Toughest Division?
With the emphasis on in-division games in the current NHL schedule, much focus is placed on which division is the best or the toughest. Here are a few ways to look at this question:
Most Points: Northeast - 150 points
Second Place: Pacific - 148
These two, along with the Northwest, were expected to be among the top divisions, and the total points seems to support that statement. There are two factors that can increase the total points within a division: strong play in games against teams outside of the division and games within the division going to overtime or shootouts. The scary thing for the Northeast division is that Ottawa, expected to be a top team in the NHL, just managed to get back to 0.500 hockey with their last win.
I also looked at points per game played, in case that made any difference. It did not. Both of these two division were well in the lead, showing that while there is some discrepancy in number of games played, on a per division basis it evens out pretty well.
Smallest Point Value: Northeast & Northwest - 24 points
Third Place - Southeast - 21 points
The Pacific Division falls out of this ranking by having the dreadful Phoenix Coyotes in their basement. Contrast this with Boston and Colorado, each with 24 points, fully 8 points more than the Coyotes. Though neither the Bruins nor the Avalanche have been all-star teams, there are no easy opponents in the Northeast or Northwest like the Coyotes.
Largest Point Value Minus Smallest: Northwest - 4 points
Second Place: Atlantic - 12 points
In this category smaller is stronger, as the spread of points within the Northwest teams is less than 1/6th that of the largest gap, which is not surprisingly in the Pacific Division, where leading Anaheim has a 26 point gap over the Phoenix Coyotes. This is an interesting comparison because of how many games the division teams play against each other. Colorado could catch division leading Edmonton with just two wins!
These were just a few ways in which stats can back up what common sense tells us already. The Pacific Division features three of the very best teams in the West but they certainly benefit from 8 games against the Coyotes, not to mention the Los Angeles Kings. Conversely, in the Northeast and Northwest divisions, or even the Atlantic, the worst teams are much stronger, which both evens out the division and also increases the overall “strength” of the division. In my opinion, the strongest division has to be the Northeast (no, not just because I’m a Leafs fan). Boston has shown tremendous improvements after a rocky start, likely in large part because their free agent signings are starting to gel and develop some chemistry. Ottawa is a much better team than their record so far indicates. Toronto has been inconsistent but has showed they can skate with even the speedy Sabres. Montreal is speedy and so long as one of their goaltenders is hot they will remain as a legitimate threat. Buffalo is dominating the East conference even with an unending stream of injuries. The division has no glaring weaknesses.