Stanley Cup Frontrunners
Contributing to the Power Rankings for USA Today each couple weeks really makes me think about where teams in the NHL are at. These are the left-over thought nuggets from this weeks edition.
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Carolina - In last years playoffs, Bourne’s Blog became a forum for a quality back and forth with some of the Carolina faithful about their team (mostly because I was treating the ‘Canes like I’ve been treating Phoenix this year), and somewhere along the way I got convinced that they weren’t all that bad. It made sense that they wouldn’t be – Eric Staal is worthy of having a team built around him, Cam Ward is one of the best goalies in the NHL, and I thought Paul Maurice was a pretty good coach.
When we did our pre-season predictions, we got some static about the lack of Carolina love. I had debated whether or not to include them, but we were only asked to pick division and conference winners, not playoff teams, so it made no sense to mention them. Playoffs, yes, top team, no.
So what the f**k is going on down there?
And now the two players I mentioned before are hurt? They’re worse than my Isles? The Leafs? Hit that “comment” button ‘Canes fans. Explain yourselves.
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I can’t help but think that there’s about a 20% chance the Cup winner comes out of the Western Conference this year.
Who looks like a Cup threat right now? I mean, you can say the Colorado Avalanche, but you don’t mean that. You’re aware they’re still a “good young team”, right? It’s okay to say that they’re legit. Tons of up-and-coming talent. But I don’t see a whole lot of “crap, I don’t want to play that team in playoffs” on their roster. I do see a whole lot of “crap, I really don’t feel like playing this mid-season game, can someone get a leash on Wolski? Stastny? O’Reilly? Duchene? CAN SOMEONE GET A BELL ON DUCHENE!??”
Name another threat with a straight face right now.
The Sharks?
I’d agree, if they didn’t play in the the Pacific Division, or as it’s better known, the ”try-to-gage-a-team-in-a-division-with-LA-Phoenix-and-Dallas” group. Heatley was a massive pick-up. Fine. He makes them the West’s best hope until Chicago inevitably wakes from it’s slumber. But there’s still something that doesn’t feel right about calling the Sharks a Cup contender. What does it mean that when I picture the Pacific Division, I picture a train going over some old wooden tressel bridge, only nobody knows the wood is rotten beneath? I feel like every passing train (game?) is one closer to the utter collapse of the whole thing. Combine that with a history of playoff failure, and it’s hard to be too sold on the Teal Trainwrecks Titans.
I know you can only beat the teams you play (the Boise State football problem), it’s just tough to tell if they’re actually good, or playing bad opponents. But, they will be a top three seed again, so here’s to hoping that they can break the same mold they built.
How about this: If I were to say “for a thousand dollars, will the Stanley Cup come out of the Western Conference, or the Atlantic Division?” - which one are you picking?
Atlantic Division
| GP | W | L | OT | Pts | GF | GA | Home | Away | L10 | Streak | |
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17 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 24 | 54 | 44 | 5-3-0 | 7-2-0 | 6-4-0 | Lost 2 |
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15 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 22 | 39 | 33 | 3-4-0 | 8-0-0 | 8-2-0 | Won 5 |
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18 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 21 | 56 | 48 | 6-2-0 | 4-5-1 | 3-6-1 | Lost 1 |
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14 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 19 | 52 | 37 | 6-2-1 | 3-2-0 | 6-3-1 | Won 4 |
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17 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 17 | 44 | 50 | 5-2-2 | 1-4-3 | 5-3-2 | Won 1 |
You know what I’d pick? I’d pick to complain that it’s NO WONDER THE ISLES STRUGGLE SO BAD.
This is what makes the NHL playoffs so great. It’s not accurate to gage a team based strictly on their record, since head-to-head is the only undeniable measuring stick for “who’s-better-than-who”. In the ever-popular BCS, strength of schedule is a heavy factory in determining the best teams. Fortunately for us, the NHL has a playoff format, so we actually get to watch the “I wonder who’s actually better” questions play out.
And who’s actually better?
The Stanley Cup Champion Penguins, my friend. That’s not just picking the obvious – at this point in the season, it’s picking correctly.
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And last, I wanted to give a shout-out to the reader who read my USA Today article, found my blog, tracked down my email, then wrote me the following email, which is printed below, unedited:
“you smoke pickle”
And so, I laughed.
I'm a hockey player turned writer. After playing for Alaska Anchorage in the WCHA (NCAA), I carried on with an NHL tryout (New York Islanders in 2007) before spending a couple seasons in the AHL/ECHL (last year was 2008-09). My father, Bob Bourne, won four Stanley Cups with the Islanders in the '80's, as did my fiancee's dad, Clark Gillies. I'm now the web editor for theScore's hockey blog "Backhand Shelf."
