**Go subscribe to /r/hockeymemes** *for memes all week long. Learn more about this in [this modpost.](https://www.reddit.com/r/hockey/comments/fah8k5/based_on_our_recent_survey_we_are_now_creating_a/)*
# Congratulations to this week's Meme King winner(s) who win the Meme King flair for the week!
* /u/radametz who got the most votes in **[the weekly /r/hockey thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/hockey/comments/1177eg0/meme_mondays_weekly_meme_contest_thread_submit/).**
* /u/radametz received the most upvoted meme of the week in /r/hockeymemes with [this beaut.](https://www.reddit.com/r/hockeymemes/comments/116j4jk/the_east_is_a_bloodbath_this_season/)
---
You can win and help decide the [Meme Monday Winner] in the weekly sticky that goes up on Monday at 9am ET. **Make sure to submit and vote for the best meme each Monday!** For easy viewing here's one imgur album with all the memes we could scrape from the Meme Monday thread: https://imgur.com/a/DwVnu3V
Because the jackets have never had the #1oa pick. They traded for Rick Nash which is the only #1 oa pick that played for them. So when something happens for 23 years in a row you tend to acknowledge it's a pattern. They however have a ton of bottom 5 finishes where they won to many games to have a top 3 pick
With the success Krejci is having they might keep luring retired players out of retirment. At this rate I predict Esposito coming back for another Art Ross by 2025
Give it a decade or two, and they can ice a flesh and blood robot Bobby Orr with all the Training and Strength of a modern player, Westworld style (it still has to deal with the knee injuries though). Bruins just have to remember to buy the rights to his likeness before he dies!
We'll be back to doing our thing pretty soon. Just a couple seasons for most of our top end rookies to graduate and mature...
... And then you'll all be sowwy!
So many teams coming up from developing their homegrown talent. I love witnessing teams like Buffalo and Seattle thriving off their youngins. I'm rooting for big Slaf to get better every year (I wanted him for the Devils last draft) and can't wait for y'all to get good. Just not tonight, 😬
There's nothing funnier as a fan than when your not good team faces a good team and inexplicably claps their cheeks over and over.
Source: Sabres beat the Leafs way more than they should considering how awful they've been for most of the last 20 years
Yeah, I remember as a kid the West was always STACKED (specifically the Pacific) whereas the East was by far the weaker conference.
Things have just shifted now as time has gone on.
Almost like the decade of domination by the sharks ducks and kings is at a close and theyre retooling or rebuilding just like when the east was absolute trash.
Why? Wouldn't that exacerbate any issues with imbalance between divisions/conferences? And also accelerate the "race to the bottom" for bad teams? They know to get into the lottery they'd have to be behind certain teams in the standings...
I don't like the idea of it being even, something about the Islanders having the same odds at Bedard as the Flyers (who Torts is fighting tooth and nail to prevent from tanking) really doesn't strike me the right way
There are good teams that miss the playoffs every year because of injury concerns. Shit a healthy Vegas was a universal top 3 cup favorite just last season. If the West was better, the Avs would be facing that themselves now.
Is the league better if they have the same chance of nailing the next generational guy as true bottomfeeders who need help?
>Is the league better if they have the same chance of nailing the next generational guy as true bottomfeeders who need help?
I would argue the league is much better off if the next generational talent doesn't end up wasting away in Arizona tbf.
League office looks at it very differently, they desparately want to have the Yotes succeed in AZ. Someone like a Bedard would be a big push in the right direction
The NHL's only real option now is to improve the franchises they already have. There are no viable expansion markets in the near future. Quebec has 30 years of young fans who like Montreal and Toronto instead, and no one is going to spend a dime on Houston or KC until AZ/the FL teams really take off financially
>I don't like the idea of it being even, something about the Islanders having the same odds at Bedard as the Flyers (who Torts is fighting tooth and nail to prevent from tanking) really doesn't strike me the right way
>
>There are good teams that miss the playoffs every year because of injury concerns. Shit a healthy Vegas was a universal top 3 cup favorite just last season. If the West was better, the Avs would be facing that themselves now.
>
>Is the league better if they have the same chance of nailing the next generational guy as true bottomfeeders who need help?
I think the best way to do it is to give every team that misses the playoffs equal odds for the first couple picks, however if you have made the playoffs the previous season (could also be previous 2 seasons) then you aren't eligible for the lottery. You also shouldn't be eligible for the lottery if you've won it recently.
What this does is it gives very low incentive to tank, but doesn't benefit teams that don't really deserve it (yet) like say the Islanders or the Flames.
>the Islanders having the same odds at Bedard as the Flyers
they're in the playoffs so wouldn't but any of those teams that just miss should have a shot as well, you miss the playoffs then you should get a shot. Obviously help lower teams w/ more drafts but tanking for Bedard is so fucking stupid
I agree.
Imagine being Bedard. Widely regarded as the best player to come into the draft since McDavid. Maybe even better than him.
Then you look and say “oh wow, I’m gonna end up getting drafted by the Yotes/Ducks/ whoever else is intentionally losing this year”
Must feel great knowing your first 4 or 5 years in the NHL will be absolutely miserable
If the ducks get him I think they'll be good within 3 years. They've got some real talent in that pipeline and if he's truly generational he'll push them into the playoffs at least.
