Vladifan 680 Report post Posted January 4, 2011 (edited) After watching our games with the Devils and Flyers, I'm wondering if Western Conference dominance is not just wishful thinking and parity is becoming the reality. Or maybe it's true that the Wings just had two off games. Thoughts? Edited January 4, 2011 by Vladifan Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest mindfly Report post Posted January 4, 2011 (edited) Wings don't play eastern teams hard enough, simply because they aren't in the same conference fighting for the same spots...Wings are 1-2-1 against the east this year right? win against the turrible devils, loss against atlanta, flyers, ot loss to islanders? Edit: forgot about montreal win. 2-2-1 Edited January 4, 2011 by mindfly Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Xitium 272 Report post Posted January 4, 2011 The East does not hold the #1 spot. The East holds the worst two teams in the league, by FAR and six of the bottom seven in the league. In the West you have the 12 place Coyotes 8 points behind the 3rd place Stars and the defending Cup champs are currently out of the playoffs. It's not even close, truthfully. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Heroes of Hockeytown 694 Report post Posted January 4, 2011 The Wings played a bunch of games against a bunch of teams over a random sampling of the season. If you picked any other five games you could very well get the same 2-2-1 result. I don't think it means anything about anything. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Din758 371 Report post Posted January 4, 2011 i think we struggle against east teams because we dont play them enough to get a good plan set up. i understand this works both ways, but other teams have the tendency to get up when they play us because its so rare. thats why NYI keeps beating us. its tough to play with a target on your back day in and day out. 1 Vladifan reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest mindfly Report post Posted January 4, 2011 (edited) i think we struggle against east teams because we dont play them enough to get a good plan set up. i understand this works both ways, but other teams have the tendency to get up when they play us because its so rare. thats why NYI keeps beating us. its tough to play with a target on your back day in and day out. Still feels like detroit's got a greater target on them from every team compared to the hawks, who are the current champs... Edited January 4, 2011 by mindfly Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
titanium2 867 Report post Posted January 4, 2011 I'm not so sure about the whole whoever comes out of the west will beat the east because of how competitive the west is idea. It's a long season and teams in the west can definitely get worn out from beating on each other all the time. 1 Vladifan reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vladifan 680 Report post Posted January 4, 2011 Honestly, I hope I'm over-reacting. I appreciate the comparisons made between the two conferences. Problem is, I can't always tell if any team that beats our Wings is that much better, or if our guys just weren't up to par...even though sometimes it's pretty obvious when our guys let down. And I want to think they're NOT being intimidated. And with Cleary and Datsyuk out that indeed could make a difference. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Howard He Do It?! Report post Posted January 4, 2011 I think the West is still the stronger conference but the East is making strides and is not as far back as they once were. 1 Vladifan reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GMRwings1983 8,794 Report post Posted January 4, 2011 The West is not better. There's as many serious Cup contenders in the East as in the West. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest mindfly Report post Posted January 4, 2011 (edited) The West is not better. There's as many serious Cup contenders in the East as in the West. I usually agree with you but no team in the east is as good as vancouver atm, and i think wings fully-healthy and playing like they can is better than pittsburgh, washington, philly... Besides, who think crosby would get 100pts+ every season playing for the ducks for example with the traveling, hard-nosed defense in the west where he won't be able to put all his effort on offense, i think he would be injured more, too, not just from the play but from fatigue and stuff, stress/overloading injuries. Edited January 4, 2011 by mindfly 1 Vladifan reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Original-Six 254 Report post Posted January 4, 2011 (edited) The top 3-4 teams in the east are comparable to the top 3-4 in the west after that the west has the advantage. From top to bottom the west is a superior conference, but we are really starting to see the salary cap level the playing field. Edited January 4, 2011 by Original-Six Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Din758 371 Report post Posted January 4, 2011 Agreed. League parity with the salary cap has created a handful of contenders in both conferences. Personally I'm hoping the Wings face either the Canadiens, or the Bruins for the i would def not want to play in the finals vs tim thomas or carey price. both of those goalies are able to stand on their head and juggle bowling balls with their feet when theyre in the zone. sounds like another js gigure nightmare... