The NHL’s Western Conference has reigned supreme over the Eastern Conference for the better part of a decade. Since the end of the 2004-05 NHL lockout, Western Conference teams have consistently gotten the better of Eastern Conference opponents, winning close to 60% of inter-conference games in each season. In addition, the West had produced 5 of the last 7 Stanley Cup Champions. However, the level of dominance of the Western Conference has reached new heights this season, as Western Conference teams have won an unprecedented 68% of inter-conference games so far.
With the possible exception of the Pittsburgh Penguins or Boston Bruins, all of the NHL’s powerhouse clubs reside in the West. This has resulted in a disparity in the standings, as point totals in the Western Conference soar to new heights, while teams in the East wallow in relative mediocrity. Teams like the Phoenix Coyotes and Minnesota Wild are battling for playoff position, despite being on pace for greater than 100 points. Moving to the West has been a rude awakening for the Winnipeg Jets, who battled for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference last season before being moved as a result of the conference realignment. The Jets have been all but eliminated from the Western Conference playoff picture, despite hovering around .500 on the season. Such a record does not cut it in the Wild West.
Meanwhile, the Detroit Red Wings, who moved to the East as a result of the realignment, have seen their fortunes improve as a result of the move. The team has managed to remain in the playoff race despite recent losing streaks that would have buried the team in the more competitive West. The same can be said for the home-town Maple Leafs, whose habit of getting badly outshot by opponents would surely sewer the team against the big guns of the Western Conference.
The Western Conference’s domination of the East in the NHL is nothing new. However, it appears that this trend has expanded into other sports. The inequality between the Western and Eastern conferences in the NBA is even more extreme that in the NHL. Only two teams sit above .500 in the NBA’s Eastern Conference (Indiana and Miami), whereas nine teams have such a record in the West. Like the Leafs, the Raptors have benefitted immensely from this gap, as they currently sit 4th in the Eastern Conference, while they would sit near the bottom of the Western Conference standings. Even as the Raptors trade away many of their star players, in what appears to be an effort to acquire high draft picks and rebuild the team, they are buoyed by the mediocrity of their conference peers.
In the NFL, the AFC and NFC West divisions were, until recently, considered the weakest divisions in each Conference. This season, however, the top team in each Conference resides in the West division. The AFC West-leading Denver Broncos are the AFC’s number one seed and appear to be a strong favourite to represent the Conference in the Super Bowl. Meanwhile, the Seattle Seahawks own the best record in the NFC. Each of Denver and Seattle are pushed by strong competition within their divisions, and it is likely that the AFC West and NFC West will each produce at least one wildcard team.
Interestingly, however, the dominance of teams from the West does not extend to baseball, where the top teams in each League still reside in their Eastern and Central divisions.
While it is likely that the dominance of Western Conference teams in each of these sports is a mere coincidence, other theories have begun to emerge.
In the NHL, for example, it has long been posited that Western Conference teams play a more structured, defensive style than their free-wheeling Eastern Conference counterparts. When these two styles clash, the team-oriented Western Conference teams tend to emerge over the Eastern Conference teams, who rely more on individual skill. Certainly, a higher level of competition in one group will eventually lead to improvement for all teams in that group, as they try to gain an edge over one another.
Given the relative novelty of Western dominance in basketball and football, possible explanations are only beginning to formulate. Is there a geographical explanation? Is there something in the water or the air out West that helps athletes perform their best? Do they thrive away from the glare and pressure of East-coast media?
It is unlikely that we are going to receive a satisfactory explanation for this phenomenon any time soon. For the time being, those Leafs and Raptors fans that are enjoying the teams’ recent success should thank the sports gods that their teams remain in the cushy confines of their leagues’ Eastern Conferences.