Western Conference, Pacific Division

* denotes playoff teams

We've established the Bruins should have qualified for the playoffs over the Red Wings, who would have seen their consecutive postseason streak end at a very impressive 24 seasons.

With Boston officially on the outside looking in, there was all kinds of speculation as to Julien's status and whether he'd return for a 10th season. He will, with management electing to keep him behind the bench. Perhaps that's because Don Sweeney and Co. realized the Bruins' season was quite good - the club was the seventh-best team in the East based on the international system - despite missing the playoffs.

2014-15

Pacific Division

It was considered a shock when the Los Angeles Kings, the defending Stanley Cup champions, failed to make the postseason in 2015. Under the IIHF system, it would have been the Kings and not the Calgary Flames who made the playoffs. One wonders what Los Angeles might have accomplished had the club had the chance to defend its crown.

As for the Flames, head coach Bob Hartley won the Jack Adams Trophy as Coach of the Year in 2014-15, and it's safe to say he doesn't take home the hardware if Calgary misses the playoffs. Hartley and the Flames parted ways last month.

2013-14

The right 16 teams made the playoffs in 2014, but in the race for the bottom, Edmonton and Florida would have finished tied for 29th with 87 points under the international system. The Oilers would've owned the tiebreaker, thanks to one fewer regulation win than the Panthers. That means the Oilers would've finished second last and won another draft lottery, likely selecting Aaron Ekblad first overall a year before landing Connor McDavid. Imagine.

Based on the NHL's standings in 2014, the Panthers finished 29th with 66 points, while the Oilers finished 28th. The Buffalo Sabres had the best odds at the first overall pick, but the Panthers won the lottery, and Ekblad.

2010-11 through 2012-13

The data from 2010-11 through the shortened 2012-13 season shows the best 16 teams made the playoffs each year.

2009-10

Eastern Conference

Remember that magical run the Montreal Canadiens went on in 2010? First they upset Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals in seven games. In Round 2, they did the same to Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins, before it all came to an end against the Flyers.

Well that doesn't happen under the international three-point system. The New York Rangers not only take Montreal’s spot, but the Canadiens actually fall to 10th, behind the Atlanta Thrashers.

Montreal’s magical 2010 spring and its short love affair with Jaroslav Halak should never have happened.

2008-09

Peter DeBoer signed on to coach the Panthers for what was his first-ever NHL head coaching gig. They narrowly missed the playoffs, but under the international system, Florida not only makes it, but does so as the seventh seed, bumping the Canadiens from postseason play. Eight years and two Stanley Cup Final appearances later, things seem to have worked out for DeBoer.

In the West, Minnesota would've snatched the last playoff spot away from Anaheim. The eighth-seeded Ducks upset the San Jose Sharks in the first round that spring. Would the Wild have done the same?

2007-08

A few things stand out from the 2007-08 data. Not only do the Carolina Hurricanes earn a postseason berth over the Bruins, they actually end up third by virtue of winning the Southeast Division. The Canes' advanced stats showed they deserved a better fate - they had the league's fifth-best Corsi at 52.7 percent.

The Thrashers would have been the last-place team in 2007-08, not the Tampa Bay Lightning, who finished last under the NHL's points system, and won the draft lottery thanks to having the best odds. If Stamkos became the poster boy in Atlanta, the Jets may have never returned to Winnipeg.

2006-07

Eastern Conference

Who can forget the dramatic end to the 2006-07 season? The Maple Leafs were at home against the Canadiens on the second-last day of the schedule. Montreal needed only a point to clinch a playoff spot. Toronto needed a win in regulation to stay alive.

The Maple Leafs prevailed in a wild 6-5 regulation affair, only to watch Wade Dubielewicz help the New York Islanders defeat the New Jersey Devils on Sunday, knocking Toronto out of contention and sending New York to the playoffs.

Under the IIHF system, Toronto and Montreal would have made the playoffs, while the Islanders and Lightning wouldn't have.

2005-06

Western Conference

Remember that glorious and improbable run by the Oilers in 2006? It was fun to watch it all unfold, but it was the Vancouver Canucks who actually recorded more victories. Like Boston and Detroit in 2016, Vancouver had 42 wins to Edmonton's 41.

Looking back over a decade's worth of data, it's clear some teams have the right to wonder what could have been. The international points system ensures the best teams make the playoffs. The teams that win the most games should make the playoffs. Period.

It's time to give the international system, the true three-point system, a look on this side of the pond.