As we come to the close of the third month of the 2015-16 regular season, the NHL is doing handstands. The reason being is this season has been absolute utopia for the league. Why do you ask? Well, the league has hit euphoria in terms of parity, which is something they strive for every season. In recent years, each season has seen the difference between the NHL’s member clubs become smaller and smaller, but this year the parity in the sport has been taken to a whole new level.
NHL Parity Closer Than Ever in 2015-16
The Upper Third
Clearly the two best teams in the league so far this year have been the Dallas Stars in the West (54 Points) and the Washington Capitals in the East (52 Points). But do you realize how close the next group of teams are to each other in terms of points in the standings? The St.Louis Blues are third overall in the league with 46 points but the next eleven teams fall between 40 – 44 points. Folks, that’s a very small separation for nearly half the league. One could make a very strong argument by taking two of any of these fourteen teams and placing them in a seven game series, the net result would be a very long series that would be up for grabs. That kind of scenario bring huge smiles in the NHL offices.
Are There Bad Teams Anymore?
Going into the holiday break for the league there was only one team that was worse than five games below .500. That was the Columbus Blue Jackets with a record of 13-20-3. The second-worst records belong to the Anaheim Ducks and the Carolina Hurricanes. However, keep in mind each one of those teams are just three games under .500. One good week and those clubs are back to .500. If you consider overtime or shootout losses as ties, which they really are, only seven teams had a record below .500 going into the holiday break.
Close Games Every Night
Nearly one-quarter of the games in the NHL this season have gone to overtime. To be precise, 23.6% have needed extra time. This also means that nearly one out of every four games is a three-point contest (two points for the winner and one point for the loser), which results in tighter standings for both the division and playoff races. When we look at the number of overall one-goal games in the league, the numbers are startling. So far in the month of December 48.1% of the games have resulted in one-goal contests. Keep in mind this does not take into account games that result in a two-goal difference due to a last second empty net goals.
All of this analysis tells us that the NHL is a league where the difference between the teams from the top all the way to the bottom is not that wide. It also tells us that predicting who will make deep playoff runs and who will eventually win the Stanley Cup is anyone’s guess. When the difference in talent between the clubs is so small, experience is going to play a huge factor on who wins and who losses.
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