North division and its D:s

[jonlin]

I feel like the North division has the weakest defences by far. Ppl talk about how good Toronto, Winnipeg etc, are offensively, but nobody talks about how bad defences there is. 2020 Norris voting had 2 players from the north in best 25. Hughes and Weber at #15. So, maybe the bad defenses are the reason some teams up north have players that will have career-years? When you can feast on the same teams and bad defense a lot, its kinda easy to put up points...
Same with the Selke. North has 3 players in Top20 and highest is Matthews at #16.

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[RogerR]

I feel like the North division has the weakest defences by far. Ppl talk about how good Toronto, Winnipeg etc, are offensively, but nobody talks about how bad defences there is. 2020 Norris voting had 2 players from the north in best 25. Hughes and Weber at #15. So, maybe the bad defenses are the reason some teams up north have players that will have career-years? When you can feast on the same teams and bad defense a lot, its kinda easy to put up points...

REALLY?

The division is being destroyed. I've never seen anything like it. I've counted 4 people claiming it's the worst division in NHL history.

 

[The Grim Reaper]

I thought this was a Pierre McGuire thread when I clicked on it.

 

[Suntouchable13]

I feel like the North division has the weakest defences by far. Ppl talk about how good Toronto, Winnipeg etc, are offensively, but nobody talks about how bad defences there is. 2020 Norris voting had 2 players from the north in best 25. Hughes and Weber at #15. So, maybe the bad defenses are the reason some teams up north have players that will have career-years? When you can feast on the same teams and bad defense a lot, its kinda easy to put up points...
Same with the Selke. North has 3 players in Top20 and highest is Matthews at #16.

I think it's a myth. They showed that McDavid, for example, had the same amount of points after 22 games as he did last season. Exact same. Some other guys like Marner and Matthews are just entering their prime years, so it's not a surprise if their numbers are going up and they are going to hit some career highs. I don't think the division has much to do with it.

 

[jonlin]

REALLY?

The division is being destroyed. I've never seen anything like it. I've counted 4 people claiming it's the worst division in NHL history.

It actually has very good offense, but the defence is abysmal compared to other divisions. The North had 9 players in Top27 for scoring. It seems like Canadien teams have put all their cash on offense and try to outscore their opponents. No wonder the north will see more goals than any other division.

 

[jonlin]

I think it's a myth. They showed that McDavid, for example, had the same amount of points after 22 games as he did last season. Exact same. Some other guys like Marner and Matthews are just entering their prime years, so it's not a surprise if their numbers are going up and they are going to hit some career highs. I don't think the division has much to do with it.

How is it a myth? Go check best 50 D:s from north and compare to other divisions. It is actually pretty clear

 

[Eat The Rich]

How many more threads do we need on this subject?

 

[jonlin]

How many more threads do we need on this subject?

I dont see another thread about the North divisions defences?

 

[Ossific]

"nobody talks about how bad the defence is". Isn't that all we are talking about lately?!

 

[Suntouchable13]

How is it a myth? Go check best 50 D:s from north and compare to other divisions. It is actually pretty clear

A myth that the North division is so weak and it is helping the player's stats.

 

[NK94]

I mean, I certainly haven't seen the Leafs look this good defensively in f***ing forever but...

 

[Gurglesons]

Matthew Tkachuk
Zack Kassian
Jake Muzzin
Brendan Gallagher
Brady Tkachuk

would be my top five North Division D's.

 

[The Macho King]

Yeah - their D and goaltending are on the whole pretty bad.

Pretty sure this is well-trod territory. I don't think Auston Matthews is a GPG player, for instance.

Is what it is. Enjoy that Art Ross trophy North of the border.

 

[Rants Mulliniks]

It actually has very good offense, but the defence is abysmal compared to other divisions. The North had 9 players in Top27 for scoring. It seems like Canadien teams have put all their cash on offense and try to outscore their opponents. No wonder the north will see more goals than any other division.

So 33%?. If you look at the top 50 scorers (points per GP) over the previous 3 seasons (against all teams), roughly 30% of the top 50 are players in the North. Has anything changed?

 

[Eat The Rich]

What I don't understand is how the Leafs with their 6th place GA/G can have such a bad defense in the best offensive division in hockey.

 

[Martin Skoula]

Yeah - their D and goaltending are on the whole pretty bad.

Pretty sure this is well-trod territory. I don't think Auston Matthews is a GPG player, for instance.

Is what it is. Enjoy that Art Ross trophy North of the border.

