{"id":70386,"date":"2020-03-02T12:39:14","date_gmt":"2020-03-02T17:39:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/?p=70386"},"modified":"2020-03-02T12:39:14","modified_gmt":"2020-03-02T17:39:14","slug":"western-conference-playoff-race-analysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2020\/03\/02\/western-conference-playoff-race-analysis\/","title":{"rendered":"Western Conference Playoff Race Analysis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Western Conference playoff race is a hotly contested affair. No less than 11 teams are vying for eight spots and the honor of going to the playoffs. There must be a rating system to evaluate which teams will make it and which won&#8217;t. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/friv\/playoff_prob.fcgi\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hockeyrefenence.com<\/a> lists a prediction module which it states will be generated on a daily basis until the end of the regular season. The probabilities are empirical estimates based on simulating the remainder of the season 1000 times.<\/p>\n<h2>Western Conference Predicted Playoff Teams<\/h2>\n<p>Let&#8217;s go through each team and using a weighted point system see what we get. Here&#8217;s the system:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Two points awarded for each home game remaining, one point for each road game.<\/li>\n<li>Games remaining against potential playoff teams: 9=5pts, 11=4pts, 12=3pts, 13=2pts, 14=1pt.<\/li>\n<li>Number of points each team presently possesses: 88=9pts, 85=8pts, 81=7pts, 80=6, 76=5pts, 74=4pts, 73=3pts, 72=2pts, 71=1pt.<\/li>\n<li>Games remaining: 18=4pts, 17=3pts, 16=2pts, 15=1pt.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Now that we have the point system defined, here is the present NHL standings as of today, March1, 2019 before any games were played.<\/p>\n<table width=\"612\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"57\">\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"57\">Central<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<td width=\"35\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nhl\/standings\/_\/sort\/wins\/dir\/desc\/view\/wild-card\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">W<\/a><\/td>\n<td width=\"35\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nhl\/standings\/_\/sort\/losses\/dir\/asc\/view\/wild-card\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">L<\/a><\/td>\n<td width=\"36\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nhl\/standings\/_\/sort\/otlosses\/dir\/desc\/view\/wild-card\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">OTL<\/a><\/td>\n<td width=\"36\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nhl\/standings\/_\/sort\/points\/dir\/asc\/view\/wild-card\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">PTS<\/a><\/td>\n<td width=\"42\">ROW<\/td>\n<td width=\"76\">HOME<\/td>\n<td width=\"77\">AWAY<\/td>\n<td width=\"52\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nhl\/standings\/_\/sort\/pointsfor\/dir\/desc\/view\/wild-card\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">GF<\/a><\/td>\n<td width=\"51\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nhl\/standings\/_\/sort\/pointsagainst\/dir\/asc\/view\/wild-card\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">GA<\/a><\/td>\n<td width=\"78\">L10<\/td>\n<td width=\"37\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nhl\/standings\/_\/sort\/streak\/dir\/desc\/view\/wild-card\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">STRK<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>STL<\/td>\n<td>39<\/td>\n<td>17<\/td>\n<td>10<\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">88<\/span><\/td>\n<td>37<\/td>\n<td>23-6-5<\/td>\n<td>16-11-5<\/td>\n<td>213<\/td>\n<td>184<\/td>\n<td>7-2-1<\/td>\n<td>W7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>COL<\/td>\n<td>39<\/td>\n<td>18<\/td>\n<td>7<\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">85<\/span><\/td>\n<td>38<\/td>\n<td>17-9-5<\/td>\n<td>22-9-2<\/td>\n<td>221<\/td>\n<td>172<\/td>\n<td>7-2-1<\/td>\n<td>W6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>DAL<\/td>\n<td>37<\/td>\n<td>21<\/td>\n<td>7<\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">81<\/span><\/td>\n<td>35<\/td>\n<td>19-10-2<\/td>\n<td>18-11-5<\/td>\n<td>177<\/td>\n<td>168<\/td>\n<td>6-2-2<\/td>\n<td>L2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Pacific<\/td>\n<td>W<\/td>\n<td>L<\/td>\n<td>OTL<\/td>\n<td>PTS<\/td>\n<td>ROW<\/td>\n<td>HOME<\/td>\n<td>AWAY<\/td>\n<td>GF<\/td>\n<td>GA<\/td>\n<td>L10<\/td>\n<td>STRK<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>VGK<\/td>\n<td>36<\/td>\n<td>22<\/td>\n<td>8<\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">80<\/span><\/td>\n<td>33<\/td>\n<td>21-10-4<\/td>\n<td>15-12-4<\/td>\n<td>215<\/td>\n<td>198<\/td>\n<td>8-1-1<\/td>\n<td>W8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>EDM<\/td>\n<td>34<\/td>\n<td>23<\/td>\n<td>8<\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">76<\/span><\/td>\n<td>32<\/td>\n<td>16-10-5<\/td>\n<td>18-13-3<\/td>\n<td>204<\/td>\n<td>201<\/td>\n<td>5-3-2<\/td>\n<td>W1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>VAN<\/td>\n<td>34<\/td>\n<td>24<\/td>\n<td>6<\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">74<\/span><\/td>\n<td>31<\/td>\n<td>20-7-4<\/td>\n<td>14-17-2<\/td>\n<td>211<\/td>\n<td>199<\/td>\n<td>4-5-1<\/td>\n<td>L2