San Jose Sharks Looking For A New Coach!

Doug Wilson, the GM for the Sharks, fired Ron Wilson, Coach of the Sharks, today. They also said they will begin a search for a new head coach immediately. This does not come to a surprise to me seeing that only 5 days ago Ron Wilson was quoted on TSN.ca saying “That's all irrelevant. You look at my record, it's second to none, literally, in the sport, so I'm not even worried about that,” when asked about his job security. This decision was made many months ago by Doug, the Board and Ron himself … and I can prove it by the last paragraph in the story on TSN. Doug Wilson was quoted as saying "People will tell you we've accomplished some really good things the last three or four years, and that's wonderful. The disappointment is we haven't accomplished what's ultimately our goal, and we're not going to stop. We're going to push through, and decisions will be made when they get made."

According to NHL.com:

"Ron helped foster a new era in San Jose Sharks hockey with some record-setting regular season performances,” said Doug Wilson. “However, ultimately we have decided that it is time for a different voice and a different approach to lead this team. We are proud of what we’ve accomplished as an organization but we feel that this team is capable of achieving greater success. I want to thank Ron for his level of commitment and desire to make our organization successful. Our entire organization wishes him well.”

The 2007-08 Pacific Division-champion Sharks were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a four-games-to-two series loss to the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Semifinals.

Wilson, named the sixth head coach in franchise history on Dec. 4, 2002, leaves the Sharks as the team’s all-time coaching leader in wins (206) and winning percentage (.535), and postseason games coached (52). In four-plus seasons, the Windsor, Ontario native posted a 206-134-45 regular season record and a .535 winning percentage in 385 games with the Sharks. During his tenure, the team won two Pacific Division Championships (2004, 2008).

Wilson also leaves as the franchise leader in post-season games, posting a 28-24 mark in 52 Stanley Cup Playoff games. He led the team to a berth in the Western Conference Finals in 2004 and to the Western Conference Semifinals in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Wilson reached several milestones while serving behind the Sharks bench, including his 1000th game as an NHL coach on March 18, 2007 at Colorado, his 500th NHL win on Feb. 9, 2008 vs. Nashville. He notched his 200th win as Sharks coach on March 18, 2008 at Los Angeles and surpassed Darryl Sutter for the franchise all-time wins list on March 1 at St. Louis.

Here is a quick snapshot of Ron Wilsons accomplishments as the Coach for the Sharks:


There is a good pool of candidates for Doug Wilson to contact over the next couple weeks. Two that come to mind are Joel Quenneville from the Avalanche and Paul Maurice from Toronto are both holding their “Will Coach For A Cup” signs. Since Toronto has all but laid their cards out on the table, it appears the San Jose Sharks will have plenty of interviews starting to line up – I mean, who wouldn’t want to coach the Sharks. They are the most consistent team in the NHL. Over his career Wilson has coached the San Jose Sharks, Washington Capitals and Anaheim Ducks, compiling a record of 518-446-127 over his 1,091 games. He coached the Capitals to the Stanley Cup Final during the 1997-98 season but Washington was swept by the Detroit Red Wings.

Detroit Red Wings - Wherefore Art Thou Fans?

While last night was text book example of how a team can get caught on their heels and not recover I have to say how interesting it was to see so many empty seats at Joe Louis Arena. Cheap seats, Expensive seats – Did not matter. Empty clusters and Half-empty rows were scattered throughout as if this was “just another Detroit game.

I thought for a moment I was watching a Nashville game. Did anyone put the word out that Detroit is known around the league as “Hockeytown, USA” where every seat should be filled, after all … these are the conference finals, the bridge to the championship, the last push for that beloved battle to raise Lord Stanley’s Cup. Maybe it was because they are playing against Dallas, a team that hasn't been here for the playoffs in 10 years, when Detroit knocked them out of the Conference Finals in 6 games. Also, maybe because they are playing against a goalie that has yet to add a tick mark to the Win column when playing against Detroit. Even IF those are all true – Why would you still not pack the arena during the Conference Finals to show your team (Hockeytowns Team) that they have fans behind them? Is it because this is what you have come to expect from your team? Is it because it does not mean anything until your team is IN the Finals? Let us not forget the Month of February where your team went 4-8-2 being outscored in that month 28-38.