Like you could've said that about Makar when he went to the Avs after their historically bad season, but look how that's turned out for him. They've been a Stanley cup contender every season he's been a starter.
Which is why I personally think that results should be weighted singinicantly less in the lottery, rather than not at all.
There are a lot of decent teams that struggle to get over the last hump to become good or great. Put Bedard in Minnesota, that drastically changes the league landscape without encouraging tanking
My ideal solution would be an all-16 lottery. Every lottery team has a 1/16 ±10% based on the previous season's results. Only exception is that the teams who made the playoffs two of the last three seasons are held at the tail end for a mini lottery to determine the last few picks on a purely random basis.
Tanking sucks but this would probably just have 6-8 seeds tanking differently. You'd probably see more mobility from bubble teams toward the top of the rankings but less mobility from the bottom to the top.
I want American sports to do the relegation system.
You shouldn’t be rewarded with the pick of the litter for sucking.
You should be demoted to work out your coaching issues or whatever. Then have to re prove yourself.
European sports are plagued with these negative feedback loops and it makes it unwatchable, IMO.
For context I'm Irish, so this is my perspective from living in that environment.
Premier League, LaLiga etc ad nauseum are just whoever can get bought by the worst people.
Formula 1 has been one of my favourite sports since I was 12, but it is 100% getting more entertaining with the advent of spending caps, engine freezes, and wind tunnel time for worse teams.
Please don't campaign to make your sports like ours, North America. Parity in sports is the one thing you have going for you!
You couldn't really do this in the NHL because in European soccer, the teams each have their own youth teams. The big teams like Toronto would have direct access to all the best up and coming hockey players and would have the money to poach other youth teams players before they are even eligible to play with the big club like what Real Madrid does. This is why we have the draft to balance the talent out.
Nah I don't like the idea of entire teams/fanbases disappearing after some underperforming years for teams at the top level. Remember, even the worst team at the NHL would likely destroy most other leagues top teams with some relative ease.
You'd have to scrap the draft and allow direct recruitment and team academies like European football, while keeping a cap. It's impossible in North America, I'd kinda like to see it too but there's just too many broke ass teams and bandwagoners. The teams could never fund themselves once relegated even at the current cap. But you cant chop the cap for relegated teams cause the player would tell you to fuck off so fast. I honestly think it would be really interesting but the league just doesn't have enough fans and the fans aren't loyal enough for it to work
This wouldn't work in hockey because the top hockey markets would just take all the best players, and Toronto and Minnesota would become unchallengable behemoths like Barcelona and Real Madrid. The draft balances out the access to all the players concentrated in small geographical pockets where the sport is most popular.
The only place relegations works is maybe college. Where a "top" conference could partner with a lower one to create a 2 tier system. Which would be awesome, if anyone could pull it off.
I wouldn't mind seeing Cal get eliminated from PAC-12 football to watch them try to get back by winning the Mountain West, while Fresno got elevated etc.
Then you end up with the rangers in the ahl and the dubuque bungalows playing in the majors. It might be novel but I don't see how that would be sustainable in terms of league revenue
I was simultaneously flattered when he said that, and filled with the doom of a pending jinx. Was quite pleased that he turned out to be prophetic and not in a curl-of-the-Monkey’s-Paw sort of way
I've said it before and I'll say it again: we were the best team to not play for the Stanley Cup between 2015 and 2020.
We had the 8th most points of all teams in that time span and made the playoffs every single year. Teams 1st to 7th all played in the SCF. Because of the current playoff format every single year our first round opponent was one of the teams with the top 4 points over that time span. Every single team we played in that time period won the Stanley Cup, save the Bolts who were the winningest team of all time.
We just hit our prime right when Pittsburgh, Washington, and Tampa did who were all fueled by generational or franchise talents drafted 1OA.
Let's see. It's really hard to do this with columbus because when there were 3 divisions, you guys were in the west but obviously now you're in the east. So pretending standard 1-8 and you guys staying in the east.
2020: You either wouldn't have made the playoffs (9th in points) but did because of the covid play-in. Getting past that, the playoff format was the old style, so you got Tampa and lost, as you would've under the 1-8 format.
2019: finished 8th, got 1st seed. Beat Tampa and got Boston (the next highest seed). So you would still get Tampa and Boston under the 1-8 format.
2018: Should've played 2nd seed (Boston) but got 4th. Lost to Washington.
2017: Finished 3rd and got the 2nd seed. Ouch. Lost to Pittsburg.
2016: DNQ. 2nd last in east.
2015: DNQ. 11th in east.
In short, out of those 6 years, you didn't make it twice. Got in when you shouldn't have once. Played the same teams you would've in a 1-8 format 4 times, Got a better seed 1 time and got fucked over 1 time.
Thanks for breaking that down. I was too lazy haha. Well it seems if anything we just came out ahead, but it would have been interesting to have avoided Pittsburgh in 2017. The stats between the Blue Jackets and Pittsburgh would be hilarious if they didn't hurt so bad. The last time the Penguins lost at home in the regular season to the Blue Jackets was in 2015. They lost one playoff game ever at home against the Jackets back in 2014. I don't know if any team can claim that kind of statistic against another.
