Bluelines: Who'll Win the Cup – The NHL's East or West?

It may appear that the next Stanley Cup champion will come from the East. But, then again, the defending titlists are from the West.

So, which half of the NHL is better? My two studious experts have a keen difference of opinion. Out of Seattle, Glenn Dreyfuss says it’s the West. In The Big Apple, Sean McCaffrey picks the other side. Let’s see who wins this year.

“I claim it’s the west,” Dreyfuss asserts. “So what if the top six teams are in the East? It merely means that two will be knocked out in the first round. And by the time the war of attrition reaches the Eastern Conference final, I pity the one team standing. Actually, they may not be standing but wobbling, punch-drunk from the brutal battle to reach the final.

“That will leave the East winner tenderized for devouring by any number of worthy West reps. It could be the Avs because “been there, done that,” Winnipeg because of Vezina candidate Connor Hellebuyck (50 saves in beating the Rangers on Monday), or Dallas because they’re better than they’re playing right now.

“There’s no ignoring Vegas, which started February with five straight wins, nor Edmonton, because of McDavid and Draisaitl or, for that matter, Los Angeles and Seattle, because no one can convince them they’re not supposed to be doing this well.

Put those facts altogether, and you get what? The Stanley Cup is staying in the same time zone.

“No, no and no,” McCaffrey argues. “The facts on the ice point to the East winning. Here’s fact one: there’s a reason why five of the top six teams projected to win the 2023 Stanley Cup reside in the East.

“Look no farther than the Lightning. Or, I’ll go one better, the Rangers. If either team was moved to the West, it would currently be on top of that Conference.

While the Stars and Golden Knights jockey over the first seed in the West, teams such as the Bruins, Leafs, Lightning, Hurricanes, Devils and Rangers have amassed higher win totals and better point percentages.

“And due to injuries, even last year’s super-team, perhaps the best of the hard cap era, the Avalanche, are struggling. The Eastern Conference has turned into an arms race, where there will be several credible Cup contenders eliminated in the first round, while inferior teams out West will advance during the best tournament in sports.

“Granted, whoever comes out of the West will be fresher than the one which survives the East. But that won’t matter much. The East’s rep will emerge more battle-tested for the final. That – among my other reasons – is why I believe that the Cup will return to the East. Amen!”

(The Maven’s Opinion: See me around the second week in June.)

As if Boston (44-8-5) isn’t dominant enough, GM Don Sweeney has turned his Beantowners into Meantowners. 

Obtained from the Caps, Dmitry Orlov is a reliable shutdown D-man who can score. The other ex-Cap, Garnet Hathaway, gives coach Jim Montgomery right-wing depth. The sum has virtually ensured Boston will enter the playoffs as the favorite to dethrone Colorado. But that’s about as far as the B’s will go. The Maven says that Boston’s regular-season excellence guarantees nothing in the post-season. Zilch! 

Here’s Exhibit A:

During the 1944-45 season, Montreal finished first with a stunning mark of 38-8-4 for 80 points. In the first playoff round, third-place Toronto (24-22-4) – 28 points behind the Habs – knocked off the Canadiens in six games. 

The Maven predicts – come playoff time – that the behemoth Bruins will turn into Humpty Dumpty on skates and have a great fall. Could be as soon as the first round.

(All signs indicate that a white flag will soon be unfurled over Capital One Arena!)

*Yikes! The Trade Deadline is just a week away, and Jakob Chychrun is getting rustier by the day as a healthy scratch.

*And, pray tell, if Kyle Dubas was smart enough to swipe Ryan O’Reilly from St. Louis, you can’t tell me that Ken Holland can’t figure a deal for Chychrun.

*Let’s not kid ourselves, King McDavid has as much say in navigating the Oilers as his GM. I wonder if McDavid is itchin’ for a Chychrun.

*On the assumption that the Flames continue imitating a rudderless plane, the real melodrama will be who in the high command gets axed?

*Something tells me it won’t be Darryl Sutter. (And it wasn’t Brent or Duane who told me.)

*If Milan Lucic is around next season, it tells me he has the best agent in captivity since the great Mark Gandler.

*Considering that the Canadiens are within swimming distance of the .500 mark, that tells me what we already knew – Marty St-Louis can coach.