So what's the problem, I know the economy is bad and I am not telling people to go farther into debt for a Hockey game … but seriously, we're not talking 100,000 seats to fill at Joe Louis either. I would want to think there are enough fans and money in Hockeytown to fill those empty seats. Come on - if Detroit can fill Lions seats, why can’t they fill Red Wings seats.

Some great hockey is being played this year and this post season has given us games that will be relived for many years to come. Ever since Game 5 against Nashville, the Wings have been a different team. Grinding, hitting and hat-tricking. They haven't lost in three weeks. They look tight and enthused. They've gotten production from their stars and their supporting cast. They're protecting the puck and they're getting an enormous boost from Osgood, the goalie. This is the combination every great Stanley Cup winner possesses – The stars of the team shine, the supporting players back them up and before you know it, your lifting the Cup with tears running down your face … because since your 4th birthday when you were given those “New Skates” … THIS is the moment you have dreamed of.

If you missed last nights game, here's my quick wrap up. The Wings started off the night with too many opportunities. They got a 5-on-3 chance less than five minutes in. Nine seconds later, they scored -- a beautiful ricochet slapper by Brian Rafalski. How about Franzen, redirecting a puck for his 12th playoff goal and his fifth straight playoff game with a score -- tying a team record held by, ahem, Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay. Even captain Nicklas Lidstrom said, when asked to evaluate the seven-game winning streak "It's comparable to some of the great teams (we've had).”

I still don’t think you can pin this win soley on the stellar game Detroit brought to the table. Dallas did not even show up, I think they were caught off guard early in the first period and never recovered. It looked, to me, as if the Stars were watching the puck to much and standing around waiting for something to happen. Well, Marty did the best he could … after all, I would assume knowing your playing in an arena where you are 0-8-2 might do something to your confidence. That is where the 5 guys in front of him have to say … Not Our Goalie!

I am excited about the Philly/Pittsburgh matchup tonight and I will wait to see how the Stars answer back in Game 2 before I cast my judgment.

NHL Playoff Preview 2008

EASTERN CONFERENCE

The Matchup: (1) Montreal versus (8) Boston

The Story: Montreal is one of the most surprising stories of the season due in large part to the NHL’s comeback player of the year Alexei Kovalev. Throw in a dash of history with a rookie goaltender, Carey Price, leading the team into the playoffs, much like Patrick Roy and Ken Dryden did for the franchise years ago, and there is a sense of strange destiny here. They possess the league’s best powerplay and have scoring ability on all top three lines. However, injuries have taken their toll as their captain Saku Koivue is questionable for the first round with a broken bone in his foot while Mike Komisarek, maybe the team’s best defensive defenseman, has yet to be cleared for full contact practice. Oh, by the way, the Canadiens won the cup behind Roy and Dryden those years…just keep that in mind.

Boston is a heart and soul team that despite numerous injuries has battled to the very end to stay in the playoffs. Tim Thomas has proven that he’s one of the top goaltenders in the league, despite some inconsistency, and Zdeno Chara deserves to be considered for the Norris Trophy. The team has also received good news as Patrice Bergeron appears likely to play in the first round. It will be the first time he’s played since October and should provide an emotional lift. However, they are still waiting for leading scorer Marc Savard to return from a broken bone in his back, which was a result of a nasty cross check, and are far from healthy entering post-season play.

The Verdict: If Carey Price continues to play as well as he has since taking the number 1 job and inspiring, through his play not his words, the trade of Cristobal Huet then Montreal should sail through in 5 games and possibly be healthy for the second.


