Written by Jacob Gaubatz at The Sports Quotient
Ever since the realignment of divisions within each conference, the Pacific Division has been regarded as one of the strongest in the league. The Pacific Division has produced one of the league’s most recent dynasties with the Los Angeles Kings, who won two Stanley Cups in three seasons. San Jose had gone to the playoffs 10 consecutive times from 2003 to 2014 and was a poster-child for consistency. Anaheim won the cup in 2006-07 and has not gone two consecutive seasons of missing the postseason. Even though the Pacific Division retained the historically bad Oilers and the weirdly inconsistent Coyotes, the other teams always managed to impress.
It’s easy to assume that the worst division title belongs in the Eastern Conference, but in recent years, the Pacific Division has been mediocre. Let’s compare the divisions in multiple categories since the realignment:
Atlantic Division: 310-265-81; 701 points; -105 goal differential; 54-49-9 vs Pacific
Metropolitan Division: 324-248-84; 732 points; +2 goal differential; 48-47-17 vs Pacific
Central Division: 308-191-75; 691 points; +106 points; 83-38-27 vs Pacific
Pacific Division: 288-219-67; 643 points; -3 goal differential
Atlantic: 318-248-90; 726 points; -59 goal differential; 58-41-13 vs Pacific
Metropolitan: 325-246-85; 735 points; +26 goal differential; 60-40-12 vs Pacific
Central: 315-193-66; 696 points; +154 goal differential; 82-47-17 vs Pacific
Pacific: 272-237-65; 609 points; -121 goal differential
2015-16 (as of January 2nd)
Atlantic: 150-118-39; 339 points; +28 goal differential; 28-22-8 vs Pacific
Metropolitan: 155-117-37; 347 points; -8 goal differential; 32-24-9 vs Pacific
Central: 148-94-31; 327 points; +55 goal differential; 42-14-9 vs Pacific
Pacific: 125-113-29; 279 points; -75 goal differential
Keeping in mind the Western Conference divisions only have seven teams, it’s tempting to give them a handicap. But the fact is they also have fewer teams to drag down the overall division, as the Buffalo Sabres, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Carolina Hurricanes do with the Eastern Conference.
As you can tell in the charts below, the Pacific Division has had a slumping win percentage since the 2013-14 season, and their goal differential hasn’t fared any better. Every other division has either improved or stayed consistent, while the Pacific Division is the only one to have decreased in production and wins every season since the realignment.
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