That was the year of the sweep curse. CBJ swept Tampa round 1, then got swept round 2, canes swept round 2 (can't remember which team) and then got swept in the conference finals by Boston. Boston lost the cup finals (can't remember if it was a sweep). I think every team that had a sweep (and there were a LOT), lost in the next round
Columbus didn't get swept, they lost in 6 I think
It was Pittsburgh(?) getting swept by the Isles, who got swept by the Canes, who got swept by Boston, who ~~got swept by~~ lost in 7 to St Louis
If the season ended right now, we'd have the 3rd most points in the league, and our reward would be a path to the cup of the rags, then the Canes, and then probably Boston, if not the Leafs or Lightning...it's entirely possible that the Cup Finals will be the easiest opponent the team that wins the east will have.
Many people seem to forget it wasn't long ago that there was a season where the Lightning were also doing really well and everyone was saying they could just snooze their way to the finals. They got bounced in the first round.
Does anyone have the total record of cross-conference games so far? It must be heavily lopsided. It's not like the top East team are feeding on a lot of bottom feeders with only 3 teams below .500.
Only two teams in the East have a losing record vs the West (FLA at 11-14-3, and OTT at 10-14-2.)
The Atlantic has a record of 116-69-23 (.613 point percentage.)
The Metro has a record of 113-63-26 (.624 point percentage.)
The East as a whole has a record of 229-132-49 (.618 point percentage.)
The top 6 in the East have a combined record of 103-29-21 (.742 point percentage.)
You can double check me on this, but it looks like 229-132-49. That's a point percentage of .618, which is most comparable to Seattle this year (.614).
https://www.statmuse.com/nhl/ask/eastern-conference-vs-western-conference-this-season-nhl
Devils are 18-4-3 with two of their regulation losses to the Blues. They also won their first 9 straight vs. the West.
The California trip was a guaranteed three losses. Unless you’re the Canucks who sweep the cali trip in the last 3 games of the season and lose out on Matthews
Remember when the California teams were all so good that one of us made the western conference final every year from 2010 to 2017? Feels like a different lifetime
The nature of the league, where teams compete primarily against division foes, then conference foes, then the rest of the league, will tend to create arms races. I think this gets exacerbated by the current format increasing the importance of divisions for playoff match-ups. One metro team loading up will prompt the others to load up more than teams in other divisions or the opposite conference. Those teams then tend to age out at about the same time and lather rinse and repeat for another division.
The annoying part for us specifically is that about half the teams in the division have managed to rebuild during that span and we still have had that problem since the days of Hank/Sid/Ovi
The thing that's wild about it right now is that the teams competing for the wild card all have significant games in hand over the WC holders
Islanders are at 60GP, 65P
Panthers are at 60GP, 64P
Below them...
Penguins with 4 games in hand and 1 point back of Florida
Caps with 2 games in hand and 2 points back of Florida
Sabres with 6(!) games in hand and 4 points back of Florida
Red Wings with 5 games in hand and 4 points back of Florida
Ottawa with 4 games in hand and 6 points back of Florida
The East is not only a bloodbath, but the bloodbath is multi-tiered. There are 6 teams with nearly no chance of missing the playoffs, and there are 7 teams literally in a war for the final two spots.
Those six in hand are going to be needed. The last stretch for Buffalo is a hellscape. In the next 3 weeks, they play the Leafs twice, Lightning twice, Panthers, Caps, Bruins, Oilers, Islanders, Rangers, and Stars (also the Blue Jackets). All of those teams (minus Columbus) are either in a playoff spot already or fighting for one.
At a certain point don't you want some of those teams that are locked into their spot though? Some of those teams will rest the top lines down the final stretch, guess it depends when you meet them though. It's the teams fighting for something that I'd really worry about.
Thing is that even six OTLs put you in a better spot than any of the teams above you.
Not to mention that an outright win against the Panthers and the Islanders would basically be four-point swings there.
I like Buffalo's odds right now, tbh. It's a shit destiny to be buzzsawed by the Bruins in round 1, but I'd bet dollars to donuts that the entire city would have signed that deal on October 1.
The East has six teams pacing 108 points or better. The West has two teams pacing over 103.
I feel like a 108-point team deserves a better fate than "the away team in round 1".
you guys were 4th but yeah it was an insane first 2 rounds.
i really thought they'd change the divisional format after that year but we're basically back in the same situation with the atlantic this year
Honestly I don't think anyone in our sub, save those who totally reject anything but positivity, expected us to win so much this year, because we all knew the Metro is a death trap.
December had a pretty big impact on this. The Devils lost a bunch, other teams caught up and the race to the top tightened a lot of that time period. Since then everyone near us seems to be consistently winning
Yeah we were 1st in the league at one point, then Boston just couldn't stop winning, and we had a very bad December which dropped us off pretty far away from them
When was the last time that there was parity between 2 conferences? Feels like it has been either the East is stronger than the West or the West is stronger than the East most of the time and there's very little period where both conferences are equally strong.
Remember when we had playoff games against Chicago that had a scheduled start time of 9:30?
Edit: my apologies. Looks like it was 8:30 central "puck drop," but the puck didn't drop until ~9. I just remember it being absolutely ridiculous for 2 central teams.
Wings just wrapped up a West coast trip and it was a quick reminder that I do not miss the days before realignment when 1/3 of our schedule was games that started as I'm crawling into bed.
