Polemic®

So says Damien Cox of the Toronto Star.

I’m assuming like most talking hockey heads, he means scoring. He seems to be saying as much when he says, “[r]emember the days when the Western Conference was all about flow and speed and Gretzky and offence?”

Well, it’s true. Only 5 of the top 15 (i.e. half) scoring teams are in the West. (But 2 of the top 5, Anaheim and Nashville.)

Cox though wants the individual stars. “No wonder of the top 20 scorers in the league, 18 play in the east.” Huh? Oh–scorers, as in people with assists. What about goal scoring? Well, that increases to 4 in the top 20. (But I’m not sure about the arbitrary cut off at 20.)

It’s not that Cox is without merit on claiming that the West is scoring less. But all of the teams except Jacques Lemaire-coached Minnesota are boring? “Of the top eight teams out west, only Minnesota, really, is a particularly interesting team to watch.”

So, the trap must be okay with him, as long as there’s scoring? I’m not sure.

And whether he things Anaheim, San Jose, and Edmonton are dull–well, that’s his opinion, but it’s not mine. Those teams are scoring!