The Western Conference - Not Very Good

[ColbyChaos]

I would take WPG and NSH over any of Pit, Philly (LOL), Leafs, Bs and Bolts this year Vegas wasnt the favorite out in the west.

 

[PenguinSpeed]

I would take WPG and NSH over any of Pit, Philly (LOL), Leafs, Bs and Bolts this year Vegas wasnt the favorite out in the west.

-Dude, the West stinks. Metro is taking and winning the cup, again.

 

[ColbyChaos]

-Dude, the West stinks. Metro is taking and winning the cup, again.

We all know if Vegas comes back and wins the series you will do even more mental gymnastics to try and spin it as a pens win

 

[JianYang]

Nashville and Winnipeg stack up against anyone in the east. Their goaltending let them down eventually (something caps fans can relate to), and I also wonder how much they took out of each other, and how much that 1 day break between series took its toll.

Under this playoff format, you're more likely to have great teams bow out earlier than usual, and looking ahead to next year, we could very well see this 2nd round matchup again. Just because vegas made it out of the west doesn't mean the conference doesn't have a couple heavyweight contenders.

 

[PenguinSpeed]

We all know if Vegas comes back and wins the series you will do even more mental gymnastics to try and spin it as a pens win

-We all know if the Caps win you, Chicago, and Kings fans and all your chest beating will be gone permanently with your wannabe tough rivalry. Hawks / Kings rivalry is a joke. Time to admit it

 

[Filatov2Kovalev2Bonk]

Yep, I agree with Luigi that some western teams are behind schedule (Jets, Kings Ducks) in adapting to the new, faster NHL. Ottawa is in the same boat here in the east, with Boston on the periphery. East does seem pretty stacked at the moment with Columbus, Washington, Pittsburgh, Tampa, Toronto (on rise, not there yet), Boston all able to do some damage whilst in the west you have Nashville, Vegas, Colorado (on rise, not there yet) and...a general paucity after that.

 

[Kagomeboy]

Yep, I agree with Luigi that some western teams are behind schedule (Jets, Kings Ducks) in adapting to the new, faster NHL. Ottawa is in the same boat here in the east, with Boston on the periphery. East does seem pretty stacked at the moment with Columbus, Washington, Pittsburgh, Tampa, Toronto (on rise, not there yet), Boston all able to do some damage whilst in the west you have Nashville, Vegas, Colorado (on rise, not there yet) and...a general paucity after that.

Wait the Jets are far behind?I think the Jets are more closer to the faster NHL then the Oilers are.

 

[NoShowWilly]

Whatever makes you feel better about your team losing.

 

[Rorschach]

-We all know if the Caps win you, Chicago, and Kings fans and all your chest beating will be gone permanently with your wannabe tough rivalry. Hawks / Kings rivalry is a joke. Time to admit it

No need to be so obvious about your insecurities man.

 

[JianYang]

Yep, I agree with Luigi that some western teams are behind schedule (Jets, Kings Ducks) in adapting to the new, faster NHL. Ottawa is in the same boat here in the east, with Boston on the periphery. East does seem pretty stacked at the moment with Columbus, Washington, Pittsburgh, Tampa, Toronto (on rise, not there yet), Boston all able to do some damage whilst in the west you have Nashville, Vegas, Colorado (on rise, not there yet) and...a general paucity after that.

Winnipeg may be big, but they are not deficient on speed either. They have both, which is what makes them so dangerous. Sure they have a couple guys like laine, and Lowry who are more about size than speed, but there's no speed issues here as a collective unit.

 

[ATLbound]

I like the top of the East (Caps, Pens and Bolts) better then the top of the west (Jets, Preds, knights) but overall the west is still better. Playing the Jackets, Devils, Leafs, Flyers in a first round is pretty nice and a lot easier then playing the Sharks, Kings, Ducks..... East is far more watered down. West is always the tougher road to get to the conference finals and the cup final. Have to pay a much tougher price. LOL to the person saying teams like the Flyers, Leafs, Bruins could stand a chance. Vegas had to beat a fantastic Jets team who beat the cup favourite/ president trophy winning and previous cup finalists Preds. Knights earned it and it is 2-1. Far from over. Washigton is not winnig in 5.

 

[Not So Mighty]

I'll never understand bragging about your entire conference. My team is my team. To hell with the rest of the West and East. I couldn't care less which side is "better".

 

[Alwalys]

Steaming hot turd of a take.

 

[Lawd Stanley]

I think the northern conference is clearly better than the southern conference. No contest really.

 

[Panthaz89]

I would take WPG and NSH over any of Pit, Philly (LOL), Leafs, Bs and Bolts this year Vegas wasnt the favorite out in the west.

that's kinda laughable when Pittsburgh isn't much different than the team that won the cup last season 4-2 against the Preds. If anything they are a bit better its just TB and Washington were also big contenders.

 

[Plub]

Ever since the Hawks and Kings... full of a bunch of prima Donna first timers who become flavor of the month, then the Final comes and you couldn’t melt them down into a pressure situation.

Full credit to the Caps. What they’ve done so far these playoffs is unreal, and they’re a deserving cup champion (yes, I’m assuming they’ve won. There’s literally been nothing in these games that shows me Vegas stands a chance). Between having the stars (Ovi, Kuzy, Backstrom), an incredibly solid D and goalie, and the Trotz System, no one was beating them this year.

