TB was seven games as well, and then the final, first team in the history of the NHL to win three seven game series and the cup
- Rayven

Apparently the travel between Vancouver and Boston when the Stanley Cup was on the line doesnt play a role in his whole "travel" argument.

TB was seven games as well, and then the final, first team in the history of the NHL to win three seven game series and the cup
- Rayven

Boston faced Philly, Montreal and Tampa

Canucks faced Chicago, Nashville and San Jose.

TB was seven games as well, and then the final, first team in the history of the NHL to win three seven game series and the cup
- Rayven

Funny thing is... the only series I didn't really pay much attention to was tampa/boston. Knew boston would win.

I think we can all agree that aside from the top 3-4 teams in the east... no one is really feared.

Teams in the west get to play Edm/Columbus a lot... That IMO is why 7-11 in the west have a couple more points then 7-11 in the east. The east has a lot of average teams but zero terrible teams. The west has two terrible teams.

Since the lockout its been three west coast teams winning and three east coast teams winning... So this whole WEST>EAST is laughable

Apparently the travel between Vancouver and Boston when the Stanley Cup was on the line doesnt play a role in his whole "travel" argument.
- theblueandgold

IF vancouver had played 4 games in each series... and boston played 7 in all of theirs... it MAY make it somewhat equal in distance travelled.

How can you NOT take into consideration how many miles more vancouver travelled during the playoffs compared to Boston. Its not even close

Doing just this year. The east still dominates.
- Eklund

The Oilers record against NYR, PIT, PHI, WSH (they were undefeated before the Oilers beat them) looks pretty good to me (4-0 with 2 GAs). So would that mean the Oilers, the 29th ranked team in the NHL, are better than these teams? Not at all. You could say in a 7 game series the Oilers would probably one win 1-2 games. The same could be said about the East's 7-13 vs. the West's. Playing 1 game against a team doesn't show that one team is better than another.

The SJ-ANA game was actually quite entertaining. Any time the first three goals of the game are scored within 3 minutes of each other, entertaining.
- theblueandgold

LOL i was just kidding I didnt even watch that game last night.

Replying to the San Jose fan. But if you're displeased with the past 2 seasons Ekland posted, here's a wider breakdown. Since 2004 against the Sharks.

Sabres are 7-2. That's a pretty good sample size.
- TheSabresTaco

So therefore the west is weak because the sabres can beat the sharks?

Teams in the west get to play Edm/Columbus a lot... That IMO is why 7-11 in the west have a couple more points then 7-11 in the east. The east has a lot of average teams but zero terrible teams. The west has two terrible teams.

Since the lockout its been three west coast teams winning and three east coast teams winning... So this whole WEST>EAST is laughable
- Smittyx36

Man... are you serious?... the 1-10 teams in the west... is way tougher than 1-10 in the east... so forget about the fact that the 2 bottom dwellers in the west are much weaker than the east.

The west vs east record for the past few years speaks for itself...so with your argument... the wests record against the east this year for playoff teams... makes it even MORE impressive.

Apparently the travel between Vancouver and Boston when the Stanley Cup was on the line doesnt play a role in his whole "travel" argument.
- theblueandgold

I didn't realize it was a "travel" argument

Boston faced Philly, Montreal and Tampa

Canucks faced Chicago, Nashville and San Jose.
- Boinker

Philly and Tampa were better than Nashville and Chicago last year, Philly was a better team than all 3 the Canucks faced. Tampa knocked off Pit and then Was which was no easy feat.

Seems to me like your basing your judgement of those teams off of this season.

IF vancouver had played 4 games in each series... and boston played 7 in all of theirs... it MAY make it somewhat equal in distance travelled.

How can you NOT take into consideration how many miles more vancouver travelled during the playoffs compared to Boston. Its not even close
- kneughter

Because they do it all year long, they are used to it.

Boston traveling across the coast for the cup finals had more of an impact traveling wise than it did for Vancouver.

The fact that Boston won the cup traveling that much after going through two 7 game series is more impressive than the traveling the Canucks did through the playoffs.

Because they do it all year long, they are used to it.

Boston traveling across the coast for the cup finals had more of an impact traveling wise than it did for Vancouver.

The fact that Boston won the cup traveling that much after going through two 7 game series is more impressive than the traveling the Canucks did through the playoffs.
- theblueandgold

They had 1 7 game series where they could walk from rink to rink... and 4 game sweep that was again in walking distance.

If travel is ever to be used as an argument... Vancouver (and pretty much any team on the west coast) wins that argumenet every time.

Nice blog, but I'm going to reluctantly avoid connecting the W/L/T record of the Eastern Conference to any kind of dominance, mostly because your math is missing a few key elements.

You did the legwork to note that the Eastern Conference's 7-13 seeds won sixty-eight games v. the Western Conference, also seeds 7-13.

Noting that the Eastern Conference won sixty-eight games, one has to deduce that the Western Conference won sixty games (44L + 16 OTL for the East). That's only an eight-game difference(without knowing how many were decided after regulation), which is pretty common for standard deviance/variation.

