For various reasons, I only saw the last six minutes or so of last night's tilt between the Vancouver Canucks and Nashville Predators. After Vancouver's rough-shod treatment of the Wings, I began to wonder -- and now I'm almost sure, that Nashville's and Detroit's great records are less about how great those two teams are and more about playing Chicago, St. Louis and Columbus a total of 24 times. It's easy to make 100 points in a season when you can garner (at least on paper) 48 of them from 24 games. I'll have to go back and look at how many points the Wings and Preds got inside their own division, but it's certainly starting to look suspicious.
Just another reason to loathe the post-lockout schedule. Never mind not being able to see all the other teams in your building at least once -- for one or two strong teams in a lopsided division, it renders an impressive end-of-season point total just a little bit hollow. Hey, Gary, it's never to soon to scrap this schedule in favour of something that'll make that point total really reflective of a team's strength relative, not just to teams in their own division, but in the whole league.
Better still, adopt a multiple-table system like that of soccer leagues in most countries. Now that would be interesting. Teams would stay at the highest levels because they deserved to be there, and for no other reason. But it'd be harder to sell TV rights for all the teams.
And that could pose a problem, since for some American teams (even strong ones like the Ducks), TV revenue may be all they can count on. Has anyone seen how empty Anaheim, L.A., Tampa Bay and Phoenix are on a regular basis? It's unreasonable to expect any hockey team to be successful in North America south of the 42nd parallel. The one or two that do (Dallas and San Jose) are aberrations. The rest of them, if they can't make it, should be actively shopped to Northern cities in the US, or even back up to Canada (welcome back, Winnipeg Jets; hello Québec Panthers) where they belong. In the absence of takers shut down to shrink the league back to a high quality 24 or so.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
NHL Northwest Division: Minnesota or Vancouver?
As the 2006/2007 season winds down, I haven't quite forgotten how I thought this season would end: that Vancouver would be where Edmonton is (all but mathematically out). Nor have I forgotten the tension of where Calgary is (a little like where Vancouver was this time last year), playing for their lives, with no assurance that they won't stave off Colorado's late run on eighth in the west.
Who would have thought that the Northwest division title would be within Vancouver's grasp? And so it is, almost. Last night Vancouver used their game-in-hand on Minnesota the way all such games should be used: advantageously, with an outright win. But looking at the rest of Minnesota's schedule and comparing it to the rest of Vancouver's, I think the division title is a dream that will fade away. Minnesota has shown all year that they can beat the teams on ice that paper says they should be able to beat. Hence with all but one date at home, and all but one date against bottom-feeders, their chance of closing out with nothing but wins is relatively high. Vancouver, on the other hand, faces almost nobody but playoff contenders and mixes things up with home and away dates.
Still, not having home advantage might not matter. Since Christmas, of all the teams they might face in the western playoffs, they have beaten all the teams they've met at least once. The last of these is tomorrow night's test when Nashville comes calling. That will be more likely to show how Vancouver stacks up against all the power teams in the west (and actually, I think Nashville and Detroit have better records than they should since they've been playing so many games against Columbus, Chicago and St. Louis).
If the Canucks are burning, we'll have an entertaining spring. If they burn out, there's still the WHL Giants who should at least make it to the Conference final, probably against Everett: two former NHL coaches (Hay and Constantine) playing kids with more passion and skill than either money or cunning/cynicism. Now that's entertaining hockey. Still more, stay tuned for the Memorial Cup -- even if the local big-leaguers disappoint, the local kids almost certainly won't.
Who would have thought that the Northwest division title would be within Vancouver's grasp? And so it is, almost. Last night Vancouver used their game-in-hand on Minnesota the way all such games should be used: advantageously, with an outright win. But looking at the rest of Minnesota's schedule and comparing it to the rest of Vancouver's, I think the division title is a dream that will fade away. Minnesota has shown all year that they can beat the teams on ice that paper says they should be able to beat. Hence with all but one date at home, and all but one date against bottom-feeders, their chance of closing out with nothing but wins is relatively high. Vancouver, on the other hand, faces almost nobody but playoff contenders and mixes things up with home and away dates.
Still, not having home advantage might not matter. Since Christmas, of all the teams they might face in the western playoffs, they have beaten all the teams they've met at least once. The last of these is tomorrow night's test when Nashville comes calling. That will be more likely to show how Vancouver stacks up against all the power teams in the west (and actually, I think Nashville and Detroit have better records than they should since they've been playing so many games against Columbus, Chicago and St. Louis).
If the Canucks are burning, we'll have an entertaining spring. If they burn out, there's still the WHL Giants who should at least make it to the Conference final, probably against Everett: two former NHL coaches (Hay and Constantine) playing kids with more passion and skill than either money or cunning/cynicism. Now that's entertaining hockey. Still more, stay tuned for the Memorial Cup -- even if the local big-leaguers disappoint, the local kids almost certainly won't.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Canucks: Can They Keep It Up?
With Jeff Cowan as leading scorer in the last three games, the Vancouver Canucks look more and more like the real package. Comparing the way they contained and eventually wore down and beat the Tampa Bay Lightning to nights ago, vs. the way the Lightning did the same to Edmonton last night, one can only conclude that the standings are not lying. No more is this the Canuck team of the "West Coast Express" which if you could contain that one line you could beat the team.
Each of the top three lines can and will score, so an opponent can not concentrate their best checking line against only one of the three. Although some power play goals have gone in against the Canucks recently, the penalty kill continues to be at the top of the league.
Brent Sopel and Bryan Smolinsky, the pre-deadline acquisitions are contributing and I hear the young Sopels are already going to Vancouver schools once more, glad to be back. The division leader with the lowest point total may be just under the radar and I begin to expect that the Canucks will surprise opponents all the way to the conference final. Will it be enough to go through to the final? A cup would go a long way to expunging the disapointment under King Richard in the 1982, or the game seven defeat against the Rangers in 1994.
Each of the top three lines can and will score, so an opponent can not concentrate their best checking line against only one of the three. Although some power play goals have gone in against the Canucks recently, the penalty kill continues to be at the top of the league.
Brent Sopel and Bryan Smolinsky, the pre-deadline acquisitions are contributing and I hear the young Sopels are already going to Vancouver schools once more, glad to be back. The division leader with the lowest point total may be just under the radar and I begin to expect that the Canucks will surprise opponents all the way to the conference final. Will it be enough to go through to the final? A cup would go a long way to expunging the disapointment under King Richard in the 1982, or the game seven defeat against the Rangers in 1994.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)