Odd. Yahoo reporting the Blues have clinched a playoff spot, but I don't see that yet.

They have 6 teams in the West beaten outright. But Los Angeles, San Jose, Phoenix, Chicago, Detroit, Nashville, Dallas, Vancouver can all finish with higher records than the Blues. If I'm not mistaken that means the highest we've clinched is 9.

I'm not sure if Coliacavo could have played a worse game.... Misses a wide open net, couple bad passes, and then misplays the puck and give's Chicago a 2 on 0 rush on Halak resulting in a goal.

It was a miracle we got a point. 2 more and the Central is ours. Then we'll worry about beating Vancouver, then the Rangers.

PS, thank god they don't allow shootouts to decide the playoffs, we'd be screwed. We're terrible at them.

Last edited by alz (3/30/2012 8:29 am)

Pittsburgh was playing the best hockey in the league until they inexplicably lost back-to-back games to the Islanders. 

I think the 3 teams to fear in the East are (in order): Pittsburgh, New York and Boston.  I don't completely buy into Bryzgalov as a playoff goalie, and I'm not sure Philly can survive that first round matchup.

forsberg_us wrote:

Pittsburgh was playing the best hockey in the league until they inexplicably lost back-to-back games to the Islanders. 

I think the 3 teams to fear in the East are (in order): Pittsburgh, New York and Boston.  I don't completely buy into Bryzgalov as a playoff goalie, and I'm not sure Philly can survive that first round matchup.

There's a dropoff between the top two there and Boston. I worry if Thomas is going to have enough left in the tank with all the games he's been playing since Rask got hurt. If the standings hold, the Bruins can probably get past Ottawa, but after that they're probably an underdog, even with home ice in the second round. They just haven't been able to consistently put the puck in the net since Horton went down. Not that Horton is Stamkos, but they haven't been able to roll out consistent lines.

"It could mean the Blues never play a playoff game against a Central opponent, or they have home ice throughout the western conference playoffs anyway (the only way with the current standings for us to play a Central opponent would be if Vancouver lost to one)"

Not necessarily.

If Chicago knocks off the #3 seed, the Blues (assuming they win in the first round), would play the winner of Detroit/Nashville.

It would require the Pacific champion (currently Los Angeles) to beat Chicago, I had thought I put that in the post, but apparently that was an afterthought.

lol who knows... Has there ever been a division in hockey that finished with 4 teams > 100 points? You're about to see it....

I found a year when three teams scored at least 100 - with a 78-game schedule.
(Note the Canucks are in the Eastern Conference, which does nothing do refute the notion during that era that hockey people were as dumb as a box of hair.)

http://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_1973.html

They had to do something with the rules to neutralize the trap (pun intended). The 1-0 and 2-1 games were tactically brilliant, but the nuances were lost on fans like me who never played and don't follow the sport religiously.
I like the overtime. I don't like the shootout. I'd rather see them play 4-on-4 for a 10-minute overtime to decide that point than with a series of penalty shots.

Might be interesting, both the Rangers and Canucks lost last night, and sit at 109 points with 1 to play. If the Blues win their last 2, they can tie the point totals of both. We own the tiebreaker with Vancouver but the Rangers own us (ROT Regulation and OT wins, shootout wins don't count) on that same tiebreaker. NY Rangers have 47, we have 44 and Vancouver has 42. Updating the magic numbers to reflect this, as it affects Vancouver.

The Blues once again control their own destiny in the West. Tonight is Phoenix, this is a potential playoff preview.

I just noticed something quietly going on in the East. 4 teams clipped 100 points in the Atlantic. If Chicago wins or goes into OT on their final game, they will be the 4th team in the Central to clip 100 points as well.