4 way tie for the last two playoff spots

[yave1964]

Amazing with a little over two weeks to go, their are 4 teams, Detroit, Columbus, Toronto and Washington tied for the final two playoff spots  with 80 points each . A quick look at the chances for all four.

 

  COLUMBUS: 10 games left. 5 at home, 5 on the road. Games against non playoff teams: 4.  They would have to be considered the favorite to lock down a spot, the only drawback is their final three are on the road.

 

  DETROIT:   10 games left 5 at home 5 on the road. Games against non playoff teams: 3. Whispers are Datsyuk may be back this weekend. 4 of final five on the road.

 

  WASHINGTON: 9 games left, 4 at home, 5 on the road. Games against non playoff teams:4. Kuznetsov and Halak have revitalized.

 

  TORONTO: 8 games left. 4 at home, 4 on the road. Games against non playoff teams: 4. Wow two weeks ago they seemed a lock.

 

  It looks to me that Columbus with 5 of the next seven at home have a chance to nail a spot down and Toronto seems on the verge of dying a cruel death, leaving the battle for the final spot between Detroit and Washington. I am not impartial, my opinion is if Datsyuk comes back and having the extra game at hand they would have to be considered the favorite bit after watching Washington get 5 of 6 points on their California trip last week they seem to be revitalized. Backstrom left last nights game. If he is out for any length of time that could be devastating.

Edited March 26, 2014 by yave1964

[Commander Clueless]

Going to be a fun race I think.

 

 

Except for Toronto. The Leafs are <insert rudest possible farting noise here>.

 

Burke's comments about trucks going off cliffs seems appropriate here.

[radoran]

This is certainly what they were hoping for with realignment. Keeping a lot of teams in the hunt down to the wire.

 

That said, out West, the 7/8 seeds are six points up on their closest rivals.

 

Flyers have to take care of business as well - just three points up on all four 80-point east teams (with game in hand). Big game tonight at the Garden.

 

If I had to pick, I'd say Tronno is in free fall, Washington has the harder road and Columbus and Detroit with the inside track.

[Lightning fan]

My brother has accepted the Leafs are not making the playoffs and is calling for a full-blown rebuild. I too don't see the Leafs winning with their current core; it may be the best option.

[jammer2]

  I honestly think Detroit gets one of the two spots, but that 4 out of 5 on the road to end the season, that is a daunting task. If this team ever gets healthy, they will be one of the top teams in the East.

 

 I'm thinking the Blue Jackets get the other spot, they play a nice hard solid brand of defensive hockey, and Bob (despite having the flu right now) is gonna be stellar down the stretch. The Caps need all world goaltlending from Halak and some goals from unexpected sources.

 

 Just thrilled to see the Leafs in this free fall. A few weeks ago, my Leaf buddies were all smug, but six straight loses (and counting) has them in a very precarious position, to say the least. It does not get any easier, Flyers on Friday and the Wings on Saturday night.....a very tough back to back for a team suddenly lacking an identity.

[Commander Clueless]

My brother has accepted the Leafs are not making the playoffs and is calling for a full-blown rebuild. I too don't see the Leafs winning with their current core; it may be the best option.

 

With the way they are playing right now, I'm not sure I want them to make it. It's painful to watch.

 

I don't know about "full-blown rebuild" considering they just barely finished the last one (not even sure it's done yet), but we'll see.

 

@jammer2 Their lack of identity started earlier this year. No idea why it happened, but it did. Carlyle may have lost the room. Not sure how many coaches they need to go through.

[yave1964]

@Commander Clueless

 

  Not ruling them out YET but they have a hard road ahead.

 

  I truly think that if Bernier had been in net they would have went around 3-3 in the past six games. Last night, first game back, a tentative team that seems to be imploding cannot be blamed on him. If he had not been injured 84-85 points seems realistic and we would be talking about the other three fighting for one spot. The Leafs aren't getting blown out in this stretch, losing by a goal here or a goal there.

  Reimer has to go for his sake and the sake of the team. The team, management and teammates have lost all faith in him. A fresh start next season away from Toronto is the best thing for all concerned.

  Beyond that, frankly I like the defensemen individually but as a whole they do not seem to mesh. All six bring something to the table but for whatever reason they don't seem to match well.

