I personally cannot wait for the new schedule because now teams like the Wings dont get an easy 8 wins from each of the terrible teams in their division, and the Atlantic division now has fewer games beating each other up.

Posted by Kevin from Pittsburgh on 08/27/08 at 03:12 PM ET

Kevin,

You mean the terrible teams of the Pacific and the Northwest division, correct? The Wings went 15-2-3 against the Northwest division and 15-5-0 against the Pacific division. The Wings actually were below .500 against teams of the central division for much of last year, going 17-12-3.

Posted by UMFan from Colorado on 08/27/08 at 04:07 PM ET

Kevin,

You mean the terrible teams of the Pacific and the Northwest division, correct? The Wings went 15-2-3 against the Northwest division and 15-5-0 against the Pacific division. The Wings actually were below .500 against teams of the central division for much of last year, going 17-12-3.

Thank you for saving others the trouble of pointing that out. 

I wonder if the East has so many more flashy players because they have had more bad teams, and thus more of the teams in the East were able to draft higher?  (Just a guess - haven’t actually looked at any numbers.)

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 08/27/08 at 04:34 PM ET

Also:  Since when are the Red Wings about size?  I don’t think Dallas is all that big, either.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 08/27/08 at 04:36 PM ET

(There should be a way to edit previous comments so I can just add on ...)

Speaking of offensive stars in the West, there is a lot more than just Datsyuk and Zetterberg and Gaborik.  Has he bothered seeing Hemsky for Edmonton?  Or Anze Kopitar in LA?  Or that guy Thornton in San Jose - he’s pretty good. And it’s a little early to claim that Campbell is “key to the approach” of a team with Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews on it.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 08/27/08 at 04:41 PM ET

What is really interesting to me is seeing stars from the East play day-to-day in the more defensively challenging West. Can guys like Hossa be just as spectacular and maintain pace with a less open game?

The run-and-gun games can certainly be exciting and does a great job showcasing one-on-one talent, but the satisfaction that comes with a perfectly executed pass play through a solid defense is also a thing of beauty.

Posted by Nate A from metro Detroit on 08/27/08 at 06:49 PM ET

Only the Blackhawks at 4-5-1 had a losing record versus Eastern opponents, while six teams from the east failed to break even against Western competition.

While I don’t dispute that the West crushed the East, this entire line boils down to semantics. If you want to talk about “breaking even”, you need to look more closely at OT/shootout results. For example, the Sharks were 5-5-0 against the East, but two of their wins were not in regulation time. So they earned ten points, but the opposition earned twelve. I don’t consider that breaking even. And the extra point muddles things for the loser as well. The Isles were 3-3-4 (one win a shootout) vs. the West, which many would consider a .500 record. Sure they earned half of the maximum available points--but they gave up three-quarters of the max. How in the heck can that be .500?

It’s a joke, really. How can a reasonable person not be confused when the same slate of games don’t have inverse records when viewed from opposite sides? (ie. East was 67-67-16, West was 83-53-14 in interconference games) They need to get rid of the extra point (thus making the East 67-83, the West 83-67) or bring back ties (East 60-73-17, West 73-60-17).

For the curious, points earned/surrendered in interconference play for East and West (ranked by differential):

PIT 17-6
NJD 14-8
BOS 12-8
WAS 13-10
OTT 11-12
PHI 10-11
FLA 11-13
ATL 10-12
BUF 8-12
CAR 8-12
NYI 10-15
TBL 8-13
MON 8-15
TOR 6-15
NYR 4-18

ANA 16-4
COL 16-7
DET 15-7
CBJ 13-9
STL 13-9
DAL 12-9
VAN 12-11
LAK 11-10
NAS 11-11
PHO 10-10
EDM 11-12
CAL 11-13
SJS 10-12
MIN 10-13
CHI 9-13

Posted by shep from california on 08/27/08 at 06:53 PM ET

Thank you for saving others the trouble of pointing that out. 

Yeah, thanks UMFan (I’m one too!), but I couldn’t resist pointing out Mike Babcock’s thoughts on the subject:

Q. Mike, why do you think it is that even now that you’re in the Stanley Cup semifinals that the Wings still don’t seem to get everyone’s level of respect? ... Do you think it’s because of the division you played in all year?

MIKE BABCOCK: I don’t know. Our division we played in all year, we were .500 in and we spanked the rest of league. So I think we should throw that out.

Can guys like Hossa be just as spectacular and maintain pace with a less open game?

Well, if his performance in the Cup finals is any indication, getting 7 points in 6 games (5 of which were goals) going against one of the best, if not the best defense in the league, then he most definitely will be “just as spectacular” playing full-time in the West.  Not to mention his natural hat trick in that January game, when the Wings couldn’t use the injured defensemen excuse just yet.

The run-and-gun games can certainly be exciting and does a great job showcasing one-on-one talent, but the satisfaction that comes with a perfectly executed pass play through a solid defense is also a thing of beauty.

Round 1 of the ‘08 playoffs, Montreal @ Boston, game 6.  Certainly exciting and unbelievable to watch for this neutral fan.  One of the best and most talked about games in the entire playoffs from an entertainment standpoint.  But all I remember thinking after watching the flurry of goals late in the third period is that neither one of these teams is gonna win a Cup anytime soon with that defensive display, or lack thereof.

...

Great analysis shep; getting rid of the extra point would definitely be one of my “5 ways I’d change the NHL.”

Posted by yawt from norcal on 08/28/08 at 08:38 AM ET