Tag Archives: Columbus Blue Jackets

Apr 20

NHL Playoff Matchups: 5 Most and Least Interesting Possibilities

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The NHL season is quickly winding down as teams finish out there final four or five games. The playoff picture seems to be coming clear. With it, it’s hard not to get excited for some of the possibilites. Sure we won’t get a Flyers-Penguins matchup again, but there are still some interesting possibilites.

In this post we’ve gone through the different possibilities and are only going to be looking at the ones that have a higher than 20% chance according to Sports Club Stats and are calculated before Saturday’s games.. When considering “interesting” we have a few criteria here namely historical rivalry, even match-up, and intriguing storyline.

The Least Interest Match-ups: With all due respect to these teams and athletes, these five matchups would probably be at the bottom of the priority list.

Honourable Mention:

Boston Bruins vs. New York Islanders – Can a series end in three?

Washington Capitals vs. Ottawa Senators – Capital series…I guess

Vancouver Canucks vs. St. Louis – Would the underdogs be the favourites?

#5. Los Angeles Kings vs San Jose Sharks

Probability of Occurring: 22.2%

Sure these two have the very manufactured “Battle of California” thing going on, and sure they had a fun series a few years back but things are very different. Since then the Sharks have declined and the Kings have improved leaps and bounds. Even though this series would be a 4-5 matchup, it would be a clear curb-stomping. The Kings outmatch the Sharks in virtually every category, especially grit and clutch, which are the two most important things in the playoffs.

#4. Washington Capitals vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

Get ready for a lot of this at both ends of the ice

Probability of Occurring: 23.1%

If the Leafs continue their little slide and the Caps keep their charge, this series could be quite likely as the 3-6 matchup in the East. Oddly these two teams have never met in the playoffs, which is a little strange considering how long they have both been around for. These two squads both have goaltenders who are young and looking to prove that they are for real. Of course that could be an interesting storyline, but a series victory for either Holtby or Reimer wouldn’t go too far towards proving anything, just that they were less terrible than the other one. Although it would be kind of fun to watch the winner of this series get eaten alive by either Boston or Pittsburgh in the second round.

#3. Chicago Blackhawks vs. Dallas Stars

Probability of Occurring: 23%

These two teams had some interesting series back when one team had the word “North” in their name but those days are long gone. Not only have they never met in the playoffs since the team arrive in Texas, but they haven’t even made the playoffs in the same year since 1997 when both teams lost in the first round. But more importantly, the Stars would be total killjoys for the Hawks more interesting possible opponents (see below).

#2. Anaheim Ducks vs. Minnesota Wild

Probability of Occurring: 54.2%

If you forgot that this series occurred in 2007 then congratulations, you may be a member of the Anaheim Ducks or Minnesota Wild. Of course their 2003 Battle of Cinderella Western Conference final is slightly more memorable, but is still the least discussed series from the (then Mighty) Ducks miracle run that year. These two teams have some good high end talent and there’s probably an Olympic preview to be discussed as Parise and Sutter take on Getzlaf and Perry, but to imagine a team in Southern California playing for Canadian pride sounds just plain wrong. By my math this is the most likely scenario to occur, and both teams seem to be limping into the playoffs, so expect one of these teams to limp a little longer and give one of the real-deals in the West a bit of a break in the next round.

#1. Montreal Canadiens vs. Ottawa Senators

Probability of Occurring: 20.4%

He totally deserved that for costing us a Leafs-Habs series

Please Ottawa, don’t screw this up. You know what we all want, take a dive if you have to, playing the Capitals won’t be so bad. Full disclosure time, the main reason I don’t want this is because I’m a Sens fan. Most of Canada forgets that we’re even an actual hockey team, I don’t want them to start hating us for denying them the dream series.

Of course this means that it’s totally going to happen now…

The Most Interest Match-ups: If these ones happen get ready to call in sick.

Honourable Mention:

Vancouver Canucks vs. San Jose Sharks - Battle of Underachievers totally writes itself

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. New York Rangers - Henrik Lundqvist could sure make this one interesting

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. New York Islanders - Remember all of those fights from a few years back? They sure don’t!

#5. Chicago Blackhawks vs. Columbus Blue Jackets

Probability of Occurring: 23%

Sure it would be a slaughter, sure it’s unlikely, but hot-damn it’s hard not to get excited about #Lumbus right now and for all intents and purposes, this is their only real possible opponent. Although it may be a little sad to realize that in life David doesn’t beat Goliath.

