Honey Bunches of Teams

The Buffalo Sabres know how to win. The Sabres are off to a 5-2-0 start. That means 10 points. Unfortunatley that is only good enough for a tie for fourth place in the Eastern Conference. It is still early in the season but this is indicative of the new tighter NHL. With the new scheduling of more division rivalaries, 32 of the 82 games will have a four point swing if a game is decided in regulation. This means the Northeast division will be a slugfest until April. With no weak teams in the division it will interesting to see how this extra wear and tear effects teams come playoff time.
In the Southeast division Tampa Bay and Florida get 8 games versus traditional patsies the Washington Capital and the Carolina Hurricanes. I do not include the Atlanta Thrashers in this category dispite their slow start because they have the firepower to be a competive team. If they don't beat you on the scoreboard they can always send Eric Boulton out to kill your forwards. This guy is a menace. Maybe it's just the past games against Toronto and Tampa Bay that he has been in a feisty mood but I don't remeber him being as dirty when he was a Sabre.
Once the calendar is flipped for the new year we should have a better idea of what this new schedule is doing to teams playoff chances. I understand the NHL wants to develop more rivalries but teams are not just fighting teams in their division for playoff spots. They are competing against teams in the entire conference. It doesn't matter how often you play a team that determines rivalries. It's the importance of the game that matters. A Sabres-Panthers matchup in March will probably be just as intense as a Sabres-Bruins game. These are the teams fighting for the playoffs. The addition of more interdivision games hurts teams chances that play in better divisions.