Howe will they do it?

[Cheese]

Howe will they do it indeed? With 13-14 games left per team I think we can safely say that as it sits right now only the Oilers and Flames are sure bets to make the playoffs. It would certainly take a collapse of monumental type for Calgary to miss the show.

The remainder of teams are in a battle to the finish. We could literally see 2 or 3 spots change hands on the last game of the year. Based on todays standings (Feb 21st, 06) We can probably eliminate the Blues, Hawks, Yotes, Sharks, Avs and Stars from the race. Im sure that the GMs of a few of those teams might disagree, but it will be very tough to leapfrog 3 or 4 teams to get into the top 8. At this point I would suggest that only the Wings and Jackets have a decent shot at moving up if teams above falter. After 72 games approximately we see only a 6 point difference between 3rd and 10th place in the Conference. Unbelievably tight and any team that goes in the tank now or conversely puts on a long winning streak will see their fortunes change significantly.

Below the standings I have copied the teams final Matchups to see who has the toughest road…and who might have an easier time. The Wild, Kings and Wings all have more games against non-playoff teams left than do the others….will that be enough?

This looks to be a wild finish….hang on to the reigns Howe GMs …you are in for a tight finish!



HOWE Conference

xOILERS 72 50 18 4 2 106
FLAMES 72 43 21 8 0 94
WILD 72 38 31 3 2 81
PREDATORS 72 37 30 5 1 80
CANUCKS 73 36 33 4 2 78
JETS 73 35 32 6 2 78
DUCKS 73 35 33 5 2 77
KINGS 73 33 34 6 5 77


WINGS 72 34 33 5 3 76
JACKETS 73 32 32 9 2 75
_______________________
BLUES 72 31 34 7 1 70
HAWKS 73 29 35 9 3 70
COYOTES 72 31 36 5 1 68
SHARKS 73 27 41 5 6 65
AVALANCHE 73 29 41 3 3 64
STARS 72 15 45 12 2 44

Wild Matchups

Team W L T Left (GF-GA)
BLUES 2- 1- 0 ( 1) (11- 9)
CANADIENS 1- 1- 0 ( 1) ( 4- 9)
CAPITALS 1- 0- 0 ( 1) ( 7- 5)
COYOTES 3- 0- 0 ( 1) (15-11)
FLAMES 0- 0- 1 ( 1) ( 4- 4)
HAWKS 1- 1- 0 ( 2) ( 5- 5)
HURRICANES 2- 0- 0 ( 1) ( 8- 4)
JACKETS 1- 2- 0 ( 1) ( 8-16)
LEAFS 1- 0- 1 ( 1) ( 7- 4)
SENATORS 0- 2- 0 ( 1) ( 1- 8)
STARS 0- 1- 0 ( 3) ( 1- 4)

Wild have 10 games out of their last 14 against non-playoff teams.

Predator Matchups

Team W L T Left (GF-GA)
BLUES 0- 0- 1 ( 3) ( 4- 4)
CANUCKS 0- 1- 0 ( 1) ( 1- 2)
COYOTES 2- 1- 0 ( 1) (12-10)
FLAMES 1- 0- 0 ( 1) ( 4- 1
JACKETS 1- 1- 0 ( 2) ( 4- 4)
JETS 0- 1- 0 ( 1) ( 1- 3)
KINGS 1- 0- 0 ( 1) ( 4- 3)
NORDIQUE 1- 1- 0 ( 1) ( 3- 2)
OILERS 0- 1- 0 ( 1) ( 3- 6)
PANTHERS 0- 2- 0 ( 1) ( 3- 9)
WINGS 2- 1- 0 ( 1) (14- 6)

Preds have 8 games out of their last 14 against non-playoff teams.