#4. Los Angeles Kings vs. St. Louis Blues

Probability of Occurring: 23.8%

Please sir may I have some more…

Their second round meeting last year seems like an eternity ago, doesn’t it? The Blues were a team that came out of nowhere to finish second in the conference while the Kings, considered early season contenders, fell off most people’s radars and got hot at the right time, much to the Blues chagrin. If there is any team that has a chance to be a surprise-but-not-really in the West it’s the Blues. They were considered strong contenders to do some damage out West before the season started but some early struggles have them in the middle of the pack instead of the top, where they perhaps belong. If they get going, watch out. If there’s one team that they would love to get going against, it’s the guys that beat them last year and hoisted the silver. Sure the hockey could be boring, but the story-lines would be fun to watch.

#3. Boston Bruins vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

Probability of Occurring: 27.2%

“THANK YOU KESSEL!” *clap clap clap clap clap*

Sure it would be a slaughter, but damn would it be fun to watch the Toronto media find someone to blame for all those games that Seguin, Hamilton, and Raask steal. Expect the lines in the papers to change from “Haven’t made the playoffs since 2004″ to “Haven’t won a playoff game since 2004″.

#2. Chicago Blackhawks vs. Detroit Red Wings

Probability of Occurring: 39%

Sorry Columbus, but this is a more interesting matchup. With the Red Wings moving eastward, this could be the last time that we see this series for a very, very, long time. These two have the fourth most frequent showdown of any playoff pairings in the NHL history and it would be a nice thing for the fanbases to get a bit of closure before they’re ripped apart from one another. Oh and NBC would love it too…

#1. Montreal Canadiens vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

This rivalry runs deep…

Probability of Occurring: 32%

If Canada is looking to quash it’s reputation for being docile, this is the best way to do it. A playoff matcup between these two venerable franchises that have deep cultural and historic ties in the country in the Twitter Age will see nothing but hatred and venom get thrown around. We may see a Canadian civil war start over this.

Please, please, please, this needs to happen, it’s hard not to get excited over the essays that this series will start, the Sharks-Jets like turf war that’ll brew all across the country, and the downright dirty plays that we’ll see on the ice.

Of course, if anyone can screw it up it’ll be the Leafs. Lord knows they don’t even give their own fan base what they want, why would they care about the rest of us?

Feb 16

Weekly Plus/Minus: European GMs, Blame Being Thrown Around, Great Matches, and MORE!!!

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After taking a week off, we’re back with a look back at an eventful week. We had our first GM casualty of the 2012-13 season. After a volatile start, some NHL teams are getting settling into where they should be, and some teams are the Washington Capitals. We had some great matches on free TV and some pretty terrible ones as well. Oh and the reigning Norris Trophy winner can barely walk today. Lot’s to talk about, let’s get to it.

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Weekly Plus Minus Logo

Plus Thumbnail Breaking Down Walls: Sadly, this isn’t a blurb about Chris Jericho, that comes later. This is about of all things, the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Since this team’s inception in 1998 this team has alternated between being the but of every NHL fans jokes and being completely forgotten. This franchise hit an all-time low after giving up a kings randsom for Jeff Carter, signing James Wisnewski, and thinking that would make a terrible team good. Well we all know how that worked out, especially since they couldn’t even fail for Nail.

Well in a long overdo move they decided to fire Scott Howson, a man considered among the worst general managers in the sport. In a bit of a shocking move they go out and hire Jarmo Kekäläinen making him the first European general manager in NHL history. Kekäläinen has a very strong history in player development with the Ottawa Senators and the St. Louis Blues, two teams that have pretty strong future outlooks at the moment.

John Davidson and the entire Blue Jackets organization deserves a heap of praise for ignoring the conventional ”wisdom” that you need North Americans in the front office. With the contributions that players from Eastern Europe and Scandinavia have made on the ice in the last few decades, it’s great to see someone get a chance to contribute off the ice finally.

Minus ThumbnailCooke the Blame: Do people really think that Matt Cooke injured Erik Karlsson on purpose?

Had this been almost any other player in the NHL then this would have been regarded as a freak accident and everyone could have moved on with their lives. However, it’s a player with a terrible reputation and a long history of violent, reckless behaviour.

But to suggest that he tried to sever the tendon of a player is foolish. If he wanted to hurt Karlsson he would have done in the old fashion way: with an elbow to the head. It was reckless on Cooke’s part, but not malicious, and this is coming from a Sens fans.

