Realignment boosts the Wings and Jackets, who cut their teeth in the superior West, and grounds the Jets, who had it easy in the East
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Beauty And The East - Sep. 1, 2013 – Ken Campbell
WHEN THE NHL AND ITS PLAYERS FINALLY came up with a mutually agreeable realignment plan, Winnipeg Jets chairman and governor Mark Chipman could hardly contain his enthusiasm. He said the Jets were “very, very supportive” of moving into a conference of western teams. And any time someone uses the word “very” twice, you know he means business.
We’ll have to check with Chipman later to see if he’s still gungho on playing teams more often that have historically knocked the stuffing out of his franchise. It might be a rough go if you’re a Jets fan. For a while, the only good thing about watching the Jets could be getting to see them lose in your own time zone. We won’t blame you if you soon pine for the good old days of the Southeast Division.
We’re not saying the West is better than the East – no, wait a minute, that’s exactly what we’re saying, even with Detroit moving to the east – but consider this: the Jets finished the truncated 2012-13 with 51 points, which would have given them 87 over an 82-game season. Care to take a guess how many times the Jets/Atlanta Thrashers have finished with more points than that in their 13-season history? Twice, including the glory year of 2006-07 when they finished with 97 points before being swept by the New York Rangers in the first round. And do you care to guess what made last season, their best in the past six, unique? Well, for starters, they had a steady diet of Eastern Conference teams without playing a Western Conference team once.
In the five seasons preceding 2012-13, the Jets/Thrashers have a dismal record of 35-39-8 against their new western brethren. In all but one of those years, they have been within one game of .500, which means Jets fans can probably look forward to their team playing an artificially propped up .500 against the western teams this season. That won’t be good enough for a playoff spot.
On the flip side, the Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets have to be thrilled. They’ll be playing the majority of their games in their own time zone and padding their record by beating up on patsies. Yes, we said that about the Columbus Blue Jackets, and the numbers back us up. Over the five seasons prior to 2012-13, the Blue Jackets have racked up an impressive record of 44-26-12 against the Eastern Conference teams. That’s 100 points in 82 games. In fact, you could argue during the Blue Jackets’ glory year of 2008-09, when they made the playoffs with 92 points before being swept by the Red Wings, that they wouldn’t have even qualified had they not had a feast on the East. The Blue Jackets were 13-3-2 against Eastern Conference teams that season and just 28-28-8 against the West.
Things have been even more delightful for the Red Wings, who compiled a 50-24-8 mark against Eastern Conference teams in the five seasons prior to the last one. One shudders to think how good the Red Wings will be with reinforcements this season, playing against eastern teams and shedding one of the league’s worst travel schedules. The resurgence of the Red Wings back to the NHL’s elite may have more to do with their geographical conference shift than any improvements they’ve made on the ice.
Clearly, this new setup, which is guaranteed for at least three seasons, is going to take adjustment for everybody. For one, a team in the West that wouldn’t have made the playoffs previously should make it now and a team in the East that made the playoffs previously should end up on the outside looking in. The top three teams in each of the four divisions are guaranteed a playoff spot, with the next two in the East and the West gaining wildcard spots.
Now using the point totals from each team and applying it to this playoff format, here are anomalies we discovered over the past five seasons: Minnesota and Nashville would have made the playoffs and the Rangers and Blue Jackets would have missed in 2008-09; St. Louis would have qualified and Montreal (who went to the conference final) would have missed in ’09-10; Dallas would have been in the playoffs and the Rangers would have missed again in ’10-11; Calgary would have qualified and Ottawa would have been ousted in 2011-12; and Winnipeg would have made it and the Islanders would have missed last season. (Funny how the only year the Jets would have made the playoffs in the West was the season they didn’t play any teams from there, eh?)
Other than that, things didn’t change much. And they probably won’t for the Jets. The Blue Jackets, though, might want to get that “we-made-the-playoffs” parade route ready…
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