Howlin' Hockey
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Arizona Coyotes are in a historically close race within the Pacific

By Jim Lynch

EDMONTON, AB - JANUARY 18: Jakob Chychrun #6 and Oliver Ekman-Larsson #23 of the Arizona Coyotes celebrate a goal against the Edmonton Oilers on January 18, 2020, at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Andy Devlin/NHLI via Getty Images)
EDMONTON, AB - JANUARY 18: Jakob Chychrun #6 and Oliver Ekman-Larsson #23 of the Arizona Coyotes celebrate a goal against the Edmonton Oilers on January 18, 2020, at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Andy Devlin/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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No division in the NHL is as close as the Pacific Division right now. I honestly do not remember the last time something like this happened, but at the same time for the Arizona Coyotes, it is both a good and bad thing.

The Pacific Division is the closest division in the NHL. Going into the all-star break only 1 point separated the top 5 teams, compared to the 14 points that separate the Central Division’s top 4 teams. I know that people outside of the west coast probably do not care how close things are out west, but at the same time, it makes a difference for us.

The Coyotes are playing in one of the weakest conferences on paper, which might be why things are so close right now. The division-leading Cancucks have 60 points this season. I f you drop them into the Eastern Conference they wouldn’t even be in the playoffs as of right now. How often does that happen?

The NHL is entering into an era where league parity can be seen all around the league, and there is no better example of that than the Pacific Division. I think being in this close of a division is honestly a bad thing for the Coyotes.

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Look at what happened to the Vegas Golden Knights. They fired their head coach after just four games of losing. A week could cost some players their job, I don’t want to see Rick Tocchet or anyone else fired from Arizona, but we don’t know what is going to happen in the next few weeks.

Maybe this team is one trade away from making a push for the playoffs, however, they might also be one loss away from being sellers at the trade deadline. Considering how close this division is all we can do is wait and see what happens!

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