  Center is still killing your boys. Kadri is great one game and disappears the next, Bolland was solid until his injury and has been bad since and Bozak, well he is Bozak. The club still needs a top line center. Not sure who is out there in the offseason, maybe you could dangle a package including Reimer and a d-man for Little in Winnipeg or something.

  Anyway, your club is not dead and buried but they better get it together really quick. Keep your chin up, stranger things have happened.

[MadisonSquareGuardian]

Yep it's pretty awesome. I've been mostly focused in on the east, don't pay enough attention to the west I guess. But yeah, and the 2 & 3 seeds from each division are fighting eachother for home ice. (MTL-TB would be a very fair matchup) Tonight could be HUGE for my Rangers. You guys remember last wendsday when Rangers played Flyers? We were up 1 point but had 2 hames in hand so it was a scary position :unsure:  but when we beat them that night, we went up 3 pts with 2 games at hand. Well tonight could end up putting us in a better position than that if all goes well, if say Flyers lose @ Blues and the Rangers win @ Nucks, we'll be up 4 pts w/ 2 games in hand. I'm hoping anyways  ^_^

 

Home ice isn't everything but it's nice..

[MadisonSquareGuardian]

@jammer2 Their lack of identity started earlier this year. No idea why it happened, but it did. Carlyle may have lost the room. Not sure how many coaches they need to go through.

Yeah not to mention James Reimer did not help his team by expressing his interest in leaving in the summer. At least wait until the summer, duh, your team was headed to the playoffs, why mess with them psychologically? But I admit i'm a little bit ignorant about this because besides that, i dont really know the situation that well. Was he doing it in a low class way or did he just mean they dont need him since they had Bernier in net?

[flyercanuck]

@MadisonSquareGuardian

 

 The coach made some comments about him that weren't very flattering. Considering the entire team has left their goalies on their own to win games this year, you'd think the coach might have taken that into account.

 

 Oh, and welcome to the board.

[MadisonSquareGuardian]

Thanks very much, everyone's been very welcoming. And it's good to see another Canadian on here, I live in US now but still go back to Peterborough every summer. Speaking of Peterborough, the Petes have a game 7 tonight #OHL.

 

Anyway,Oh wow that is truly a shame. I actually noticed he was unappreciated a while back when the Rangers were in town, he had 1 bad game against us and they we're booing him for some reason. We did beat them 7-1 lol but still, he has been a gem all year. Both of them have. Thankyou again

[Polaris922]

Yep it's pretty awesome. I've been mostly focused in on the east, don't pay enough attention to the west I guess. But yeah, and the 2 & 3 seeds from each division are fighting eachother for home ice. (MTL-TB would be a very fair matchup) Tonight could be HUGE for my Rangers. You guys remember last wendsday when Rangers played Flyers? We were up 1 point but had 2 hames in hand so it was a scary position :unsure:  but when we beat them that night, we went up 3 pts with 2 games at hand. Well tonight could end up putting us in a better position than that if all goes well, if say Flyers lose @ Blues and the Rangers win @ Nucks, we'll be up 4 pts w/ 2 games in hand. I'm hoping anyways  ^_^

 

Home ice isn't everything but it's nice..

 

 

Welcome to the forums!  Should spice things up a bit having a Rangers fan around.  

 

As for your points, Philly's two games in hand give them the advantage, so your boys will probably have to win .700 or better hockey from here on out to end up ahead of them.  

[flyercanuck]

@MadisonSquareGuardian

 

 Before we got a junior team here, the Petes were my favourite. I still have a soft spot for them. And of course I'm cheering for them to beat the Frontenacs.

[J0e Th0rnton]

With the way they are playing right now, I'm not sure I want them to make it. It's painful to watch.

 

I don't know about "full-blown rebuild" considering they just barely finished the last one (not even sure it's done yet), but we'll see.

 

@jammer2 Their lack of identity started earlier this year. No idea why it happened, but it did. Carlyle may have lost the room. Not sure how many coaches they need to go through.

The Leafs last rebuild was tragic. Quinn and Ferguson traded away like 5 years of their future for elderly rentals and it haunted them for years.

Trading McCauley, Boyes and a 1st(Brad Stuart) for an aging Owen Nolan? A 2nd for Glen Wesley? Tukka Rast for Raycroft? 2 players I can't remember and a 1st in 04 and a 2nd in 05 for Bryan Leetch? And on and on. I kept wondering how the heck they could trade all their picks and prospects for rentals and has been's since I never saw picks coming back higher than 4th. Now I know they couldn't. It has been biting them in the arse for years.

