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How will the Wings do in the East?

RedWingsNow said:
What's the deal with Helm anyway? I thought they shut him down for the season. Then the next day they say he's close.
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They never shut him down, Babcock just said he was planning based on not having him available to play for the rest of the season.

Last I read he was on the trip to Anaheim with them and beginning to practice regularly after being told by a specialist that he won't make it any worse by working out.
 
RedWingsNow said:
What's the deal with Helm anyway? I thought they shut him down for the season. Then the next day they say he's close.
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nature of a back problem? Some days he probably feels crippled, others he probably feels close. I doubt anyone knows for sure when he'll be able to play again.
 
Winger98 said:
Yeah, I think this is going to be a big issue, along with the young guys just being a year older. We hate staying up and watching games at 1030 at night, imagine how the players feel having to be on the ice at that time. it's got to be a massive advantage for west coast teams to only be dealing with this issue the other way around (feels like playing at 430 instead of 730).

Anyway, yeah, I think we'll be fine. It's more a question of how our kids develop than of toughness or anything else.
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So... we finished 7th this year playing Western Conference teams who were just as tired as us.

Travel isn't going to help us in the standings
 
RedWingsNow said:
So... we finished 7th this year playing Western Conference teams who were just as tired as us.

Travel isn't going to help us in the standings
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The implication of this is that going from East to West and West to East is the same. It isn't - for night starts, its much easier going West to East.

Also, teams in the East will have to travel to each arena in the West, something they haven't had to do before - but the Red Wings have, (at least) twice every year, so they are used to it.

Combine those two things, and I don't see how the reduced Wings travel/increased East travel won't be an advantage for Detroit, especially the first year.
 
alConn said:
The implication of this is that going from East to West and West to East is the same. It isn't - for night starts, its much easier going West to East.

Also, teams in the East will have to travel to each arena in the West, something they haven't had to do before - but the Red Wings have, (at least) twice every year, so they are used to it.

Combine those two things, and I don't see how the reduced Wings travel/increased East travel won't be an advantage for Detroit, especially the first year.
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If teams traveling west were going through different time zones you may be on to something. Unfortunately, they don't. I highly doubt a couple hour plane ride from Philly, Boston, Florida, etc is going to affect how they play

They'll do the same due to the fact that, in all reality, they will have the same exact roster. Let's keep in mind Ken Holland is still running this clown rodeo.
 
JDrake said:
If teams traveling west were going through different time zones you may be on to something. Unfortunately, they don't. I highly doubt a couple hour plane ride from Philly, Boston, Florida, etc is going to affect how they play

They'll do the same due to the fact that, in all reality, they will have the same exact roster. Let's keep in mind Ken Holland is still running this clown rodeo.
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Wait, what? Teams traveling West don't go into a different time zone? I'm confused.
 
alConn said:
The implication of this is that going from East to West and West to East is the same. It isn't - for night starts, its much easier going West to East.

Also, teams in the East will have to travel to each arena in the West, something they haven't had to do before - but the Red Wings have, (at least) twice every year, so they are used to it.

Combine those two things, and I don't see how the reduced Wings travel/increased East travel won't be an advantage for Detroit, especially the first year.
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Exactly. Detroit should benefit by being fresher for more of their road games, and for not having to readjust after returning from thier road trips. swinging through Florida should be a lot easier than swinging through California or western Canada.
 
Winger98 said:
Exactly. Detroit should benefit by being fresher for more of their road games, and for not having to readjust after returning from thier road trips. swinging through Florida should be a lot easier than swinging through California or western Canada.
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I think this will be a big factor as well. Plus I have to be honest the higher scoring should help, everyone talks about tougher, but that travel and less tight checking is likely to show in guys like Datsyuk and Zetterberg. Everyone talks about how they are getting older, well guess what St. Louis just led the league in scoring and Elias similar age has been doing well in the east the last couple years. For it being bigger and meaner the east seems to allow the stars to shine more and we have two very big guns in that department.
 
I finally appreciated the travel the last couple weeks. Last couple weeks road trip in west go home for a couple games and repeat. I give us 10-16 points from travel alone next year.
 
