The National Hockey League 2015-16 has been going on for a month now and each team has played around 15 games. In this post we explain the division system of the league and then look at the standings in each division and see what the trends are early in the season. Sixteen teams will advance to the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs. The three top placed teams in each division is the first twelve teams to qualify for the playoffs. The remaining four teams that will qualify is the two best teams from each conference (western/eastern). Basically, that means that in theory, three teams from one division might qualify and five from another. The last four spots are called ”wild cards”.
Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division
Montreal is dominating the Atlantic Division. They are in the lead with 27 points, having won 13 of their 16 games. Montreal has scored 59 goals and allowed 29 = +30 overall. Behind them are six teams within 5 points (12-17p). Toronto is still waiting for the Mike Babcock-effect and is currently placed last at 8 points. However, the Maple Leafs have announced that they are aiming at a fresh start but with a long-term thinking and will build their new team over the next seasons.
Montreal 27p
Ottawa 17p
Tampa Bay 16p
Boston 15p
Detroit 15p
Florida 13p
Buffalo 12p
Toronto 8p
Metropolitan Division
The Metropolitan Division is developing kind of how we expected. Rangers and Washington are at the top, however the top five teams are within five points. At the bottom of the division we find Columbus who are struggling with 11 losses in 15 games so far.
New York Rangers 22p
Washington 20p
Pittsburgh 18p
New Jersey 17p
New York Islanders 17p
Philadelphia 13p
Carolina 12p
Columbus 8p
Western Conference
Central Division
So far no team has really excelled in this division. Dallas is on a winning streak with 3 straight wins, 12 wins in 15 games. However, the top four teams have not played the same number of games so far so there is a of gap if we only look at the points below. Last year’s Stanley Cup Champions, Chicago, is struggling a bit with just 8 wins in 15 games. Colorado is at the bottom of the Central Division with 10 losses in 14 games.
Dallas 24p
St Louis 21p
Minnesota 18p
Nashville 18p
Winnipeg 18p
Chicago 17p
Colorado 9p
Pacific Division
By far the tightest division so far. Los Angeles, who missed the play offs last year to many’s surprise, is at the top. Anaheim had a rough start but now have a four game winning streak. Chances are both the Ducks and the Flames will gain some positions the next time we will run our report from the NHL, in about a month.
Los Angeles 18p
Vancouver 17p
San Jose 14p
Arizona 13p
Anaheim 12p
Calgary 11p
Edmonton 10p
That’s it for this time. We will return with an update from the NHL in December!
