As I explained in this post, to gauge the relative performances of NHL teams during the 2009-2010 season, a reasonable adjustment for the differing strengths of the two conferences is to add 3 points to Western teams, and subtract 3 points from Eastern teams.
Below are the final standings with this adjustment. I broke ties between teams in different divisions by considering the strength of the other teams in the division relative to the strength of the conference (since the difference in the latter has already been taken into account). If I had actually computed the appropriate divisional adjustments, all would be less than 1 point, and most would be less than 0.5 point. Ties between teams in the same division are resolved the usual way.
1. Washington 118
2. San Jose 116
3. Chicago 115
4. Phoenix 110
5. Vancouver 106
6. Detroit 105
7. Los Angeles 104
8. Nashville 103
9. New Jersey 100
10. Pittsburgh 98
11. Colorado 98
12. Buffalo 97
13. St. Louis 93
14. Calgary 93
15. Anaheim 92
16. Dallas 91
17. Ottawa 91
18. Boston 88
19. Minnesota 87
20. Philadelphia 85
21. Montreal 85
22. NY Rangers 84
23. Columbus 82
24. Atlanta 80
25. Carolina 77
26. Tampa Bay 77
27. NY Islanders 76
28. Florida 74
29. Toronto 71
30. Edmonton 65
7 of the top 8, and 12 of the top 16 teams are in the West - only 4 Eastern teams "deserve" to make the playoffs (WSH, NJ, PIT, BUF), while only 3 Western ones "deserve" to miss it (EDM, CBJ, MIN). The 8th seed in the West, Colorado, ranks ahead of Buffalo, the Northeast division champ!
Now, wouldn't it be awesome if the 21st regular-season team in the league wins the Cup?
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