Dave Lozo's Bag Skate: Is This the Season the East Takes Back the Stanley Cup?

Last year's Stanley Cup Final was about as tight a five-game series that's ever been contested in the history of the NHL. The Los Angeles Kings won three games in overtime—two in double overtime—and were inches away from losing all three of those post-regulation contests to the New York Rangers.

Horseshoes and hand grenades and all that. The Kings were better. 

The overall gap between the West and East has closed this season, although the West will win the head-to-head battle for a ninth straight season. In a four-of-seven, two-week battle for league supremacy, the best East team always has a shot against the best West team, and this may be the East's best chance at winning the conference's first Cup since Boston in 2011.

Season	West Pts. Pct.	East Pts. Pct.	Cup champ from
2005-06	.590	.530	East
2006-07	.613	.517	West
2007-08	.600	.500	West
2008-09	.571	.530	East
2009-10	.626	.494	West
2010-11	.600	.539	East
2011-12	.580	.565	West
2013	DNP	DNP	West
2013-14	.607	.516	West
2014-15	219-159-42 (.571)	201-167-52 (.541)	TBD

As you can see, the previous two times the West and East were this close, the West blew the doors off the East the next time the conferences were on each other's schedules, so maybe let's not rush to call this the end of an era.

This quote from Kings defenseman and Conn Smythe (should've) winner Drew Doughty continues to stand out for me nearly a year later. 

“This series was probably—I don’t want to say the easiest—but the least physically demanding, without a doubt,” Doughty told reporters after vanquishing the Rangers in Los Angeles. “All the other series were more physical, they were tougher on the body.

“It was still a good series, but the other ones were tougher.”

It wasn't the easiest, but the others were tougher. Doughty is the best.

The thing is, Doughty has a point—the 2013-14 Rangers were three wins from a championship because of their team speed. The Kings, and most every team in the West with a shot at the Cup this season, play a big, heavy, physical game. Even though the Kings needed 21 games to win three rounds against the Sharks, Ducks and Blackhawks, they still had enough in the tank to beat the smaller, faster Rangers.

As improved as the East is this season, what makes anyone believe things will be different?

The East is clearly defined by speed, as its best teams—the Rangers again, Montreal, Detroit, Tampa Bay and the Islanders—are plenty happy to get into track meets with their opponents. To differing extents, all those teams have depth, quickness and goaltending but they are not built to deliver persistent physical punishment over the course of a seven-game series, either at forward or on defense.

Elsa/Getty Images

The West remains a conference defined by its heft and skilled centers. Anaheim (Ryan Getzlaf, Ryan Kesler), Chicago (Jonathan Toews, Antoine Vermette, Brad Richards), Los Angeles (Anze Kopitar, Jeff Carter) and St. Louis (David Backes, Jori Lehtera, Paul Stastny) not only have talent and depth at those positions, but most of those centers have size.

The West is best, but it's the size that could be the difference in most seven-game series against the East.

Among the 10 centers that regularly comprise the top two lines of those aforementioned East teams, would you believe that John Tavares of the Islanders, at 6'1" and 209 pounds, is the largest of the group? You should believe that because it's true.

Of those Western centers listed, only Vermette, Richards and Stastny are smaller than Tavares. Add the Predators and Wild to the list, and only Mike Ribeiro and Mikael Granlund are smaller than Tavares.

Rangers coach Alain Vigneault, who knows the West quite well from his time with the Vancouver Canucks from 2006 to 2013, had this to say to ESPN's Pierre LeBrun about the East vs. West battle:

"

In the past with the West, their centers were so much bigger, they defended better, it was tougher for the opposition on the attack. But it just seems to me in the East this year, maybe we’re playing more to our strengths. Teams are quick, Tampa is quick, Montreal is quick, Detroit is quick, the Islanders are quick. ... I don’t know if it has something to do with it, but I do think the East is better this year. It’s closed the gap at least.

"

Here are some East teams' records vs. the West this season: Detroit (18-4-3), Rangers (16-4-5), Tampa Bay (16-8-3), Pittsburgh (16-6-3).