 

I still find it sad that Scotty Bowman, a proven winner, offered his services as GM, and would come out of retirement to build a winner, but they rebuffed him because he wanted too much autonomy. Then they go give that Autonomy to Burke?

 

That teams needs to be blown up for picks, a few of the younger guys kept around and some real developmental coaches brought in. A coach who can work with a team of younger guys and help them.

 

  I honestly think Detroit gets one of the two spots, but that 4 out of 5 on the road to end the season, that is a daunting task. If this team ever gets healthy, they will be one of the top teams in the East.

 

 I'm thinking the Blue Jackets get the other spot, they play a nice hard solid brand of defensive hockey, and Bob (despite having the flu right now) is gonna be stellar down the stretch. The Caps need all world goaltlending from Halak and some goals from unexpected sources.

 

 Just thrilled to see the Leafs in this free fall. A few weeks ago, my Leaf buddies were all smug, but six straight loses (and counting) has them in a very precarious position, to say the least. It does not get any easier, Flyers on Friday and the Wings on Saturday night.....a very tough back to back for a team suddenly lacking an identity.

What Detroit is doing with basically all farm team developping centers is amazing. Their developmental farm is second to none.  Nyquist with icetime has been a revelation for them. And heck, he was a 4th round pick. How do they do it? Zetterberg was a 7th rounder, Datsyuk was a 6th rounder. Detroit can really see talent they know how to develop.

[Commander Clueless]

@J0e Th0rnton

 

Sadly, the stuff you mentioned was BEFORE the "rebuild". The one that Burke swore wouldn't take 5 years. The one that involved trading a 2nd overall, a 9th overall, and some guy with a cool name for Kessel (who is great by the way, but that's still steep for a team dwelling in the basement).

 

Now, a decade later, we seem to be roughly back to where we started. Fighting for 9th.

 

 

At least when they made the Nolan, Wesley, and Leetch trades, they were in the playoff discussion. Sacrificing the future in a major way.

 

Think Bowman still wants the job? I'm all for it. Although to be fair, I was all for it back then to. But MLSE hadn't quite had enough screaming yet.

 

 

 

And as for Detroit, they are a bunch of friggin' hackers and everyone knows it, but no one wants to say anything because Illitch controls pizza. And pizza is power. Pizza power.

Edited April 2, 2014 by Commander Clueless

[goalnut3133]

That teams needs to be blown up for picks, a few of the younger guys kept around and some real developmental coaches brought in. A coach who can work with a team of younger guys and help them.

 

Yo Joe, I hear rumours that Torts may be available again by summer...I think he's gonna take the fall for the implosion of the Nucks, not Gillis. 

 

@MadisonSquareGuardian

 

Welcome! And I'm happy for the Rangers that Vigneault seems to have worked out well for you...about time they were given a fighting chance. . Torts & the Nucks...not so much. (I was a Nucks fan up until recently & their downward descent from Jan 2014). I honestly used to ABHOR watching the way Torts would treat the Rangers, throwing hissy fits on them & totally humiliating them in front of everyone. Hopefully now, with what he's made out of the Nucks, he's been taken down a few notches. But I'm not holding my breath.

[J0e Th0rnton]

@J0e Th0rnton

 

Sadly, the stuff you mentioned was BEFORE the "rebuild". The one that Burke swore wouldn't take 5 years. The one that involved trading a 2nd overall, a 9th overall, and some guy with a cool name for Kessel (who is great by the way, but that's still steep for a team dwelling in the basement).

 

Now, a decade later, we seem to be roughly back to where we started. Fighting for 9th.

 

 

At least when they made the Nolan, Wesley, and Leetch trades, they were in the playoff discussion. Sacrificing the future in a major way.

 

Think Bowman still wants the job? I'm all for it. Although to be fair, I was all for it back then to. But MLSE hadn't quite had enough screaming yet.

 

 

 

And as for Detroit, they are a bunch of friggin' hackers and everyone knows it, but no one wants to say anything because Illitch controls pizza. And pizza is power. Pizza power.

