Posts Tagged ‘western conference’

Western Conference NHL News and Notes

October 28th, 2010 by Nick | Comments Off | Filed in NHL News

The three western conference teams have had very different starts this season. Calgary has burst of of the gate and leads their division and is only 1 point back of Nashville for best team in the west. Vancouver didn’t get off to the best start but has recently started to build momentum, and Edmonton quickly won its first two games only to lose its next five. Here is a more in depth look at all three

Calgary Flames (6-3-0) – Calgary has burst out of the gate this season and sits second in the Western Conference with 12 points. After an embarrassing opening night performance against the Edmonton Oilers where they lost 4-0, Calgary has picked up their play, defeating the western conference leading Nashville Predators in overtime, as well as big wins over conference powerhouses San Jose and Los Angeles.

The key to Calgary`s strong early play can be found between the pipes as Mikka Kiprusoff is having a great start to the season, he has a 2.35 GAA and .916 SV% and 2 SO. The strong play of Kiprusoff has not been the only surprise for the Flames, late signing Brendan Morrison leads the team in points with 9 (3G, 6A, +4) in 9 games and Rene Bourque is hot on his heels with 8 points (6G, 2A, +1). But the surprising starts of Bourque and Morrison have been offset by disappointing starts from Olli Jokinen and Jarome Iginla. Neither has played well for long periods this season and only have 9 points between them (2G, 4A for Iginla, and 0G, 3A for Jokinen).

Calgary has had good early penalty killing, they are 6th best in the league allowing only four goals on 35 opposition opportunities. The same cannot be said of their powerplay which is only 5 for 42 and 22nd in the league. Calgary looks strong early and if they can continue to play this way they will surely make the playoffs, but they need to get more scoring from their best players and continue to get great goaltending.

Vancouver Canucks (4-3-2) – Expectations were high heading into the season for the Canucks, who added secondary scoring help in Raffi Torres and stud defensemen Dan Hamhuis, but a slow start that saw them lose 3 of their first 4 games brought their fan base back to reality. Since then they have won 3 of their last 5 and currently sit 9th in the Western Conference.

The key to the success in Vancouver rests on three players, the Sedins and Roberto Luongo. Both Henrik and Daniel have started off strong offensively this season, with both in double digit point totals, Daniel has 12 (7G, 5A, 0+/-) and Henrik has 11 (0G, 11A, -1). The problem is not that they are getting points, they will always get points, the problem is that they are also out for a lot of goals against, and need to improve their defensive play. Luongo has not got off to a great start this season at all, he has a 2.93 GAA and a .907 SV%. In his seven games started this season he is 2-3-2 with no shut outs. Fans should not worry as this is traditional Luongo and with the capable back-up Cory Schneider providing him with more rest then he has had in past seasons look for Luongo to return to form soon.

With Alex Burrows (35 goals last season) due back soon for the Canucks, the pressure on the Sedins to produce will be lessened and their defensive play will improve. With strong early play from the Sedins, as well as defensemen Alex Edler and Christian Ehrhoff look for Vancouver to start rounding into form and start to win more games. As always Vancouver will most likely look to be at or near the top of the western conference all season.

Edmonton Oilers (2-4-1) – Before this season began Oiler fans knew it was going to be a long year with the young squad they were icing and the early season results have only solidified those thoughts. After winning the first two games highlighted by stellar play from their young players, it has all been downhill from there as they have lost their last 5 games.

They have not been strong defensively this season, giving up four goals or more in their last 5 games. Their bad defensive play has been most obvious on their league worse Penalty killing unit, which has allowed 11 goals on only 32 opportunities. Their leading scorer is Ryan Whitney who has 8 assists and no goals, and he is followed by Ales Hemsky and Jordan Eberle both with 5 points (3G, 2A for both, with Hemsky being a +2 and Eberle a +1). Young Taylor Hall has had a rough start to the season registering only 1 assist and a -4 through the first 7 games; he has had his opportunities but has been unable to convert on them so far. Rookie Jordan Eberle on the other hand has been impressive and has made the transition from junior to the NHL look seamless.

Its going to be a long season for the Oilers, and barring a miracle they most likely won’t have much of a shot at the playoffs. This season will be a rebuilding one, with fans looking towards how much their young players improve over the year and not how many wins the team gets.

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How The West Will Be Won

February 8th, 2009 by Brent | Comments Off | Filed in Opinion

Standings don’t get any tighter than the way it is in the Western Conference right now. The Minnesota Wild are currently hanging on to the last playoff spot with 55 points, but are in a 3-way tie with Edmonton and Columbus. Dead last in the West? St. Louis with 50, count ‘em, 50 points. The difference between 5th and 15th is a mere 9 points.  You may remember an article TSN had on January 21, talking about Phoenix being 5th, and how they will be top contenders the rest of the way. Now, barely 3 weeks since the posting of that article the Coyotes sit 13th. Remember when we all thought Dallas was down and out? Well, since the Avery feud the Stars have rebounded with a 17-8-3 record and find themselves right back in the playoff picture.

Things certainly change quickly in the West. Does it have to do with the East playing the West more often, because of the re-worked schedule? The West seems to be taking points away from Eastern conference teams, making things very tight.

I’m interested in seeing how this plays into the upcoming trade deadline. Teams may think they are close and are still in it, but the reality is, 8 teams from the east make it, and 8 teams from the west make it. I have a hunch that Western teams may choose to bulk up on the deadline, and legitimate tanking teams like the New York Islanders and the Leafs will clean up. More buyers means a higher price for players like Doug Weight, Bill Guerin, and Nik Antropov. Brian Burke must be licking his lips in anticipation.

Who are the legitimate contenders in the West, and who do I see falling out of contention shortly after the deadline? If Steve Mason can return from his bout with Mononucleosis (and from what I’ve heard, it can zap the energy from even the healthiest of people) Columbus certainly stick around until the end. I think Anaheim is in there for good. They have battled through injuries the entire year, and have really come together as a team these past few weeks. Jonas Hiller is looking like one of the best signings Brian Burke has ever made. LA, believe it or not, is picking up steam. With shooters like Oscar Moller, and Anze Kopitar, young stud Drew Doughty on defence and an acrobatic Jonathan Quick backstopping them, I can see them turning a few heads. I don’t believe that Nashville has the horses to pull off a comeback, and Colorado simply doesn’t have the goaltending.

With that all said, only 2 teams that were out of the playoffs at the All-Star break last year were in the playoffs at the end of the year. Washington and their miraculous stretch of games at the end was one of them, so it will take an effort similar to that to make it in.

It will be an interesting few weeks indeed, and I’m really looking forward to it. I apologize for the lack of podcasts lately, but school has been very hectic, especially on Thursdays when we are supposed to do the podcast. I promise that Andy and I will drag ourselves to the studio sooner or later, and we’ll get one done before the trade deadline. We will have a trade deadline recap show for sure.

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