On Any Given Sunday
February 15, 2009, by Homme De Sept-Iles
The difference between the top-ranked team in the NHL and its last-ranked is not as profound as it was in the past.
Looked at in five-year increments, it has tightened consistently since 1967, the first major expansion of the modern era. And it has gotten more pronounced in the last fifteen years.
Since 1993, the difference between the first and last-placed regular-season finishers has consistently tightened. And it’s significant.
| Season | 1st Place
Team |
Last Place
Team |
Difference |
| 1992-93 | 119 | 24 | 95 Pts |
| 1997-98 | 109 | 44 | 65 Pts |
| 2002-03 | 104 | 61 | 43 Pts |
| 2007-08 | 102 | 71 | 31 Pts |
What this means for fans is that the parity in the league is better than ever before.
This is a good thing.
As the National Football League (NFL) is fond of saying, “On any given Sunday any team can win against another.” They may be fond of saying it, and it is a valid statement but in the NHL the truism is even more marked.
One only has to look at the middle to bottom-ranked teams of both the West and East conferences to see it.
How many points separate fifth-place Dallas from tenth-place Minnesota? Two. And fifteenth-place Colorado is only eight points back. Or how about in the East where the tenth-place Pittsburgh Penguins are only seven back of fifth-place Montreal?
What this means for the NHL is that teams must compete every night, every shift and they do. Just to avoid embarrassment. It is the tiniest margins of error that separate the leaders from the followers.
No games were more indicative of this than Montreal’s recent games against Edmonton and Calgary. Montreal burst out to a 2-1 first period lead on sharp play and the much longed-for intensity (considering their current miseries) only to see their lead vanish in the second period on the way to a 6-2 loss. They came out with even more bite and fire in the first period against Edmonton only to see four first period shots elude goaltender Carey Price. Say what you will, in essence there really wasn’t that much difference between the two teams.
The habit is to judge teams by their won/lost records. By goals scored and goals given up. By outcome rather than process. It’s time to look deeper.
A team can “hustle and hit” and play with a sense of purpose and make most of the right and pretty plays. And still lose. And still go on losing streaks.
What if every team played hard every night and played near-perfect hockey every night? There would still be 14 teams of 30 that would miss the playoffs.
Even in the midst of misery (see the Vancouver Canucks and Montreal Canadiens recent trials as examples – Vancouver won just 2 of 12 games in January) teams are capable of greatness. In terms of effort, passion and urgency.
The hockey of the new NHL, the post-lockout NHL, has far more flash and finesse yet has the hard work and intensity that fans want more of.
It’s just too bad that every team deserving of a Stanley Cup or other on-ice fortunes will not get it.
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