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Post-Lockout Divisional Imbalance

Ever wondered about the extent of divisional imbalance in the NHL?  We know that the southeast division isn't very good, but how bad is it?  Here's the Corsi% (even-strength shots only) with the score tied every year since the lockout:

 

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Total
atl 50.6 47.6 50.5 50.4 51.4 50.2
ne 50.2 50.1 49.3 49.5 51.3 50.1
se 48.6 50.4 49.6 48.6 47.4 48.8
cen 50.2 50.4 53.5 52.9 53.7 52.3
nw 49.3 48.8 46.6 47.7 46.0 47.6
pac 51.2 52.9 50.5 50.9 49.8 51.0

 

The southeast division is indeed bad, but the northwest is even worse.  How much of that is having to play more games against the much stronger teams in the central and pacific divisions?

 

atl ne se cen nw pac
atl 49.5 51.2 50.1 50.6 48.4
ne 50.5 50.5 47.0 50.3 49.1
se 48.8 49.5 45.7 50.9 47.1
cen 49.9 53.0 54.3 53.4 51.1
nw 49.4 49.7 49.1 46.6 47.4
pac 51.6 50.9 52.9 48.9 52.6

 

The NW division is slightly better than the SE division against all shared opponents.  But SE division teams outshot NW teams in head-to-head games.  The difference between the two divisions is negligible, though the NW's stronger showing against the pacific and central suggests that it's just a little bit better than the SE.

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