Canucks Matchups

Team W L T Left (GF-GA)
AVALANCHE 2- 0- 0 ( 2) (10- 4)
BLUES 1- 0- 0 ( 1) ( 5- 3)
BRUINS 0- 1- 0 ( 2) ( 3- 4)
DEVILS 2- 0- 0 ( 1) ( 9- 5)
DUCKS 1- 1- 0 ( 2) ( 6- 6)
FLAMES 2- 1- 0 ( 1) (13- 9)
HAWKS 0- 1- 0 ( 1) ( 2- 3)
NORDIQUE 1- 0- 0 ( 1) ( 2- 1)
PREDATORS 1- 0- 0 ( 1) ( 2- 1)
THRASHERS 0- 2- 0 ( 1) ( 3-11)

Nucks have 6 games out of their last 13 against non-playoff teams.

Jet Matchups

Team W L T Left (GF-GA)
CANADIENS 0- 1- 0 ( 1) ( 4- 5)
DUCKS 1- 1- 1 ( 1) ( 8- 8)
FLYERS 1- 0- 0 ( 1) ( 4- 1)
ISLANDERS 0- 1- 0 ( 2) ( 3- 4)
LIGHTNING 2- 0- 0 ( 1) (11- 4)
OILERS 1- 2- 0 ( 1) (10-12)
PENGUINS 0- 1- 0 ( 1) ( 0- 2)
PREDATORS 1- 0- 0 ( 1) ( 3- 1)
SABRES 0- 0- 0 ( 2) ( 0- 0)
STARS 0- 0- 1 ( 1) ( 4- 4)
THRASHERS 1- 5- 0 ( 1) (13-32)

Jets have 6 games out of their last 13 against non-playoff teams.

Duck Matchups

Team W L T Left (GF-GA)
CANUCKS 1- 1- 0 ( 2) ( 6- 6)
CAPITALS 1- 0- 0 ( 1) ( 2- 1)
DEVILS 2- 0- 0 ( 1) ( 7- 3)
FLAMES 0- 2- 0 ( 2) ( 8-13)
FLYERS 0- 0- 1 ( 1) ( 3- 3)
ISLANDERS 0- 2- 0 ( 1) ( 5- 8)
JETS 1- 1- 1 ( 1) ( 8- 8)
LIGHTNING 5- 0- 0 ( 1) (26-16)
RANGERS 2- 2- 0 ( 1) (15-11)
STARS 0- 0- 0 ( 2) ( 0- 0)

Ducks have 7 games out of their last 13 against non-playoff teams.

King Matchups

Team W L T Left (GF-GA)
AVALANCHE 2- 1- 0 ( 1) ( 7-10)
DEVILS 2- 1- 0 ( 2) (14-10)
FLAMES 0- 3- 0 ( 1) ( 9-14)
FLYERS 0- 0- 0 ( 2) ( 0- 0)
HAWKS 1- 0- 0 ( 1) ( 5- 3)
ISLANDERS 3- 0- 2 ( 1) (17-13)
JACKETS 0- 1- 0 ( 1) ( 2- 7)
LIGHTNING 1- 1- 0 ( 1) (12-10)
PREDATORS 0- 1- 0 ( 1) ( 3- 4)
RANGERS 1- 1- 0 ( 1) ( 4- 6)
STARS 1- 0- 0 ( 1) ( 5- 3)

Kings have 10 games out of their last 13 against non-playoff teams.

Wing Matchups

Team W L T Left (GF-GA)
BRUINS 0- 1- 0 ( 1) ( 2- 3)
CANADIENS 0- 1- 1 ( 1) ( 5- 8)
COYOTES 2- 0- 0 ( 3) ( 8- 3)
JACKETS 1- 3- 0 ( 1) (11-16)
LEAFS 2- 0- 0 ( 1) ( 7- 1)
NORDIQUE 2- 0- 0 ( 1) ( 9- 5)
PENGUINS 0- 0- 1 ( 1) ( 4- 4)
PREDATORS 1- 2- 0 ( 1) ( 6-14)
SABRES 0- 1- 0 ( 2) ( 1- 3)
SENATORS 2- 0- 0 ( 1) ( 6- 3)
STARS 3- 0- 0 ( 1) (14- 6)
Wings have 9games out of their last 15 against non-playoff teams.