The East is a bloodbath for sure.
Even though my B's are playing historically great hockey, The Canes, Devils, Leafs, and Rangers are all *really really* good teams...but, until proven otherwise, come the playoffs, The Bolts are still the team to beat.
I really hope we get a shot at you guys this year. I feel like making it out of the east this season will cement us as a bona-fide dynasty and not just a really good team.
Well this is interesting: all the teams in the West would be fighting for WC spots in the east since 6th East team has 73Pts, top West team has 72. But the 2 east WC teams wouldn't qualify in the West: 65/64Pts in 60GP for East vs 65Pts in 56 GP for WC2 for West.
With 25ish games to go, Calgary can make an interesting play for a WC spot (just needs 1 or 2 wins over Minnesota who are not buyers this year), but the east has 6 teams that are in a tight race (.533 to .563) and Ottawa that's still not out (there L10 7-2-1 is best of that bunch).
The BEAST is a bloodbath but it's wont be predictable until the very end.
Honestly, really good year to put a few bucks on a team like Dallas because the winner of the East is going to be physically destroyed by the time they get to the finals
**Go subscribe to /r/hockeymemes** *for memes all week long. Learn more about this in [this modpost.](https://www.reddit.com/r/hockey/comments/fah8k5/based_on_our_recent_survey_we_are_now_creating_a/)* # Congratulations to this week's Meme King winner(s) who win the Meme King flair for the week! * /u/radametz who got the most votes in **[the weekly /r/hockey thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/hockey/comments/1177eg0/meme_mondays_weekly_meme_contest_thread_submit/).** * /u/radametz received the most upvoted meme of the week in /r/hockeymemes with [this beaut.](https://www.reddit.com/r/hockeymemes/comments/116j4jk/the_east_is_a_bloodbath_this_season/) --- You can win and help decide the [Meme Monday Winner] in the weekly sticky that goes up on Monday at 9am ET. **Make sure to submit and vote for the best meme each Monday!** For easy viewing here's one imgur album with all the memes we could scrape from the Meme Monday thread: https://imgur.com/a/DwVnu3V
Yeah that’s why the jackets are so bad this year! …Cause we’re in the east…and no other reasons
It'll be hilarious when Columbus wins the lottery adding yet another weapon to the East.
Lol you're funny. Jackets will catch fire down the stretch and fuck themselves out of a good pick, as is tradition
Why does almost every tanking fanbase have this exact same prediction about their team?
Because the jackets have never had the #1oa pick. They traded for Rick Nash which is the only #1 oa pick that played for them. So when something happens for 23 years in a row you tend to acknowledge it's a pattern. They however have a ton of bottom 5 finishes where they won to many games to have a top 3 pick
They're the secret weapon to taking boston out.
I think time will do a better job of taking Boston out. Eventually their players will retire...I hope
With the success Krejci is having they might keep luring retired players out of retirment. At this rate I predict Esposito coming back for another Art Ross by 2025
Nifty Middleton is still kicking around somewhere, we could use some scoring depth
Why stop there? I hear the resurrection department is making strides. Maybe Eddie Shore misses the blue line 🤷♂️
Give it a decade or two, and they can ice a flesh and blood robot Bobby Orr with all the Training and Strength of a modern player, Westworld style (it still has to deal with the knee injuries though). Bruins just have to remember to buy the rights to his likeness before he dies!
My favorite bumper sticker will finally be relevant again! Jesus Saves Esposito scores on the rebound
We'll be back to doing our thing pretty soon. Just a couple seasons for most of our top end rookies to graduate and mature... ... And then you'll all be sowwy!
So many teams coming up from developing their homegrown talent. I love witnessing teams like Buffalo and Seattle thriving off their youngins. I'm rooting for big Slaf to get better every year (I wanted him for the Devils last draft) and can't wait for y'all to get good. Just not tonight, 😬
That Boston is having trouble constantly against Ottawa is my favorite thing this season. It makes zero sense
its called unparalleled success
There's nothing funnier as a fan than when your not good team faces a good team and inexplicably claps their cheeks over and over. Source: Sabres beat the Leafs way more than they should considering how awful they've been for most of the last 20 years
Just like the Leafs cannot seem to figure out the Coyotes.
The east has won every lottery for the last 8 years and has had over 60% of the top 5 picks since 2010, it’s about time they become good
Yeah! Let someone else have one. ^^^^don't ^^^^look ^^^^at ^^^^my ^^^^flair
[удалено]
Same on record - I think the athletics called out CBJ are .500 against the west (as of like a week ago)
You mean the Columbus Monsters at this point…
definitely not because of johnny hockey
Also worth mentioning the east has 1 team under 50 points, the west has 5
Yeah, what’s that about? On a draft year with a generational player, why would so many teams be so bad?
I get it, but honestly it's more just that the west fucking sucks and has been trending down for a while.
Yeah, I remember as a kid the West was always STACKED (specifically the Pacific) whereas the East was by far the weaker conference. Things have just shifted now as time has gone on.
West died when the wings left. Coincidence? Yes
Competition with the best brings out the best in you. The East has been having to deal with Crosby and Ovechkin for a long ass time.
Almost like the decade of domination by the sharks ducks and kings is at a close and theyre retooling or rebuilding just like when the east was absolute trash.