The Matchup: (2) Pittsburgh versus (7) Ottawa Senators

The Story: It didn’t take long for the words and accusations to start flying in this series as Brian Murray, GM and coach of the Senators, accused the Penguins of throwing the last game of the season against the Flyers to assure a first round matchup with his team. The Penguins have denied it, but they certainly weren’t the same team in that game as they were in the previous matchup with the rival Flyers. If the Penguins did throw the game, it’ll be interesting to see how they feel about it after the first round. The Senators exposed the Penguins in the first round last year. They came out and set a physical tone that the finesse-based Penguins simply couldn’t match. Frankly, not much has changed so Ottawa will certainly come out with same level of intensity. In fact, Ottawa may come out an angry team with every analyst in the world expecting them to fall easily and quickly. Ottawa was the NHL’s hottest team through the first 20 games but has fallen apart as of late. Whether the playoff pressures, and loss of Captain Daniel Alfredsson for at least the first round, will bring the team together and push them apart remains to be seen.

Pittsburgh is riding high coming into the post-season as they are finally healthy for the first time this year. Evgeni Malkin matured rapidly when Sidney Crosby went down with a high ankle sprain and Malkin eventually finished second in the scoring race behind fellow countrymen Alexander Ovechkin. Fleury, who also went down with a high ankle sprain, came back a confident goaltender and led the team to a division title. The Penguins went for broke at the trade deadline in acquiring Marian Hossa, arguably the biggest fish in the trade deadline pool, but did so at the expense of grit. And ironically, grit is exactly what cost them the first round last year. Ryan Whitney has recently been moved from forward back to his natural position at defense and the brief demotion seemed to have little impact on his decision making as he was positively dreadful in the last couple games of the season. He was possibly the worst player on the Penguins roster in the playoffs last year and he could single handedly cost them at least a game in this series.

The Verdict: I think this series is nowhere near automatic and the Penguins will have to learn how to play tough, nasty, playoff hockey in a real hurry. Their second to last game of the season against the Flyers showed that they have the ability, but can they do it consistently? I hope so. Pittsburgh in 6.

The Matchup: (3) Washington versus (6) Philadelphia

The Story: The NHL’s Cinderella team set numerous records this year not only behind league leading scorer Alexander Ovechkin and his historical campaign, but also as a team with one of the greatest comebacks of all time, a comeback that revitalized hockey in Washington. They come into the post-season streaking and have proven that they can beat anyone. Sergei Fedorov is alive again and brings a sense of calm to an otherwise young and inexperienced team with players like Nicklas Backstrom, Alexander Semin and even Alexander the Great himself making their playoff debut. The role players for the Caps, players like Brooks Laich, Matt Cooke, and Eric Fehr, will need to continue their high level of play and disrupt the Flyers. Cristobal Huet, who’s been incredible as of late, comes in with a lot to prove. He’s playing for a contract and I’m sure he would love to make his way to Montreal and eliminate his former team.

The Flyers are a manic team. They started off the season with so many suspensions that the league quietly warned them about their play. They then streaked to the top of the Eastern conference and then, just as rapidly, tumbled down and nearly missed the playoffs. They have depth up front and solid defense and were one of my early picks for teams to watch in the playoffs. They come into the playoffs playing some of their best hockey in awhile, but it all comes down to Martin Biron displaying the consistency he showed early in the season.

The Verdict: I have to go with Cinderella on this one. The team of destiny, if you will, is streaking right now and I can’t pick against them. However, this will be a very close series and if the youngsters in Washington get caught up in the spectacle of the playoffs, it could be over quickly for them.


The Matchup: (4) New Jersey versus (5) New York Rangers

The Story: These two teams faced each other in the last game of the season for home ice advantage and the Devils won in a shootout. This should give us an idea of what to expect in this series as it should be a close, hard fought battle. However, each team is coming from very different angles.

The Devils made few changes in the off-season and struggled early on as the team didn’t quit seem to be on the same page. The Rangers, on the other hand, made a number of high profile acquisititions in the off-season including Mr. Playoffs Chris Drury and former Devil Scott Gomez. Both players will get a chance to earn their long contracts as all of the traditionally edgy New York fans and media certainly won’t let it slide if they don’t.