Further, and as mentioned above, we have no idea - at least through this math - how many games the Western Conference lost in OT(picking up at least one point), nor do we know how many games were decided by the skills competition coin flip.

The sixty-eight wins for the East is impressive, but how many came in regulation? Without knowing this, we don't know the back-end of the Western Conference's record, and subsequently, their total points percentage. It's certainly behind the Eastern Conference's record, but to what extent? Enough to justify this correlation? I'd guess not.

In fact, the only thing we do know is that the Eastern Conference has won eight games more than the Western Conference. Considering all of the variables in play(e.g. travel, home/away splits) and the fact that there's an incredibly shortened sample size (~ 18 games per) in East/West play that automatically increases propensity for volatility, you really need to extrapolate this out into a multi-year measurement to reach any fair conclusion.

Philly and Tampa were better than Nashville and Chicago last year, Philly was a better team than all 3 the Canucks faced. Tampa knocked off Pit and then Was which was no easy feat.

Seems to me like your basing your judgement of those teams off of this season.
- theblueandgold

No they weren't. Chicago and Nashville have way better defenses. The Canucks played the best defenseman in pretty much the league. Keith, Seabrook, Weber, Suter, Boyle, Chara goalies Rinne and Thomas. Also Crawford payed on his head for Chicago. I'd way rather the Canucks gone up against Montreal and Tampa. They wouldnt have had the injuries they had going into the finals. Your a moron if you think Montreal and Tampa are harder to play against.

Whats the North vs. South record though?

Replying to the San Jose fan. But if you're displeased with the past 2 seasons Ekland posted, here's a wider breakdown. Since 2004 against the Sharks.

Sabres are 7-2. That's a pretty good sample size.
- TheSabresTaco

Thr sabres have been a better team then the sharks???!

Ok bud.

Man... are you serious?... the 1-10 teams in the west... is way tougher than 1-10 in the east... so forget about the fact that the 2 bottom dwellers in the west are much weaker than the east.

The west vs east record for the past few years speaks for itself...so with your argument... the wests record against the east this year for playoff teams... makes it even MORE impressive.


- kneughter

3-3 since the lockout... last year van lost to boston. van #1 seed and boston #3 "but had the points of the 5th/6th seed. Also last year Edm finished with 10 points less then any other team... THEY HAND OUT FREE WINS. This why your top 8 have more points then are top 8. Don't be stupid

Because they do it all year long, they are used to it.

Boston traveling across the coast for the cup finals had more of an impact traveling wise than it did for Vancouver.

The fact that Boston won the cup traveling that much after going through two 7 game series is more impressive than the traveling the Canucks did through the playoffs.
- theblueandgold

Americans don't know hockey.

bragging about a lucky bounce to tie the game up with 2 seconds and winning in a shoot out?


sabres would beat the avs in a 7 game series without difficulty
- theblueandgold

The Sabres can't do anything without difficulty.

who cares ek?
man, im dying for a radulov update

- wingz4life

NORAD should follow Radulov like they do Santa on Christmas Eve....

They had 1 7 game series where they could walk from rink to rink... and 4 game sweep that was again in walking distance.

If travel is ever to be used as an argument... Vancouver (and pretty much any team on the west coast) wins that argumenet every time.
- kneughter

Right, but Vancouver travels all year long. They are used to it.

When the cup final was on the line, travel had more of an affect on Boston than it did Vancouver, yet Boston still came out and dominated the Canucks to win.

The Sabres can't do anything without difficulty.
- golfingsince

Except finish in front of Toronto...

No they weren't. Chicago and Nashville have way better defenses. The Canucks played the best defenseman in pretty much the league. Keith, Seabrook, Weber, Suter, Boyle, Chara goalies Rinne and Thomas. Also Crawford payed on his head for Chicago. I'd way rather the Canucks gone up against Montreal and Tampa. They wouldnt have had the injuries they had going into the finals. Your a moron if you think Montreal and Tampa are harder to play against.
- Boinker

Don't even bother with these people.... I'm leaving this blog.... any one who thinks the trip Boston took the finals was even close to what Vancouver had to endure is completely delusional. Travel, competition and physical toll was not even close in comparison. Chicago and Nashville had 2 of the stingiest defenses in the league last year who also happened to be the reigning SCC... San Jose was big and hungry and then Boston who was another top defensive team with Thomas playing lights out.

No they weren't. Chicago and Nashville have way better defenses. The Canucks played the best defenseman in pretty much the league. Keith, Seabrook, Weber, Suter, Boyle, Chara goalies Rinne and Thomas. Also Crawford payed on his head for Chicago. I'd way rather the Canucks gone up against Montreal and Tampa. They wouldnt have had the injuries they had going into the finals. Your a moron if you think Montreal and Tampa are harder to play against.
- Boinker

Vancouver was the softest team by far that Boston played in the playoffs last yr.