True story: when I heard about Karlsson missing the rest of the season all the colour left my face and my wife was worried that someone had died. “Oh nobody, just my hopes and dreams for the Spring”.. is what I should have said.

Plus ThumbnailQuality Workrate: How lucky have wrestling fans been this week?

On RAW we saw an absolute classic between Chris Jericho and Daniel Bryan to whet our appetites for the inevitable PPV encounter between these two. Just when we think that we’ve seen the best free match of the week, if not year, along comes Main Event where Ziggler and Del Rio deliver poetry in the ring. A few nights later Jericho and Big Show give us a very good match, that while a step-down was still a high quality TV main event.

It’s hard not to get excited for the in-ring future of the company when you think of the absolute glut of talent that they have, with so many waiting to burst through. Now it wasn’t all perfect however…

Minus ThumbnailSquandered Time: In typical fashion for this company, they take one step forward and two steps back. They deliver some very good matches and also a fair share of stinkers.

Cody Rhodes, one of their best and brightest talents, was squashed by The Miz this week. Why on earth would they book that? He has serious potential to be a top level talent and he’s booked to lose in less than five minutes. Sure he doesn’t have to win, but he needs to be at least competitive. A similar thing happened to his “former” partner, Damien Sandow against Del Rio. Why were they not hyping up their match against the Hip Hop Hippos this Sunday? Why do they even have a match this Sunday again?

The ‘E has all the talent in the world, it’s a shame that they just don’t know how to utilize it somedays.

Plus ThumbnailChicago Blackhawks: Honestly, who saw this coming?

I mean everyone must have thought that they were going to be good, but THIS good? This team has gone 14 games now without tasting a regulation loss, and in a 48 game season, that’s over a quarter of the time.

Everything seems to be going their way right now and it’s hard not to start to believe that they will be serious contenders to get their second Stanley Cup in four seasons. What’s better: Vancouver is on quite the roll too and it’s hard not to get excited about another playoff matchup between these two!

Minus ThumbnailWashington Capitals: What is their excuse here? How on earth can a team with this much talent have less points than the Panthers and Islanders? It’s unbelievable!

It’s too soon to fire their third coach in two seasons, so it would not be surprising if they rock the boat with a big trade, if not we can expect to see George MacPee out of Washington and Seth Jones come in.

 

Prediction for the Week: The Undertaker shows up on RAW.

Jan 21

Western Conference Predicted Standings

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After posting picks for the East yesterday it’s time to look to the Wild Wild West. Last year the eight seed went out and crushed the Top 3 teams en route to winning the Cup, previous stalwarts like Detroit, Vancouver, San Jose, and Chicago all bowed out in the first round, and other squads like Minnesota, Dallas and Edmonton are looking to make some noise. As usual the Western Conference will be in a complete state of flux, and with such a short season it should be even stranger.

The predicted standings are…

15. Columbus Blue Jackets: Let’s start with the closest thing that we have to a sure fire prediction. This team was terrible last year and then went out and traded away their player netting very little back in return. Hopefully they actually win the draft lottery this year and end up with Seth Jones or Nathan McKinnon to help reinvigorate this incredibly struggling franchise before they become the Markham Blue Jackets!

14. Calgary Flames: The Flames have been one of the most consistent teams since the last lockout, consistently mediocre that is. For years they have been a lock to be penciled into the amorphous 7-12 spot in the West. This year things could finally come off the rails as their core keeps getting older, their big additions of Hudler and Wiedeman have “Boumeester Part II” written all over them, and the series of back-to-backs do not favour a workhorse like Kiprusof. The most interesting thing about this squad wil be to see if they actually trade Iginla this year.

13. San Jose Sharks: Sacrilege I know! This team was remarkably good for the better part of a decade, but their time may be up. Last year they finished 7th in the West and looked terrible in the playoffs. They made no noticeable additions in the summer and like Calgary, their core has passed their prime. The short season may drag on too long for this team.

12. Anaheim Ducks: Last season it looked like SuperPerry returned to earth after being dominant the year before. While the dynamite Getzlaf-Perry-Ryan trio is too good to be as horrible as they were last year, it doesn’t seem likely that any of them will be able to will this team into the playoffs like they did in 2011. Both Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry are free agents at year end, and if the Ducks give up and trade both of them, expect this team to be competing with Columbus for the Conference basement.

