A Western tilt stands out for healthy, happy NHL

Hockey is a booming business right now. After an attention-grabbing Olympic trip and an exciting postseason for the scandal-free NHL, revenue and television ratings have risen to record levels across a largely healthy, happy league.

Yet the NHL ice is tilted decidedly to the West, and the continental divide might even grow this season.

A few months after Chicago and Los Angeles staged an epic conference finals won by the Stanley Cup champion Kings, nearly every team on the Western side of hockeys unbalanced standings made significant offseason additions to chase the leagues twin postseason powers.

PHOTOS: A Western tilt stands out for healthy, happy NHL

Anaheim added Ryan Kesler. Dallas snared Jason Spezza and Ales Hemsky. St. Louis signed Paul Stastny. Minnesota snagged Thomas Vanek. Colorado got Jarome Iginla and Daniel Briere.

Even Chicago picked up Brad Richards. Only the champs essentially stood pat, daring the West to catch them.

It seems like the West is loading up again, Kings center Anze Kopitar said. But at the end of the day, I dont think its going to matter too much what the other teams do. Its going to matter what we do.

The Blackhawks and the Kings each have two titles in the last five years, and theyre both the widely considered favorites to play for the Stanley Cup again. But when Los Angeles beat the New York Rangers in five games in the Stanley Cup finals last year, many prognosticators scoffed that five West teams could have beaten any East representative - and the theoretical math appears much the same this fall.

The West is such a grind, Ducks defenseman Ben Lovejoy said. Theres so much talent. All these huge, physical teams that skate very well. We can have another great regular season, and it wont matter if we dont have the toughness to win in the playoffs.

The Western Conference has won six of the last eight Cups, and the two East winners were stretched to a full seven games in the finals. Although Boston, Pittsburgh, Montreal and Tampa Bay return strong clubs, league MVP Sidney Crosby and the rest of the Easts stars realize theyll have to go West to win a title.

Link:
A Western tilt stands out for healthy, happy NHL