NHL 2021-22 Western Conference 1st Half Recap

The picture in the NHL's Western Conference has been a very intriguing (and crowded) one, to say the least. While it appears that the Eastern Conference may have their playoff teams set in stone, the Western Conference has a lot of pieces on the board entering the All-Star break. The potential for a thrilling second half and home stretch is right in front of us, but before we look at the possibilities, let's look at where the West teams stand.

Central Division: In the always packed Central Division, the Colorado Avalanche appear to be on the verge of running away with it. The Avalanche's 68 points (32-8-4) give them a commanding lead in not just the division, but the entire Western Conference. They are eight points up in the Central, and 11 points ahead of the Pacific leader. How did it happen? It's simple. All Colorado had to do is not lose in regulation in 2022. Since returning to play after the extended holiday/COVID pause, the Avalanche are 15-0-2 in their last 17 games. It helped that the team had a lot of games in hand, and winning them left and right can be very rewarding.

The top three is rounded out by the Nashville Predators (60 points) and the Minnesota Wild (59 points); two very dangerous franchises. The Avalanche lost three games in almost two months--two of the three were against the Predators, who also handed Colorado their most recent regulation loss on December 16. They've been winning behind the stellar play of Matt Duchene, Filip Forsberg, Tanner Jeannot, Mikael Granlund, and goaltender Juuse Saros. As for the Wild, they've been on a winning tear; since losing the Winter Classic at home, the Wild have gone 9-0-1 in the last 10 games. They can't stop racking up points.

Pacific Division: A lot of the intrigue has been in the Pacific Division, which is led by the Vegas Golden Knights with 57 points (27-16-3). The Knights leading the Pacific isn't surprising, even in spite of having to play games without Max Pacioretty and/or Mark Stone, the Knights have been the top team in the Pacific in the short time they've been in the league. The real surprise comes from Southern California, as the Los Angeles Kings and the Anaheim Ducks make up the bottom two-thirds of the Pacific's Top 3.

Since the SoCal teams were swept out of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs, they have struggled badly. The Ducks and Kings were two of the seven teams who failed to qualify for the modified playoffs in 2020, and they continued to suffer last season. This year, both teams have 55 points entering the break, placing them two points out of first place, which the Ducks briefly held. The Kings are the 2nd place team due to having one game in hand over the Ducks, but with the way the division's going, do not be surprised if one of the SoCal teams finishes in first place; it is a definite possibility.

Wild Card: The most interesting portion of the Western Conference playoff picture is the Wild Card standings. The St. Louis Blues and the Calgary Flames enter the break in the Wild Card positions, with the Blues (57 points) being two points behind the Central Division's playoff line. The Blues' standing is in spite of Jordan Binnington's woes returning once again; Binnington continues to fall since his stellar 2018-19 season that resulted in the Blues' Stanley Cup, but Ville Husso has done well in his place. As for the Flames, their placement is pretty big, considering the bad year they had last season. There's also another important factor: the Flames have only played 42 games this season, mainly because most of the postponements from December were in Canada. They have two games in hand over St. Louis, but they have six games in hand over the Ducks. We could see the Flames at least move into the Top 3 in the Pacific, if not the division lead, in due time.

The Flames have a three point lead over their provincial rivals, the Edmonton Oilers, who have struggled immensely since December. The team made waves by signing the controversial Evander Kane, who has scored two goals in the three games played, but they'll need more than that to clime the playoff ladder. The Wild Card logjam also includes the Dallas Stars (48 points), the San Jose Sharks (48 points), the Vancouver Canucks (46 points), and the Winnipeg Jets (43 points). The biggest story out of those four is the Canucks, who cleaned house up top; firing not only head coach Travis Green, but also general manager Jim Benning. The Canucks hired Bruce Boudreau as coach, and the era got off to a great start, going 8-0-1 in their first nine games with Boudreau. However, they've gone 4-5-3 since then, but in spite of this, the Canucks still have a puncher's chance of climbing the Wild Card ladder and getting in.

This leaves the Seattle Kraken, the Chicago Blackhawks, and the Arizona Coyotes as the only teams with no realistic shot. The Kraken are in their first year, and they are coming off their first shutout win in franchise history, which is a big positive. The main problems are in Chicago and Arizona; regarding the latter, Marc-Andre Fleury is suffering. He was traded from Vegas via text, and he was going to retire rather than play in Chicago, but he sucked it up anyway. The season hasn't been a good one for Fleury, and one has to believe that he'll be in a different uniform at the deadline. As for the Coyotes...oh boy. To say they are a mess would be an understatement. Only 11 wins, bad numbers from most of the roster, and too much off-the-ice drama, though it's not as bad as the Blackhawks' soap opera. Yet despite this, the Coyotes entered the break with a big boast: they snapped the Colorado Avalanche's 10-game winning streak and 18-game home winning streak in one fell swoop. Go figure.

There's going to be chaos in the Western Conference in the 2nd half. It is going to be an absolute battle, similar to what we saw in the NFL's American Football Conference in December and January. All I can say is this: get your seatbelts fastened and get your popcorn ready!

If you like this story, click the heart; click subscribe for more of my stories! Tips and pledges would be greatly appreciated, but no pressure!