Who Will Win the Pacific?

[thaman8765678]

Pretty bad division this year but someone has to win:

-Canucks a few points up but rely heavily on their goalie.
-Oilers have a big injury to deal with, Draisatl will need to carry them next few weeks.
-Flames are the most inconsistent team in the league and you never know which team will show up night to night.
-Vegas looks good on paper but have had their struggles this year.

Who wins the division this year?

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[Llamamoto]

It's not an awful division. No great teams but solid depth. I think they occupy both wild card spots.

 

[HanSolo]

Probably one of the Canadian teams. Vegas has been maddeningly inconsistent. Their five man defensive system evaporated under the now fired coach that started it and that has exposed the fact that they only have two good defenseman (Theodore and Schmidt); one passable one who has some big time defensive plays one moment then stupid penalties and blown coverage the next (McNabb); three veterans that range from passable to disastrous on a nightly basis but basically every game at least one of them is a disaster (Engelland, Merrill, Holden); and two rookies that get cycled in who show great promise for the future but still have inconsistency based on inexperience (Hague, Whitecloud).

Combine that with Fleury being out of form since his father's death, Vegas bouncing back and forth between snakebitten and strong offensively generally with the former happening against key matchups and its been rough sailing for Vegas this year.

They still have a little time to put it together and maybe make a stopgap trade for the blueline while Whitecloud, Hague, and Coghlan get closer to being solid NHL blueliners. But they're running out of racetrack to start playing to their potential. The win against the Blues was a decent start but there were a lot of defensive issues in that one.

 

[Hockey4Lyfe]

Can you ask this after the deadline? Can see every single one of them pulling off a trade to bolster their teams.

Vegas lands a solid Dman or Canucks a scoring forward and I’d put my money on one of those two.

 

[Kranix]

A mediocre club

 

[member 305909]

It's a delicious situation there. Any of the top five teams can win the division or miss the play-offs as there may not be five teams making the playoffs from the Pacific.

 

[mouz135]

Heaven forbid Vancouver has a good goalie who wins them games. Isn’t that the exact job description?

 

[Three On Zero]

Such a terrible division, it’s really up for grabs. I still put my money on Vegas pulling up their socks and taking the division.

Vancouver isn’t consistent and relies heavily on Markstrom
Edmonton relies solely on two players to be the entire team
Calgary has been poor, but has potential if they turn it around
Vegas is playing worse than anyone predicted and are still the best in the division on paper

 

[member 305909]

That's why the first round of the playoffs should be interdivisional. None of the teams in the Pacific is worthy of being a conference-finalist but with the present system one of tbem will be.

 

[StreetHawk]

It's not an awful division. No great teams but solid depth. I think they occupy both wild card spots.

As a Canucks fan the division is weak. No top team and the 3 worst teams in the west are all in the division. Yet the division holds down 5/8 playoff positions in the West. Central division minus the Blues hasn’t been as good this year. Nash and Win took big steps back. Chi and Min about where you’d expect in the WC mix but still on the outside.

 

[DirtDiver]

I will reserve my vote until after the trade dead line. But if I have to choose now its the team that picks up the biggest addition at the tdl.

 

[Duffalufagus]

Flames fan here. If I had to bet I’d go with Vegas.

 

[EchoesoftheEighties]

IMO Vancouver is the best team top to bottom

 

[WetcoastOrca]

Agreed that Canucks rely heavily on their goalie but why is having your goalie be your top player a bad thing? What’s the difference between that and the Oilers relying heavily on McDavid? EP, Miller and Hughes also have been key players for the Canucks. And Demko has filled in well when Markstrom has been absent for personal reasons.


The Division lacks a true top contending team but has four good teams in. Having said that, I think all of the teams with a shot of winning the Division are in that second tier behind the top 5 or so true contenders. Canucks with a slight advantage because they are ahead in points.

 

[member 305909]

I believe Winnipeg will make it to the play-offs thus denying the Pacific one wild card-spot.

 

[Bounces R Way]

Should really just defer it until next year.

