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Given that it is St Patrick Day, there are no games scheduled today for the Calgary Flames, and no big news to report aside from one player returning to practice, I decided that I would put together a fun blog
That said, I felt it would be interesting to run the numbers for each Eastern and Western team who are in the hunt for a playoff spot, and see where they would end up provided that they remain on pace with respect to their last ten games played.
Before I get into that, I should note that Matt Stajan returned to practice with the team this morning. Stajan has been out with “personal reasons… since the death of his newborn boy. It was expected that he would miss a larger amount of time given the seriousness of the issue, but also because he team isn’t pushing for playoffs anyways.
It will likely be a little awkward in the dressing room as I am sure his teammates would rather not focus on the tragedy, but still offer their sympathies just the same. I would also expect that Matt may not be at his best, but hope that he is truly ready to return to the lineup.
Now, back to the potential playoff seeds! As explained, these point totals are calculated off each team’s most recent 10 game streak, and should not be considered overly accurate, though I argue is not likely to be far from it.
Atlantic: Boston - 121pts Toronto - 96pts Montreal - 95pts Tampa - 93pts Detroit – 86pts Ottawa – 81pts Florida – 67pts Buffalo – 54pts
Metropolitan: Pittsburgh – 106pts Philadelphia - 99pts Columbus – 96pts Washington - 88pts NYR – 88pts New Jersey – 85pts Carolina – 75pts NYI – 73pts
Central: St Louis – 121pts Colorado – 113pts Chicago – 106pts Minnesota – 102pts Dallas – 94pts Winnipeg – 85pts Nashville – 79pts
Pacific: Anaheim - 114pts San Jose - 119pts Los Angeles - 104pts Phoenix – 88pts Vancouver – 87pts Calgary – 75pts Edmonton - 71pts
Eastern Conference Playoff Seeds: 1. Boston vs Washington (WildCard) 2. Pittsburgh vs Tampa Bay (Wild Card) 3. Toronto vs Montreal 4. Philadelphia vs Columbus
Western Conference Playoff Seeds: 1. St Louis vs Dallas (WildCard) 2. San Jose vs Minnesota (WildCard) 3. Anaheim vs Los Angeles 4. Colorado vs Chicago
Top five teams for First Overall Draft Selection: 1. Buffalo 2. Florida 3. Edmonton 4. NYI 5. Carolina
Again, there are strong chances that teams either improve or worsen their current 10 game record; however I would say that with most teams having just over 10 games remaining, that the above standings would be pretty darn close.
What do you think? Are there any teams you feel that could really improve upon or worsen their current records, ultimately changing their potential seeding?