Division most likely to hold, division most like to flip-flop
Every season when the National Hockey League Season begins in October one thing is always immediately apparent: the importance of divisional match-ups. Teams struggle all year against divisional rivals to try and earn the top spot. A division win guarantees a top-three conference finish, and likely home ice advantage for the majority of the post-season.
Next season the make ups of several of the NHL’s divisions are bound to change. Below we will examine which team is most likely to loose their division title to a rival, and who is expected to hold on to their crown.
Most likely to flip-flop – The Northeast
It would not be a stretch to say that the Northeast is the most competitive division in hockey. Last season four out of the five teams in the division make it into the Stanley Cup Play-offs, two of them got as far as the Conference Semi-finals, while one was bounced in the Conference Finals.
Last year the Buffalo Sabres won the division title by a full six points over the Ottawa Senators, behind the Sens the Boston Bruins were three points back, the Montreal Canadiens three points back of them and the Toronto Maple Leafs in the distance, 14 points off Montreal’s pace.
Buffalo played well last season and is certainly capable of doing so again in 2010-11. However, the Bruins look to have improved their line-up, along with the Senators. Last year’s fourth place finisher Montreal decided to more-or-less stand pat this off-season, while the Leafs have definitely improved their squad.
Buffalo will be challenged all year by the Bruins and the Senators who have done a great deal to make their squads more competitive. The Sens have brought in a number of defencemen that should help bolster their blue line. While the Bruins seemed to finally come together as a team at the end of last season, after spending much of the year underachieving. Their youth seems to have blossomed, and they are incredibly deep at forward after addressing their scoring woes by bringing in hard-nosed winger Nathan Horton.
Making the task incredibly difficult for the Sabres is the fact that since Northeast Divisions inception 10 years ago no team has ever captured the title two seasons in a row.
The Bruins look to be the class of the Northeast this season. They looked unbeatable in beginning of the play-offs last year, dusting Buffalo aside before losing 4-3 in the following series to the Flyers, after leading 3-0.
Most likely to stand pat – Southeast
The Washington Capitals can almost be guaranteed the Southeast division. The Caps have an outstanding offensive line up that could compete in any division, but it help that they are in perhaps the worst of the entire league.
Last year the Capitals finished a full 38 points above the next closest divisional rival. Furthermore, Washington went on to win the conference and the Presidents Trophy with the most points of any team on the season.
Although one could argue that the Atlanta Thrasher and Tampa Bay Lighting have improved, it would be difficult to convince any hockey fan that they are now better than Washington.
The Capitals were a full plus-85 in goal-differential last season and only lost five games at home in regulation. Moreover, the Caps lost only five games to the entire Southeast Division last year, and only three of them were in regulation.
There is no doubt that the Capitals will be challenged more by their division next year, especially after many of the teams have made positive changes. Nevertheless Washington’s skill still far outweighs the competition in what is the NHL’s most uneven group of five.
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