Jacket Matchups

Team W L T Left (GF-GA)
COYOTES 1- 2- 0 ( 1) ( 7- 9)
KINGS 1- 0- 0 ( 1) ( 7- 2)
LEAFS 0- 2- 0 ( 1) ( 7-10)
NORDIQUE 1- 1- 0 ( 1) ( 9-11)
OILERS 1- 0- 0 ( 1) ( 3- 2)
PANTHERS 1- 1- 0 ( 1) ( 6- 6)
PREDATORS 1- 1- 0 ( 2) ( 4- 4)
SENATORS 1- 1- 0 ( 1) (10-10)
STARS 1- 1- 0 ( 2) (10- 9)WILD 2- 1- 0 ( 1) (16- 8)
WINGS 3- 1- 0 ( 1) (16-11)

Jackets have 6 games out of their last 13against non-playoff teams.

[Sylvanfan]

Yeah, there is no question that spots 3-10 could see a lot of change in the final 25 days or so. Each team has 13-14 games left, so assuming that you need 15 points in those games to make it that means 92 points is what will be required to make the playoffs. Here's how I see the teams.

Wild: They've underachieved for a lot of the year in my opinion. They've had talent all year long, but just could never get things going. Hasek looks like he'll be out another 10 days for them, so Brent Johnson will need to do a good job holding the fort down. But as is noted above they don't have a really hard schedule left. I think they should win the Mikita and snag the number 2 seed.

Predators: Well this team doesn't quite look like it did 12 months ago. A lot will depend on how much Sanford holds them in there until March 1st which is Khabibullins expected return date. Another key for them will be how long Jovanovski stays out for too. With Khabibulin and Jovo this is would seem like a decent defensive team. Still despite it's paper weaknesses the team has played well lately. So I suspect they'll still get in.

Canucks: Well the Canucks have been a pretty good defensive team all season long and Radek Dvorak has given them a lot of scoring. Still it looks like the Canucks should be able to post a .500 record down the stretch which should be enough to get to the playoffs.

Jets: Well the expansion team has really hung in there. Mike has done a good job finding players to help keep him in the race. I think it will be a nail biting finish for him as the Jets will stay right on the brink until the very end. But I predict that they will find a way to finish 8th.

Ducks: The Ducks struggled for a lot of the year but similar to last season have turned it on since the calender turned over. A lot of that probably has to do with the fact that Elias came back and they were able to get something out of that asset. Luongo is one of the top 4 goalies in this conference and that alone will make it hard for someone chasing the Ducks to bump them out.

Kings: They're holding down 8th spot by the slimest of margins. Is Felix Potvin going to be enough to fend off the charging teams from behind. The Kings are a youngish team thats done well to overcome some tough injuries. But I think the Kings are a bit more concerned about next season than some of their competitors are so I think they'll get bumped. Still it's a good young team with a bright future.

Wings: Well the Wings have proved me wrong for a lot of the year. Johan Hedberg has played tremendous for them, and they need to find a way to squeeze 10 more good reg season games out of him. If the Wings can get healthy and find a way to get something out of Bertuzzi they should be able to get one of the final spots.

Jackets: Injuries to Holik, and Conolly have hit this team hard as it's had a huge impact on the centre ice position. A lot of the other guys who got off to fast starts have also cooled down too. The Jackets more than anything need to get their full lineup back in tact and for Legace to play really well. But that said the Jackets need to find a way to get 18 points in 13 games to get in, and I think that will be an order thats too tall.

[Preds GM - CPHL]

nice writeups...shud be a good finish.

Sanford the Saviour

[notoepik]

Yesterday with only 5 points to make up, we thought there was a chance. 7 points seems like a lot more to move up.

We are sticking with the Belfour Blame theory.

[Young Guns]

Going to be a interesting finish. Any of these teams can still finish anywhere from 2nd in the conference to 8th. Two of these teams are going to get edged out. I would say the Ducks have a bit easier schedule. Just have to wait and see what team will go on a lengthy losing streak. There is bound to be at least one.