Wild Card Race (Western Conference)

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by troutman

LA's odds have dipped below 50%:

http://www.sportsclubstats.com/NHL/Western.html

DAL and COL are virtually done.

CGY, SJ and LA fighting over 7 and 8.

The Fan 960 was saying this morning that CGY has a brutal February schedule, but it is not showing up in these odds.

It is showing up in the odds actually. But the odds reflect the entire remaining schedule, not just some arbitrary portion of it that they were discussing on 960.

And overall, LA's and SJ's schedules are worse than ours (factors being winning percentage of opponents and home/away)

[SuperMatt18]

Yeah really there are no easy games from here on out.

Playoff's pretty much start now.

[Gaskal]

Vancouver gets a gimme team in the Sabres next game but SJ faces Anaheim while LA faces Chicago. This is a key time to make a push in the standings.

[crapshoot]

It will be interresting to see how LA responds to the pressure at this point. They really need to beat Chicago tomorrow. Should be an interesting game.

[crapshoot]

Originally Posted by Gaskal

Vancouver gets a gimme team in the Sabres next game but SJ faces Anaheim while LA faces Chicago. This is a key time to make a push in the standings.

The Sabres can't lose forever. Can't think of a better time for them to break out of their slump.

[getbak]

How many times has the previous season's Cup winner missed the playoffs? I believe the 1995 Devils were the first team to do it, and the 2006 Hurricanes are the only other ones I can think of.

With their road-heavy remaining schedule and poor road record, it really feels like the Kings will be falling out of the race.

[crapshoot]

Originally Posted by getbak

How many times has the previous season's Cup winner missed the playoffs? I believe the 1995 Devils were the first team to do it, and the 2006 Hurricanes are the only other ones I can think of.

With their road-heavy remaining schedule and poor road record, it really feels like the Kings will be falling out of the race.

You would think that the whole Mike Richards-dilemma is taking a toll on the players as well. It's not a great situation in LA right now.

[N-E-B]

Originally Posted by crapshoot

You would think that the whole Mike Richards-dilemma is taking a toll on the players as well. It's not a great situation in LA right now.

That and the Voynov thing. He was a good player for them too and his loss on the back end is painfully noticeable.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by crapshoot

It will be interresting to see how LA responds to the pressure at this point. They really need to beat Chicago tomorrow. Should be an interesting game.

Difficulty being that Chicago has been inconsistent at times themselves. Maybe just against Winnipeg though.

Originally Posted by crapshoot

The Sabres can't lose forever. Can't think of a better time for them to break out of their slump.

Sure they can. That is a team that really would trade its roster for Edmonton's.

[Enoch Root]

Forget the wild card race - how abut the race for 2nd?

2) VAN +9
3) SJS +8
4) CAL +7
5) LAK +5

[Huntingwhale]

I sure hope we can snag that #7 spot. As awesome as it is right now being in 8th, and any of us would have taken that in the offseason, I'd feel a lot more comfortable knowing we have another team cushioning us. If it was a team like the Wild or Avs right behind us I wouldn't worry as much. But I just don't see LA missing the playoffs this season. They are the defending champs for a reason and they are a ticking time bomb just waiting to go on some crazy 13-2 run.

[Enoch Root]

We need to finish 3rd (or 2nd) so that we can get that VAN or SJ matchup in the 1st round.

[Street Pharmacist]

I posted this in the PG Article thread, but it's more relevant here:


1) Sharks have a reasonably tough schedule coming up and we play them 3 more times so our destiny against them is in our hands. Eight of their next 11 are against playoff teams. Add in that the Sharks are a bit older these years and may not have the youthful exuberance to keep it going through these dog days. Their goal differential of - 1 suggests they're probably not as good as their record, though who knows.

2) Canucks will be without their heartbeat - Bieksa - for a while. Their record without him over three seasons is absolutely horrid. While he's not been good this year, he brings something really no one else in the team does and seems to set their physical tone. They've scored 12 goals in their last 7 games and just have no offense going. Outside of the Sedins, I'm not sure there's much there to change things. Mirror of last year???

3) Los Angeles has mostly away games left, and their record is 15-6-6 at home with a lowly 5-9-6 on the road. They're going to be in real tough to make the dance with what they've shown so far and what they've got left in the tank after years of needing to win to make it in and deep playoff runs. They've played a lot of tough, tough hockey. They need to knock things out of the park on the road against good teams to make the playoffs this year.

[calgarygeologist]

St.Louis and Winnipeg have remaining schedules which are upwards of 40% against teams within their division. This could quickly move them up or down in the standings to either clinch a playoff spot or move out of a wild card spot. LA and San Jase also have schedules which are heavy on divisional games for the remainder of the season.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

We need to finish 3rd (or 2nd) so that we can get that VAN or SJ matchup in the 1st round.

Please not Van... If we make the playoffs, I would like to enjoy them a little.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Please not Van... If we make the playoffs, I would like to enjoy them a little.

beating Vancouver in the first round (just like 2004!) wouldn't be enjoyable for you?

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

beating Vancouver in the first round (just like 2004!) wouldn't be enjoyable for you?

Sure... about as much as leaving the dentist office without any more pain after getting a root canal. Win or lose, I prefer not to deal with those fans.

[ForeverFlameFan]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Please not Van... If we make the playoffs, I would like to enjoy them a little.

I think Vancouver has overachieved just as much as we have, except we have way younger players than them (which heavily favors us in the long-term).

A 1st round match-up between these two would be very interesting. Plus, Vancouver has choked quite a bit lately when making the playoffs, and Miller (next to Fleury) is a huge choker as well.

[Resolute 14]

Honestly, I don't see anyone in the Pacific as terribly strong, which is why we are in this muddled mess at all. Calgary, Vancouver and San Jose are all deeply flawed in their own ways, LA is only in this because of loser points and Anaheim leads the league in shootout wins while finding ways to get blown out at times.

But of San Jose and Vancouver, I would actually prefer to face the Sharks in a seven game series. The Canucks would go into a series with the confidence of kicking our ass for several years. San Jose will go in much like the Sabres played last night - Hanging in but expecting the roof to cave in at any point.

[heep223]

Honestly the Flames are in a pretty good position right now. We are healthy. We have competition and depth at F. We have 3 goalies who can play. We have a young team and we thrived in the 2nd half of the season last year. We have a decent schedule compared to our competition (tho Feb is tough). We have a great motivational coach and (allegedly) a really good room. Expectations are in their favour ...if they make it it's gravy and the city will explode, if they don't they still had a fantastic year and looking forward to next.

There are a few things that would sink us completely that I don't dare to type, but I am so excited!