Ducks Gameday—Phoenix, the hand that feeds you
Anaheim Ducks (43-18-12, 3rd in west) at Phoenix Coyotes (28-41-4, 15th in west)
One aspect of the division-heavy schedule that has been in place this season and last is the notion of non-competitive rivalries, where a team regularly and handily takes points from one of its division mates. Tonight we have one of the prime examples with the Ducks and the Dogs. Since the schedule has been implemented, the Ducks have gone 13-1-1 against Phoenix, and those 27 points are the second-highest amount any team has taken from a division foe over that stretch (Nashville has 28 points in games against the Blues).
Here is a list of the top-15 one-sided division rivalries over the past 2 seasons (measured in terms of points-earned-per-game):
Team | Opponent | Games Played | Standings Points | Points-Per-Game |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Detroit | Chicago | 14 | 27 | 1.93 |
Nashville | St. Louis | 15 | 28 | 1.87 |
Anaheim | Phoenix | 15 | 27 | 1.80 |
Buffalo | Boston | 15 | 26 | 1.73 |
Nashville | Columbus | 16 | 27 | 1.69 |
Florida | Washington | 14 | 23 | 1.64 |
Carolina | Florida | 14 | 23 | 1.64 |
Ottawa | Toronto | 16 | 26 | 1.63 |
Detroit | Columbus | 13 | 21 | 1.62 |
Detroit | St. Louis | 15 | 24 | 1.60 |
Atlanta | Washington | 15 | 24 | 1.60 |
Atlanta | Florida | 15 | 23 | 1.53 |
Buffalo | Toronto | 14 | 21 | 1.50 |
New Jersey | Philadelphia | 14 | 21 | 1.50 |
Calgary | Edmonton | 15 | 22 | 1.47 |
I don’t really know what to say about this list: on one hand, it seems unfair that dominant teams on this list get such a unique boost in their points total; on the other hand, every division is represented on this list so at least it’s somewhat spread out.
Now just for the record—I am a guy who for the most part is in favor of the new schedule. I like the fact that we don’t play the east very often; as opposition, eastern teams just aren’t as relevant to the Ducks’ fate, as they are accumulating points on their own separate standings board. And aside from Phoenix, all the other Pacific teams are great match-ups for Duck fans, and certainly involve less travel. (Plus I just don’t want to give up the free PHX points.)
Feel free to share your feelings on the schedule in the comments—what works for you and what doesn’t?
Prediction: 2 more points for the feathered ones. Ducks 4, Coyotes 2. In the seven games against Phoenix this year, the top line of Selanne-McDonald-Kunitz has combined for 12 goals and 19 assists, so naturally tonight’s goals will be scored by Pahlsson x2 and R. Niedermayer x2.
6 comments:
I don't like the schedule because we don't get to see the great East conference players (and vice versa) nearly often enough.
I'd trade free points against Phoenix for getting to see Ovechkin, Crosby, Hossa, etc. any day.
Julian K
Nashville and Detroit are up there quite a bit. One could argue that their numbers are artificially inflated by playing 24 games against 3 bottom-feeders in the league.
Poor passing, inability to get it into the zone, overall incompetence... hey, you stole our power play!
Sorry Earl, your free points will have to come next year!
:-)
Oof. Probably this is the hockey gods trying to tell me to be a little less haughty in the GDPs.
Or maybe they're just trying to reward me by making the April 4th game against SJ the most important game of the Ducks' regular season.
Why do you confuse me with such mixed messages, hockey gods?
Oh, and on the topic at hand:
julian, I'm not sure I want to see more east, even with the star power. As it stands, the 10 least important games in my mind are the 10 where we play the east, because I don't care whether we give them a point or not. Besides, we can't just give up the Phoenix games--that would also mean less games against SJ, DAL, and LA, and I like all of those matchups a lot.
rk, your first comment is probably the thing I have against the schedule, but I'm even a bit iffy on it. Certainly Detroit and Nashville will continue to have easy access to the playoffs so long as CBJ/CHI/STL insist on being so terrible (especially against DET/NSH). But (a) I don't think that can persist forever--there may come a day when DET hates its lot in life, and (b) it's certainly not DET or NSH's fault that they have easy opposition, they didn't cheat or anything. In that regard I could let it fly.
On your second comment, I wouldn't know about the LA power play, as they only got one early attempt in that DAL game I was at. What's the matter? Forgot to bribe the refs?
pb, good win tonight (I assume, I haven't watched it yet). I don't want this to sound the wrong way, but I admire what you're doing over there at OFP. It's a tough time for the 'Yotes, but I've been through some tough times over here (way before blogging), but staying the course is the way to go.
On a complete aside, pb, I almost feel like I would have been a better blogger back in the piss-poor Mighty Duck days. It's weird, but it's tough to write that well about a successful team, many a time I look at what I just wrote and call myself a braggart. When you're losing, then there's just more material.
Ummm, sorry for the long comment.
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