The Verdict: The Devils had possibly the greatest goaltender of all time in Martin Broduer, while the Rangers will lean on Henrik Lundqvist who, despite some inconsistency, seems to have re-discovered his game. Henrik will also be playing to justify his long-term contract extension but this won’t be his first time in the show. The scoring depth of the Rangers is the difference here and even Broduer can’t save them. Rangers in 6.


WESTERN CONFERENCE

The Matchup: (1) Detroit versus (8) Nashville

The Story: Detroit was easily the best team in the NHL through most of the regular season, but they did expose some weaknesses late in the year. When Detroit isn’t getting secondary scoring from guys like Daniel Cleary and Johan Franzen they can be beaten. They place their Stanley Cup hopes on 43 year old Dominik Hasek who appears to be completely healthy for the first time in a long time, whether or not he’ll stay that way, remains to be seen. The Redwings were often criticized for the lack of toughness over the last few years and they appeared to take it to heart as they went out and added Aaron Downey, Dallas Drake and secured the return of hometown favorite and playoff veteran Darren McCarty. While they still have a few injuries on the back-end, they appear to be poised for yet another deep playoff run.

Nashville held a firesale in the off-season sending Tomas Vokoun, Paul Kariya, Peter Forsberg, Kimmo Timonen and Scott Hartnell all out of town. They now want to do more with less behind the surprising Dan Ellis who has only allowed 5 goals on the last 182 shots he’s faced. Health or, more specifically, weight is a concern for Ellis who has been trying to find a way to stay hydrated during games after he lost a whopping 13 pounds in a single evening.

The Verdict: The Predators would need a Conn Smythe performance from Dan Ellis to even have a shot. Detroit in 4.


The Matchup: (2) San Jose versus (7) Calgary

The Story: The Sharks were a team with two personalities for much of the season. They were great on the road and mediocre at home. Few expected them to compete for the division, but something changed at the trade deadline. The Sharks went out and acquired Brian Campbell, a puck moving defenseman from Buffalo, and the team rattled off a franchise record 20-game points streak to win their first division title. Evgeni Nabokov finished one win shy (46) of Martin Broduer’s record for wins in a season and, in my opinion, deserves the Vezina Trophy for this year for the league’s best goaltender. Joe Thornton and crew, much like Detroit, have often been criticized for being too soft but in the last game of the season the Sharks earned 95 penalty minutes against the Dallas Stars. A game that saw Joe Thornton and Milan Michalek both drop the gloves. It could be considered a statement, now they need to show that they can do that and stay within the rules.

Calgary is another schizophrenic team. The Flames have struggled to build momentum, failing to win two straight games since late February, but when they do win and play well, they are one of the best. Miika Kiprusoff, a perennial favorite for the Vezina, hasn’t been his normal dominant self this season posting decent, but unspectacular, numbers. The biggest advantage the Flames have going for them is Jarome Iginla and the mentality of this team. Jarome put up his second 50-goal season this year and continues to be one of the best all-around players in the league and easily, in my opinion, the greatest captain in the sport. Kristian Huselius was scorching hot through much of the season, including streaks of 13 points in 4 games and 12 points in 5 games, but disappeared in the last month. The secondary scoring of the Calgary Flames, which includes Daymond Langkow and Alex Tanguay, is the key to the series along with physical play. The mentality of this team is to always be a tough team to play against. This is especially the case in the playoffs and they will attempt to wear down the Sharks with the most physical series in recent memory.

The Verdict: This is a tough series to call. San Jose has always underachieved in the playoffs while the Flames can beat anyone on any night and then follow it up with a loss to a cellar-dweller. Every year we have a 7th seeded team defeat a 2nd seed, so I’ll pick the Flames in 7.


