The South's Gonna Do It Again

Earlier this week while performing my regular review of online hockey information, I came across an article titled the “Southleast Division” over on James Mirtle’s site. In it, he showed some statistics about how this perpetually maligned division doesn’t stack up with the rest of the Conference.

I have the utmost respect for Mirtle. I check out his blog at least once daily and whenever I mention one of his articles over at the Canes Country Blog, I refer to him as a “blogger deity”. But while Mirtle’s information is technically correct, just how pertinent is it in determining how the end of year Conference standings will turn out?

First of all, is it that surprising that teams in the Southeast have trouble being consistently competitive throughout an entire season? If you take a look at the history of the division, it was practically set up for failure right from the beginning. Three of the five teams were expansion teams. Four of the five were in brand new, non-hockey markets.

They didn’t have original 6 teams within the division to garner interest from, like Nashville did. They didn’t have a ready made hockey-loving fanbase to draw from like Minnesota and Columbus. None of the teams ever had strong, previous winning traditions. It was like Gary Bettman picked 4 teams from the bottom of the barrel, threw in Atlanta, and said “good luck boys, you’re on your own!”

Most of the team’s owners didn’t have the resources or big television contracts like their northern counterparts. They couldn’t afford the highest priced free agents. They had to build their teams by using the draft, with savvy trading, and by obtaining reasonably priced free agents. They had to build their markets from the bottom up.

These things take time and are still in process today.

So how has the division done since it’s inception 9 years ago? Teams in the division have won as many or more Eastern Conference Championships as any other division. (3) They have won as many or more Stanley Cup Championships as any other division. (2) Yet, they still get no respect. Are statistics more important than championships?

There is something to keep in mind about mid-season stat reports. They have a tendency to change, and change fast. They also usually don’t take into consideration which teams are hot, and which teams are not. For instance, while Atlanta and Washington got off to horrid starts, both teams have been among the best in the league since their coaching changes. Carolina has been besieged by injuries. They might be able to turn their fortune around if they can get healthy.

Mid-season statistics also do a very poor job of indicating who will win the Stanley Cup. Ask Detroit from last year and Ottawa from years previous to that.

So fear not southern hockey fans! The season is far from over and the stat sheets are pretty much meaningless at this point. Anything can, and probably will happen.

Right now the only team in the East who probably has a stranglehold on a playoff spot is Ottawa. After that, it’s anyone’s guess what will happen. Washington could very well capture the 8th and final playoff spot. If they do, should fans from Ottawa be feeling confident after watching their team get swept by the Capitals this season?

After all, it’s just a team from the “Southleast”.