However, I honestly believe you could plug half of the Eastern conference into this final and they’d win too. Tampa, The B’s, Penguins, heck even Toronto and I wonder if my Fly Guys could give them a scare.

When will the West win again? Who in that conference even can without the Hawks/Kings on top?

The Flyers wouldn't have a chance. Honestly, they have never impressed me. I'm baffled every year when I see them in the playoffs and I wonder how the hell they keep getting there and they shortly get kicked right out, every year.

 

[kingsholygrail]

Full credit to VGK for getting to the Final, but I think the Jets and Predators (with a competent Renne) would be doing better against the Caps.

Regardless, most of us have been predicting all season that the Knights would soon fold, yet here they are. This series is far from over.

Every season someone says this.

 

[Eat The Rich]

Didn't realize the Stanley Cup Finals was only 3 games. Congrats to the Capitals on their Stanley Cup win!

Caps in 3.

 

[kingsfan28]

-We all know if the Caps win you, Chicago, and Kings fans and all your chest beating will be gone permanently with your wannabe tough rivalry. Hawks / Kings rivalry is a joke. Time to admit it

Really? Lets see, Hawks won , Kings won, Hawks won, Kings won. Both team had to go up against eachother to win the cup. It was a great rivalry for 3 seasons. They were the 2 best teams at the time playing eachother knowing the winner would probably win the cup. How many times did the Caps vs ? play in the ECF in order to win a Cup... oh that's right.

 

[Nasti]

-The West isnt anywhere close to being a top notch conference like Hawks and Kings fans proclaimed. There is zero parity and no one else can win. And they had the benefit of coming out of the West with 2 less teams then the East.

-If the Caps win this year, the Penguins, Caps, Devils, Rangers, Hurricanes all proved they can win a cup. The Islanders and Flyers won a bunch but that is past history. The Central Division looks grossly overrated right now too. And with Chicago in the basement for the forseeable future, it looks like the Metro, huge gap, then anyone's guess. Maybe the Central is the 2nd best division without any contenders.

Uh, Hawks and Kings fans haven’t claimed this in a few years. It’s 2018 now.

 

[Ainec]

Nashville and Winnipeg stack up against anyone in the east. Their goaltending let them down eventually (something caps fans can relate to), and I also wonder how much they took out of each other, and how much that 1 day break between series took its toll.

Under this playoff format, you're more likely to have great teams bow out earlier than usual, and looking ahead to next year, we could very well see this 2nd round matchup again. Just because vegas made it out of the west doesn't mean the conference doesn't have a couple heavyweight contenders.

not sure how you can say it was just goaltending when each of Vegas' line and 5 man unit were slightly better than the Jets. The only exception was Byfuglien being the best D on both team

 

[Classicnamesup]

-The West isnt anywhere close to being a top notch conference like Hawks and Kings fans proclaimed. There is zero parity and no one else can win. And they had the benefit of coming out of the West with 2 less teams then the East.

-If the Caps win this year, the Penguins, Caps, Devils, Rangers, Hurricanes all proved they can win a cup. The Islanders and Flyers won a bunch but that is past history. The Central Division looks grossly overrated right now too. And with Chicago in the basement for the forseeable future, it looks like the Metro, huge gap, then anyone's guess. Maybe the Central is the 2nd best division without any contenders.

Lol never thought I'd see a penguins fan bragging about how good the caps are

As for ancient history, the rags won a cup 24 years ago. Only one of those teams has a won a cup in the last decade. I don't even know what you're trying to prove here but I enjoyed the ride.

 

[Bladerunner]

I like the top of the East (Caps, Pens and Bolts) better then the top of the west (Jets, Preds, knights) but overall the west is still better. Playing the Jackets, Devils, Leafs, Flyers in a first round is pretty nice and a lot easier then playing the Sharks, Kings, Ducks..... East is far more watered down. West is always the tougher road to get to the conference finals and the cup final. Have to pay a much tougher price. LOL to the person saying teams like the Flyers, Leafs, Bruins could stand a chance. Vegas had to beat a fantastic Jets team who beat the cup favourite/ president trophy winning and previous cup finalists Preds. Knights earned it and it is 2-1. Far from over. Washigton is not winnig in 5.

Is that why an expansion* team was able to roll the West 12-3 in the playoffs?

Agree you can't say this the SCF is over, that's obvious. Although Vegas is fortunate it isn't 3-0 Caps based on the refs going blind on the trying 4th goal in game 1. The WC is not still better. There's been a shift in the balance of power the past few years toward the East.

* a very special one w/the best draft in modern NHL history

 

[JLo217]

So if the Capitals win the cup the east is better? Solid logic.

 

[voxel]

West hasn't transitioned particularly well to the faster style of the league. It's still filled with slow big teams. That's part of the reason why Vegas has done so well in the west playoffs, a big speed advantage in every series. That speed advantage is gone in the finals and they look average. West was clearly better from 2005-2015, but the last 3 years have shown a dramatic shift to the east.

This is probably the first year in a while that the West has evened the balance. I think the regular season West vs East record is much closer than in the past.