The Central Division's no joke!

[TheBadOne 0]

I know it's only a few games into the season, but there's something I've come to realize about the Central Division this season. Mainly, instead of fending off Nashville for divisional supremacy while the other three teams fight not to end up at the bottom of the league, both Columbus and St. Louis are above .500 and Chicago is at .500.

If this trend continues the press can no longer use "Well, the Wings have so many points because they're in a weak conference" as an excuse for their success. Hell, if the Wings still end up on top, that's just another obstacle the Wings have overcome and shown that they're truly a world-class organization.

Thoughts?

[Hank 0]

I know it's only a few games into the season, but there's something I've come to realize about the Central Division this season. Mainly, instead of fending off Nashville for divisional supremacy while the other three teams fight not to end up at the bottom of the league, both Columbus and St. Louis are above .500 and Chicago is at .500.

If this trend continues the press can no longer use "Well, the Wings have so many points because they're in a weak conference" as an excuse for their success. Hell, if the Wings still end up on top, that's just another obstacle the Wings have overcome and shown that they're truly a world-class organization.

Thoughts?

I agree that the division has gotten better but when you consider how poor it was last year, I don't think it says a whole lot. IMO, it's still the weakest division in the league, but at least it's not the most boring.

However, saying that, for those that say Detroit has a bloated record due to their weak division, all they have to do is look at our travel time.

I'd love to see Philly or Buffalo players do this for a year. Biron had a blog on NHL.com about their 10 day road trip and all he did was ***** about travel and time changes. Suck it up loser! That'll be the only real road trip Philly will take all year and all they can do is complain. Try doing it all year like the Wings.

[FinWing 26]

Gotta love seeing Preds dead last in the division, at least for the time being.

[Winged Scooter 0]

I think the SouthEast division has all the potential in the world to claim the title of the NHL's worst division this year.

[drsingle 0]

Gotta love seeing Preds dead last in the division, at least for the time being.

Well, I don't, but to each his own.

[FinWing 26]

Well, I don't, but to each his own.

Actually I don't even care, just had to throw that in there to mess with you guys.

[arnoldbuck 0]

I have a difficult job out west defending the Red Wings at times because of our division. Even though I have seen a HUGE improvement this year in the central, Everyone out here still credits a ton of our success to the weak division. It'll take some time before we are recognized a competative division. Atleast to have a solid goup make it to the playoffs.

[johnnyoski 0]

I think the SouthEast division has all the potential in the world to claim the title of the NHL's worst division this year.

Absolutely.

And those teams will play Atlanta 8x and inflate their win totals.

Though I do have to say Carolina doesn't look too shabby so far.

[arnoldbuck 0]

Absolutely.

And those teams will play Atlanta 8x and inflate their win totals.

Though I do have to say Carolina doesn't look too shabby so far.

Its one of those things, I'd really like to see the Caps step forward. I know the dont have the same size of a youth core as the Pens. (AO and Semin vs. Sid, Malkin, Staal) And the Pens always seem to come out on top in their games, but I just think a youthful rivalry like that would be good to see.

Plus i'd like to see Ovi hit 60 goals.

[auxlepli 17]

Division foes no longer pushovers

Good article on mlive.com that theses next few games might be just as hard as the west coast trips.

I'm inclined to agree.

Also DetNews reiterates that same point

Stretch against Central looms for Wings

Edited November 6, 2007 by auxlepli

[csdan 0]

Assuming Columbus, St. Louis, and Chicago continue to improve through the season should benefit the Wings when the playoffs roll around, by forcing the Wings to play some games that matter toward the end of the season. But IMO, even with these teams improving, I still think the Wings will run away with the division.

[rick zombo 3,739]

All the central teams have improved. Columbus is the scariest because they have the the type of hot goalie and stingy D that gives Detroit fits.

Plus after years of being violated by Detroit, all these teams will get up for the Red Wings like no other.

These next 9 games will be rough going.

But at least Babcock and company seem to be on the alert.

[VM1138 1,921]

Having a tough division helps in the playoffs, so long as the team doesn't get too banged up. If the WIngs weren't fighting playoff-like games against Nasvhille all last season, I doubt they would have been as prepared for the playoffs as they were.

[eva unit zero 271]

I don't know if this still holds true, but a few days ago I looked at the standings and noticed something;

The Central was the only division where the combined records of teams 2-5 showed more wins than losses...while several divisions displayed records where only one or even no teams in that group had a winning record.

EDIT: It still holds true; no division other than the Central can claim that their #2 to #5 teams have won more than they have lost.

Edited November 6, 2007 by eva unit zero

[Dabura 12,232]

I'm actually really happy for the 'hawks and Jackets.

However, I think some people are overstating and overhyping this "Central turnaround." The absolute best either of these teams could hope for this season (and I suppose this goes for the Blues as well) is to just barely squeak into the postseason and be crushed by the Wings in the first round.