[CaptainCrunch]

Since we're just past the half way point of the season, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the Pacific Division and discuss the prospects of the teams within it

1) LA Kings 27-12-3 last 10 7-2-1

Looks like the people that said that last years playoff miss was a perfect storm of anomalies were right. Right now, the race for first in the division is pretty much over, the Kings are playing at an elite level in a non elite division and as the season turns to more Pacific Division matchups that gap should widen. The Kings aren't going to blow teams out of the water, but they're going to smother them to death with a black and silver pillow. (Predicted finish 1st)

2) Arizona 22-16-5 last 10 6-1-3

I still find it amazing that this team is in second place in the division with a negative goals differential. They score a lot of goals, but a bottom feeder in terms of defensive stats. A lot of people think that they're the Flames of last year, and they've replicated that formula, they're a hard working fast team with un sustainable Domingue has come in and given the Yotes amazing goaltending, and they're banking on a lot of their younger players. I still don't think that they're going to be in the top 3 in the division at the end of the year, Prediction (4th in the division, Wildcard playoff team)

3) San Jose 22-18-2 last 10 6-3-1

This is a team in flux, they have some excellent young talent, but they're still a older team at heart. Burns really drives this bus, and lately they've been getting some stellar goaltending from Jones. They can't seem to win at home, and they seem to have a real unbalance to their offense (3rdth in the division )

4) Vancouver 17-17-10 last 10 5-3-2

The good news for Vancouver is that they're not outright losing as many games as they should as they lead the team in overtime losses. This is a team that's short on talent, their youth isn't exactly stepping up fast and they have some goaltending issues. They smoke and mirrored for a lot of the first half, and they've got a decent points total, but the question is if they can survive the monster road trip that they on. They don't do anything particularly well offensively of defensively and seem to be a team without an identity (6th in the division)

5) Anaheim 18-17-7 last 10 6-2-2

They've become the 90's devils of this generation, their coaching staff realized that they just aren't going to score a lot of goals and have adopted the trap heavily and are smothering teams now. For some reason there's little to no offensive chemistry on this team, and they're scoring pretty much by committee as nobody but Perry is really leading the way. This is a team that is suddenly playing a really responsible team game, and they're too talented not to break out sometime soon (2rd in the division)

6) Calgary 20-20-2 last 10 5-5-0

That start literally killed this team when nothing was working. They've been very good since then, especially with the return of Brodie, but they're not getting enough of the single points in their losses compared to other teams. I think that this is still a team that's trying to find itself night after night and your seeing a high level of inconsistency. The good news is its really the youthful core that we're seeing carrying the mail as some of the veterans have fallen back from their peaks over last year. The Flames have made positive slides in reducing their goals differential thanks to improved goaltending and team defense. The biggest positive is that we're seeing a more complete team then the ones above them in terms of where the offensive is coming from with the Flames having one of the most explosive bluelines in hockey. The bad news, I go back to the first month or so of the season and the difficulty in passing multiple teams above them (Prediction 5th in the division out of playoffs)

7) Edmonton 17-23-5 last 10 22-5-3

Once again, Edmonton is horrible, they can point to improvements that will happen when Klefbom and McDavid return probably after the all-star break, but the Oilers weren't great with those two in the lineup, and by that point it will be far to late for anything but a feel good surge to sell the franchise for their next year in their new building. A deplorable blueline kills any offensive skill that this team has, but even with that they should be scoring more, but I don't think the forwards are showing any consistant work ethic. Draisatl after a hot start has fallen back to earth, Hall has vanished again and the rest of their forwards, can't or don't want to pick up the mantle. The only thing that's really saving the Oilers from being even worse is some good goaltending work from Talbot. (7th in the Pacific last in the West)

Summary preditions

1) LA
2) Anaheim
3) San Jose
4) Arizona (Wildcard)
5) Calgary DNQ
6) Vancouver DNQ
7) Edmonton DNQ