A few years ago they would have been at the top of the conference. Now they are not talented enough to be more skilled than the other teams and they will be dominated by the opposition physically. This is likely the last year making the playoffs for a few years unless Buttman slides the wings the number one pick next year.
 
rx7dryver said:
A few years ago they would have been at the top of the conference. Now they are not talented enough to be more skilled than the other teams and they will be dominated by the opposition physically. This is likely the last year making the playoffs for a few years unless Buttman slides the wings the number one pick next year.
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People calling him "Buttman" always makes me laugh. :laugh:
 
FlashyG said:
The Northeast isn't that much bigger than the Central, in fact I think St Louis would be the biggest team in that division. I also think its a myth that the east is the more physical conference. It may have more heavyweight fighters but for the most part its a far more wide open higher scoring conference than the West, which is more defensively oriented.

I think they'll do better than this season.

I also think that getting a bunch of games vs Florida and Tampa, combined with the new playoff format should make getting a playoff spot easier. Having to travel a lot less will also be beneficial to injuries and fatigue.
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This.

St Louis is a very tough team, and I can´t see many teams, even in the big bad Eastern Conference, that are bigger or tougher than them. And what about the LA Kings? Or even Anaheim? Boston or Toronto are not that much more physical.

Furthermore, a lot of the fights in the Eastern conference are staged. And Detroit quite frankly don´t have the time or manpower to participate in these ridiculous and cringeworthy "fights". And boy, am I happy about that.
 
Not saying I don't want us to add some gritty guys, but the "Eastern Conference toughness" is hardly as big of an issue as some people are making it out to be. Its even less of a problem when your players have a strong work ethic, have a high hockey IQ and/or are strong skaters. And for the most part, the Wings have plenty of that.

Its not like these guys are world beaters - but they've still produced against the big, bad wolves of our future division, Boston and Toronto:

Gionta, 5'7 - 4 points in 9GP against Bos+Tor
Desharnais, 5'7 - 6 points in 9GP against Bos+Tor
Gallagher, 5'9 - 7 points in 8GP against Bos+Tor
Plekanec, 5'11 - 8 points in 9GP against Bos+Tor
Ennis, 5'9 - 9 points in 9GP against Bos+Tor

Not to mention there are a slew of smallish guys in the East who have dominated because of their work ethic, speed, or smarts, without having much "traditional toughness."

IMO, the East gets its reputation for being the tougher conference because its flashier and more individual - more fights, more nastiness, more open ice hits. But the West in general has this sort of "team toughness" fog that seems to settle over almost all Western Conference teams, not matter what the roster looks like. Maybe not as many open ice hits or fights, but more guys on any given team that are going to play you hard and close, no matter what line they're on.
 
West is tougher and tight checking. East is more loose.

Generally.

Seriously. This Wings sub forum is one of the few places where I've seen claimed that East is tougher. Maybe in fights, but that may be the only aspect.
 
Guru Meditation said:
The travel won't be better in a relative sense because everybody else in the east has easy travel too. But in an absolute sense, travel will be way better for the Wings than in previous seasons.
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Exactly. To say that it won't have a positive effect on the Wings (and Columbus) just because everyone else will be in the same position contradicts both reality and anecdotal evidence from the guys themselves. Anyone remember Martin Biron *****ing to the media a few years back about having to take a 3 hour plane ride or something to that effect? :laugh:

Anyways, the Wings, like everyone else in the West, have a ****** travel schedule in terms of miles traveled, but thats only part of the story. The bigger issue is how the time changes mess with your circadian rhythm. I can't remember where I read it, and it was a long time ago, but I'm pretty sure the only team that has ever had a worse schedule than the Wings/Jackets in terms of time zone change was Dallas, and that was only temporary.

The Wings are surely more accustomed to jet lag than the average traveler, but its a biological fact that the body benefits from a consistent circadian rhythm.
 
InjuredChoker said:
West is tougher and tight checking. East is more loose.

Generally.

Seriously. This Wings sub forum is one of the few places where I've seen claimed that East is tougher. Maybe in fights, but that may be the only aspect.
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It depends on what you mean by "tougher." Old school tough? Sure, the East has that. Tough to play against? That's the West's M.O.
 
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