Western Conference Magic Numbers

[supraman]

Sorry to do this again, but I want to make sure I'm reading it right... we're 20 points away from clinching over ANA (if everything stayed the same course) and only 1 point away from being guaranteed better than Columbus?



I have to say that it's really impressive to have the hawks be this good when 4 out of 5 divisional teams sit in playoff spots right now. Even if we've only had 5 games against them. We are still 5-0.

I think that is how points we need to guarantee we will finish better than them. The way I understood it once the number gets to 0 we can finish as good as them and when it hits negative we are guaranteed to be better than them so at the moment we need 38 more points to guarantee to be better than columbus

 

[MassHavoc]

Yeah... we need 55 to guarantee we finish better than ANA. So we are at 35 now... so we need 20 more. But now as I say that, this can't be right... it has to mean we need 55 more points to guarantee... so... 90 total points means we cant' be beat by anyone.

 

[PatrickShart]

Give up, Mass....just give up.

 

[supraman]

Yeah... we need 55 to guarantee we finish better than ANA. So we are at 35 now... so we need 20 more. But now as I say that, this can't be right... it has to mean we need 55 more points to guarantee... so... 90 total points means we cant' be beat by anyone.

There you go that is the way I understand it.

 

[otunj20]

Sorry to do this again, but I want to make sure I'm reading it right... we're 20 points away from clinching over ANA (if everything stayed the same course) and only 1 point away from being guaranteed better than Columbus?



I have to say that it's really impressive to have the hawks be this good when 4 out of 5 divisional teams sit in playoff spots right now. Even if we've only had 5 games against them. We are still 5-0.

I know it's confusing. Sorry

The magic number indicates how many points STILL need to be gained either through Hawks winning points (win or OT/SO loss) or the other team lossing points (through regulation loss or OT/SO loss)



Magic Number against ANA is 55. Current points do not get subtracted from 55 as previous wins and ANA losses are already taken into acct in the number. However, subsequent CHI wins or ANA losses get subracted from the MN to get a new magic number. The magic number changes (goes down) every time CHI wins or ANA losses in reg or SO/OT.



The important thing to remember is that the Blackhawks currebntly have 14 magic numbers against 14 different teams. They completely separate from one another.



Using CBJ....CHI magic number against CBJ is now 36. All played games are already taken into acct. CBJ play tonight. If they win, the number stays the same. If they lose, it goes down to 34. If they lose in SO/OT, is goes down to 35.

 

[otunj20]

Yeah... we need 55 to guarantee we finish better than ANA. So we are at 35 now... so we need 20 more. But now as I say that, this can't be right... it has to mean we need 55 more points to guarantee... so... 90 total points means we cant' be beat by anyone.

Current points do not get subtracted from 55 as previous wins and ANA losses are already taken into acct in the number. However, subsequent CHI wins or ANA losses get subracted from the MN to get a new magic number. The magic number changes (goes down) every time CHI wins or ANA losses in reg or SO/OT.

 

[otunj20]

Again...sorry it's confusing

 

[otunj20]

One more thing....the ANA magic number before the games last night was 59.



Blackhawks won and ANA loss. 2 pts get subtracted from the magic number for the Blackhawks win and 2 pts gets subtracted from it for the ANA loss.



59 - 2 (CHI win) - 2 (ANA loss) = 55 (new magic number)



Here are some other scenarios that could have happened last night and how the magic number with ANA could have been impacted:



If ANA lost in OT/SO...it would be:

59 - 2 (CHI win) - 1 (ANA OT/SO loss) = 56



If Blackhawks lost in regulation it would be:

59 - 0 (CHI loss) - 2 (ANA loss) = 57



If Blackhawks lost in OT/SO:

59 - 1 (CHI OT/SO loss) - 2 (ANA loss) = 56



If Blackhawks lost in regulation and ANA won:

59 - 0 (CHI loss) - 0 (ANA win) = 59 (stayed same)



If Blackhawks and ANA lost in OT/SO:

59 - 1 (CHI OT/SO loss) - 1 (ANA OT/SO loss) = 57

 

[PatrickShart]

otunj....you're going to kill Mass. I hope you can live with yourself

 

[otunj20]

otunj....you're going to kill Mass. I hope you can live with yourself

Having poor empathy allows me to live on.

 

[supraman]

Having poor empathy allows me to live on.

otunj I have to give you shit. You are terrible at explaining it.

 

[otunj20]

otunj I have to give you shit. You are terrible at explaining it.

Don't tell my wife, she'll give me "a told you"



Will this help?...The magic number indicates how many points STILL need to be gained either through Hawks winning points (win or OT/SO loss) OR the other team losing points (through regulation loss or OT/SO loss).

 

[supraman]

Don't tell my wife, she'll give me "a told you"



Will this help?...The magic number indicates how many points STILL need to be gained either through Hawks winning points (win or OT/SO loss) OR the other team losing points (through regulation loss or OT/SO loss).

There ya go

 

[dlrob315]

It boils down to the rival's points available + rival's points earned - leaders points earned plus 1 for tie.



1. Anaheim's points available(62) + points earned(27) = 89 points



2. Hawks points earned thus far = 35 points



3. Add one for tie.



(¹89) - (²35) = 54, 54 + ³1 = 55



This equations gives a visual where the magic# is coming from.



Not sure if this hurt things or helped but another way at seeing where it comes from.

 

[MassHavoc]

Again...sorry it's confusing

No worries, it's not confusing once you figure it out! haha. I've got it now, as you can see I word vomitted myself till I got it.

 

[The Count Dante]

 

[MassHavoc]

Don't I look cute in that picture.

 

[Chief Walking Stick]

PLAN THE PARADE!!!

 

[dlrob315]

I've come up with another look for clarification of the "Magic Number."



Just as "otunj20" has explained, when the "Magic Number" hits negative, the rival team cannot catch the leader but what the "Magic Number" doesn't tell you is how many points the leader needs to eliminate the rival without doing some more math.



To figure out how many points the leader needs to eliminate the rival, you would have to add the "Magic Number" to the leader's points earned. For instance: Hawks' "Magic Number" over ANA right now is "55," you then take the "55" and add it to the "35" points earned by the Hawks and then you would come up with "90" points the Hawks need as of today to eliminate ANA.



Since Hockey is associated with points, IMO seeing the points needed as the "Magic Number" is a better way to consume the data. For baseball & basketball the traditional "Magic Number" works better since it is single wins that are being measured.



sample of points needed:

 

[supraman]

Okay at this point agreed.