11. Colorado Avalanche: How on earth can this team give P.A. Parenteau $4 million and play hardball with Ryan O’Reiley? It just boggles the mind here! This team made some noise late last season and Varlamov was tearing up the KHL during the lockout, so don’t expect them to be terrible, but they won’t be able to compete with the other up and coming Western Conference teams just yet.

10. Dallas Stars: If this was 2007 they would have the best team in hockey. Yet unfortunately Jagr and Whitney won’t be putting up huge numbers, sure they will help, but they won’t be enough to get this team the handful of points that will separate most teams in the West. Now if they can get Jamie Benn signed and playing soon then things could be different, but that seems like it will be a bit of a protracted battle for reasons that defy logic.

9. Minnesota Wild: On July 4 when Parise and Suter were signed it seemed like everyone was ready to plan the parade dubbing them the Miami Heat of Hockey. Now that things have calmed down a bit this team is not quite as good as the hype leads one to believe. One must remember that they were worse than the Blue Jackets after New Year’s last year and adding two player won’t turn a bad team to champions. Sure they have some very good young players coming in like Mikael Granlund and Charlie Coyle, but those take time. This team will be a Western Conference powerhouse soon enough but it won’t be yet. The new players may have some difficulty adjusting to the system which will give them a bit of a slow start which will cost them a few points in the very close Western Conference.

8. Edmonton Oilers: Is this finally the time for this squad to get there? They have been bad for so long and have such a strong collection of talent that it’s only natural that they take the jump soon. Sure goaltending is a big question and the defense is a little shaky but the young player should benefit from the back-to-back games and most of this team has been dominating the AHL for the past few months so chemistry should not be an issue. Of course they won’t last too long in the playoffs, but there is a lot of reason to be excited in Oil Town.

7. Detroit Red Wings: This feels dirty doesn’t it? This team is clearly trending downward especially after losing one of the greatest defensemen of all time. For the first time in memory defense is a big weakness on this squad. Howard was very good last year and Gustavson has the potential for a bounce-back season so that should lesson some of their other shortcomings, obviously their forwards are world class but they are a little light on depth which should put them in a very unfamiliar spot at the middle of the pack.

6. Nashville Predators: Sure everyone wants to write them off after losing Ryan Suter, but let’s not forget that Shea Weber is still there. This team has the best defensemen in the world, one of the best coaches, and one of the top goalies. Let’s also not forget that this team scored the eighth most goals in the league last season without any big names up front. This is a squad that bounces back year after year, expect this to be no different.

5. Chicago Blackhawks: This team is pretty much the same as it was last year, high-level top talent, average depth, and questionable goaltending. Last year they were able to finish 6th, but three points out of 4th so there’s little reason to think that they won’t be in the same place especially if Patrick Kane is able to recover from an off year.

4. Phoenix Coyotes: Let’s see, they won their division and made it to the Conference finals after everyone counted them out. This year, everyone is counting them out again and they bring back the same pieces. Mike Smith was spectacular in the playoffs last year and should solidify his position as a top level goalie this year.

3. Vancouver Canucks: This is all contingent on how the goaltending situation resolves itself. If they trade Luongo for some top level talent they could easily finish first in the West, but as it stands now their prospects are not so bright. Currently they don’t have a second line as both Booth and Kesler are out with long term injuries and Jason Garrison seems like a flash in the pan last year. Of course they are still better than the bad (but improving) teams in their division. This seems to be their last chance to win, and sadly it doesn’t look like they will be able to do it.

2. Los Angeles Kings: They bring back the same roster that dominated the NHL last spring and are incredibly well rested. Not only should they win their pretty bad division with ease, they stand a very good chance of repeating as champions.

1. St. Louis Blues: There is no reason not to believe in this team right now. They are perhaps the deepest, most complete team in the NHL and with the rash of injuries that are bound to take place this year that’s incredibly important. They had two stellar goalies and can roll line after line of talented player. Last year was no aberration, this team is going to be a force in the West for a very long time.

 

As for the playoffs, the Blues should make short work of the Oilers while the Kings can pass the Wings in a tough series, expect Nashville to surprise the Canucks and the Blackhawks to get revenge on the Coyotes on the backs of a great Marian Hossa series and story. That leaves the Blues beating the Predators in a series that sees record low goals scored and the Kings rolling through the Blackhawks. St. Louis should get revenge on LA for sweeping them last year to move onto the finals where they lose to the Penguins. That’s right, Crosby hoists the Cup again.

We can dream, can’t we?

Mar 09

Weekly Plus/Minus: Crosby Cleared, You Can Play, NHL Standings..AGAIN!!!

