March Madness

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Hockey 101 (0)

March Madness

February 28th 2011 20:34

Not the March Madness you may be familiar with. The National Hockey League right now is in a unique situation at this stage of the season. Never have so many teams been so tight in the standings and have a very good chance of making the playoffs. Some good teams are going to be on the outside looking in.

In the NHL you get 2 points for a win, 1 point for an overtime/shootout loss and 0 points for a regulation time loss. The Western Conference is by far the tightest race there has maybe ever been. There are 3 divisions in each conference and the leader of each division is assured the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd seed in the playoffs. That being said, the Vancouver Canucks are 14 points up on the next closest team so they pretty much have it rapped up. The Detroit Redwings are 10 points up, so they are pretty much assured a top 3 seed. After that it is a crap-shoot. From third place to twelfth place (with the top 8 teams making the playoffs) there are 10 points separating them. If any team loses 3 or 4 in a row they can go from third to out of a playoff spot. If Colorado would not have taken a nose dive to win 1 in there last 10, there would have been another team in the hunt, but they have joined Edmonton as the 2 teams to be out for sure. (Not mathematically, but slim chance).

The East is close as well, not quite as tight, but it has its own story lines. Three of the worst teams the first half of the season, have three of best records since the All-Star break. It may be to little to late, but what the New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders and Toronto Maple Leafs can do is spoil the party for many other teams and maybe even make the playoffs in the process. Toronto having the best chance.

It will be a crazy March, and the playoffs will not be sorted out until the last day of the season. The standing will shift dramatically every night, and will provide one of the most exciting stretch runs in NHL history. If you are a fan of any of those teams, or a hockey fan in general, there will be a lot of tense moments, exciting moments and maybe some devastating moments, but isn't that what being a sports fan is all about.

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Comments

3 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by Biggnights

March 1st 2011 03:06

Biggnights

I'm still in shock at the Devils coming back in the standings, and as much as I hate them, they will definately be the most interesting team to watch in March.

Comment by Zamboni Diaries

March 1st 2011 04:17

Zamboni Diaries
Hockey 101

I think everyone is waiting for them to start losing again. I think the first part of the season where they were losing, was actually more of a fluke than then them winning. They should have been a playoff team from the start in my opinion, but something went very wrong to start the season. Still a very long shot to make the playoffs, they need help from other teams as well, but spoilers they can be.

Comment by Joe Soriano

March 1st 2011 04:56

Pro Sports Wrap
Orble Sport Blog

The most interesting storyline from my standpoint- as a Pens fan- is when Crosby will return. His agent is saying that Crosby still has symptoms from his concussion, and that there still isn't a time table for his return. That scares me.

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