PowerPlay Magazine

It is tough for expansion teams to make the playoffs.  This year history was made.  In major league baseball, this year's World Series (for the first time ever) will feature two expansion clubs.  There have been champions who were expansion teams, but, never before has a World Series been played without at least one founding team competing.  In baseball, expansion was not allowed until 1961 (Los Angeles Angels & Washington Senators).  This year's matchup is between the New York Mets (joined the league in 1962) and the Kansas City Royals (members since 1969).  The POINT, it has taken time for teams that joined the league after inception to become the best in the system. 

For those joining PPM, after the founding season of hockey it should be suspected that a good bit of work and dedication would be required to become competitive with those teams who began during season 1.  This article looks at how well expansion hockey teams (teams founded after season 1) have fared in regards to advancing to Division I making the playoffs and ultimately winning the coveted division 1 championship. 

For the study, I examined the last 10 seasons of hockey in the USA and Canada.  The data used was collected from the final results of seasons 12 through 21 and covered the last 10 division 1 champions in both USA and Canada.  I provide tables to help visualize the collected data and a conclusions paragraph to summarize the findings of the study.   The data follows.

USA DATA

The data definitely shows a trend.  In the last seven seasons, teams formed after season 1 have narrowed the margin of advantage significantly.  Actually since season 17, more teams formed after season 1 than teams formed during season 1 have made the division 1 playoffs.  While no expansion (post season 1 formed) team has won a USA championship.  In the last 6 seasons, at least 1 expansion team has made the final 4 teams in the league.  The potential for a team formed after season 1 winning the division I championship in USA appears to be probable in the near future.  

Canada Data

NOTE:   Seasons with NO BAR, indicate seasons with all playoff teams originating from season 1.

The data does show a trend that suggests that the non-season 1 originating teams are beginning to compete for division 1 playoff spots.  However, it is also clear that in Canada the season 1 originating teams are still fairly dominant.  The highest finish in any season by a team formed after season 1 was 5^th place (Last season's best finish by an expansion team was 8^th place).  Thus, it appears that founding teams formed during season 1 still largely control division 1 in Canada.  Progression of some of the younger Canadian teams is definitely continuing and will eventually become a factor to be reckoned with.  It is less likely to see an expansion team in the Canadian Championship though in the near future.

GROW, GROW, GROW...
So... if you are looking for a challenge, a new hockey team just might be the adventure that you are looking for.  Founding a new hockey team in any country will be a huge challenge.  BUT, the kind of challenge that legends are made of.  This is the kind of challenge that I personally like most about PPM.  (I began my hockey team in season 11 and currently the team is laying bricks for the final upgrade of our stadium's maximum capacity and we look to compete for a title in the not so distant future... but, the team still has lots of growing to do!)  GROW, GROW, GROW... 

If you are a new player, looking to compete quicker, you might want to look into basketball.  New teams for basketball, includes features (including veteran players on your team) that will allow new teams to become competitive more quickly.

GROW, GROW, GROW...

Best wishes as we enter the Holiday Season.

Cold Mountain Rebel