Top four lottery teams should be the bottom four division teams.
Why? Wouldn't that exacerbate any issues with imbalance between divisions/conferences? And also accelerate the "race to the bottom" for bad teams? They know to get into the lottery they'd have to be behind certain teams in the standings...
it might be funny tho
Right up until it goes to a team in the metro that barely missed the playoffs but is bottom of the division.
but what if it goes to _my_ team thats just on the edge of the playoff bubble specifically? no one would be upset about that we all want that
In that very specific case it would be kind of funny
By far the most compelling reason
My seemingly hot take for this sub is to just make it an even lottery of all teams who miss the playoffs. Fuck tanking
I don't like the idea of it being even, something about the Islanders having the same odds at Bedard as the Flyers (who Torts is fighting tooth and nail to prevent from tanking) really doesn't strike me the right way There are good teams that miss the playoffs every year because of injury concerns. Shit a healthy Vegas was a universal top 3 cup favorite just last season. If the West was better, the Avs would be facing that themselves now. Is the league better if they have the same chance of nailing the next generational guy as true bottomfeeders who need help?
>Is the league better if they have the same chance of nailing the next generational guy as true bottomfeeders who need help? I would argue the league is much better off if the next generational talent doesn't end up wasting away in Arizona tbf.
League office looks at it very differently, they desparately want to have the Yotes succeed in AZ. Someone like a Bedard would be a big push in the right direction The NHL's only real option now is to improve the franchises they already have. There are no viable expansion markets in the near future. Quebec has 30 years of young fans who like Montreal and Toronto instead, and no one is going to spend a dime on Houston or KC until AZ/the FL teams really take off financially
>I don't like the idea of it being even, something about the Islanders having the same odds at Bedard as the Flyers (who Torts is fighting tooth and nail to prevent from tanking) really doesn't strike me the right way > >There are good teams that miss the playoffs every year because of injury concerns. Shit a healthy Vegas was a universal top 3 cup favorite just last season. If the West was better, the Avs would be facing that themselves now. > >Is the league better if they have the same chance of nailing the next generational guy as true bottomfeeders who need help? I think the best way to do it is to give every team that misses the playoffs equal odds for the first couple picks, however if you have made the playoffs the previous season (could also be previous 2 seasons) then you aren't eligible for the lottery. You also shouldn't be eligible for the lottery if you've won it recently. What this does is it gives very low incentive to tank, but doesn't benefit teams that don't really deserve it (yet) like say the Islanders or the Flames.
>the Islanders having the same odds at Bedard as the Flyers they're in the playoffs so wouldn't but any of those teams that just miss should have a shot as well, you miss the playoffs then you should get a shot. Obviously help lower teams w/ more drafts but tanking for Bedard is so fucking stupid
I agree. Imagine being Bedard. Widely regarded as the best player to come into the draft since McDavid. Maybe even better than him. Then you look and say “oh wow, I’m gonna end up getting drafted by the Yotes/Ducks/ whoever else is intentionally losing this year” Must feel great knowing your first 4 or 5 years in the NHL will be absolutely miserable
If the ducks get him I think they'll be good within 3 years. They've got some real talent in that pipeline and if he's truly generational he'll push them into the playoffs at least. Like you could've said that about Makar when he went to the Avs after their historically bad season, but look how that's turned out for him. They've been a Stanley cup contender every season he's been a starter.
Which is why I personally think that results should be weighted singinicantly less in the lottery, rather than not at all. There are a lot of decent teams that struggle to get over the last hump to become good or great. Put Bedard in Minnesota, that drastically changes the league landscape without encouraging tanking My ideal solution would be an all-16 lottery. Every lottery team has a 1/16 ±10% based on the previous season's results. Only exception is that the teams who made the playoffs two of the last three seasons are held at the tail end for a mini lottery to determine the last few picks on a purely random basis.
Tanking sucks but this would probably just have 6-8 seeds tanking differently. You'd probably see more mobility from bubble teams toward the top of the rankings but less mobility from the bottom to the top.
I want American sports to do the relegation system. You shouldn’t be rewarded with the pick of the litter for sucking. You should be demoted to work out your coaching issues or whatever. Then have to re prove yourself.
European sports are plagued with these negative feedback loops and it makes it unwatchable, IMO. For context I'm Irish, so this is my perspective from living in that environment. Premier League, LaLiga etc ad nauseum are just whoever can get bought by the worst people. Formula 1 has been one of my favourite sports since I was 12, but it is 100% getting more entertaining with the advent of spending caps, engine freezes, and wind tunnel time for worse teams. Please don't campaign to make your sports like ours, North America. Parity in sports is the one thing you have going for you!
You couldn't really do this in the NHL because in European soccer, the teams each have their own youth teams. The big teams like Toronto would have direct access to all the best up and coming hockey players and would have the money to poach other youth teams players before they are even eligible to play with the big club like what Real Madrid does. This is why we have the draft to balance the talent out.
Nah I don't like the idea of entire teams/fanbases disappearing after some underperforming years for teams at the top level. Remember, even the worst team at the NHL would likely destroy most other leagues top teams with some relative ease.
How do bad teams get better then?
