A few months ago on From The Rink -- December 28, to be exact -- I posted a statistical breakdown that proclaimed that the Pacific Division was the best division in the NHL.
Revisiting The Debate: Is The NHL’s Pacific Division Still The Best?
What’s the best division in the NHL? It may be a fun topic to discuss at the bar, but here are numbers to back up the Pacific Division’s reign as the best in the league.
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In the weeks since then, we've seen teams streak up and down, some big trades come across the wire, and Peter Forsberg's return and prompt retirement. Yes, it's been a hectic time since that look, so it seems like it might be worth checking in again as we prep for the stretch run.
I’d normally link out to the FTR archives but the process of importing those has been a little slower than expected. Instead, here’s how I broke it down.
There are many ways to try and quantify which are the best and worst divisions in the NHL. I've tried to create an all-encompassing strategy basing it on collective numbers for the following stats:
Wins per game
Points per game (to differentiate the charity point)
Goals-for per game
Goals-against per game
Goal-differential per game
Division Wins/Game Points/Game GF/G GA/G Diff/G Atlantic 0.477272727 1.051136364 2.732954545 2.767045455 -0.03409 Northeast 0.462857143 1.028571429 2.531428571 2.651428571 -0.12 Southeast 0.51396648 1.139664804 2.966480447 2.921787709 0.044693 Central 0.531073446 1.18079096 2.836158192 2.751412429 0.084746 Northwest 0.479768786 1.086705202 2.913294798 2.994219653 -0.08092 Pacific 0.533707865 1.185393258 2.808988764 2.707865169 0.101124
Division Wins/Game Points/Game GF/G GA/G Diff/G Average Pacific 1 1 4 2 1 1.8 Central 2 2 3 3 2 2.4 Southeast 3 3 1 5 3 3 Northwest 4 4 2 6 5 4.2 Atlantic 5 5 5 4 4 4.6 Northeast 6 6 6 1 6 5
Now, let’s use that same criteria and see how things have changed.
Wins Per Game:
| Division | WG |
| Pacific | 0.5406 |
| Central | 0.518 |
| Atlantic | 0.5053 |
| Southeast | 0.4929 |
| Northwest | 0.4804 |
| Northeast | 0.4624 |
Points Per Game:
| Division | PPG |
| Pacific | 1.1802 |
| Central | 1.1547 |
| Southeast | 1.1277 |
| Atlantic | 1.0954 |
| Northwest | 1.089 |
| Northeast | 1.043 |
Goals-For Per Game
| Division | GFG |
| Central | 2.9173 |
| Northwest | 2.8861 |
| Southeast | 2.8511 |
| Pacific | 2.8057 |
| Atlantic | 2.7845 |
| Northeast | 2.7025 |
Goals-Against Per Game
| Division | GAG |
| Pacific | 2.6784 |
| Atlantic | 2.7138 |
| Central | 2.8201 |
| Northeast | 2.8674 |
| Southeast | 2.9184 |
| Northwest | 2.9502 |
Goal Differential Per Game:
| Division | DiffG |
| Pacific | 0.1272 |
| Central | 0.0971 |
| Atlantic | 0.0707 |
| Northwest | -0.064 |
| Southeast | -0.067 |
| Northeast | -0.165 |
Now, if we assign a rank to each of these values and look at the averages, we’ll have an updated calculation as to the Best Division In The NHL (TM).
| Division | WG | PPG | GFG | GAG | DiffG | Ave |
| Pacific | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1.6 |
| Central | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Atlantic | 3 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3.4 |
| Southeast | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 4 |
| Northwest | 5 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 4.4 |
| Northeast | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 5.6 |
Sound the trumpets, the Pacific Division has maintained its crown as Best Division in the NHL. The reason for this is that streaks tend to average out in that division. Each Pacific team has had its share of hot streaks and cold streaks, and because of that, they’re all still somewhere in the playoff hunt.
There hasn’t been one Pacific team scrapping the (relative) bottom of the barrel, whereas the other divisions have at least one of those. The Central Division has remained relatively strong, mostly due to a tempered version of the same rationale.
Out east, everything's moved around. The Southeast's goal-differential has gone from positive to negative; they had the worst goals-against before but now you have to factor in a middle-of-the-road goals-for and that lowers their ranking. The Atlantic Division, with a somewhat steadied New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils, coupled with a surges from the other teams, have powered into the third spot through a much-improved goal-differential and goals-against.
What does this all mean? Those who like to calculate strength-of-competition can look at the six divisional games as a means to judge how good a team really is. On the other hand, it’s also evidence that it’s a marathon season, not a sprint, and things can change in a matter of weeks.
