Take a look at the standings, what is more surprising?

[Duffalufagus]

on second thought the Pacific is not a very good division so I wouldn't be surprised if they got into the top 3 either.

They’re not? Which teams in the west do you think will be playoff teams?

The central looks soft to me, but, historical precedent and all that...

 

[Sam Spade]

3. Vegas is 5th in the league, yep..the regression we all saw it coming ...lol

Vegas has actually regressed but the Pacific is garbage beyond Calgary (Sharks won't scare anyone come playoff time) so it's not really noticeable.

After 43 games last season:

 

[Duffalufagus]

Vegas has actually regressed but the Pacific is garbage beyond Calgary (Sharks won't scare anyone come playoff time) so it's not really noticeable.

After 43 games last season:

View attachment 172049

I think the point here is that regulr season success means f*** all in the playoffs.

Tampa has lost season demons. No amount of points this season changes that.

Still impressive though.

 

[KingsFan7824]

Why would Vegas having the 12th best points percentage surprise anyone???

If you go by the records around the league since Oct 12th, NHL.com - Stats Vegas is right there at the top. They had that 1-4 start, but their points% isn't 12th since then.

Stats can be played with any which way to make any argument someone wants, but Vegas is still good.

 

[maacoshark]

You must be joking.

Why do you say that? Those were facts I posted. The Canadians had only 8 losses the entire season. It is the most dominant season any team has ever had.
If there was loser points back then they probably would have been close to 140 points.
So no I am not joking. I actually can't believe you asked that.

 

[Prairie Habs]

Wings had 131 in 95-96 so to answer your question yes

That year wings had 6 players with at least 20 goals and 4 players with at least 70pts

Some records go outside the domain of stevey Y teams though

 

[Paper]

The "surprise" of a team running away in the regular season is not there. And it doesn't change parity because Tampa isn't just dominating teams left/right. In fact in a 4 game span, they had 17 goals against and the won all 4! There was a lot of parity on the ice and the games were quite close. They were very enjoyable.

Hats off to Tampa, but we are all hockey fans. We all know Tampa cares about 1 thing and 1 thing only - the Stanley Cup. They won't give a flying **** if they have 130 points in the regular season or not. Tampa players will find the season a failure unless they win the Stanley Cup.

And I don't think anyone is handing it over to them just yet. They are going to have one hell of a 2nd round and then a heck of a 3rd/4th if they want to bring it home.

This is cool, you still misused the word parity. If there's a lot of parity, you should not be expected to have a team run away so much in the regular season. That's the opposite of parity.

 

[Rubi]

I still think Vegas will be either be a wildcard team or miss the playoffs

on second thought the Pacific is not a very good division so I wouldn't be surprised if they got into the top 3 either.

 

[Duffalufagus]

Why do you say that? Those were facts I posted. The Canadians had only 8 losses the entire season. It is the most dominant season any team has ever had.
If there was loser points back then they probably would have been close to 140 points.
So no I am not joking. I actually can't believe you asked that.

Because comparing that era to now is ridiculous.

 

[TheWayToRefJose]

Vegas has actually regressed but the Pacific is garbage beyond Calgary (Sharks won't scare anyone come playoff time) so it's not really noticeable.

After 43 games last season:

View attachment 172049

Lol the Sharks are in a playoff spot with sub 900 goal tending. They're third in the league in scoring with a goalie who has been very good in the playoffs every year, so if he turns his save percentage up 30 points (his average this season compared to his average playoff percentage), I'm sure there will be a few"scared" teams.

 

[Sam Spade]

Lol the Sharks are in a playoff spot with sub 900 goal tending. They're third in the league in scoring with a goalie who has been very good in the playoffs every year, so if he turns his save percentage up 30 points (his average this season compared to his average playoff percentage), I'm sure there will be a few"scared" teams.

Playoffs start today, Sharks get the Knights, are you seriously taking the Sharks to win that series?

 

[Windy River]

43 games played for Vegas is actually more surprising.

Nothing really surprises me. There is so much parity in this league.

Vegas, 5th place team in the league, has a 56% winning percentage. The parity is disguting.

 

[Chips]

I never thought Vegas was going to be bad, but I still don’t believe they’re a top 5 team. There’s a high number of teams I would want to face after Vegas.

It’s like the pretty good Caps teams looking great by dominating the Southeast Division. It’s hard to look bad in the Pacific. So I wouldn’t call their placement right now surprising at all.
Also of course reg season doesn’t translate to playoff success, and there were more than one series in the playoffs in which I didn’t think the Knights looked great at all. Better hope Fluery is healthy.


The Flames have surprised me a lot, mostly because I don’t pay attention to them other than noticing they’ve not made the playoffs much. There were at least a few teams in that division I expected to finish above them.

 

[TheWayToRefJose]

Playoffs start today, Sharks get the Knights, are you seriously taking the Sharks to win that series?

Are you seriously implying the sharks wouldn't even stand a chance in that series? That's laughable at best. It would be a close series with Jones sporting a sub 90 save percentage, but if playoffs of the past Martin Jones is playing, I think SJ takes it without sweating too much.

 

[Pyrophorus]

No team which has finished with the best record/points, in all 4 major North American sports, has won the title.

 

[blankall]

Calgary. I was skeptical of some of their moves, especially after looking at Treliving's work.

Treliving is a wizard.

 

[aufheben]

Only thing surprising to me about that is Calgary.

 

[JianYang]

Tampa has pulled away from the rest of the league.

After that, who knows who finishes where. There's quite a logjam. I think there's a mass glutton of teams right now within 2-3 points of the 52 point barrier.

 

[Rubi]

Tampa's dominance.
I was also going to mention how well Calgary is doing but I did a bit of research and after 42 games last year their record was 22-16-4 for 48 pts which isn't all that far behind their current record of 25-13-4 for 54 pts.

 

[SotasicA]

The three Canadian teams is the most surprising.

Bolts have been good, and I never understood why people were putting down the Knights. Probably the same people who thought they couldn't compete in the playoffs.

 

[Artorius Horus T]

I still think Vegas will be either be a wildcard team or miss the playoffs

I still think Capitals,Leafs,Sabres,Flames will all miss the play-offs.

 

[AvsFan29]

I can honestly say I did not see Calgary with 5 guys on pace for 119, 100, 94, 92, and 78 points respectively. They're making Neal's 4 goals at $5.75m mean nothing.

I'll take "things Flames fans say to themselves to stay sane" for 100, Alex

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

i thought nashville was way in like 2nd

surprised they arent top 5 i thought they were dominating

Is this supposed to be one of those memes where you went into a coma on November 15th?

 

[Machinehead]

The correct answer is Tampa.

They're on pace to break the wins and points record.

 

[brachyrynchos]

No team which has finished with the best record/points, in all 4 major North American sports, has won the title.

1972 Miami Dolphins