The Winter Soldier
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Again, 3 year sampling including this year, and last. Not just 3 years ago. Look above.
Rank the divisions
- Thread starter Canadienna
- Start date
Don't you think this year is really all that matters? They are not a good team and there's no signs based on that roster and the age of the core that things will turn for them. Even last year they have a diferent team, let alone the year previous.
And having Burke as the President when a rebuild is needed. Yilkes.
The Winter Soldier
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The sample was inclusive to this year. Not just 3 years ago. TB, Boston, and Washington were also on the top tier of this specific sampling. Are you claiming they are terrible also? Maybe you could have used a better word than terrible and then I wouldn't need to reply. For instance a 31st place team is terrible, not a team that is in a playoff race and nowhere near being a bottom level team playing in what most say is the toughest division in hockey this year.
I am claiming Pittsburgh is very based due to lack of depth and their aging core. And the results are currently based on 2021 not there.
IWantSakicAsMyGM
Registered User
If Ottawa was the only bad team, where are the good ones?
Montreal finished 12th in the East last year.
Toronto was 8th in the East based on P%.
Vancouver, Calgary and Winnipeg were 7,8,9 in the West. Edmonton was 5th.
Isaac Nootin
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What does last year have to do with anything?
Just from last year, Toronto has 7 new players in the lineup on a nightly basis. Montréal significantly altered there team, etc.
Teams change, look at Florida. They are being used as an example as to why the Central is tough, yet we're awful last year. Or does it only work one way?
It was pretty obvious Toronto was gonna be a powerhouse this year.
With the locker room issues with Babcock long gone, the young core getting into their primes, depth issues at every position finally dealt with and remembering the Leafs were 8th OVERALL in the NHL (103 point pace) under their new coach while being one of the most injured teams in the NHL, the Leafs are finally living up to their promise. Even without quite the rebound from Andersen the fans have hoped for, the team is great at almost every position. Easily a top 5 team in the NHL.
Will that translate to playoff success? We'll have to wait and see.
Stephen
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People need to realize that there are 4 leagues competing in isolation from one another and that the perceived strength of one division relative to another is actually a measure of parity within those mini leagues.
So if Colorado, Vegas and Minnesota want to make a case about how strong the division is because one team can’t dominate the rest, it doesn’t give you an idea of any of their capabilities against a division leader from another group.
So if Colorado, Vegas and Minnesota want to make a case about how strong the division is because one team can’t dominate the rest, it doesn’t give you an idea of any of their capabilities against a division leader from another group.
Stephen
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Toronto doesn’t need to explain it’s regular season success to anyone. The Leafs are competing against other NHL clubs and that’s the long and short of it. It’s not like we had to put an asterisk beside the Colorado Avalanche first round playoff win over Arizona last summer because X, Y, Z led them to beat a team that otherwise wouldn’t have been in the first round.
A1LeafNation
Obsession beats talent everytime!!
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IWantSakicAsMyGM
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What does any of this have to do with my post, which was in reply to someone claiming Ottawa was the only bad team last year that's in the North this year? I don't disagree that the teams have changed, but pretending every Canadian team other than Ottawa was "good" last year just isn't backed up by fact.
IWantSakicAsMyGM
Registered User
What part of this changes the fact that they were the 8th best team in the East last year, based on P%? Or, for that matter, where did I say anything about this season?
ProjectPanthers
Podcast discussing the Florida Panthers
The North might be the worst division assembled since the 2000s with the Southeast division. There's two good teams (TOR and WPG) and the rest are junk. Alberta team's are treading water again and the Canucks are worse off than the Senators now. I expect Ottawa to pass Vancouver in the standings by the end of the month.
MTL will limp into a playoff birth by the two greatest words in the English langue. De-fault.
MTL will limp into a playoff birth by the two greatest words in the English langue. De-fault.
I think talent wise, Tampa can top the Leafs and that's about it. Even teams listed as "contenders" have serious flaws and lack elite talent.
If Winnipeg adds a D at the deadline, they are a cup contender without a doubt. Right up there in terms of pure talent.
If Winnipeg adds a D at the deadline, they are a cup contender without a doubt. Right up there in terms of pure talent.
Luigi Lemieux
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Well, I figured their record under their new coach is better indicator of future performance than the struggling record under their old coach rife with locker room problems would be.
Throw in the depth upgrades everywhere and the team was poised to really take off.
All the teams in the North outside of Vancouver (with its cap issues) have made strides since then, and even they have a young elite scoring core getting better every game. It's a good division and probably the most fun to watch with its high end scoring flair.
I think a fun exercise would be to create all star teams from each division and have a debate on that. All this labelling of division strength is pretty much hot air opinions (usually to run down or prop up certain teams), at best, so let have a little more fun with it.
IWantSakicAsMyGM
Registered User
Indicators of future performance will never change what happened in the past. And, my comment was only about where they finished last year. I didn't saying anything about this season.
But, the issue isn't about the young elite scoring cores in the North. It's the lack of quality goaltending outside of Hellebuyck. This guy would probably be the 3rd best goalie in the North, only slightly behind Markstrom.
Isaac Nootin
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Same can be said for most divisions.
Some terrible teams will limp in the Central behind Tampa and Carolina, a team in the West behind Vegas, Colorado and STL.
The East should have 4 good teams.
Fact is, nobody can say for certain how good/bad a specific division is this year. I don't think a 7 game series in the Conference Finals will validate it either.
Isaac Nootin
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Indicators of future performance will never change what happened in the past. And, my comment was only about where they finished last year. I didn't saying anything about this season.
But, the issue isn't about the young elite scoring cores in the North. It's the lack of quality goaltending outside of Hellebuyck. This guy would probably be the 3rd best goalie in the North, only slightly behind Markstrom.
Looking at this post, it's good to know to take nothing you say seriously going forward.
ProjectPanthers
Podcast discussing the Florida Panthers
4 of the top 6 teams in the NHL (3 of the top 4) are Central division teams, most with less games played than most teams around them standings-wise.
Not sure what you're looking at.
Tampa
Vegas
Carolina
Boston
I feel like I easily take any of those teams against Toronto. Then there are teams like Philadelphia, Colorado, Florida, Washington, St. Louis I would be unsure on.
I think Toronto are somewhere in that 5-8 area, Winnipeg is close behind, and the rest of the North is gross.
The East and Central are above the West who is above the North (in my opinion). Would be an even bigger gap if Chicago had Toews, Dach, Shaw, etc.