Scott Rovak/Getty Images

Does that matter? When the Bruins won the Cup in 2011, they were 8-7-3 against the West. This season, Chicago is 19-7-3 and St. Louis is 20-7-3 against the East. If the Blackhawks or Blues reach the Final, does that offset the East stuff? What if the Islanders or Canadiens, who are 14-10-1 and 13-10-3 against the West, respectively, reach the Final? Does it matter anymore? Does anything?

Didn't we all agree a long time ago that regular-season results have zero bearing on the postseason?

The one East team to win a Cup over the past five years—Boston—was bad against the West in the regular season but the Bruins' beefy lineup and suffocating defense proved one game better against a less physical, quicker Canucks team.

Essentially, an East team playing a Western style beat a West team playing an Eastern style.

Yes, the 2013-14 Rangers were a couple posts and a luckily placed Slava Voynov stick on a Rick Nash shot away from winning a championship. Whatever hold the West has—and it has it—is still only tenuous. It's not as though this seemingly inevitable speed vs. size battle that awaits us can't be won by the speed team. 

Then again, the Kings played three brutal seven-game series before winning the Cup. What if a physical Western team doesn't have such a taxing road to the Final? What if the Blackhawks or Blues works a five-game series into their path to the Final? Would any Eastern team have a shot against a well-rested Western team?

Again, anyone can take four of seven from anyone. But even with the East improving, would you blindly take the East field against the West field right now in the Stanley Cup Final?

Quote of the Week: Jon Cooper vs. Darryl Sutter

Lightning coach Jon Cooper and Kings coach Darryl Sutter are the two most quotable coaches in the NHL. Each week, we will let you decide who had the best quote.

The Ducks have won, playoffs included, eight one-goal games against the Kings over the past two seasons. Another one happened last week, when Anaheim won 3-2 in overtime. 

How have the Ducks done this? As always, Darryl Sutter has the answer, via LA Kings Insider: "Probably because they scored one more goal than us. It makes sense, wouldn’t it?"

He's not wrong.

Neither was Jon Cooper on Sunday night, talking about a Steven Stamkos fight with Brad Marchand that preceded a comeback win for Tampa. Look, I go full Liz Lemon eye roll when a fight is always given credit for a change in "momentum" that results in a win. Two guys fight on each team, so why does one team get the momentum but not the other? 

But I don't entirely dismiss the idea of players being awakened by a star player fighting a player nobody likes, and nobody likes Marchand. That's a far easier sell than telling me the boys get fired up all 20 times Brandon Prust or someone like him fights. 

Here's what Cooper said about his captain fighting Marchand:

"

Marchand was running around a little bit, questionable hit on (Valtteri Filppula). In certain situations, that has to be taken care of. ... Stammer knows the game. I felt bad because he sat in the penalty box when we scored a few goals. But, as I told him, if he doesn't do that for us, I'm not sure we end up scoring those goals. ... Stammer's got 40 goals, not 40 fights. The kid wants to win. He understands that there's other parts of the game besides scoring goals.

"

Maybe fighting can have that effect when a team fights so rarely. Only eight teams have fewer fighting majors this season than Tampa.

Who Is Connor McDavid-ing This Week?

The tank battle for Connor McDavid will be quite the scene this season as teams stumble over each other to finish last in the standings, thus guaranteeing either McDavid or future American hero Jack Eichel.

Tom Pennington/Getty Images

30. Buffalo Sabres (20-46-7, 47 points): Poor Anders Lindback. Since leaving Nashville, the poor guy hasn't been able to stop a puck. Thrust into a playoff series with Tampa last year, he was overmatched. What better player to acquire if you're tanking, right? Now he's playing the best hockey of his career, thus hurting another team, only because he's stopping pucks. Sports are awful. Don't play them.

29. Arizona Coyotes (21-44-8, 50 points): In their past three games, the Coyotes held leads. Because hockey can be magical and sometimes the stars align just so, they lost all three games in regulation. They haven't picked up a point in six straight games. They have three points in their past 19 games. They are ice-cold heading into a two-game Sabres showdown. What a time to be alive.