The Matchup: (3) Minnesota versus (6) Colorado

The Story: Minnesota won their first division title in franchise history this year and finished strong securing points in all but 2 of their final 14 games. A number of their young players are coming off of career years, including Marian Gaborik (42 goals) and Pierre-Marc Bouchard (50 assists) and Nicklas Backstrom continues to be one of the league’s best between the pipes. Minnesota is a defense first hockey team, which could serve them well in the playoffs if they can produce on the powerplay and use their counterattack to produce timely goals.

Colorado reached into the history books and tried to rebuild a winner of old when they signed Peter Forsberg and acquired Adam Foote at the trade deadline. The team struggled with injuries, including Joe Sakic, throughout the year but appears to finally be healthy and ready for what should be a great playoff series. One of the league’s most surprising stories of the year has to be Jose Theodore, whom everyone has been waiting to see crumble. He shows no signs of doing so and his playoff experience is invaluable. Youngster, and star-to-be, Paul Stastny will make his playoff debut and both he and Ryan Smyth will need to produce against the Wild’s stingy defense if they Aves hope to win.

The Verdict: This is possibly the most even series of the playoffs, but I’m going to go with the Wild in 7. If the Wild can’t get any secondary scoring or the Avalanche are able to push around the Wild’s somewhat finesse group of defensemen, it could be over rather quickly.


The Matchup: (4) Anaheim versus (5) Dallas

The Story: The Stars were rapidly closing the gap between themselves and the Red Wings, added a tremendous offensive piece to the puzzle in Brad Richards and seemed to be on their way to a division title when suddenly the wheels fell off. The Stars went 4-9-2 over their last 15 games and fell to the fifth seed. They were lucky to have not fallen further. Now with an injury to key defenseman and powerplay quarterback Sergei Zubov, Dallas isn’t limping into the playoffs, they’re crawling.

The reigning Stanley Cup champions Anaheim Ducks are both better and worse this year than they were the last. They have less depth down the middle with the trade of Andy McDonald for the somewhat impact-less, yet battle tested, Doug Weight. Corey Perry is likely to return in the first round but certainly won’t be there for the first couple of games as he’s still recovering from the laceration of his thigh. His absence puts a lot of offensive pressure on the other forwards known to contribute offensively, namely Ryan Getzlaf, Todd Bertuzzi, Chris Kunitz and the always solid Teemu Selanne. The Ducks strength is clearly their defense, as they have what is possibly the greatest defensive core assembled in the last decade. Jean-Sebastien Giguere is a bright spot for the Ducks as he’s been stellar down the stretch. Overall, they are a team lacking offensive balance but all it would take is a guy like Ryan Carter or Bobby Ryan to step up and the Ducks will repeat.

The Verdict: The Ducks will pound the Stars throughout this series. They will wear them down with their size on both ends of the ice and win the series in 5 games. Anaheim will also come out of the West. Doug Weight, while quiet as of late, will be a big part of their run.

Cinderella Makes the Ball

The Washington Capitals completed their seemingly impossible venture from the basement of the Eastern Conference to the third playoff seed on Saturday night with a passionate, and somewhat dominant, win over the Florida Panthers. It topped off what has been one of the most remarkable stories of the year and puts the team in the playoffs for the first time in five years. It is, in many ways, the classic Cinderella story.

The team spent 50 days with the worst record in the conference prompting their coach to be replaced by his minor league counterpart only a few months into the season. Their group of young future stars and role players came together and exceeded all expectations under new leadership. They acquired a true veteran at the deadline that many, including myself, believed to have nothing left in the tank, or the chest, only to see him find his passion again. They traded for a goalie that was left behind by his former team, a goalie that would then lead the Caps to the playoffs by setting a franchise record for wins in a row. Their young superstar proved that he's the best player in the world and stands to be the first to win four NHL awards in single season. All of this resulted in the Capitals becoming only the second team in NHL history to go from finishing last in a division three years in a row to winning the division and the first since the NHL had more than 6 teams in the league. It is easily the greatest single and multi-season comeback in recent memory and the story shows no signs of ending anytime soon.