*The decline and fall of Jacob Markstrom as a Flames goalie suggest that he’s never recovered from the post-season collapse against the Oilers.

* I feel sad for Jonathan Toews. Hopefully, there’s still more hockey left in Chicago’s captain. (One this for sure – he won’t be traded.)

*As for Patrick Kane, sorry to say, but he’s still unable to catch Chychrun in the Grand Rumor Race. (But it’s close.)

*Cale Makar’s injury is turning the Norris Trophy stakes into something as unpredictable as the Eastern Conference wild-card race.

The Syracuse Crunch set the standard for how an AHL franchise should be run. Full credit to its vibrant, creative and indefatigable owner Howard Dolgon. As boss of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s premiere development franchise, Howard addressed a number of questions in the following email interview lightly edited for clarity:

Pretty much unrecognizable. When the Crunch entered the league in 1994, there were 16 teams (we were admitted as 17, and a new Springfield team was approved a few minutes later to make it 18). The league was geographically based in the Northeast and eastern Canada. Of those 18 markets, only five exist with teams today – Syracuse, Rochester, Hershey, Springfield and Providence. 

In 1994, Andrews became AHL president and, throughout his tenure, guided us through unprecedented growth and stability. He thoroughly vetted potential owners and markets, absorbed strong franchises from the now-defunct IHL, created a Pacific division to accommodate the NHL’s western-based teams and got our league to the same number of franchises (32) as the NHL. You’d be challenged to find a better sports executive than Andrews. He ran our league with a vision and passion and was never afraid to lean on owners for advice and guidance. The AHL’s hockey product is the second best in the world, and the excitement of our games provides the highest quality of product for our fans.

To say we’ve learned a lot in our 29 seasons of existence would be an understatement. We understand that our primary hockey role is to develop future players for the Lightning. And no one is more proud than we are when watching former Crunch players like Nikita Kucherov, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Brayden Point, Yanni Gourde, Alex Killorn and others lift the Stanley Cup in two of the last three seasons. It’s important for us to create the best and most comfortable environment for the players. When new players arrive, we make sure that their acclimation is easy and that we are always available to the players and their families for whatever needs might arrive throughout the season. The Lightning spare nothing when it comes to the quality of coaches, trainers, equipment managers, massage therapists, sports psychologists, etc. A player in Syracuse gets the same quality treatment as he does when competing for Tampa, except the climate’s a bit warmer in Florida.

It’s important to have regular dialogue with your NHL partners. I’m a four-hour car ride from Tampa, so I get to Lightning games every four to five weeks and get to spend time with the hockey folks as well as the executives who run the business side as we try to market our brands cohesively. And there’s probably not a Crunch game all season where a Lightning hockey staffer (scout or general manager) isn’t in attendance.

I’ve known Lightning GM Julien BriseBois since he was an AGM with the Canadiens before taking that same role in Tampa and then succeeding Steve Yzerman as GM and leading the Bolts to two consecutive Cups. We’ve got a great business relationship but maybe an even better personal one. So when we speak, it’s not always about hockey. Sometimes it’s about our kids, what we are watching on Netflix these days, combat sports, etc.

Mathieu Darche, one of the assistant GMs, was a player in Syracuse for three years when we were affiliated with Columbus, and I remember spending hours on bus road trips talking sports marketing with him. I knew he was a real bright guy with an infectious personality, and there’s no doubt that he’ll be running an NHL franchise in the not-too-distant future. Stacy Roest, another AGM for Tampa, runs the hockey operation in Syracuse on a day-to-day basis, so we speak regularly, and he keeps me updated on all player moves. When he’s not travelling and evaluating players, he’s around our team, and that’s important to our players and staff.

First, I’d tell them that their life is about to get more exciting, which is great because there is nothing better than being part of the hockey world, and it’s important to enjoy the journey. But right after that statement, I’d tell them it’s time to get down to business. And that means establishing a trust and transparent dialogue with their NHL partner, building a staff that is focused on growing their brand, creating a solid partnership with the local government and community and then, perhaps most importantly, staging a product that – win or lose – will have their fan base yearning for more. It’s a work in progress. It has been that way with the Crunch for 29 seasons and will continue as we strive to be better every day.

BIG QUESTION: If the Rangers get Patrick Kane, will that make them better than the Bruins?

BIG ANSWER: Yes.