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Yet another interesting week here, Sidney Crosby may be returning, sports may be getting more accepting, and the Blue Jackets may be apologizing. What’s not to love?

Sidney Crosby: There is nothing not to love about the latest news that Sid has been cleared for contact. The league is simply more fun when he’s around.

Dan Bylsma said that the earliest he could come back is Sunday, March 11 against the Bruins. Looking ahead, after that there are three games in four nights on the road against the Rangers, Devils, and Flyers on the 15th, 17th, and 18th. So many close games, all on the road, against very tough teams may be too much of a welcome back for Sid. After that they have home games against the Jets and Predators on the 20th and 22nd.

When he returned in the fall, he made sure to do it at home against a soft team, so it may be worth placing bets on Crosby returning on the 20th when the Jets come to town. Sure the Jets are currently sitting 8th, so are hardly the Islanders, but their 10-17-4 road record could make this a gimme for Sid’s second big night of the season.

NHL Standings…AGAIN!: I know that this was mentioned once before here, but this is getting a little ridiculous. The Dallas Stars and Florida Panthers are currently sitting third in their respective Conferences, yet both have less points than the sixth seed that they would face in the first round.

It’s very bizarre that teams would prefer to finish sixth than fifth. If I were the Nashville Predators I would have nightmares about that first round matchup against either the Red Wings or the Blues. Similarly if I were the Flyers, Devils, or Sens, how could you not rather face the Panthers than the Penguins?

Again, the NHL should copy the NBA, where the division leaders are guaranteed a top four spot, this would make the fifth place far more desirable than the sixth, shouldn’t that be the place?

Columbus Blue Jackets: It’s not often that they will make a plus category here. How could you not like their jersey campaign? The team allowed fans who were unfortunate enough to buy Jeff Carter jerseys to have a Jack Johnson name plate sewn on the back.

This is not only a great way to get fans to the arena, but it’s as close to an apology as you’ll get from an organization that’s getting close to waking up from this nightmare of a season.

What No Miz?: How can Wrestlemania be so soon, and we can not have The Miz featured somehow? Last year he won the Main Event, sure the Rock may have helped, but now he’s not even involved in a feud.

At best, he’ll end up as a throw-in for the GMs match. No matter what the buy rate for Survivor Series is, he deserves better. Hopefully he doesn’t end up like his former partner, John Morrison, who dogs his way out the door.

If You Can Play, You Can Play: There is absolutely nothing to not love about this campaign by the Burke family. Their aim to target casual homophobia is a very valiant and difficult stand to take. It makes me damn proud to be a hockey fan. Hopefully this gains traction across all sports. If you haven’t seen it:

 

Prediction for the Week:  Three more Wrestlemania matches are booked.

 

Feb 24

Weekly Plus/Minus: Santino Marella, NHL Playoff Seedings, Carter and Johnson, John Cena, and Heat on Everyone!

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What a week this has been in our strange little world! We had a surprisingly good WWE Elimination Chamber where a comedy act had the performance of a lifetime, a monster trade taking place, a team went from 9th to 3rd and another may jump four spots this week, and John Cena cut a truly legendary promo.

Santino Marella: Out of everyone in both the hockey and wrestling world, the Milan Miracle has had the most upward mobility of anyone this week. Since last weeks post, he won a Battle Royal to get into the Elimination Chamber, then went out and pinned both Cody Rhodes and Wade Barrett, two quickly rising superstars.

The best moment came when Santino was shockingly in the final two with World Champion Daniel Bryan and he hit his trademark Cobra and covered the Champ. He had a very long two count and near fall. The building was electric as the Milwaukee crowd thought they had witnessed the impossible. Of course, Santino was unable to pull it off and lost to Daniel Bryan shortly thereafter. While Santino didn’t leave the building with the gold, he most certainly made huge strides to become a star. Hopefully he’ll get a good spot on the Wrestlemania card to continue his Rockyesque run.

Cursed Battle Royal: This past Monday we had a 10 man Battle Royale to determine CM Punk’s challenger for Wrestelmania. The biggest story from the match wasn’t Chris Jericho’s predictable victory, but the injuries that came out from it.

Both Dolph Ziggler and Wade Barrett sustained injuries in this match, and things just seemed messy. Luckily Ziggler was fine, but Wade Barrett suffered an arm injury when he was eliminated, which was worsened by Santino Marella falling on him as he was thrown out.

