The Pacific Division is no good

[Huntingwhale]

Good, the crapper it is the better it is for us. It's sucked for a while now, but the Flames' didn't take advantage of it. Looks like this season is ripe for the picking.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

ANA - Their stars are aging but they do have some youngsters bridging the gap. Hard to write off any team with a goaltender as good as Gibson in a league where goaltending is the single most important position.

In part because of their aging core, they have dealt with a ton of injuries and games missed.

Last year their top five scorers were Rakell, Getzlaf, Perry, Silfverberg and Kase.

Rakell is the only one who has played all games. Getzlaf has missed 6. Perry has missed the entire season so far. Silfverberg has missed 5 and Kase had missed most of the season having played only 6 games so far.

Kesler has missed games since coming back and missing much of last season. Eaves might just be done at this point. Ritchie was suppose to get an opportunity playing on the top line this year, but instead he's been routinely injured.

Similarly, Lindholm, Fowler, Montour and Manson were their top 4 defenseman.

Lindholm and Fowler are currently out. Manson has missed 5 games.

The team deserves every bit of bad luck they've received, but this team isn't all that different than the one that broke 100 points last year. If Perry comes back healthy, as does everyone else, they should bounce back some. Especially with Gibbons playing as he has.

Still have Getzlaf, Perry and Kesler at 24M for the next three years ha.

[Geeoff]

I'm thinking CGY, SJ and VGK will be the 3 playoff teams and the wildcard will go to the Central.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by The Yen Man

Sure, but thats just semantics. They still get points for OT losses, so the fact that they have earned more than 50% of their maximum earnable points mean they have a winning record in my eyes.

No because a team usually will earn a playoff spot if they have more wins than losses. The loser points generally will distribute themselves pretty randomly. So if you question is: Is this team a playoff team winning 50% of your games is a fairly good metric. Wheras a .500 point percentage is a terrible hockey team. 10 teams last year had .500 or below point percentages. It is not a metric for anything.

So saying this division is terrible because it’s possible only one team more wins than losses makes much more senses then anything to do with point percentage. If you want to talk point percentage it would have to be teams above the snake.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

I've learned over the years to NEVER count out Anaheim. They often look terrible for the first half and then input some sort of cheat code into the system and become nearly unbeatable in the second half of the season. I'm betting they're one of the top 3 teams in the division by the end of the season.

[The Yen Man]

Originally Posted by GGG

No because a team usually will earn a playoff spot if they have more wins than losses. The loser points generally will distribute themselves pretty randomly. So if you question is: Is this team a playoff team winning 50% of your games is a fairly good metric. Wheras a .500 point percentage is a terrible hockey team. 10 teams last year had .500 or below point percentages. It is not a metric for anything.

So saying this division is terrible because it’s possible only one team more wins than losses makes much more senses then anything to do with point percentage. If you want to talk point percentage it would have to be teams above the snake.

Agree to disagree. In my eyes, an OT loss or shootout loss is pretty much still worth as much as a tie, so I don't group it the same as a normal loss.

A team can technically go something like 30-10-42, which in your eyes is a losing record, and still earn 102 points and make it into the playoffs. Again, winning team vs. non winning team is all semantics. At the end of the day, it's all about earning points. A team who earns enough points to get into the playoffs earns their playoff spot. Whether they go 30-10-42, or 51-31-0, its still almost the same in standings.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Yes, I see the argument that OT games are a win for the winner and a tie for the loser. As long as you are giving three points for a 2 point game, tough to really call it a loss. The loser wins a point.

Real hockey is done after 60, and then it is a novelty-ish pond hockey mini game, and a skills competition.

[dino7c]

People said this all last year...then at the end a Pacific team grabbed a wild card

I bet the Pacific playoff teams are 95+ points when all is said and done

[Resolute 14]

The Pacific has been lousy for a long time. It's just hilariously bad right now.

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by dino7c

People said this all last year...then at the end a Pacific team grabbed a wild card

I bet the Pacific playoff teams are 95+ points when all is said and done

Yeah, because you get to play no good teams more often

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by EldrickOnIce

Yeah, because you get to play no good teams more often

Yeah yeah... central was the bee's knees last year. Then the Pacific champ took out the central champ.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by dino7c

Yeah yeah... central was the bee's knees last year. Then the Pacific champ took out the central champ.

1. Vegas did not play the Central champ

2. The team they did play got beat up by the Central champ the series before

3. One team does not represent an entire division

4. Last year is irrelevant to this year

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

1. Vegas did not play the Central champ

2. The team they did play got beat up by the Central champ the series before

3. One team does not represent an entire division

4. Last year is irrelevant to this year

It was the WESTERN FINAL...Pacific team Vs. Central team, guess who won?

And all I'm saying the exact same things were said all last season and at the end of the day 4 pacific teams in the playoffs with one of them representing the west in the stanley cup final. I think its overblown

Goal differential in november be damned

I would rather play Dallas in the playoffs than Anaheim


Ducks are one point out of the wildcard and we are handing both wild card spots to the central apparently

Dallas is a bubble team, Chicago is nothing to write home about...the other four central teams likely make it I will give you that

[Resolute 14]

You keep trying to reduce things to one team vs. one team when we are talking about the overall quality of the division.

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by SebC

Balance. A division with only slightly-above average teams would cannibalize itself, whereas a division with two doormats would have six boosted teams.

Except that in a 32 team NHL with the current schedule that means the team with two easy teams in their Division get 0 or 2 more games against the weak team than the non Division team in their Conference. 32 non Conference, 24 opposite Division and 26 in Division games split with 7 teams.

Don't over react to one quarter of one season. These things go in cycles. Pacific is down right now but that will change one day.

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

I've learned over the years to NEVER count out Anaheim. They often look terrible for the first half and then input some sort of cheat code into the system and become nearly unbeatable in the second half of the season. I'm betting they're one of the top 3 teams in the division by the end of the season.

How many times have they sat at .500 into december then turned it on just to play half a season of hockey and see a couple rounds?

They doing it again at 10-10-5. They're sucking yes, but getting their greasy hands on enough loser points to lurk around the bubble.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

You keep trying to reduce things to one team vs. one team when we are talking about the overall quality of the division.

Pretty good chance four teams from each division makes the playoffs IMO...and I never said the Pacific is better just saying the "worst division ever" stuff is overblown. Lots of people basically conceding the wild card spots are going to the central when the ducks are one point out in November, seems silly.

Calgary has beat Nashville, Colorado, Winnipeg, Chicago and is 5-2 against the great central

[Tsawwassen]

Originally Posted by SebC

If it weren't for divisional games, the Pacific would potentially be making the argument that it does not deserve three guaranteed playoff spots.

The NHL should eliminate these silly divisions and just go to 2 conferences.

[FireGilbert]

Yep the Pacific is bad and ripe for the taking. You have two good teams, Calgary and San Jose, two bubble teams, Anaheim and Vegas, and the other 4 teams are crap. I will be disappointed if the Flames don't end up with home advantage in the first round.



Also, I would not be surprised if the season ends with the 1st place team in the Pacific having a tougher first round match up than the 2nd place team. Even 3th in the Central might have a tougher first round match up than the 4th place team.

[Erick Estrada]

The lumbering Pacific division is not a great fit for the Flames anyway. They are 5-2 against the Central while being only 5-4 vs the Pacific. Also last season the Flames were below .500 in the Pacific and 11-8-2 against the Central. IMO finishing 1st and not playing the Ducks or Sharks is probably a good thing for the Flames as they just don't match up well against those teams.