A Change In The West

Overall, the NHL’s Eastern Conference is the same as last year. Teams that have been dominant for the past few years have done so and vice versa for the weaker clubs. Of course, there are the exceptions of the Boston Bruins’ meritocracy, and the New York Islanders’ surprising 40 points in the standings. However, the real changes are in the Western Conference. An abundance of teams are both under performing severely, and greatly exceeded expectations. These teams currently have a comfortable lead in the playoffs, or are the laughing stocks of the league.

  Vancouver Canucks: After about a third of the way through the season, the Canucks sit in second place in the Pacific division. Going 7-3 in October, they got off to an unexpected well start. Vancouver has had a few off years after almost winning the Cup in 2011. Last year’s season resulted in a trade that sent their star but fading goalie Roberto Luongo to the Florida Panthers. In addition to this, the organization also fired their one-year head coach John Tortorella due to dislike among the organization and fan base. However, this year they acquired free agent goalie Ryan Miller. So far, Miller has a 16-7-0 record with a 2.69 goals against average. Daniel and Henrik Sedin both lead the team in points at 26. Their offense, while not consistent can be explosive at times. Even though the Canucks are the losers of four straight, they are still doing better than most expected.

  Calgary Flames: Arguably the biggest surprise for a quality team this year is the Calgary Flames. They have not qualified for the playoffs since the 2008-2009 season, and have not gotten past the Quarterfinal Round since losing to the Lightning in the 2004 Stanley Cup Final. In the off season, they lost one of their best players in Mike Cammalleri to free agency, signing with the New Jersey Devils. Despite this, defenseman Mark Giordano has stepped up as the leading scorer of the Flames with 8 goals and 22 assists. The goaltender job was been virtually split between Karri Ramo 8-4-1, and Jonas Hiller 9-8-1. The Flames currently rank 15^th in the NHL in goals against at 2.6. Calgary is tied for the Wild Card spot along with the Kings and Jets at this point. Compared to their last decade of play, the Flames are heading in the right direction.

  Colorado Avalanche: Last year, the Avalanche went from having the first pick in the NHL, to the second best record in the Western Conference. This was due in part by break-out star Matt Duchene, and star goaltending by Vezna Finalist Semyon Varlamov. Avalanche legend Patrick Roy joined as the head coach, and even started a trend of pulling your goalie as early as five minutes left in the 3^rd period when down. The Avalanche would eventually surprisingly lose to the Minnesota in the first round. However, this year they have been dismal. Colorado is tied for last place in the Central with the Dallas Stars, another team that had hoped to take the next step. The Avalanche rank 21^st in goals for with 2.5, and 26^th in goals against at 3.2. Last year’s Vezna Trophy Finalist is now losing the starting job to Calvin Pickard. This all coming from a team that had expectations of nothing less than a Stanley Cup.