For years, the NHL’s balance of power rested in the West. In the regular season, Western teams dominated their Eastern rivals. In the playoffs, the Stanley Cup headed West with shocking regularity.
Then, last spring, the Pittsburgh Penguins became the first Eastern team in five years to win the Cup and just the third in the last decade. This came on the heels of a 2015-16 regular season which had seen the two conferences move to near-parity, with the West winning 221 games and the East triumphing in 217.
Even that was a remarkable achievement.