Western Dark Horses Prominent In Stanley Cup Hunt

As they stand now, the top three teams in the West aren’t a surprise to many; all three are elite teams who entered the season with towering expectations.

For those who find themselves uncomfortable in the face of change, don’t peek at the Western Conference standings between the 4th and 7th position — what you’ll find are four teams who prior to the season seemed destined for a top-14 draft choice in 2010.

At fourth place in the West, the Phoenix Coyotes are by far the biggest surprise of the season. With Matthew Lombardi as their number one centre and very few legitimate top-6 forwards on the roster, the Yotes have gotten it done with goaltending, team defense, coaching, and a roster full of unsung heroes.

Directly beneath the Coyotes are the Colorado Avalanche who remain in the race for the Northwest Division lead. The Avs were picked to finish 14th or 15th virtually across the board, but names like Matt Duchene and Paul Stastny make Colorado’s emergence easier to believe than that of the Phoenix Coyotes.

Currently in sixth, the Los Angeles Kings have cruised steadily for most of the season, highlighted by the emergence of Drew Doughty as a superstar as well as the stellar tandem production of Anze Kopitar with Ryan Smyth. The Kings didn’t seem to have the most successful of off-seasons — they signed depth d-man Rob Scuderi and traded for Ryan Smyth, but didn’t acquire much else. It didn’t appear as though Los Angeles would be in the hunt this season, but they’ve proven to this point that they belong.

In seventh place, the Predators really shouldn’t be a surprise, yet they are. Nashville finished last in the Central division last year, which deceptively makes last season sound like an outright failure, when in fact the Preds won 40 games and finished with 88 points. Then in ‘09-10, the Blue Jackets, Red Wings and Blues regressed in the standings while the Preds remained virtually status quo, with a few internal improvements (The development of Suter and Weber and a healthy Steve Sullivan come to mind).

The Flames, Blues, Blue Jackets and Ducks have been replaced by the Coyotes, Avalanche, Kings and Predators in the playoff picture. Last year the Coyotes, Kings and Avs held down 13th, 14th and 15th place respectively in the Western Conference. Imagine if the Thrashers, Lightning and Islanders held down spots 4, 5 and 6 in the East right now? Can anyone recall three dramatic turnarounds such as these happening in the same season?

If these four teams continue to hold down spots 4-7, at least one is guaranteed to advance past round one, while any of these teams could make some serious noise in the playoffs. Remember Edmonton in 2006?

How about the fact that the Phoenix Coyotes have won every game since the trade deadline? How about Drew Doughty, who will be the best defenseman in the playoffs next to Duncan Keith. The Smashville Predators’ top defense pairing squared off in the Olympic Gold Medal game and were two of the most important contributors to their respective teams.

The Columbus Blue Jackets made the playoffs last year in the eighth seed and were brushed aside in four games by Detroit. The St. Louis Blues fought some battles with the Canucks in round one but were ultimately not in the same league as Vancouver.

There are some key differences with this year’s surprise clubs as opposed to last year’s. To begin with, neither the Blues or Blue Jackets threatened to finish in the top half of the West last year. At the moment, the Coyotes are knocking on San Jose’s door for the Pacific Division lead and the outright lead in the Western Conference. The Avalanche are still very much in the hunt to win the Northwest Division, which will likely be up in the air until the last week of the regular season.

This website uses IntenseDebate comments, but they are not currently loaded because either your browser doesn't support JavaScript, or they didn't load fast enough.