It's going to be such a weird feeling having the Ross in Canada. You have to go back all the way to last season to see such a once-in-a-lifetime event.

 

[Rants Mulliniks]

Yeah - their D and goaltending are on the whole pretty bad.

Pretty sure this is well-trod territory. I don't think Auston Matthews is a GPG player, for instance.

Is what it is. Enjoy that Art Ross trophy North of the border.

Wasn't it likely coming here anyway?

 

[The Macho King]

What I don't understand is how the Leafs with their 6th place GA/G can have such a bad defense in the best offensive division in hockey.

Well there are seven teams in the division, and the Leafs don't have to play the best offensive team (because it's them). Outside of them, which of these teams are actually elite offensively? Edmonton is insanely top heavy. Outside of them, you have who - Winnipeg as a team with a deep forward group?

I don't think the division is particularly good offensively outside of the Leafs. Credit to the Leafs - they are a legitimately good team no matter what division they would be in.

Let me put it this way - would Leafs fans vote to go back to the Atlantic division next season, or would they prefer to stay with the ScotiaBank North Division?

 

[The Macho King]

It's going to be such a weird feeling having the Ross in Canada. You have to go back all the way to last season to see such a once-in-a-lifetime event.

I mean - it was a foregone conclusion this season even going in.

I love how Edmonton and Leafs fans are apparently just discovering that the North is bad, when pretty much all the preseason discussion centered on that very point. You had Leafs and a whole bunch of question marks afterward.

Probably the biggest surprise to me is how bad Calgary is - I expected them to be toward the top of that division just by virtue of actually having a goaltender.

 

[Eat The Rich]

Well there are seven teams in the division, and the Leafs don't have to play the best offensive team (because it's them). Outside of them, which of these teams are actually elite offensively? Edmonton is insanely top heavy. Outside of them, you have who - Winnipeg as a team with a deep forward group?

I don't think the division is particularly good offensively outside of the Leafs. Credit to the Leafs - they are a legitimately good team no matter what division they would be in.

Let me put it this way - would Leafs fans vote to go back to the Atlantic division next season, or would they prefer to stay with the ScotiaBank North Division?

I choose whichever division allows for hockey to be played with fans in the building. i.e. I couldn't give a shit either way, I just want the league back to normal so people can stop with the excuses.

 

[Gnova]

This subject has been/will be beat to death all season long.

Truthfully I don't care. The games are a lot of fun to watch and I watch hockey to be entertained not watch boring defensive systems removing as much entertainment from the game as they possibly can by stifling skilled offensive talent.

 

[Martin Skoula]

Well there are seven teams in the division, and the Leafs don't have to play the best offensive team (because it's them). Outside of them, which of these teams are actually elite offensively? Edmonton is insanely top heavy. Outside of them, you have who - Winnipeg as a team with a deep forward group?

I don't think the division is particularly good offensively outside of the Leafs. Credit to the Leafs - they are a legitimately good team no matter what division they would be in.

Let me put it this way - would Leafs fans vote to go back to the Atlantic division next season, or would they prefer to stay with the ScotiaBank North Division?

Has this season not shown how absurdly top heavy the Atlantic was? I'd certainly rather play in the old Pacific than the North. Well, from a competitive standpoint anyway. I would probably do everything in my power to not have to watch 6 Coyotes games a year.

 

[jonlin]

I choose whichever division allows for hockey to be played with fans in the building. i.e. I couldn't give a shit either way, I just want the league back to normal so people can stop with the excuses.

Its actually not an excuse. This is the first year in ages 4 teams from Canada are playoff-teams...

 

[The Macho King]

Has this season not shown how absurdly top heavy the Atlantic was? I'd certainly rather play in the old Pacific than the North.

TBF - I'm pretty sure the past few seasons we all knew the Atlantic was top-heavy, and the team that it probably hurt the most was the Leafs as the clear third (but probably a top 6 team in the NHL in that time) behind Tampa and Boston.

I don't know - it's weird both the attacks on the Leafs (because they're clearly a very talented team albeit with some holes) and the defenses by the Leafs (because they're clearly in a division that - on the whole - is pretty f***ing bad). They can only play the teams in front of them and they're doing their job, but don't expect people to crown you as the best team in the league only playing teams in the North.

 

[The Macho King]

Its actually not an excuse. This is the first year in ages 4 teams from Canada are playoff-teams...

I don't think this is true? Wasn't there one season where like five Canadian teams made it not too long ago (I want to say 2017)?