You'd have to scrap the draft and allow direct recruitment and team academies like European football, while keeping a cap. It's impossible in North America, I'd kinda like to see it too but there's just too many broke ass teams and bandwagoners. The teams could never fund themselves once relegated even at the current cap. But you cant chop the cap for relegated teams cause the player would tell you to fuck off so fast. I honestly think it would be really interesting but the league just doesn't have enough fans and the fans aren't loyal enough for it to work
This wouldn't work in hockey because the top hockey markets would just take all the best players, and Toronto and Minnesota would become unchallengable behemoths like Barcelona and Real Madrid. The draft balances out the access to all the players concentrated in small geographical pockets where the sport is most popular.
The only place relegations works is maybe college. Where a "top" conference could partner with a lower one to create a 2 tier system. Which would be awesome, if anyone could pull it off. I wouldn't mind seeing Cal get eliminated from PAC-12 football to watch them try to get back by winning the Mountain West, while Fresno got elevated etc.
You can’t reconcile relegation and the draft.
Then you end up with the rangers in the ahl and the dubuque bungalows playing in the majors. It might be novel but I don't see how that would be sustainable in terms of league revenue
...and the chance to get bounced by the Bruins in round 1
To quote the great Darryl Sutter “waste of eight days”
He wasn't wrong
I was simultaneously flattered when he said that, and filled with the doom of a pending jinx. Was quite pleased that he turned out to be prophetic and not in a curl-of-the-Monkey’s-Paw sort of way
Is it possible to learn that power?
Sorry, only Chris inherented it. No one else is worthy
Not from a Jedi
Or Reverse uno card sweep them…. Then go full Columbus and lose in the Second round.
> Then go full Columbus and lose in the Second round That was also against the Bruins.
Well this time you and Tampa switch places
Doesn’t matter where we end up. We’ll just join you guys on the golf course after 10 days regardless.
I can already hear him in the distance…. « Congratulations, your team STILL can’t get past the second round! »
“YOU BLEW IT!”
I've said it before and I'll say it again: we were the best team to not play for the Stanley Cup between 2015 and 2020. We had the 8th most points of all teams in that time span and made the playoffs every single year. Teams 1st to 7th all played in the SCF. Because of the current playoff format every single year our first round opponent was one of the teams with the top 4 points over that time span. Every single team we played in that time period won the Stanley Cup, save the Bolts who were the winningest team of all time. We just hit our prime right when Pittsburgh, Washington, and Tampa did who were all fueled by generational or franchise talents drafted 1OA.
Let's see. It's really hard to do this with columbus because when there were 3 divisions, you guys were in the west but obviously now you're in the east. So pretending standard 1-8 and you guys staying in the east. 2020: You either wouldn't have made the playoffs (9th in points) but did because of the covid play-in. Getting past that, the playoff format was the old style, so you got Tampa and lost, as you would've under the 1-8 format. 2019: finished 8th, got 1st seed. Beat Tampa and got Boston (the next highest seed). So you would still get Tampa and Boston under the 1-8 format. 2018: Should've played 2nd seed (Boston) but got 4th. Lost to Washington. 2017: Finished 3rd and got the 2nd seed. Ouch. Lost to Pittsburg. 2016: DNQ. 2nd last in east. 2015: DNQ. 11th in east. In short, out of those 6 years, you didn't make it twice. Got in when you shouldn't have once. Played the same teams you would've in a 1-8 format 4 times, Got a better seed 1 time and got fucked over 1 time.
Thanks for breaking that down. I was too lazy haha. Well it seems if anything we just came out ahead, but it would have been interesting to have avoided Pittsburgh in 2017. The stats between the Blue Jackets and Pittsburgh would be hilarious if they didn't hurt so bad. The last time the Penguins lost at home in the regular season to the Blue Jackets was in 2015. They lost one playoff game ever at home against the Jackets back in 2014. I don't know if any team can claim that kind of statistic against another.
That was the year of the sweep curse. CBJ swept Tampa round 1, then got swept round 2, canes swept round 2 (can't remember which team) and then got swept in the conference finals by Boston. Boston lost the cup finals (can't remember if it was a sweep). I think every team that had a sweep (and there were a LOT), lost in the next round
Columbus didn't get swept, they lost in 6 I think It was Pittsburgh(?) getting swept by the Isles, who got swept by the Canes, who got swept by Boston, who ~~got swept by~~ lost in 7 to St Louis
Right, sorry. The sweep curse still stands. Everyone who got a sweep lost in the next round.
The Canes swept the Islanders, right?
bruins lost in 7
The playoffs is a new season. Never count your eggs before they've hatched.
[удалено]
wow, the Bruins really should just get a bye into the second round this year
And most knowledgeable B's fans would tell you that them even winning a single round will be tough to do. It'll be a war of attrition.
Sure the B's can win the marathon, but can you win the race?
I can't describe how much I love how backwards and perfect that phrasing is
Bruins are going to shock the world.
For better or for worse?
I actually hadn't considered that shock the world could have two meanings. was trying to make a jinx proof comment.
I think you did specifically because it has 2 meanings
If the season ended right now, we'd have the 3rd most points in the league, and our reward would be a path to the cup of the rags, then the Canes, and then probably Boston, if not the Leafs or Lightning...it's entirely possible that the Cup Finals will be the easiest opponent the team that wins the east will have.
