Suddenly the Northeast division is DOMINATING playoff spots: 4 of the top 8.

How did THAT happen? (I knew the early season SE dominance was flukey)

Makes those 4-point division games that much more important this time around.

It's actually been like that for large portions of this season.

I don't know why people knock the Northeast. It's actually a pretty tough division.

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Wheelhouse

And historically speaking, it's got the most to brag about:
3 of the 5 in the NE division are original-six teams.

The SE is full of mediocrity, so by default the extra playoff spots go to the NE or Atlantic. At least TB and Atlanta are posing a threat this season, but the East looks like a stagnant pond full of mediocrity this season. The best team has a big hole in goal, and nobody else can put a quality game on the ice on a regular basis. The WCFs will be the best show of the playoffs.

I think people give too much credit to the western conference.

What team in the west is hole less?

Lets go down the list:

San Jose - Weak at defense. Dan Boyle is talented, but after him, the Sharks are old or slow at the back end. They'll get torn up by anyone with speed, as we saw last night.

Chicago - Goaltending sucks.

Vancouver - One scoring line. Shut them down, and you can beat Luongo.

Phoenix, Los Angelas, Colorado, Nashville, Calgary... they've got all kinds of holes.

Lots of talent out there, but not ridiculously more than the East, who's top 4 teams are very strong.

Washington, New Jersey, Buffalo, Pittsburgh.

I watch a lot of center ice now that I've bought it, and I don't think the west has much of an advantage over the east.

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Wheelhouse

Four western non-playoff teams would be playoff teams in the east right now. The overall competition is stronger, and the three best teams have a goal differential of +46 and up. Washington is a +70 courtesy of a lame division, and NJ, Buf, and Pit have a goal differential of +14-18.

I know these are just stats, but they paint a clear picture of which conference is stronger. If that's not enough though, the west has a record of 128-72-22 against the east...case closed.

I thought about the interconference record, before I posted that, but the west almost always has a better head to head record against the East because they're much more well adjusted to travel.

As far as goal differentials go, I think that is evidence of the contrary to what you're saying.

The east's bottom teams are even more tough than the west's bottom teams.

It's definitely hard to tell though.

The point behind my position is that the Stanley Cup Finals will be just as, if not more impressive, than the WCF.

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Wheelhouse

Forget training camp then. Lindy just needs to take the team on cross country plane flights and get used to different beds to bring them up to Stanley Cup quality.

Couldn't resist that one...

Funny, but there's no denying the tolls that being on the road take on teams. And when you're used to it, you're better at it.

It's the first thing players mention when you ask them the differences between playing in either conference.

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Wheelhouse

I think you're putting waaaay too much emphasis on the game you saw against the Sabres. That was their last of 6 road games---and you yourself mentioned how travel has an impact. Even though they're a western team, by the end of a road trip, everybody is going to be dragging. It was a road trip, by the way, where they ultimately went 4-2.

They are not weak on defense. They have allowed about the same number of goals as Buffalo with 2 MORE GAMES having been played by them. There goals scored are about 25% higher too.

I know it's exciting to beat them, but let's not get carried away by distorting reality.




ONE scoring line?

Are you forgetting about Samuelsson & Kesler & Raymond?


Any East team that meets up with San Jose or Vancouver in the cup finals is going to have their hands full.

Nope, I'm not putting too much emphasis on this game. In fact, I'm putting zero emphasis on this game, although it did effectively demonstrate how speed kills their back end.

There's a reason San Jose has been bounced from the playoffs year after year after year.



Samuelsson, Kesler, and Raymond line is talented, but they aren't worlds above other 2nd line talent in the league, especially if they're going up against an elite goaltender and a strong defense, which they will should they reach the conference finals.

The point of what I said in the first place wasn't to bash these teams and say they suck. It was to show that the West isn't insanely superior to the east.

I was simply pointing out that every team has holes and weaknesses, and it's all about your ability to exploit them.

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Wheelhouse