The Drive for 30th

[Fire]

You would think most of the border-line NHL players on the Oilers would be motivated to impress the new GM. I think they win tonight.

[CaptainCrunch]

Think Kevin Lowe is marching around the dressing room asking the players what the hell is wrong with them because he knows winnin

[devo22]

I took a look at the schedules of the seven teams at the bottom and tried to predict the outcome.

FLORIDA PANTHERS:
at NYR L
at NJD L
at BOS L
vs NYR OTL
vs TOR L
at TBL OTL

COLORADO AVALANCHE:
vs EDM W
vs STL L
at STL L
at PHX L
vs MIN OTL

CALGARY FLAMES:
vs DET L
vs ANA L
at MIN L
at NSH W
at STL L
at CHI L

CAROLINA HURRICANES:
at WPG L
vs PHI OTL
at TBL OTL
vs NYI L
vs NYR L
at PIT L

NASHVILLE PREDATORS:
at CHI L
vs CGY L
at DET L
at CBJ L

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING:
at MTL L
vs CAR W
vs TOR L
at BOS L
vs FLA W

EDMONTON COILERS:
at COL L
vs ANA L
vs ANA L
vs CHI L
at MIN L
vs VAN L

As a result, the standings would look like that:

24 | 42 Points | Tampa Bay Lightning (19-25-4, 16 ROW)
25 | 39 Points | Edmonton Coilers (16-25-7, 14 ROW)
26 | 38 Points | Carolina Hurricanes (17-27-4, 17 ROW)
27 | 38 Points | Calgary Flames (17-27-4, 17 ROW)
28 | 38 Points | Colorado Avalanche (15-25-8, 14 ROW)
29 | 38 Points | Nashville Predators (15-25-8, 13 ROW)
30 | 34 Points | Florida Panthers (13-27-8, 10 ROW)

In that scenario, we would be ahead of Colorado and Nashville because of ROW, but behind Carolina because of goal differential. It's very close though, there's a good chance that we finish 25th, but we could also easily finish 28th or 29th.

[Da_Chief]

I want 9-8 losses rest of the way.

[kobasew19]

A must lose game tonight.

[Rapidfire999]

The more I think about it the more I see Edmonton somehow getting the 1st overall... =(

[neo45]

Originally Posted by Rapidfire999

The more I think about it the more I see Edmonton somehow getting the 1st overall... =(

They are way better at this tanking business than the other teams. They are like that little league team from southpark

[ToraToraTora]

Edmonton is totally getting another first overall. I hope Bettman rigs the lottery since he probably hates them by now.

[FlameZilla]

Originally Posted by ToraToraTora

Edmonton is totally getting another first overall. I hope Bettman rigs the lottery since he probably hates them by now.

Would that be a first in all of sports? 4 1st overalls in a row? I knew they were trying to build another dynasty, but I wouldn't have thought they'd take it in that direction...

[devo22]

Originally Posted by FlameZilla

Would that be a first in all of sports? 4 1st overalls in a row? I knew they were trying to build another dynasty, but I wouldn't have thought they'd take it in that direction...

wasn't them getting 3 1st overalls in a row already some kind of record?

EDIT: nevermind, I just saw that the Nordiques had 3 1st overalls from 89 to 91 as well.

[Wolven]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

Neither?

There's 5 important games for teams near us.

FLA vs NYI
NYR vs PHI
TB vs WPG
MIN vs EDM
CAR vs OTT

So you're saying its a safe bet that all those 5 teams will lose? Could happen but its far from a safe bet.

Bleh.

Only one of those games went our way and it was probably the least important one. It looks like the Flyers have won their way out of the race (for now). At least Tampa took their game to OT and even though the 'Canes lost, the Sens are now tied with the Blues in points.

Tonight is a bit of a double whammy for the Flames. We want Detroit (or Columbus) to catch the Blues in order to push the Blues into 8th place and a first round against the Hawks. It'll be a tall order though because both the Wings and BJs need to make up 3 points while the Blues seem to have the easiest closing schedule in the league.

Tomorrow's OOT board is back to having a lot of implications for the Flames:
NYI vs TOR
Fla vs NYR
TBL vs Mon
WAS vs OTT (Doesn't matter who wins but we want it to go to OT)
NJD vs Phi
CAR vs Win
Pho vs StL
Min vs SJS

The only games that really have no implications for us are the VAN-DAL and CBJ-LAK.

We want FLA, CAR, PHI, TBL to win for obvious reasons.
We want the Islanders, Capitals and Senators to gain points and jump over the Blues in the overall standings.
We want the Blues to lose and the Wild to win in order to keep the Blues in the 7-8 seed.

[ToraToraTora]

EDIT: nevermind, I just saw that the Nordiques had 3 1st overalls from 89 to 91 as well.[/QUOTE]

Ya, that turned out real well for them too. Well, I guess it turned out for the Avs.

[Parallex]

Originally Posted by devo22

I took a look at the schedules of the seven teams at the bottom and tried to predict the outcome.

COLORADO AVALANCHE:
vs EDM W
vs STL L
at STL L
at PHX L
vs MIN OTL

CAROLINA HURRICANES:
at WPG L
vs PHI OTL
at TBL OTL
vs NYI L
vs NYR L
at PIT L

Think these two will do a little bit better then this (not much but a little). Carolina's schedule features 1 surefire playoff team, 3 bubble teams, and two also-rans... I know they've been horrible lately but they had much stiffer quality of competition in the stretch before now. The Aves are like Calgary in terms of home road splits... much better at home and they have three games at home and none of the teams they're facing appear to be worldbeaters.

[Robbob]

Originally Posted by neo45

They are way better at this tanking business than the other teams. They are like that little league team from southpark

The more I think about it, the Oilers just gave every team a 35 game head start start. They have so much experience that they don't need an 82 game schedule to tank, they only really need 15 games. The only thing they haven't done is go from a playoff position to a top pick in a matter of weeks. Everything points to them being in full fail mode and to be honest it is a remarkable thing to watch.

[Stay Golden]

Edmonton just win a couple more you losers. We are hoping our team loses close games, Oilers on the other hand can can't win trying to win.

They better not get a top 4 pick and the Flames play themselves into a higher pick

[MoneyGuy]

Originally Posted by Stay Golden

Edmonton just win a couple more you losers. We are hoping our team loses close games, Oilers on the other hand can can't win trying to win.

They better not get a top 4 pick and the Flames play themselves into a higher pick

I need the Oilers to stay ahead of the Flames so I win my avatar bet. Neither team should be bragging this year so it's nice to win something. My how things have changed for our Albertan teams.

[dammage79]

Just hoping the Flames stay in the 1-7 group as the season winds down.

[Cowperson]

Originally Posted by dammage79

Just hoping the Flames stay in the 1-7 group as the season winds down.

Just hoping they get into the 1-3 group as the season winds down.

If you're going to suck, do it big time in a lockout shortened year and leave a short memory.

Cowperson

[MyFlamesFirst]

I read somewhere that we are the only team not to choose in the top 5, dating back to the start of the Atlanta Flames. It is definitely our turn to pick top 3. And we could certainly use it.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by MyFlamesFirst

I read somewhere that we are the only team not to choose in the top 5, dating back to the start of the Atlanta Flames. It is definitely our turn to pick top 3. And we could certainly use it.

At this point I'm just clinging to hope we can stay at 6 so we at least get a center.

Even that is looking grim at this point.

Colorado, Florida, Nashville, Edmonton, Carolina, Tampa ... can you kindly win a couple games pls.