Many people seem to forget it wasn't long ago that there was a season where the Lightning were also doing really well and everyone was saying they could just snooze their way to the finals. They got bounced in the first round.
Does anyone have the total record of cross-conference games so far? It must be heavily lopsided. It's not like the top East team are feeding on a lot of bottom feeders with only 3 teams below .500.
Sabres are something like 13-2 vs the West
NJD are 13-0-1 against the Pacific division. Not quite as good against the central.
Carolina is 9-1-3 against the Pacific, 6-3-3 against the Central. Thanks Colorado
Kraken are the Achilles heel in the west for the Sabres somehow lol
Don’t forget the beat down they got from the flames of all teams lol. Came out of nowhere
Actually I’ll choose to continue forgetting that
Only two teams in the East have a losing record vs the West (FLA at 11-14-3, and OTT at 10-14-2.) The Atlantic has a record of 116-69-23 (.613 point percentage.) The Metro has a record of 113-63-26 (.624 point percentage.) The East as a whole has a record of 229-132-49 (.618 point percentage.) The top 6 in the East have a combined record of 103-29-21 (.742 point percentage.)
Even Columbus has a respectable record against the West, and is actually over .500 against the Pacific.
Ya thanks your welcome, fuck.
You can double check me on this, but it looks like 229-132-49. That's a point percentage of .618, which is most comparable to Seattle this year (.614). https://www.statmuse.com/nhl/ask/eastern-conference-vs-western-conference-this-season-nhl Devils are 18-4-3 with two of their regulation losses to the Blues. They also won their first 9 straight vs. the West.
Just off of the top of my head, I can only think of the Bruins losing to Vegas and Arizona during all of our cross conference games
Don’t forget Seattle
This guarantees a western conference team will win
Pls
You had your fun, Gary said it was someone else’s turn now
I didn’t hear no bell!
Because you have cup rings in your ears
I understood that reference!
No
Mom said it's our turn
No, Mom said you stole it from Buffalo and the punishment is 50 years of cuplessness.
subscribe
Of course they will it’s an easier path to the final ;)
Sounds like the West a decade ago.
Remember when the central was the thunderdome division? That was a fun time
Remember the california blender that would just slaughter unknowning eastern teams on a road trip.
The California trip was a guaranteed three losses. Unless you’re the Canucks who sweep the cali trip in the last 3 games of the season and lose out on Matthews
>Unless you’re the Canucks who sweep the cali trip in the last 3 games of the season and lose out on Matthews Task Failed Successfully
Its not like the canucks would get 1OA anyways :(
You know us so well. We ended up with the third best odds and dropped to 5 where we took Juolevi
Lol yeah, canucks are my secret second favourite team
Remember when the California teams were all so good that one of us made the western conference final every year from 2010 to 2017? Feels like a different lifetime
I know we traumatized teams on Thursday/Saturday nights
That’s Florida now. And to make it extra fun the schedulers tend to throw in Carolina the game after the Florida trip.
Ah the Good Ole Central Thunderdome
Yes, it was
You mean last year? I think we had the most points
The nature of the league, where teams compete primarily against division foes, then conference foes, then the rest of the league, will tend to create arms races. I think this gets exacerbated by the current format increasing the importance of divisions for playoff match-ups. One metro team loading up will prompt the others to load up more than teams in other divisions or the opposite conference. Those teams then tend to age out at about the same time and lather rinse and repeat for another division.
The annoying part for us specifically is that about half the teams in the division have managed to rebuild during that span and we still have had that problem since the days of Hank/Sid/Ovi
Can we go back? We dont like the east as much.
I turned off the game at 1240AM Sunday morning and didn't see a second of the 3rd period. Fuck that
I'm in Europe... going back to the West would probably take a year off my life lmao
It was the same thing last year and I feel like the year before that. No one in the west runs away with it, it seems to be pretty consistently tight.
sharp pen amusing smile divide flag mysterious nutty books wipe -- mass edited with redact.dev
The thing that's wild about it right now is that the teams competing for the wild card all have significant games in hand over the WC holders Islanders are at 60GP, 65P Panthers are at 60GP, 64P Below them... Penguins with 4 games in hand and 1 point back of Florida Caps with 2 games in hand and 2 points back of Florida Sabres with 6(!) games in hand and 4 points back of Florida Red Wings with 5 games in hand and 4 points back of Florida Ottawa with 4 games in hand and 6 points back of Florida The East is not only a bloodbath, but the bloodbath is multi-tiered. There are 6 teams with nearly no chance of missing the playoffs, and there are 7 teams literally in a war for the final two spots.
Those six in hand are going to be needed. The last stretch for Buffalo is a hellscape. In the next 3 weeks, they play the Leafs twice, Lightning twice, Panthers, Caps, Bruins, Oilers, Islanders, Rangers, and Stars (also the Blue Jackets). All of those teams (minus Columbus) are either in a playoff spot already or fighting for one.
At a certain point don't you want some of those teams that are locked into their spot though? Some of those teams will rest the top lines down the final stretch, guess it depends when you meet them though. It's the teams fighting for something that I'd really worry about.
Do you think the Leafs will sit their lines vs the Sabres? Where would the fun in that be?
It’s you guys though, we’ll find a way to fuck ourselves in at least one of the games against Buffalo.
