Cooper: “There used to be a top four and another four. That is how it was for a long time. That is clearly not the case anymore. In playing the teams in our division, the gap has closed.
“Whether Toronto or Florida are the class of the division right now, they are not a class above everybody else in this division, whereas in years past, I think that used to be the case.
“It is a coin flip right now.”
For nearly half a decade, the top four teams in the Atlantic Division were largely decided by this point in the season.