[News] NHL.com: Eastern Conference teams benefit from one of the worst bottom 8s in history

[FanIn80]

https://www.nhl.com/news/eight-easte...ts/c-333391312

I love it when people say the West is weaker than the East. No, we just have less "free-win" teams than they do.

[howard_the_duck]

This is why I struggle to gauge the Flames success this year a bit. There will be ~13 100 point teams. I suspect the tanking teams are driving this disparity, I just can’t recall a season like this.

[Vinny01]

This has been an absolute crazy regular season. So many good teams and so many players putting up some huge numbers. 12 teams with over 100pts and 3 more teams can mathematically get there. 7 players over 100pts with 4 more within realistic striking distance.

The Flames finished second in the league in 2019 with 107pts but their 108pts in 79 games is only good for 7th in the league right now.

The east has been crazy this year with the playoff teams being decided since Christmas and the massive gap between the 8th and 9th teams.

The race to the cup is wide open right now along the teams in the playoffs

[N-E-B]

Originally Posted by howard_the_duck

This is why I struggle to gauge the Flames success this year a bit. There will be ~13 100 point teams. I suspect the tanking teams are driving this disparity, I just can’t recall a season like this.

In 2007 the Flames were the only playoff team in the west without 100 points. 11 100+ point teams.

[SeanCharles]

The Eastern Conference playoffs are going to be insane.

It’s not easy to pick a winner out of any series no matter how they shake out.

[MrMike]

Originally Posted by SeanCharles

The Eastern Conference playoffs are going to be insane.

It’s not easy to pick a winner out of any series no matter how they shake out.

Just watch and enjoy some great hockey.

[midniteowl]

I want every single one of those series go to 7 games and beat each others to the pulp!

[Cali Panthers Fan]

This isn't news to me. I watched enough Panthers games against these bottom feeder teams to know that it didn't take much to beat them most nights.

But make no mistake, there are lots of very good, very deep teams in the East. It should be a good playoffs no matter what this year.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by MrMike

Just watch and enjoy some great hockey.

And watch some very good teams in the east go out in the first round.

[btimbit]

Yup, I've been downvoted on reddit all year for saying this when people trot out the ol' 'the pacific is weak' argument

I think the west is just more balanced whereas the east is more top-heavy. Sure out west there's Seattle and Arizona, but out east there's Montreal, Detroit, Philly, Ottawa and Buffalo

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by btimbit

Yup, I've been downvoted on reddit all year for saying this when people trot out the ol' 'the pacific is weak' argument

I think the west is just more balanced whereas the east is more top-heavy. Sure out west there's Seattle and Arizona, but out east there's Montreal, Detroit, Philly, Ottawa and Buffalo

Calgary is 20-7-5 against the east, next time someone wants to discredit the Flames for their "easy division" let them know

[Sylvanfan]

The whole notion of Parity and 3 point games was that a pretty nice size cohort of teams should end up in the 90-99 point range which would have more teams playing seemingly meaningful hockey in the last 20 games of the season. But I think teams have wised up, and fewer teams are managing themselves to finish just outside the playoff picture.

One thing that's evolved since the 2020 Pandemic shut down is that the last two seasons are looking like there will be 12 teams playing to a 100 point or better place. Since the 05-06 season and the advent of the 3 point games, 12 is the highest number of teams to win at a clip of .605 or better. Only 2014-2015 had this many teams do such. Somewhat significant that all three are since the playoff format switch.

The other trend is the number of teams at a 110 or better point pace has climbed these past two years. This year it's currently 8, last year it was 7. Prior to that 5 was the most in 2013-14 and in the 05-06 season coming out of the lockout.

The number of 100 point teams had a low of 4 in 2007/2008, but this will be the 10th time since 05/06 that it's 10 or more.

So the number of 100 point or more teams is as high as it's ever been, and the number of 110 plus teams is the highest. Meanwhile the number of 90-99 is the lowest it's been.

It does seem like since the NHL changed the playoff format and the draft lottery that teams do tend to split and fall into a have and have not category. 4 of the last 5 and 5 of the last 7 seasons there have been 18 teams in the 86 point or higher range. Whereas before that it consistently 20 to 23 type of thing. Even the 19-20 which had 23 teams projected to finish with 86 or more points...most likely would have had a few fall out had the season kept going all the way thru.

[FireGilbert]

I have a theory that the 2 Covid impacted seasons have destroyed league wide parity with the reduced schedules and divisional changes making it difficult for GMs to understand the true competitiveness of their teams. Feels like some GM used their time wisely to build a contender while others completely misread their team and have headed in the opposite direction.

[OldDutch]

Originally Posted by FireGilbert

I have a theory that the 2 Covid impacted seasons have destroyed league wide parity with the reduced schedules and divisional changes making it difficult for GMs to understand the true competitiveness of their teams. Feels like some GM used their time wisely to build a contender while others completely misread their team and have headed in the opposite direction.

Sports is wacky.

I don’t give Tre all the credit. Guy seems to think he’s got a contender each year and then falls flat. Someone hired him a coach. Point is I am not sure how much is him wisely picking up parts alone.

Montreal is just a dumb atmosphere. Their nail was over performing. No way that was real, again them going far was wacky.

Should be interesting to see where the Flames end up next year, and if Tre built a fluke or rock solid contender.

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by FireGilbert

I have a theory that the 2 Covid impacted seasons have destroyed league wide parity with the reduced schedules and divisional changes making it difficult for GMs to understand the true competitiveness of their teams. Feels like some GM used their time wisely to build a contender while others completely misread their team and have headed in the opposite direction.

Last season was a short season, and the fact that teams played each other over and over and over was an outlier. So one might expect the events last year to be a bit unusual. The fact that essentially the same thing happened again this year with a full and mixed schedule is what surprises me.

Plus it's been tough for young players to develop the past couple of years. So there isn't as many good young players ready to play in the league this year which likely has resulted in the weaker teams being a bit further behind the more veteran type teams.

I would guess that eventually things will normalize back to fewer teams posting more than 110 points. But might be another year or two until we see more teams in the 100 to 109 range and less above 110. Which on the flipside will mean less teams in the 60's and more in the 72 to 82 type of range.

[Jay Random]

The explanation I like best is that it's largely a matter of practice time. With the very compressed schedule last year, teams didn't have much time to work on their defensive systems. This year, many teams missed time due to COVID and the games had to be made up during the cancelled Olympic break. A lot of teams have been basically playing every second day when they weren't shut down by illness. That's two years in a row with less than the normal time for coaches to work on their teams.

Defence is largely about teamwork, where offence is more about individual talent. There's always a talent gap between teams, but with less time for in-depth coaching, the systems play hasn't been there to narrow the gap. That would explain the increase in scoring as well as the lack of parity around the league. Teams with a lot of gifted offensive players have had a chance to run wild as they wouldn't in an ordinary year.

I think it may have been Seravalli that suggested this line of thinking, but I couldn't swear to it. It was definitely a media analyst trying to explain why scoring is so much higher than usual this season. The idea that it also explains the loss of parity, if wrong, is my own mistake.