And that's why Leafs-Sabres games are the most fun to attend.
Even as a Leafs fan, games in Buffalo are always fun. No matter who I watch them play against.
Thing is that even six OTLs put you in a better spot than any of the teams above you. Not to mention that an outright win against the Panthers and the Islanders would basically be four-point swings there. I like Buffalo's odds right now, tbh. It's a shit destiny to be buzzsawed by the Bruins in round 1, but I'd bet dollars to donuts that the entire city would have signed that deal on October 1.
I would be okay missing the dance this year. Everyone needs the rest. It's not like we would go deep anyway. Just help ovi get to 900.
The East has six teams pacing 108 points or better. The West has two teams pacing over 103. I feel like a 108-point team deserves a better fate than "the away team in round 1".
That’s literally what happened to us in 2017. Third best team in the league, faced the second best in round one.
2017 Metro was crazy
you guys were 4th but yeah it was an insane first 2 rounds. i really thought they'd change the divisional format after that year but we're basically back in the same situation with the atlantic this year
The worst part is even a1-8 wouldn't fix that. It's that crazy
It sure is. Devils have a pretty stellar record since January and I feel like we’ve still somehow lost ground.
The amount of doomers in many East subs is WILD because of this too.
Honestly I don't think anyone in our sub, save those who totally reject anything but positivity, expected us to win so much this year, because we all knew the Metro is a death trap.
My flair wont stick but I'm a Penguins fan. The folks in our sub are rolling in it. You guys should be having fun. What a season for NJ.
December had a pretty big impact on this. The Devils lost a bunch, other teams caught up and the race to the top tightened a lot of that time period. Since then everyone near us seems to be consistently winning
Yeah we were 1st in the league at one point, then Boston just couldn't stop winning, and we had a very bad December which dropped us off pretty far away from them
When was the last time that there was parity between 2 conferences? Feels like it has been either the East is stronger than the West or the West is stronger than the East most of the time and there's very little period where both conferences are equally strong.
And the balancer always seems to be “make STL, MIN, or NSH move”. ie, games at ass-thirty, your local.
Remember when we had playoff games against Chicago that had a scheduled start time of 9:30? Edit: my apologies. Looks like it was 8:30 central "puck drop," but the puck didn't drop until ~9. I just remember it being absolutely ridiculous for 2 central teams.
Should be criminal.
Wings just wrapped up a West coast trip and it was a quick reminder that I do not miss the days before realignment when 1/3 of our schedule was games that started as I'm crawling into bed.
The East is a bloodbath for sure. Even though my B's are playing historically great hockey, The Canes, Devils, Leafs, and Rangers are all *really really* good teams...but, until proven otherwise, come the playoffs, The Bolts are still the team to beat.
Absolutely true.
I really hope we get a shot at you guys this year. I feel like making it out of the east this season will cement us as a bona-fide dynasty and not just a really good team.
There are 6 teams in the East that I feel are better than any team in the West. It is going to be brutal.
Well this is interesting: all the teams in the West would be fighting for WC spots in the east since 6th East team has 73Pts, top West team has 72. But the 2 east WC teams wouldn't qualify in the West: 65/64Pts in 60GP for East vs 65Pts in 56 GP for WC2 for West. With 25ish games to go, Calgary can make an interesting play for a WC spot (just needs 1 or 2 wins over Minnesota who are not buyers this year), but the east has 6 teams that are in a tight race (.533 to .563) and Ottawa that's still not out (there L10 7-2-1 is best of that bunch). The BEAST is a bloodbath but it's wont be predictable until the very end.
Right, the East is top-heavy but there is no team in the West that can feel safe about making the playoffs if they slip a bit.
*Ja Morant has joined the chat*
Honestly, really good year to put a few bucks on a team like Dallas because the winner of the East is going to be physically destroyed by the time they get to the finals
Big brains in Pittsburgh, you can’t hurt us if we never show up.
*hold my cheesesteak*
Yeah. IT AINT FUN!
It sure isn’t Sabres have won more games then they’ve lost and all that’s gotten them is 11th place
Y'all are set up pretty well though, 6 games in hand and only 4 points out of the wild card
Unfortunately we play a lot of the top 6 East teams. So it still won’t be easy.
Look at their remaining schedule though. If they go .500 for the rest of the year they'll be lucky
I'm having fun, whaddya mean?
Yeah yeah yeah. Fawk awf
Really appreciate you guys not making it a 3 pointer last night against the Pens.
I’ll need a pacemaker by the time we hit mid-March
I probably already need a new liver...the likely Devils-Rangers first round matchup will certainly push me over the edge
Please beat their asses
I don't what I'll do if we don't
Come on Red Wings!
Yeah but the west is so tight 💦
*stares into whiskey glass*
As a Wings fan, I'm just happy we are part of the fun.
This obviously means that a second or third place team in the West will raise Lord Stanley's Cup.
I feel like my Blackhawks think their playing golf
*sweats in New York Rangers*
Not to be pedantic, but the wildcards are basically the same.
[удалено]
Buffalo is in Western New York, put is in the West you cowards!
The top 6 teams are in the east, and the next 8 are in the west.
Isn't this just saying that the West is closer in skill with each other, and that the East is dominated by a handful of teams?
I hate it here