Pacific Division - Worst in the NHL?

[CanadaMatt]

Before the re-alignment, I considered the Southeast division (containing such powerhouses as Carolina, Atlanta, Florida, Tampa and Washington) as the worst division in the NHL. I cant help but conclude that the Pacific division is now the worst, although probably not as poor as the Southeast was.

It wasn't to long ago that visiting the teams that now make up the Pacific division would be scary proposition, now I think teams come expecting points.

- Edmonton - A stinking pile of hot mess
- Arizona - A slightly better smelling stinking pile of hot mess
- San Jose - Declining Rapidly on their way to Edmonton-ville
- LA - Perennial regular season mid-table finishers
- Vancouver - On the decline, not part of the contenders conversation
- Anaheim - Very solid team, best in the Pacific by far IMHO
- Calgary - Represents all things good and decent in this world.

At this point I think the Central is the best division in Hockey. The worst team in that division (Colorado) is 7 games above 0.500.

The pacific division being so poor has to have helped the flames make the play-offs this year. The flames are 22-6-1 against the pacific, and if I carry the one and divide by pi, this equate to +16 games above 0.500. Coincidently, the flames overall results are +16 games above 0.500. (45-29-7).

Agree? Are the Flames in the worst division in the NHL?

[ForeverFlameFan]

Pacific has AZ and Edmonton, Atlantic has Toronto and Buffalo.

Make your pick.

[Bandwagon In Flames]

The Pacific division is slowly turning into the land of tankers and bubble teams. I'd consider LA, San Jose and Vancouver as bubble teams. They are old and becoming irrelevant.

The Flames could realistically be tops in the division in a couple years.

But yes, definitely the worst division as a whole.

[Roof-Daddy]

The Metropolitan is no powerhouse either, really.

The Rangers are, with Vigneault now, but the rest are inconsistent to terrible.

Central is the best by far IMO, the rest are so/so.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Central is by far the best in hockey. Pacific is likely the worst if you look purely at point totals.

However, I feel like the Kings will retool a bit this summer and come back fairly strong. The Sharks have been ready to decline for a couple of years now, but with the Flames strongly on the upswing that should even that out. The Canucks have done a very good job of retooling on the fly, and they have enough pieces coming that they should at least be competitive for the foreseeable future. Ducks are clearly a powerhouse, if not the best team in the league.

As for Edmonton and Arizona, it's easy to make fun of the Oilers, but they will likely get better at some point and at least push towards the playoffs...still a long way from making it though. The Coyotes purged the entire veteran group, but they have some talent in their prospect ranks already, and are likely to add a franchise center in this draft. They might struggle for a couple more years, but don't be shocked if they are around the playoff bubble in 2 years time.

[EldrickOnIce]

When you have 2 terrible teams in a 7 team division where three are guaranteed playoff spots, it doesn't hurt.
Is there a timetable for expansion?
I can tell you that 16 in the east vs 14 in the west is a bit of a sore spot here in eastern Canada.

[CanadaMatt]

Originally Posted by EldrickOnIce

When you have 2 terrible teams in a 7 team division where three are guaranteed playoff spots, it doesn't hurt.
Is there a timetable for expansion?
I can tell you that 16 in the east vs 14 in the west is a bit of a sore spot here in eastern Canada.

Why expand, when the logical choice is to contract.

Good Bye Toronto, Good Bye Florida.

14 teams in each, problem solved...you're welcome!

[Locke]

Originally Posted by EldrickOnIce

When you have 2 terrible teams in a 7 team division where three are guaranteed playoff spots, it doesn't hurt.
Is there a timetable for expansion?
I can tell you that 16 in the east vs 14 in the west is a bit of a sore spot here in eastern Canada.

Then move West.

Vegas will be coming soon and they're not going to add just 1 team.

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by Locke

Then move West.

Vegas will be coming soon and they're not going to add just 1 team.

No, they will add 2.
Quebec City, I expect.
So someone moves East (like I just did).

[dino7c]

don't the Oilers have a decent record against the east?

[CanadaMatt]

Originally Posted by dino7c

don't the oilers have a decent record against the east?

15-14-3 (8-7-1 & 7-7-2)

[Vinny01]

If the Avs, and Sharks win tomorrow all teams in the west outside of Arizona and Edmonton will have 90pts or more. 12 teams in a conference with 90 or more points is absolutely crazy

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by CanadaMatt

15-14-3 (8-7-1 & 7-7-2)

pretty good all things considered

[ForeverFlameFan]

Originally Posted by EldrickOnIce

No, they will add 2.
Quebec City, I expect.
So someone moves East (like I just did).

Quebec City would only get a team if the NHL relocated the Panthers.

Seattle/Las Vegas are my guesses for the West.

[GranteedEV]

The East does not impress me. I'd take the Pacific over either of the East divisions even with Arizona and Edmonton.

Let's get real - before Vlasic got injured the Sharks were one of the better teams in the league, and they simply couldn't recover from the time he was out of the lineup. The Ducks, Kings, Flames, and Canucks are all good teams IMO, and teams I'd take over Carolina, Toronto, Buffalo, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and even Florida.

If Arizona and Edmonton are worth 12-20 free points for pretty much every team in the west if they show up, the above 5 teams were easily worth around 35 free points themselves for east times and only around 15 or 16 for west teams.

In total, East teams get about 43 gimme points, while teams in Pacific got about 36 gimme points. Considering that difference, I wouldn't be surprised if San Jose were a 94-95 point team out East and LA a 100 point team.

Yeah yeah, the Flames played their worst games against the East, but most of them were gong-show facepalm losses.