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Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch
I really like Sportsclub's playoff odds but sometimes its difficult to predict.
It would be interesting to see how positions change in the second half of the season in terms of teams that are out and looking in.
Frankly the American Thanksgiving date just seems very solid, if you're out then the odds are stacked against you.
With the Oilers the difficulty is this.
In terms of the Pacific division they're falling rapidly behind the curve.
The top runners are 13 points up and San Jose is 10 points up, and all of them have winning records in the last 10. Its doubtful that Edmonton can win 5 to 7 more games then the front runner over the next half of the season.
Anaheim is in range 6 points up on them in the wildcard spot. But its going to be tough though not impossible to catch them. They can probably over take Dallas who are 5 points up however Dallas though they have struggled at 4-5-1 in the last 10 still gained two points on the Oilers.
Here's the problem for Edmonton, there are two teams between Edmonton and that final wildcard spot and its next to impossible to vault over three teams,
The only benefit that Edmonton has right now is games in hand, However what hurts them is that they trail everyone in terms of ROW and they aren't doing well in terms of season series.
I think they're boned and only 5 points out of last place in the NHL with all the teams behind them being hotter then them.
The Oilers are also not really getting much help back from their injuries.
I think they're done.
Time to start selling.
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I think the other thing against them is they are not a team. Hitch's pulling the 3 off the ice and working the rest of the group is only going to sour and divide things. You hear it all the time in teams that are successful, part of it is the chemistry within the team. The whole band of brothers and all that. What they have now is a completely fractured team that is broken. Hitch is essentially trying to win games with on the shoulders of one player.
The NHL is hard enough and they they are making things harder. I kind of chuckle because they are trying to change the culture of entitlement, but the first thing they do is give preferable treatment to a couple players.