Here’s a master look at all the data:
| Atlantic | GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | GF | GA | WG | PPG | GFG | GAG | DiffG |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 55 | 36 | 14 | 5 | 77 | 182 | 139 | 0.6545 | 1.4 | 3.3091 | 2.5273 | 0.782 |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 58 | 35 | 19 | 4 | 74 | 173 | 141 | 0.6034 | 1.2759 | 2.9828 | 2.431 | 0.552 |
| New York Rangers | 58 | 30 | 24 | 4 | 64 | 162 | 144 | 0.5172 | 1.1034 | 2.7931 | 2.4828 | 0.31 |
| New Jersey Devils | 56 | 22 | 30 | 4 | 48 | 120 | 158 | 0.3929 | 0.8571 | 2.1429 | 2.8214 | -0.68 |
| New York Islanders | 56 | 20 | 29 | 7 | 47 | 151 | 186 | 0.3571 | 0.8393 | 2.6964 | 3.3214 | -0.63 |
| Atlantic | 283 | 143 | 116 | 24 | 310 | 788 | 768 | 0.5053 | 1.095 | 2.784 | 2.714 | 0.071 |
| Northeast | GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | GF | GA | WG | PPG | GFG | GAG | DiffG |
| Boston Bruins | 56 | 31 | 18 | 7 | 69 | 172 | 135 | 0.5536 | 1.2321 | 3.0714 | 2.4107 | 0.661 |
| Montreal Canadiens | 57 | 31 | 20 | 6 | 68 | 151 | 143 | 0.5439 | 1.193 | 2.6491 | 2.5088 | 0.14 |
| Buffalo Sabres | 54 | 26 | 22 | 6 | 58 | 161 | 162 | 0.4815 | 1.0741 | 2.9815 | 3 | -0.02 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 56 | 23 | 27 | 6 | 52 | 144 | 174 | 0.4107 | 0.9286 | 2.5714 | 3.1071 | -0.54 |
| Ottawa Senators | 56 | 18 | 30 | 8 | 44 | 126 | 186 | 0.3214 | 0.7857 | 2.25 | 3.3214 | -1.07 |
| Northeast | 279 | 129 | 117 | 33 | 291 | 754 | 800 | 0.4624 | 1.043 | 2.703 | 2.867 | -0.16 |
| Southeast | GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | GF | GA | WG | PPG | GFG | GAG | DiffG |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | 56 | 34 | 17 | 5 | 73 | 172 | 172 | 0.6071 | 1.3036 | 3.0714 | 3.0714 | 0 |
| Washington Capitals | 56 | 29 | 17 | 10 | 68 | 151 | 140 | 0.5179 | 1.2143 | 2.6964 | 2.5 | 0.196 |
| Carolina Hurricanes | 57 | 27 | 22 | 8 | 62 | 168 | 175 | 0.4737 | 1.0877 | 2.9474 | 3.0702 | -0.12 |
| Atlanta Thrashers | 58 | 25 | 23 | 10 | 60 | 167 | 188 | 0.431 | 1.0345 | 2.8793 | 3.2414 | -0.36 |
| Florida Panthers | 55 | 24 | 24 | 7 | 55 | 146 | 148 | 0.4364 | 1 | 2.6545 | 2.6909 | -0.04 |
| Southeast | 282 | 139 | 103 | 40 | 318 | 804 | 823 | 0.4929 | 1.128 | 2.851 | 2.918 | -0.07 |
| Central | GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | GF | GA | WG | PPG | GFG | GAG | DiffG |
| Detroit Red Wings | 56 | 34 | 16 | 6 | 74 | 187 | 163 | 0.6071 | 1.3214 | 3.3393 | 2.9107 | 0.429 |
| Nashville Predators | 56 | 30 | 19 | 7 | 67 | 150 | 133 | 0.5357 | 1.1964 | 2.6786 | 2.375 | 0.304 |
| Chicago Blackhawks | 56 | 28 | 22 | 6 | 62 | 177 | 158 | 0.5 | 1.1071 | 3.1607 | 2.8214 | 0.339 |
| Columbus Blue Jackets | 56 | 28 | 23 | 5 | 61 | 152 | 168 | 0.5 | 1.0893 | 2.7143 | 3 | -0.29 |
| St. Louis Blues | 54 | 24 | 21 | 9 | 57 | 145 | 162 | 0.4444 | 1.0556 | 2.6852 | 3 | -0.31 |
| Central | 278 | 144 | 101 | 33 | 321 | 811 | 784 | 0.518 | 1.1547 | 2.9173 | 2.8201 | 0.097 |
| Northwest | GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | GF | GA | WG | PPG | GFG | GAG | DiffG |
| Vancouver Canucks | 56 | 36 | 11 | 9 | 81 | 190 | 133 | 0.6429 | 1.4464 | 3.3929 | 2.375 | 1.018 |
| Minnesota Wild | 55 | 30 | 20 | 5 | 65 | 146 | 145 | 0.5455 | 1.1818 | 2.6545 | 2.6364 | 0.018 |
| Calgary Flames | 58 | 28 | 22 | 8 | 64 | 168 | 172 | 0.4828 | 1.1034 | 2.8966 | 2.9655 | -0.07 |
| Colorado Avalanche | 56 | 25 | 25 | 6 | 56 | 170 | 186 | 0.4464 | 1 | 3.0357 | 3.3214 | -0.29 |
| Edmonton Oilers | 56 | 16 | 32 | 8 | 40 | 137 | 193 | 0.2857 | 0.7143 | 2.4464 | 3.4464 | -1 |
| Northwest | 281 | 135 | 110 | 36 | 306 | 811 | 829 | 0.4804 | 1.089 | 2.886 | 2.95 | -0.06 |
| Pacific | GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | GF | GA | WG | PPG | GFG | GAG | DiffG |
| Dallas Stars | 56 | 31 | 19 | 6 | 68 | 159 | 158 | 0.5536 | 1.2143 | 2.8393 | 2.8214 | 0.018 |
| Anaheim Ducks | 57 | 32 | 21 | 4 | 68 | 159 | 157 | 0.5614 | 1.193 | 2.7895 | 2.7544 | 0.035 |
| Phoenix Coyotes | 57 | 29 | 19 | 9 | 67 | 162 | 160 | 0.5088 | 1.1754 | 2.8421 | 2.807 | 0.035 |
| San Jose Sharks | 57 | 30 | 21 | 6 | 66 | 158 | 151 | 0.5263 | 1.1579 | 2.7719 | 2.6491 | 0.123 |
| Los Angeles Kings | 56 | 31 | 22 | 3 | 65 | 156 | 132 | 0.5536 | 1.1607 | 2.7857 | 2.3571 | 0.429 |
| Pacific | 283 | 153 | 102 | 28 | 334 | 794 | 758 | 0.5406 | 1.18 | 2.806 | 2.678 | 0.127 |
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