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Wild-card<\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nhl\/standings\/_\/sort\/wins\/dir\/desc\/view\/wild-card\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">W<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nhl\/standings\/_\/sort\/losses\/dir\/asc\/view\/wild-card\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">L<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nhl\/standings\/_\/sort\/otlosses\/dir\/desc\/view\/wild-card\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">OTL<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nhl\/standings\/_\/sort\/points\/dir\/asc\/view\/wild-card\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">PTS<\/a><\/td>\n<td>ROW<\/td>\n<td>HOME<\/td>\n<td>AWAY<\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nhl\/standings\/_\/sort\/pointsfor\/dir\/desc\/view\/wild-card\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">GF<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nhl\/standings\/_\/sort\/pointsagainst\/dir\/asc\/view\/wild-card\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">GA<\/a><\/td>\n<td>L10<\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nhl\/standings\/_\/sort\/streak\/dir\/desc\/view\/wild-card\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">STRK<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>CAL<\/td>\n<td>33<\/td>\n<td>26<\/td>\n<td>7<\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">73<\/span><\/td>\n<td>27<\/td>\n<td>14-12-4<\/td>\n<td>19-14-3<\/td>\n<td>198<\/td>\n<td>206<\/td>\n<td>5-4-1<\/td>\n<td>L2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>NSH<\/td>\n<td>32<\/td>\n<td>24<\/td>\n<td>8<\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">72<\/span><\/td>\n<td>29<\/td>\n<td>16-13-4<\/td>\n<td>16-11-4<\/td>\n<td>204<\/td>\n<td>204<\/td>\n<td>6-3-1<\/td>\n<td>L1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>WPG<\/td>\n<td>33<\/td>\n<td>28<\/td>\n<td>6<\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">72<\/span><\/td>\n<td>30<\/td>\n<td>17-14-3<\/td>\n<td>16-14-3<\/td>\n<td>201<\/td>\n<td>198<\/td>\n<td>4-5-1<\/td>\n<td>L1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>ARI<\/td>\n<td>32<\/td>\n<td>27<\/td>\n<td>8<\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">72<\/span><\/td>\n<td>27<\/td>\n<td>17-12-4<\/td>\n<td>15-15-4<\/td>\n<td>187<\/td>\n<td>178<\/td>\n<td>5-4-1<\/td>\n<td>W1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>MIN<\/td>\n<td>32<\/td>\n<td>25<\/td>\n<td>7<\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">71<\/span><\/td>\n<td>30<\/td>\n<td>18-10-5<\/td>\n<td>14-15-2<\/td>\n<td>203<\/td>\n<td>202<\/td>\n<td>6-3-1<\/td>\n<td>W3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Breaking Down the Western Conference Teams<\/h3>\n<h4>Teams Currently in Playoff Spots<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/blues\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">St. Louis Blues<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/avalanche\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Colorado Avalanche<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/stars\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dallas Stars<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/knights\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Vegas Golden Knights<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/oilers\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Edmonton Oilers<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/canucks\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Vancouver Canucks<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/flames\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Calgary Flames<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/predators\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nashville Predators<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Teams NOT Currently in Playoff Spots<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/jets\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Winnipeg Jets<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/coyotes\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Arizona Coyotes<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/wild\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Minnesota Wild<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Using the point system example displayed above, here&#8217;s how all the teams stand:<\/p>\n<h5>Home Games vs Road Games<\/h5>\n<ol>\n<li>Colorado &#8211; 28 points<\/li>\n<li>Dallas &#8211; 27 points<\/li>\n<li>Edmonton &#8211; 27 points<\/li>\n<li>Calgary &#8211; 27 points<\/li>\n<li>Nashville &#8211; 26 points<\/li>\n<li>Minnesota -26 points<\/li>\n<li>Arizona &#8211; 23 points<\/li>\n<li>St. Louis &#8211; 23 points<\/li>\n<li>Vegas &#8211; 22 points<\/li>\n<li>Vancouver &#8211; 22 points<\/li>\n<li>Winnipeg &#8211; 22 points<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h5>Games Remaining Against Potential Playoff Teams<\/h5>\n<ol>\n<li>St. Louis &#8211; 9 for 5 points<\/li>\n<li>Minnesota &#8211; 11 for 4 points<\/li>\n<li>Dallas &#8211; 11 for 4 points<\/li>\n<li>Edmonton &#8211; 12 for 3 points<\/li>\n<li>Colorado &#8211; 12 for 3 points<\/li>\n<li>Calgary &#8211; 13 for 2 points<\/li>\n<li>Vegas &#8211; 13 for 2 points<\/li>\n<li>Arizona &#8211; 13 for 2 points<\/li>\n<li>Nashville &#8211; 14 for 1 