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Western Conference Über Alles

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My initial reaction to the Chicago Blackhawks winning the Stanley Cup, as some of you have already read, was:

Obviously we all know that the Western Conference is a much more difficult conference to play in. The competition is better, the travel is harder, and it houses California, the best state in the nation and the home of hockey. We know that the Western Conference is just better, but can we prove it? Let's take a look at all of the Stanley Cup champions since the 1993-94 season, when Eastern/Western first replaced Wales/Campbell (Eastern Conference in red, Western in blue):

Year Team Series
1994New York Rangers4–3
1995New Jersey Devils4–0
1996Colorado Avalanche4–0
1997Detroit Red Wings4–0
1998Detroit Red Wings4–0
1999Dallas Stars4–2
2000New Jersey Devils4–2
2001Colorado Avalanche4–3
2002Detroit Red Wings4–1
2003New Jersey Devils4–3
2004Tampa Bay Lightning4–3
2005
2006Carolina Hurricanes4–3
2007Anaheim Ducks4–1
2008Detroit Red Wings4–2
2009Pittsburgh Penguins4–3
2010Chicago Blackhawks4–2
2011Boston Bruins4–3
2012Los Angeles Kings4–2
2013Chicago Blackhawks4–2

Wow, that sure is a lot of blue. The Western Conference has produced a champion 11 times to the Eastern Conference's 8. In other words, the Western Conference proves what we already know to be true nearly 60% of the time.

You can break it down to pre or post 2004-05 lockout, and the Western comes out on top either way. No matter how the game evolves, the Western Conference teams adapt and outshine their weaker Eastern Conference counterparts.

Maybe it's just a fluke and the Western Conference teams have just gotten really lucky in the playoffs? Let's glance at the regular season results. For the same timeframe as above, here are the Presidents' Trophy winners for each season:

Year Team Pts
1994New York Rangers112
1995Detroit Red Wings70
1996Detroit Red Wings131
1997Colorado Avalanche107
1998Dallas Stars109
1999Dallas Stars114
2000St. Louis Blues114
2001Colorado Avalanche118
2002Detroit Red Wings116
2003Ottawa Senators113
2004Detroit Red Wings109
2005
2006Detroit Red Wings124
2007Buffalo Sabres113
2008Detroit Red Wings115
2009San Jose Sharks117
2010Washington Capitals121
2011Vancouver Canucks117
2012Vancouver Canucks111
2013Chicago Blackhawks77

The Western Conference beats out the Eastern Conference 15 times to 4, or nearly 80% of the time.

When you look at how pathetic the Eastern Conference is, and how it clearly lacks the heart and discipline it takes to be champions, it's pretty shocking. The East-Coast bias of the NHL and hockey media that we know all too well is likely just an attempt to keep the illusion that they have a competitive conference worthy of NHL play out East, but you can't argue with fact.

You can't really blame teams like the Red Wings for wanting to bail on the Western Conference. Just as Detroit is in a performance decline, they're able to join a weaker conference where they can once again be seen as a dominant force. But is there any honor in that? Any random ECHL team could surely be a dominant force in the Eastern Conference; that doesn't mean they play good hockey.

Nonetheless, congratulations to the 2013 Stanley Cup Champions, Chicago Blackhawks, as well as their fans.

And congratulations to the Western Conference, which has once again proved to be the far superior force in the NHL.


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