Eklund's Breakdown Of Tonights Lineup

Eklund has a great breakdown of the games tonight and each one has its own implications. I think this is a great snapshot of what tonight means for so many teams! You can read his post here on Eklunds Hockeybuzz.com ... or, for your convenience, I have posted it below.

Thanks to Eklund for this list -



There have been several huge nights of hockey so far, tonight is enormous on so many levels … Here are all the scenarios.

EASTERN CONFERENCE
#1 Pittsburgh Penguins (idle) can clinch the Atlantic Division tonight: If New Jersey gets one or no points against NY Islanders.
#2 Montreal Canadiens can clinch the Northeast Division tonight: If they get at least one point against Ottawa.
#3 Carolina Hurricanes can clinch the Southeast Division tonight: If they get a regulation victory against Washington.
#4 New Jersey Devils can clinch an Eastern Conference playoff berth tonight: If they beat NY Islanders or if Washington gets one or no points against Carolina.
#5 New York Rangers (idle) can clinch an Eastern Conference playoff berth tonight: If Washington gets no points against Carolina.
#6 Ottawa Senators can clinch an Eastern Conference playoff berth tonight: If they beat Montreal and Washington gets one or no points against Carolina or if they get one point against Montreal and Washington gets no points against Carolina.

WESTERN CONFERENCE
#1 Detroit Red Wings (idle) can clinch the Presidents' Trophy tonight: If San Jose gets one or no points against Los Angeles.
#3 Minnesota Wild (idle) can clinch the Northwest Division tonight: If Colorado gets one or no points against Vancouver and Calgary gets one or no points against Edmonton.
#6 Colorado Avalanche can clinch a Western Conference playoff berth tonight: If they beat Vancouver or if they get one point against Vancouver and Nashville gets one or no points against St. Louis or Nashville gets no points against St. Louis.
#7 Calgary Flames can clinch a Western Conference playoff berth tonight: if they beat Edmonton and Nashville gets no points against St. Louis.

Buffalo Sabres Stay the Course...and Meltdown Yet Again

It's been a trying season for the Buffalo Sabres, to say the least, and it appears that it won't be getting any easier though it may finally be coming to an end. Contracts, trades, free agency and injuries have severly damaged what was one of the best teams in hockey for the last couple of years. Despite all of that, and a 10+ game slump in the middle of the season, the Sabres have been on the verge of sliding into the 8th and final spot in the East for the last week or so. However, their performance over the last week may have finally put them to rest.

The Sabres are 4-3-3 in their last 10 games, but that doesn't tell the whole story. In the last week alone, the Sabres have managed to squander three points in games that were absolute must-wins and games they simply gave away. On March 25th, against the rival Ottawa Senators the Sabres appeared to have the game in-hand when they scored two quick goals to start the third which put them up 3-1. A little less than 10 minutes later the Sabres were on the powerplay on the verge of putting the game away when one of their defensemen made a terrible decision to pinch along the boards. He got caught and it produced a shorthanded scoring opportunity that Dean McAmmond buried to cut the lead to 1. Less than 2 minutes later Daniel Alfredsson scored to tie the game and it seemed as if the Sabres threw in the towel. In the next 4 minutes and 18 seconds the Senators would rattle off 2 more goals and then throw in an empty netter with 1 second left to leave Buffalo with a 6-3 win. 2 points given away at a time where you simply can't afford to do that.