The loss of Barrett is a pretty big one as he had to be considered a favourite to win the Money in the Bank Match at Wrestlemania, and now it looks like he won’t be on the card.

While accidents most certainly happen, to have Truth, Kingston, and Marella all wrestle two matches a mere 24 hours after participating in Elimination Chamber matches is just poor decision making and we are lucky that things weren’t worse.

Scott Howson and Dean Lombardi: Well this sure made things interesting didn’t it? The big swap of Jeff Carter for Jack Johnson and a first round pick is sure to send some shock waves through the NHL. The plug has clearly been pulled on this current Columbus squad and the LA Kings are not satisfied with having the 30th ranked offense going into the playoff push.

Howson and Lombardi have been walking on thin ice for a while now and this move may have saved both of their jobs this offseason. Columbus shed salary and kicked off their rebuild, while LA got a scoring winger to play with either Kopitar or Richards — I know Carter is a natural centre, but he makes a great winger, and there is no way you want him third on your depth chart.

As much as Howson has been critized this year, the fact is that he turned impending RFA Jakob Voracek and a high 1st round pick into signed for several years Jack Johnson and  mid-1st rounder. Which really isn’t that bad. Of course you may have to convince people that this entire season has been some sort of a bad dream, which may be easier said that done.

Heat on Everyone: I don’t know what’s going on with the WWE right now. It seems like nobody is well liked backstage.

Several different reports this week came out that there was Alberto Del Rio was too arrogant, that The Miz was too lazy, Brodus Clay is too reckless, and that Rey Mysterio is taking too long to come back from injury.

I don’t know what’s going on right now, but they need to shut people up about this, especially at Wrestlemania time. The company does not want bad publicity their way at this time. The backstage tensions need to be kept to a minimum and nobody needs to do anything stupid. A backstage fight or public drunkenness could most certainly cost someone their job.

What’s more troubling is the reports that people are upset with the Rock, which brings us to…

John Cena: Mr. Cena really kicked the generational showdown kicks into high gear with a truly unreal promo this past week. He, quite rightly, called out The Rock for leaving even after he said that he never would. He said this week that Dwayne will “bury him”, and he probably will.

The fact that Cena stands up for the business, continues to be a company man, and gets shat on for it is an absolute crime. The man works his ass off week in, week out, and does more to promote the product than anyone else since probably Hulk Hogan in the 80s. I can’t wait to see him beat The Rock on April 1.

NHL Standings: Thursday night, the Winnipeg Jets jumped from 9th in the East to 3rd, while the Panthers fell from 3rd to 8th, the Capitals, currently in 9th have the potential to jump up to 3rd with a few wins. Meanwhile in the West, the Coyotes and Sharks are tied for 3rd and 7th, but a full 10 points behind the 4th place St. Louis Blues

Division leaders are guaranteed the top 3 seeds in the Conference in the NHL, and this has often been some point of contention, but this is getting ridiculous. The NBA had a similar problem to this after the Spurs and Mavericks were consistently two of the best teams in the league but were forced to split the first and fourth seeds in the West. This problem seems to be there for the Central Division, and potentially the Atlantic as well. The Southeast division has been perennially weak, and last years toughest division  — the Pacific — seems to have been somehow neutered.

If you are the Nashville Predators, currently sitting in fifth in the West with 77 points, do you try to win the rest of your games and face a very tough St. Louis team, or do you try to slide down and play San Jose, who currently has six fewer points? If it’s in your teams best interests to not win, then something is deeply flawed.

If the playoffs started today we would get Vancouver-Dallas, Detroit-Phoenix (again!), San Jose-Chicago, St. Louis-Nashville in the West, with New York-Florida, Boston-Ottawa, Winnipeg-Pittsburgh, and New Jersey-Philadelphia in the East. This makes me feel really bad for St. Louis and Nashville, two fun, tough, teams poised for deep runs, who through the luck of the draw are forced to play each other while San Jose and Chicago, two teams that are limping at the moment, get a much more favourable matchup.

A few years ago, the NBA changed it so that the division leader was guarenteed a top four seed, and it seems to have worked out nicely. If the NHL followed suit we would get: Vancouver-Dallas, Detroit-Phoenix, St. Louis-Chicago, San Jose-Nashville, New York-Florida, Boston-Ottawa, New Jersey-Pittsburgh, Winnipeg-Philadelphia. Tell me that isn’t more equitable?

 

Prediction for Next Week: Rick Nash remains a Columbus Blue Jacket.