There's no doubt this year that in the National Hockey League, East is least and West is best.
A huge discrepancy in win-loss records was starkly apparent when the 30 NHL teams hit the mid-January point. As it stood, only four of the Eastern teams, Pittsburgh, Boston, Tampa Bay and Montreal, had more points than the eighth-place team in the powerful West.
Funny thing is, when you think of the NHL and power, a number of Eastern Conference-related thoughts come quickly to mind: Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, and, thanks to the Toronto-centric announcers on the national sports channels, one would think the Leafs are a powerhouse, too. Sorry, Leaf Nation, they're not. Still.
The Leafs and their 53 points would be a sickly ninth in the Western Conference, where the eighth and final playoff spot was held down by Minnesota Wild and their 55 points.
Eastern Conference-leading Pittsburgh had 70 points in mid-January, which would have put them third in the West, behind Anaheim and Chicago, both of whom had suffered only eight regulation-time losses in 49 games. St. Louis Blues also had a mere eight defeats.
While the bulk of the NHL's power lies in the West, it's theoretically easier for a Western team to make the playoffs, since only six of the 14 teams will miss out. The East, which consists of 16 teams, disqualifies eight teams for post-season play.
But when they start playing for keeps in April, watch for Pittsburgh or Boston to be as strong a Stanley Cup contender as the West representative. Why? Because of the extraordinary power in the West, where nine of the 14 teams were at .500 or better, the road to the Cup final will be a lot more strenuous for the team that finally survives. The Eastern rep in the final, by comparison, will have a relative breeze through the first three rounds. Only five of the East's 16 teams were at .500 or better in mid-January.
Greg Cote of the Miami Herald: "Recent terrorist bombings in Russia have raised safety concerns about the upcoming Sochi Olympics, and increased security measures will be obvious. For example, downhill skiers will now slalom through metal detectors."
Some memorable broadcasting hilarity from Jerry Coleman, who died recently at 89, snipped from Dwight Perry's 'From the Sidelines' in the Seattle Times:
- "They throw (Dave) Winfield out at second - and he's safe."
- "Willie Davis is not as young as he used to be."
- "Winfield goes back to the wall, he hits his head on the wall and it rolls off! It's rolling all the way back to second base. This is a terrible thing for the Padres."
Comedy writer Alex Kaseberg: "This just in: Nancy Kerrigan will be a skating analyst for NBC during the Sochi Olympics; no word yet if Tonya Harding will be featured as a hard-hitting reporter."
Blogger Torben Rolfsen, on Sidney Crosby beating Eddie Lack in the shootout on the day the Olympic team was announced: "I like to think of that as Canada 1 Sweden 0."
Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times, before a recent football playoff game: "The weather forecast calls for a 100-per-cent chance of rain for the Seahawks-Saints playoff game. Or, as we call it in these parts, Saturday."
Greg Cote again: "Marlins radio broadcasts switch from 790 The Ticket to WINZ940 next year. Fans who listen to Marlins games on radio are split. One said he liked the change, the other isn't sure."
Brad Dickson of the Omaha World-Herald: "After Peyton Manning shouted 'Omaha!' repeatedly during Sunday's game, Omaha's Chamber of Commerce expressed interest in hiring him for a promotion. The best news: We'd only have to close four libraries and six swimming pools to afford Manning."
Dickson again: "President Obama welcomed the champion Miami Heat to the White House on Tuesday. Obama was excited to see LeBron James. It was the first time the president has met anyone more powerful than himself."
RJ Currie of sportsdeke.com: "A Winnipeg psychic predicts the Blue Bombers will struggle in 2014. He also says Maria Sharapova will grunt, Blake Griffin will dunk, and the Cubs have always stunk."
Another one from Currie: "Having the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders at the recent F1 race in Texas was so popular, word is organizers plan to do it again in 2014. Possible event title? Vroom with a View."
Janice Hough of leftcoastsportsbabe.com: "The Chicago Cubs say that some of the reaction to their new mascot was "despicable." Many Cubs fans think that adjective should be reserved for the team's play on the field."
Kaseberg again: "I don't want to say the Carolina Panthers were poor sports, but after losing to the 49ers, they went in and taunted the locker room clean-up crew."
Care to comment? Email to [email protected]