I don't believe the current leaf rebuild really was a rebuild based on the fact that they had little young talent. Usually around the time of a rebuild, you have picks aplenty in early part of the drafts, or at least had some prospects in the pool. Before this "rebuild" they had little in the way of blue chip prospects. There was a guy or two who hit levels higher than expected for short bursts due to getting icetime, but blue chip prospects are what make a rebuild. You sell the guys over a certain age for #1 picks, sometimes having multiple #1 picks in a draft year and some seconds. Maybe hit up a free agent or two and build. The leafs had no second, thirds, etc in a lot of years and little in the way of building a prospect pool. Leaf scouts and GM's also do not seem to pull diamonds from the later rounds often.

 

2004, Nothing till the 3rd round.

 

2005, Rask (but they traded him for Raycroft *laughs hysterically*)

 

2006, Not a great draft year outside of a few in the top 10. Ended up with Tlusty

 

2007, Nothing till the 3rd round. Sharks gave you Toskala and Bell for your 1st(13th overall) and 2nd picks and a 4th in 2009. We traded those picks to move up to 9th overall to get Logan Couture(Who nobody thought was going till 20th. I love our scouts)

 

2008, Luke Schenn. This was a good pick given what was left after the big 4. Unfortunate for the leafs that the big 4 were a sure thing, but everyone after had a question mark. Then again, they rushed him to the NHL.

 

2009, Kadri. A very good pick. I think he would have benefitted from some more development time. Streaky but good. Best available pick

 

2010, le sigh, no first rounder. I guess if you don't mind losing two 1st rounders and a 2nd for Kessel.....

Then of course, getting Phaneuf. I understand why they did it, but I have never been all that high on him.

 

2011, managed to get two late 1st rounders in one of the weaker draft years ever.

 

2012, Reilly. May turn into a good player. Too early to tell.

 

But let's face it, this "rebuild" was godawful with a lot of picks traded away hamstringing it.

[Commander Clueless]

I don't believe the current leaf rebuild really was a rebuild based on the fact that they had little young talent. Usually around the time of a rebuild, you have picks aplenty in early part of the drafts, or at least had some prospects in the pool. Before this "rebuild" they had little in the way of blue chip prospects. There was a guy or two who hit levels higher than expected for short bursts due to getting icetime, but blue chip prospects are what make a rebuild. You sell the guys over a certain age for #1 picks, sometimes having multiple #1 picks in a draft year and some seconds. Maybe hit up a free agent or two and build. The leafs had no second, thirds, etc in a lot of years and little in the way of building a prospect pool. Leaf scouts and GM's also do not seem to pull diamonds from the later rounds often.

 

2004, Nothing till the 3rd round.

 

2005, Rask (but they traded him for Raycroft *laughs hysterically*)

 

2006, Not a great draft year outside of a few in the top 10. Ended up with Tlusty

 

2007, Nothing till the 3rd round. Sharks gave you Toskala and Bell for your 1st(13th overall) and 2nd picks and a 4th in 2009. We traded those picks to move up to 9th overall to get Logan Couture(Who nobody thought was going till 20th. I love our scouts)

 

2008, Luke Schenn. This was a good pick given what was left after the big 4. Unfortunate for the leafs that the big 4 were a sure thing, but everyone after had a question mark. Then again, they rushed him to the NHL.

 

2009, Kadri. A very good pick. I think he would have benefitted from some more development time. Streaky but good. Best available pick

 

2010, le sigh, no first rounder. I guess if you don't mind losing two 1st rounders and a 2nd for Kessel.....

Then of course, getting Phaneuf. I understand why they did it, but I have never been all that high on him.

 

2011, managed to get two late 1st rounders in one of the weaker draft years ever.

 

2012, Reilly. May turn into a good player. Too early to tell.

 

But let's face it, this "rebuild" was godawful with a lot of picks traded away hamstringing it.

 

Well Burkie's rebuild tactics turned out to be trades. It's impossible to say he hasn't improved the Leafs (because man, awful AWFUL team with awful prospects when he came in), but was it the right path? Who knows. Doesn't look good so far.

 

Either way, it was a rebuild because we had to suffer 5 years of suckage. Doing another one so soon is probably not going to happen, so us Leafers may be in for another wonderful playoff scramble for 3-4 years before another 5 year rebuild at minimum.

 

Sounds like fun.

 

Being a fan of this team, I'm honestly I'm surprised I haven't taken up drinking.

Edited April 3, 2014 by Commander Clueless

[MadisonSquareGuardian]

Welcome to the forums!  Should spice things up a bit having a Rangers fan around.  