Buffalo somewhat made amends 2 nights later when they scored with less than a minute and a half left in the game to force overtime against the Senators. Buffalo eventually won in a shootout. The next night the Sabres faced the Eastern Conference leading Montreal Canadiens. The Sabres dominated in shots on goal, but the Canadiens had twice as many "scoring opportunities" as the Sabres starting the third period in a game that was tied at 1. Ryan Miller, who has not been great when his team needed him so desperately, actually had a good night making a number of key saves. Buffalo stormed out of the gate and scored two goals in the first 7 minutes to go up 3-1. Buffalo had a number of chances to extend the lead but Carey Price kept Montreal in the hunt and with a minute and a half left Tomas Plekanec scored on the powerplay to cut the lead to 1. Suddenly, it felt hopeless. It seemed that the Sabres were destined to throw away another 2 goal lead and eventually they did as Plekanec scored his second of the game with 15 seconds left to force overtime. Christopher Higgins ended the game 3:38 into overtime. It was another devastating loss that followed what has become a familiar script for Buffalo fans.

Now Buffalo stands 6 points out of a playoff sport with 4 games left and their season is essentially over. At the very least those 3 points would have put the Sabres squarely in the hunt for the playoffs. Now they'll be watching from home for the first time in recent memory and the attention quickly shifts to re-signing Ryan Miller. At this point, the Sabres failing to re-sign any player would not surprise me.

Western Conference Showdown - Nashville, Vancouver and Edmonton

If you have not checked in the past 2 minutes you will see that currently (3/30 @ 2am ... yes, I am up blogging at this time ... SO!) there is a 3 way tie for the coveted 8th slot in the Western Conference playoffs. Both Nashville and Vancouver hold 2 games in hand to Edmonton. Nashville's last 4 games are against Detroit, St Louis and Chicago, while Vancouver gets to play with the Flames, Avalanche and Oilers. 3 out of 4 games for Nashville are on the road while Vancouver hosts their last 4 opponents. Here is a snapshot of how the the Western Conference looks right now:


(Source: NHL.com)

Nashville has not really dominated any of the teams they are going up against this season. It will be interesting to watch if Nashville can pull out a playoff berth in the end - especially with the new owners, now wouldn't that be nice! Here is where the Predators stand against its remaining adversaries!
Detroit @ 3-3-1
St Louis @ 3-2-1 (Nashville plays them 2 times in their last 4 games)
Chicago @ 3-3-1

Vancouver has seen their ups and downs this year, special thanks must go out to Roberto Luongo who has helped them as best as he could this year. He is sitting with a 34-26-9 record with 6 shut outs. He has a 2.33 GAA and a .919 SV% ... according to the Fantasy Hockey universe Roberto is #2 right behind Henrik Lundqvist. According to the NHL stats in Wins he is tied for 6th with 34, His GAA has him in 10th and his SV% has him tied for 4th ... Not to shabby when he has to sit and watch the team in front of him fall apart and play inconsistent hockey. With that said, lets look at Vancouvers series tallies against their final matchups.
Calgary @ 4-2-0 (Calgary plays Vancouver 2 more times in the next 4 games)
Colorado @ 2-4-1
Edmonton @ 4-0-3

Seeing how Vancouver has been able to take Edmonton past regulation I am sure they will be hoping for at least one point in the column when that game is played. Colorado has figured out how to play Vancouver hockey, and with the Avalanche being one game in the hole to Vancouver and only 4 points in front of them - I am certain they are reviewing the play book for this game.

This has to be one of the most exciting ends to regular season Hockey in a long time. The emotion and physical energy exerted each night - I swear some of these teams are already in playoff mode.

Goaltending Wins Championships and Another 18 Year Old Pro?

With only 10-13 games left in the season for each team we are on the verge of my favorite time of the year. While the playoff picture has gotten slightly more clear over the last few weeks, there are still a number of teams that are forced to play playoff style hockey right now, if they want an opportunity to play it come April.

Goaltending wins Stanley Cups. It's just that simple. The old adage is "defense wins championships" but while it certainly helps in the playoffs, goaltending is the ultimate X-factor and last night there were multiple goaltending performances worth mentioning, including the aforementioned Carey Price and his 38 shot shutout. The one that stood out the most to me was Martin Biron and the Philadelphia Flyers.