point<\/li>\n<li>Vancouver &#8211; 14 for 1 point<\/li>\n<li>Winnipeg &#8211; 14 for 1 point<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h5>Number of Points Each Team Possesses<\/h5>\n<ol>\n<li>St. Louis &#8211; 88 for 9 points<\/li>\n<li>Colorado &#8211; 85 for 8 points<\/li>\n<li>Dallas &#8211; 81 for 7 points<\/li>\n<li>Vegas &#8211; 80 for 6 points<\/li>\n<li>Edmonton &#8211; 76 for 5 points<\/li>\n<li>Vancouver &#8211; 74 for 4 points<\/li>\n<li>Calgary &#8211; 73 for 3 points<\/li>\n<li>Nashville &#8211; 72 for 2 points<\/li>\n<li>Winnipeg &#8211; 72 for 2 points<\/li>\n<li>Arizona &#8211; 72 for 2 points<\/li>\n<li>Minnesota &#8211; 71 for 1 point<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h5>Games Remaining<\/h5>\n<ol>\n<li>Nashville &#8211; 18 for 4 points<\/li>\n<li>Vancouver &#8211; 18 for 4 points<\/li>\n<li>Minnesota &#8211; 18 for 4 points<\/li>\n<li>Colorado &#8211; 18 for 4 points<\/li>\n<li>Edmonton &#8211; 17 for 3 points<\/li>\n<li>Dallas &#8211; 17 for 3 points<\/li>\n<li>Calgary &#8211; 16 for 2 points<\/li>\n<li>St. Louis &#8211; 16 for 2 points<\/li>\n<li>Vegas &#8211; 16 for 2 points<\/li>\n<li>Winnipeg &#8211; 15 for 1 point<\/li>\n<li>Arizona &#8211; 15 for 1 point<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3>Final Tallies<\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li>Colorado &#8211; 43 points<\/li>\n<li>Dallas &#8211; 41 points<\/li>\n<li>St. Louis &#8211; 39 points<\/li>\n<li>Edmonton &#8211; 38 points<\/li>\n<li>Minnesota &#8211; 35 points<\/li>\n<li>Calgary &#8211; 34 points<\/li>\n<li>Nashville\u00a0 &#8211; 33 points<\/li>\n<li>Vegas &#8211; 32 points<\/li>\n<li>Vancouver &#8211; 31 points<\/li>\n<li>Arizona &#8211; 28 points<\/li>\n<li>Winnipeg &#8211; 26 points<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h4>Final Predicted Wild-Card Standings<\/h4>\n<p>Central Division<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Colorado Avalanche<\/li>\n<li>Dallas Stars<\/li>\n<li>St. Louis Blues<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Pacific Division<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Edmonton Oilers<\/li>\n<li>Vegas Golden Knights<\/li>\n<li>Vancouver Canucks<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Wild-Card Teams<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Minnesota Wild<\/li>\n<li>Calgary Flames<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Missing the Playoffs<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Nashville Predators<\/li>\n<li>Arizona Coyotes<\/li>\n<li>Winnipeg Jets<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Final Analysis<\/h3>\n<p>This is not rocket science, but it does weigh some integral statistics at the present time. Don&#8217;t forget things change every day. If we were to examine this same weighted system a week or two down the road, a different result would ensue.<\/p>\n<p>Things that can&#8217;t possibly be taken into consideration would be injuries, schedule, and coaches&#8217; game decisions. Still, the results were very fascinating to evaluate. The predicted Western Conference playoff race standings don&#8217;t vary much from the current standings as far which teams may or may not get to the playoffs. The order they finish in is a bit different. One may not agree that the Edmonton Oilers will overtake the Vegas Golden Knights for first in the Pacific Division. Or, that the Nashville Predators will miss the playoffs. The biggest surprise has got to be that the Minnesota Wild will emerge as the first wild-card team.<\/p>\n<p>It won&#8217;t be long before we know which eight teams will be battling it out to win the Western Conference championship for this 2019-20 season.<\/p>\n<p>Will your team be one of them?<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo:<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"Af1xjeWWQZdK0oCRcrW9Jg\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1150854315\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'Af1xjeWWQZdK0oCRcrW9Jg',sig:'g6DSElt2DHg-bg0S4uWQGdnX5U6FUcsML7pL1pwwtN8=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1150854315',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Western Conference playoff race is a hotly contested affair. No less than 11 teams are vying for eight spots and the honor of going to the playoffs. There must be a rating system to evaluate which teams will make it and which won&#8217;t. Hockeyrefenence.com lists a prediction module which it states will be generated [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2959,"featured_media":70402,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21,22,28,29,23,2,30,31,32,26,807,33],"tags":[107,103,36,102,138,221,243,39,158,961,357],"class_list":["post-70386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mammoth","category-flames","category-avalanche","category-stars","category-oilers","category-featured","category-wild","category-predators","category-blues","category-canucks","category-vegas-golden-knights","category-jets","tag-arizona-coyotes","tag-calgary-flames","tag-colorado-avalanche","tag-dallas-stars","tag-edmonton-oilers","tag-minnesota-wild","tag-nashville-predators","tag-st-louis-blues","tag-vancouver-canucks","tag-vegas-golden-knights","tag-winnipeg-jets"],"modified_by":"Dan Mount, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2959"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70386\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}