 

[dKs89]

It's a delicious situation there. Any of the top five teams can win the division or miss the play-offs as there may not be five teams making the playoffs from the Pacific.

Pretty confident the Coyotes who have won 3 of their last 15 games, have no centres to speak of, starting goalie injured, and are 5 points back of the leading Canucks with the Canucks having 2 games in hand are not winning the division. Think they’re more worried about actually making the playoffs.

As far as other takes...It’s bizarre how the Pacific is labeled as weak despite holding 5/8 playoff spots and the Central just flies under the radar. Nah the Central with only the 3 divisional playoff spots is doing just fine but damn that Pacific holding 5 is just awful!

The Canucks are only 5 points back of the Blues. Their isn’t some huge divide between the top of the divisions as some suggest. They have the same number of wins for Christ sakes. The difference is 5 loser points.

To answer the threads question. The Canucks have the best goaltending and best goal scoring in the division, along with already leading the division and have been leading it for a bit now, so my bet is with them. Helps that McDavid is out for a few weeks.

 

[aufheben]

I've looked at three different point projections, and they all have Vegas and Vancouver finishing 1st or 2nd. I'll say Vegas since they are trending heavily in the right direction, whereas Vancouver is going in the complete opposite. Vancouver's play has completely fallen off a cliff after the first month of the season.

 

[CherryToke]

More proof that Markstrom is elite

 

[CraigsList]

All of them are inconsistent.

Vegas has a new team every game (new coach)

McDavid is our for a few weeks

Giordano out a few weeks

AZ doing AZ things

Vancouver looks to have the advantage. Markstrom is playing amazing.

But, I think the Alberta teams love to go on their winning streaks so really I don’t know.

I’d go with Vancouver.

 

[SJSharksfan39]

Since the Sharks suck, I think I am rooting for either Vancouver or Arizona. Vancouver is a fun team to watch, and Arizona just to piss off the NHL pundits.

 

[Magic Mittens]

Pretty confident the Coyotes who have won 3 of their last 15 games, have no centres to speak of, starting goalie injured, and are 5 points back of the leading Canucks with the Canucks having 2 games in hand are not winning the division. Think they’re more worried about actually making the playoffs.

As far as other takes...It’s bizarre how the Pacific is labeled as weak despite holding 5/8 playoff spots and the Central just flies under the radar. Nah the Central with only the 3 divisional playoff spots is doing just fine but damn that Pacific holding 5 is just awful!

The Canucks are only 5 points back of the Blues. Their isn’t some huge divide between the top of the divisions as some suggest. They have the same number of wins for Christ sakes. The difference is 5 loser points.

To answer the threads question. The Canucks have the best goaltending and best goal scoring in the division, along with already leading the division and have been leading it for a bit now, so my bet is with them. Helps that McDavid is out for a few weeks.

To be fair look at the games played of the Central teams outside of the playoffs, IF Nashville and Winnipeg won there games in hand they would knock both CGY and ARI out. Also all the Central teams could also pass ARI making the four bottom teams from the west all from the Pacific. Safe to say the Central is stronger

For the OP’s question, I’d go with the Canucks to take the Division

 

[BCNate]

That's why the first round of the playoffs should be interdivisional. None of the teams in the Pacific is worthy of being a conference-finalist but with the present system one of tbem will be.

You act like Dallas and Colorado are powerhouse teams. The only elite team in the conference is stl. After the blues, the next 5 or 6 teams are pretty even, with a slight edge to the stars and avs.

 

[BCNate]

I've looked at three different point projections, and they all have Vegas and Vancouver finishing 1st or 2nd. I'll say Vegas since they are trending heavily in the right direction, whereas Vancouver is going in the complete opposite. Vancouver's play has completely fallen off a cliff after the first month of the season.

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Canucks are 6th in the league since the new year, which cliff did they fall off?

 

[aufheben]

Canucks are 6th in the league since the new year, which cliff did they fall off?

Canucks fans have told me themselves that the team has played poorly since October.