When you think of the NHL and success, you probably think of the Eastern Conference – the conference that has five of the “Original Six” teams that created the NHL and the conference that dominated the sport until the early ’90s – but times have changed, and so has the balance of power in the league.
The Western Conference has clearly become the better conference after winning the last three Stanley Cups and six of the last eight. It has once again set itself up for another good season after a strong offseason. With the exception of the San Jose Sharks and defending champion Los Angeles Kings, the other six Western playoff teams all made moves to significantly strengthen their team.
The Anaheim Ducks, last year’s Western Conference champions who were eliminated by the Kings in the second round, made an offseason trade for elite center Ryan Kesler. The former Vancouver Canuck will help the Ducks at center, a spot where they were clearly weak last year and the reason, many say, why they were eliminated by their southern California rivals.
The Colorado Avalanche, who surprised many last year by finishing first in the Central Division in Patrick Roy’s first year as an NHL head coach, went out and added veteran forwards Jarome Iginla and Daniel Briere to help an already strong core of forwards.
The St. Louis Blues, who finished second in the Central, went out and got center Paul Stastny who is coming off a 60-point year. The Dallas Stars traded for center Jason Spezza and signed winger Ales Hemsky to help out stars Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn. In one of the more under-the-radar moves, the Minnesota Wild signed free-agent winger Thomas Vanek to help with their forwards group.
Last but not least, the Chicago Blackhawks added veteran center Brad Richards to a team that was one win away from playing in the Stanley Cup Finals. If the Eastern Conference wants to restore its glory, it will have the tough task of dethroning the Western Conference, a conference that got much deeper in the offseason and will likely continue their domination once the NHL season starts on Wednesday.