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GMRwings1983 8,794 Report post Posted January 4, 2011 I usually agree with you but no team in the east is as good as vancouver atm, and i think wings fully-healthy and playing like they can is better than pittsburgh, washington, philly... Besides, who think crosby would get 100pts+ every season playing for the ducks for example with the traveling, hard-nosed defense in the west where he won't be able to put all his effort on offense, i think he would be injured more, too, not just from the play but from fatigue and stuff, stress/overloading injuries. Crosby is the best player in the league. I've seen players put up 100 point seasons in the West before, so I don't know why he wouldn't if he was playing out West. Also, Vancouver is highly unproven in the playoffs, with the Pens and Flyers both being better playoff teams, imo. Both conferences have the same amount of Cup contenders, and both have their fair share of lousy teams. Travel is a different story, but I think too much gets made out of that. Otherwise, every team in the West would be too tired by SCF time to ever win the Cup. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JoeBuddy 10 Report post Posted January 4, 2011 I know that the OP was discussing the skill level of the East vs West, but I would just like to point out that we played the Islanders at their hottest time of the season. All in OT, they beat the Lightning, Penguins, then the Wings, consecutively I believe. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HankthaTank 1,100 Report post Posted January 4, 2011 Edit: forgot about montreal win. 2-2-1 And why would you forget that one??? Hmm..... Oh yeah your personal hockey Jesus Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest mindfly Report post Posted January 4, 2011 And why would you forget that one??? Hmm..... Oh yeah your personal hockey Jesus Carey my man! Still a world class goalie with unique talent. 1 HankthaTank reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GunnarStahl 39 Report post Posted January 9, 2011 In the East, Tampa Bay is in 2nd place with a -6 goal differential...wowzers Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Buppy 1,720 Report post Posted January 9, 2011 East vs West so far this year: West perspective: 90-50-24 East Perspective: 74-67-23 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
henriksedin 1 Report post Posted January 9, 2011 I think whoever takes the west, takes the cup. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
titanium2 867 Report post Posted January 9, 2011 I think whoever takes the west, takes the cup. That's what we thought in 09. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kook_10 1,705 Report post Posted January 9, 2011 It doesn't matter who is better. The only thing that matters is who wins. Injuries, tough schedules, bad officiating, lucky bounces, league meddling etc are only remembered by the losers. The Wings have a losing record against the East, so does it matter if some web wankers want to claim superiority in defeat? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SouthernWingsFan 854 Report post Posted January 9, 2011 After watching our games with the Devils and Flyers, I'm wondering if Western Conference dominance is not just wishful thinking and parity is becoming the reality. Or maybe it's true that the Wings just had two off games. Thoughts? Depends on whatever way you want to spin it. This year (but you can probably do this just about every year), if you just want to compare the top teams of each conference against each other, you could make a case of whichever conference being better. But if you ask this question to a Flyers or Penguins fan at present, of course they are going to say their team is the best meaning the Eastern Conference is probably better because they are in that conference. Just like I would assume a Wings or Canucks or Stars fan at present to do the same for their teams and the Western Conference. Super star talent or brand names or whatever, you could probably make a case that the Eastern Conference might be better, fair or not. Overall depth though in the league, I think it is safe to say the past few recent seasons, the Western Conference has produced more quality results/teams. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kira 451 Report post Posted January 9, 2011 I think the West is tougher. If you look at the standings in the East, teams that would make the playoffs there wouldn't even stand a chance in the West. I think we have it tougher because of the travel as well. It does play havoc on the body, there's no mistake about it. Eastern Conference teams when they play each other, it's mostly a hop, skip and jump to wherever the game is, but out in the West, it isn't that easy. I'd be willing to bet that if we were in the East (oh please make it so), we'd be a very dominant team...more than we already are. 1 Vladifan reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hockeytown0001 7,652 Report post Posted January 9, 2011 Carey my man! Still a world class goalie with unique talent. I think you need to have won that big silver thing to be considered "world class". You could say that Dominik Hasek was a world class goaltender in the 90's without a Cup, and I'd think that he'd be one of the only exceptions to that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