 

As for your points, Philly's two games in hand give them the advantage, so your boys will probably have to win .700 or better hockey from here on out to end up ahead of them.  

Thank you, sorry for being gone a few weeks. Does that mean i'm the only Rangers fan here that you know of? 

Anyhow, here we are, Rangers got the home ice and they played around .700 I'd recall so you were right. Goodluck buddy, i cant wait for thursday but wendsday should be promising too, Jackets Penguins should make a jam-packed series, at least in my opinion. I'm pretty familiar with that Columbus team and they could be a serious contender. Hell, this year is VERY different to most years, take a look at all the 7-8th seeds, they're not your average 7th & 8th seeds lol. Red Wings had the Bruins number, Columbus is good and could possibly beat a slumping Pens team, Wild are good and Stars are rallying but they'll likely be slaughtered by the Ducks lol but idk, it's unusual. Many good teams this year

Edited April 14, 2014 by MadisonSquareGuardian

[flyercanuck]

@MadisonSquareGuardian

 

 I think the amount of Flyer fans on here scares off most Ranger and Pens fans. We do have a few Pens posters who've become daily fixtures and contribute a lot to the board. If you can handle the odd bomb thrown your way it's a great group of hockey fans on here.

 

 And congrats on the Petes upsetting the Frontenacs (though they didn't fare so well against that powerhouse in Oshawa)

[MadisonSquareGuardian]

@MadisonSquareGuardian

 

 I think the amount of Flyer fans on here scares off most Ranger and Pens fans. We do have a few Pens posters who've become daily fixtures and contribute a lot to the board. If you can handle the odd bomb thrown your way it's a great group of hockey fans on here.

 

 And congrats on the Petes upsetting the Frontenacs (though they didn't fare so well against that powerhouse in Oshawa)

My Goodness I know! Flyers fans on this site, they're everywhere! Lol, one of the first things i've realized when i got here, it's almost eerie how many there are. But I come in peace, they have my word. 

Hey I know, i talked to my grandmother a couple days ago about that and she was upset but it's weird that they lost to Oshawa because thats where my other family live at so it was kind of a win win, though i would have preferred the Petes. They did well though

[flyercanuck]

@MadisonSquareGuardian

 

 Most of us migrated over from the philly.com board when a member started this far superior site up. There's a lot of good people on here from different teams. Hope you stick around.

[MadisonSquareGuardian]

@MadisonSquareGuardian

 

Thank you very much. Well you have my word i'll be here, especially during playoffs! I hope you enjoy and good luck..

It really is sad only 1 of our teams gets to advance, they're both very talented but above all, they have more heart than the majority of the other playoff competitors. Experience too. Yes, they were both meant to exceed further but like i said, there are so many good teams this year, every match-up seems much more balanced rather than the blatant advantages you'd normally see in many other post-seasons. 

[MadisonSquareGuardian]

And again, thank you dearly for the warm welcome, i dont know if you can write people messages here but i'll try to findout but yeah send a message my way after game 1 or something, we'll talk some hockey bro. Goodluck again, can't wait for that game 1

[pilldoc]

And again, thank you dearly for the warm welcome, i dont know if you can write people messages here but i'll try to findout but yeah send a message my way after game 1 or something, we'll talk some hockey bro. Goodluck again, can't wait for that game 1

 

Welcome!  Glad you found us.  We have a great time here.  Don't think we have any other Ranger fans around these parts.  Grab a couple of your buddies and we will have a blast talking hockey.  There are ALOT of knowledgeable hockey fans around here.  If  you don't mind a few barbs thrown your way every now and then (all in fun of course), then you will have a great time here.   

 

Don't think anyone has mentioned it yet, but we have a great Game Chat.  It is real-time interaction without the annoyance of always having to hit the post button.  We are certainly welcome to join us on game days.  First game I think is Thursday night.  Come join in the fun.   We usually have about 10-15 people chatting away during the game.  It is a blast.   We might have more in the room now that the playoffs are upon us.

 

Once again welcome and have some fun!

 

Best

Pilldoc

 

PS To access the Game Chat....go to top of screen....look for the heading that says "Chat & Games".  Click on that and you see Game Chat.  Click on that and viola...you are in game chat.  Also we have a fantasy draft starting tonight..  We also have one tomorrow night.  PM hf101 for specific details.  I'm sure you can get in if you are interested!

Edited April 14, 2014 by pilldoc