28. Edmonton Oilers (20-40-13, 53 points): With the Coyotes and Sabres playing twice in a week, it's nearly impossible for the Oilers to make up six points over the rest of the season. The Oilers will need a couple of three-point games between Buffalo and Arizona and a big-time losing streak to end the season to have a shot at 30th. It's looking more and more like the Oilers will have to win the lottery.

Goal of the Week

Maybe there was a prettier goal this week. Sometimes people point out other goals that should have been chosen instead, because really, that's why the Internet exists. But this Nick Bonino goal against the Kings on Saturday...man, I can't stop watching it.

There's so much skill involved here that it's hard to comprehend. The pass by Radim Vrbata is so smart. Then there's Bonino, doing the ho-hum thing of driving the net, getting position on Drew Doughty, who outweighs Bonino by 20 pounds. Not only does Bonino use incredible hand-eye coordination here, he places the puck just under the crossbar.

A goal like this will never win goal of the year, but it should. And it will, at least in my heart.

Questions and Answers

Got a question? Tweet me @davelozo or email me at [e-mail], but please don't call before 9 a.m. I will answer any of your questions about hockey or whatever if it's a good question.

Dave,

Any chance in hell Kovy is welcomed back by all 30 teams if and when the time comes?

Matt

Clive Mason/Getty Images

Yes. Of course. When it comes to NHL teams and following rules, anything is possible.

Chris Pronger is retired, but not really. He has a job with the NHL's Department of Player Safety. The Flyers have him on LTIR because of concussions that, and here's the key word, ended his career. His career is not sidetracked or on hold; it's over. Again, Pronger has another job besides hockey player.

Despite this and the competitive advantage this gives the Flyers, the other 29 teams are OK with this setup. The Flyers are gaining about $5 million in salary-cap space per season because of this arrangement and nobody, at least not publicly, seems to care.

So who knows what teams will do if Ilya Kovalchuk wants to return to the NHL after "retiring" from the Devils two years ago. "Retiring" has lost all meaning in hockey. All 30 teams need to approve his return. So let's say the St. Louis Blues are like, "Yeah, Kovy, come play with Tarasenko." The Blackhawks could, and should, be like, "Sorry, bro. We say no."

But this is hockey, where teams have been mostly reluctant to pilfer cap-strapped teams with offer sheets. Best guess, without polling all 30 teams, Kovalchuk will return with open arms, if even those arms are forced open by Gary Bettman himself. 

Dave,

What wine would you pair with a bag of Swedish fish?

Also, how long can NHL refs and DPS hold a grudge against Burrows and the Canucks?

Stephen

I'd say white wine. Any candy feels like a white wine partnership waiting to happen. Anything chocolate-based, like a Snickers or 3 Musketeers bar, feels like a red wine pairing waiting to happen.

As for your second question, nobody cares about your favorite team. Fans of your favorite team care about your favorite team. Refs and DPS don't give your team a second thought when they go home at night. I can't overemphasize this enough. Media types, refs, people that hand out suspensions, we don't care if your team wins or loses. 

Are refs and DPS more aware of the existence of a guy like, say, Alexandre Burrows? Sure. Does anyone there care if the Canucks win or lose? Are they out to get him or your favorite team? Grow up.

Dave,

My friend at school (in Texas) is a Newfie. Both parents are Canadian but he's lived in Houston since middle school. He's all Jets all the time ever since we let him join our fantasy league. All he talks about is, "Little this, Ladd that. Oh, dude, Hutchison? More like CLUTCHison." Just froliking (aha) around being a pain.

Lance Thomson/Getty Images

I, being a Kings fan since I was born in '92, am nervous at the prospect that the JETS might make the playoffs over the should-be dynasty Kings of Los Angeles. I will know no end to the ridicule he will send my way. What can I do, should this happen, to make him hate his life more than I will hate mine?

Any advice helps. Then again, it won't really matter when the Kings do, in fact, make the playoffs. Because they will make the playoffs...right? RIGHT, DAVE?!?

