So in the new NHL format, the Western Conference only gets 7 playoff teams, right?

I've never really been a hockey guy, and with my increased NBA writing of late I have paid a particular lack of attention to the NHL this season.  While looking at the standings today something caught my eye that I wasn't previously aware of (no, not the fact that there is actually a division that goes by the name "Metropolitan"):

There are now 16 teams in the Eastern Conference, and just 14 in the West.  When 8 of them make the playoffs in the East, 50% get in.  However, out West every club has a 57% chance (8/14) of reaching the postseason.  How unfair is that?  I know other major sports have had similar discrepancies in the past, but at the moment they're all fixed.  Maybe the NHL offices (who were ahead of the times on instant replay) are working on some sort of complex 7 team round robin tournament for the Western Conference playoffs in order to even things out.


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