Western Inferiority
steve laidlaw
2014-10-20
A look at how few players from the Western Conference populated the top of draft boards this fall.
Despite having fewer teams, despite the extra travel the players endure, the Western Conference has dominated the National Hockey League. Chicago and Los Angeles are winners of four of the past five Stanley Cups and there is a solid chance the Cup will remain out West after all is said and done this year. Heck, if Vancouver closed the deal a few years ago the West would be five for five, and if you go as far back as 2007 the West has brought the Cup home six of the past eight years.
Ben Bishop (TB – G)
rattus rattus
9.
Claude Giroux (Phi – C,RW)
Edmonton Clowns
10.
Erik Karlsson (Ott – D)
The Jobbers
11.
Ryan Getzlaf (Anh – C)
Kings Landing
12.
Jonathan Quick (LA – G)
Serious Chinny
13.
John Tavares (NYI – C)
Suspirria
14.
Corey Perry (Anh – RW)
Mustangs
15.
Marc-Andre Fleury (Pit – G)
Ott Man Out
16.
Sergei Bobrovsky (Cls – G)
First Blood
For each of the above leagues the Eastern trend continued into the early part of the second round. In the Dobber Experts League four of the next seven picks are from the East before the draft starts to take on more of a Western vibe.
|
Round 2 (Dobber Experts League) |
||
|
1. |
P.K. Subban (Mon – D) |
The Contras |
|
2. |
Ben Bishop (TB – G) |
Eastern Edge |
|
3. |
Tyler Seguin (Dal – C,RW) |
Between The … |
|
4. |
Taylor Hall (Edm – C,LW) |
Edler’s Mind… |
|
5. |
Semyon Varlamov (Col – G) |
Lancione’s F… |
|
6. |
Carey Price (Mon – G) |
Laying the Law |
|
7. |
Phil Kessel (Tor – RW) |
Fighting New… |
In the Y-Friends and Family League, five of the next seven players selected are from the East. As you can see the reliable goaltending options from the East are a key element of the first half of round two. Similar to the Dobber Experts draft, PK Subban is taken early in the round as the next defensive option after Karlsson.
|
Round 2 (Y Friends and Family League) |
||
|
1. |
Patrick Kane (Chi – C,RW) |
Y! – Pianowski |
|
2. |
P.K. Subban (Mon – D) |
Mike Clay |
|
3. |
Anze Kopitar (LA – C) |
Rotowire – B… |
|
4. |
Ben Bishop (TB – G) |
Rotowire Eag… |
|
5. |
Carey Price (Mon – G) |
Rotowire – M… |
|
6. |
Erik Karlsson (Ott – D) |
Rotowire-Pen… |
|
7. |
Marc-Andre Fleury (Pit – G) |
Rotoworld – . |
The Dobber Pro League draft is the exception, in part because there are more participants. Again Subban keeps the Eastern dominance going to start round two; but seven of the first 10 picks in this round are from the West.
|
Round 2 (Dobber Pro League) |
||
|
1. |
P.K. Subban (Mon – D) |
First Blood |
|
2. |
Tyler Seguin (Dal – C,RW) |
Ott Man Out |
|
3. |
Jamie Benn (Dal – LW) |
Mustangs |
|
4. |
Corey Crawford (Chi – G) |
Suspirria |
|
5. |
Cory Schneider (NJ – G) |
Serious Chinny |
|
6. |
Semyon Varlamov (Col – G) |
Kings Landing |
|
7. |
Kari Lehtonen (Dal – G) |
The Jobbers |
|
8. |
Taylor Hall (Edm – C,LW) |
Edmonton Clowns |
|
9. |
Patrick Kane (Chi – C,RW) |
rattus rattus |
|
10. |
Nicklas Backstrom (Was – C) |
Goner for Conner |
Knowledgeable poolies are likely unsurprised by the presence of Eastern Conference players early in these drafts. And when you really think about it, these are the easiest picks to make – meaning your knowledge of the Western Conference is even more important as you get deeper into your draft. For my next article (in two weeks time) I will take a deeper look at Western Conference players drafted in the middle and later rounds of the above drafts and how they are relevant to winning your hockey pool. For now, I hope you enjoyed this quick snapshot of "Eastern Supremacy" and "Western Inferiority."
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| Jan 23 - 19:01 |
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Starting Goalies
Top Skater Views
| Players | Team | |
|---|---|---|
| LANE HUTSON |
MTL | |
| PAVEL DOROFEYEV |
VGK | |
| JIRI KULICH |
BUF | |
| KAAPO KAKKO |
SEA | |
| ADAM FANTILLI |
CBJ
| |
Top Goalie Profile Views
| Players | Team | |
|---|---|---|
| SPENCER KNIGHT |
 FLA | |
| JACOB MARKSTROM |
 N.J | |
| JUUSE SAROS |
NSH | |
| DARCY KUEMPER |
 L.A | |
| DUSTIN WOLF |
CGY
| |
LINE COMBOS
| Frequency |
VGK Players
| |
|---|---|---|
| 21.5 | MARK STONE JACK EICHEL IVAN BARBASHEV | |
| 18.3 | VICTOR OLOFSSON TOMAS HERTL PAVEL DOROFEYEV | |
| 17.5 | WILLIAM KARLSSON BRETT HOWDEN ALEXANDER HOLTZ | |
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