Thanks bro-basket.

Shane

I'm unsure of the fan code of conduct but I'm pretty sure someone whose favorite team has made the playoffs once in franchise history and never in Winnipeg can't talk trash to a fan of a team with two Cups in three seasons. It's like ripping a friend for failing to win a third Nobel Prize in four years because he happened to win employee of the month at a fast food joint.

Also: Never call anyone bro-basket ever again. Not even ironically.

Dave,

A handsome up and coming hockey writer wrote about why the NHL should bring back ties. Do you think fans would accept ties if it was re-instituted into the game or are they dumbies?

Joseph

Fans will accept anything given to them. Fans came back after a season-long lockout. They won't go anywhere if the shootout is abolished. No one comes to a game hoping to see a shootout. It's just a thing that happens by accident that they have accepted, like freckles. If they disappeared, no one would miss them.

The most fun, of course, would be the Kings. Anze Kopitar, Jeff Carter and Connor McDavid down the middle on a team that misses the playoffs primarily because of bad luck would be so much fun in 2015-16. The Dallas Stars are a close second among teams with long odds. Considering the centers in both places, those are easily the two best places for McDavid.

Ideally, the NHL wouldn't mind if Toronto won the draft lottery. Having a potential face of the league in a huge market for the next 15 years, even if it's not a U.S. market, probably makes league executives feel tingly, like when a hot tub jet stream hits you in that perfect part of your lower back.

Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images

Dave,

Can you speculate on what kind of offer it would take to land the McDavid #1 pick? An ESPN blog post conjectured it would take a Stamkos-type elite player to get the conversation started -- thoughts?

Thanks,

Jonas 

Remember when Mike Ditka traded his entire draft so the New Orleans Saints could get Ricky Williams?

It would take that, plus another draft, plus a top-10 player that hasn't reached UFA status yet. On top of that, a five-year paid Netflix membership, a massage chair, season tickets to a baseball team, a one-on-one cooking lesson with Giada De Laurentiis and a lifetime pass that gets you to the front of every ride at both Disney parks.

Dave,

At this point in the season what would be your Rookie top lines? (3 Forwards and 2 D)

Ben

I will give you an entire lineup.

Derek Leung/Getty Images

Johnny Gaudreau—Bo Horvat—Filip Forsberg

Mike Hoffman—Kevin Hayes—Mark Stone

Anders Lee—Victor Rask—David Pastrnak

Jonathan Drouin—Josh Jooris—Tobias Rieder

Aaron Ekblad—John Klingberg

Oscar Klefbom—Matt Dumba

Derrick Pouliot—Brandon Gormley

Michael Hutchinson

Petr Mrazek

There's the all-rookie team no one asked to see.

Dave,

Rather than the barely-hockey idea of 3 on 3 to make for less barely-hockey shootouts, why not just do a ten minute OT of 4 on 4?

Or don't change anything but make every game worth 3 points total. 3 for a regulation win, 2 for an OT or Shootout win and 1 for and OT or shootout loss.

Wouldn't this make sense?

Please don't grade my question like you do twitter sports days.

Thanks,
Justin

A 10-minute, four-on-four OT is my dream. It is not a player's dream. They're not in love with the idea of playing two extra minutes, so five more isn't for them. Four or five years ago, the average length of a playoff overtime was around 12 minutes, so I always thought a regular-season OT at four-on-four with wayyyyyyy less on the line would end sooner, but alas, I don't decide these things.

The point system will never change.

Everything you said makes sense.

Your question gets an A.

Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images

Dave,

How is it that there is a Lord Stanley Park in Vancouver, yet they have no cups? Just sayin'!

Stefanie Marie

Well, the two things are unrelated. The Vince Lombardi rest stop is in Ridgefield, N.J., and that town has never won a Super Bowl. Old rich people have stuff named after them. I hope to one day have a place where truckers do their business named after me. That's way better than a sports trophy.

All statistics via NHL.com and Stats.HockeyAnalysis.com. Cap information via Spotrac.

Dave Lozo covers the NHL for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter: @DaveLozo.