After being one of the best teams in the East this season the Flyers are now desperately hanging on to the 8th spot after free falling through the standings about 3-4 weeks ago. The Flyers faced the Toronto Maple Leafs, who are truly in a must-win situation every night from here on out. After failing to perform the large scale fire sale, which was intended to include their captain Mats Sundin, Toronto has suddenly come alive. They are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games and 7 points out of the 8th spot. I'm sure a number of Leafs fans are wondering why the team couldn't do this earlier, why they had to wait until the very end to start playing well, and why a team in desperate need of rebuilding wouldn't just throw in the towel and purposefully put them in a great position for the Steve Stamkos sweepstakes. The Maple Leafs are certainly in an uphill battle to make the playoffs, but they are also on the downhill slope to ruining their draft pick and I wonder how Leafs fans feel about this right now. Would you rather your team throw in the towel and look towards the future? Even if they make the playoffs, do you think they can do well? In some ways, it'll more heartbreaking if the Leafs just barely miss the playoffs as it'll take them out of the running for a prospect in next year's remarkably deep draft and Toronto went a long ways towards doing that last night.

Toronto flat outplayed the Flyers last night outshooting them 30 - 12 through the first two periods. However, goaltending was the ultimate equalizer as Martin Biron had a shutout going into the third while Vesa Toskala had allowed 2 goals on 12 shots. Unlike Montreal, who repaid their goaltender's efforts with a great third period, the Flyers fell apart. Daniel Briere scored first to make the game 3-0 but Mats Sundin scored 3 and a half minutes later to make it 3-1 and then the game seemed to change. With a little less than 7 minutes left in the game Pavel Kubina scored followed by Jeremy Williams 3 minutes later to tie the game. Toronto ended up with 21 shots on goal in the third and forced overtime, where with less than a minute left Pavel Kubina would score again. Martin Biron ultimately made 51 saves to Toskala's 22, but it wasn't enough to get the Flyers anything more than a single point. The two teams face each other again tonight and I can't imagine Biron being on goal. Not because he played poorly, obviously he was pretty amazing, but because after facing 55 shots he probably needs a few days off.

Corey Crawford, another young goaltender, also had a great performance in net last night keeping the Chicago Blackhawks in the game against the Detroit Detroit Red Wings by making 44 saves on 46 shots. It wasn't enough as the Red Wings buried an open net goal to win 3-1. However, it appears that Chicago may have a new starting goaltender next year as this kid is showing that he's ready. What does that mean for Nikolai Khabibulin and his bloated salary?

One other note, Darren Pang mentioned that Kyle Turris may be coming to the Phoenix Coyotes once his season at Wisconsin concludes. Kyle Turris was drafted third overall by the Coyotes and Gretzky was incredibly high on the young man going into the draft and many thought he would be picked 1st over Patrick Kane. Luckily for Phoenix, that didn't happen and they were able to secure the player they wanted most. Turris is only 18 years old, stands 6'1 and hasn't quite filled out yet at only 170lbs. Regardless, he has world class skill and led the Canadian World Junior team to the goal medal with four goals and eight assists. The college season ends in mid-March, so Phoenix could receive a big boost to their playoff hopes if the kid decides to turn pro. After beating Anaheim last night, Phoenix is clearly a talented team on the verge of great things.

Standings and Predictions

I figured I'd post my predictions after watching a few games this weekend. Note that this is not the result for which I hope but rather what I expect.

East

1. New Jersey Devils
2. Montreal Canadiens
3. Carolina Hurricanes
4. Pittsburgh Penguins
5. New York Rangers
6. Ottawa Senators
7. Boston Bruins
8. Philadelphia Flyers

I considered putting Pittsburgh at the top, but I don't think they can expect Fleury or Conklin to withstand 22 shots a period for the rest of the season without losing some games they should win. Montreal will be battling for that top spot and the rookie Carey Price is the key to where they'll fall. The Caps seem to be self-destructing after making a great second half run under a new coach. Cristobal Huet, acquired at the trade deadline, is a better goaltender than Olaf Kolzig and he's put them in position to win a number of games but the Caps have failed to take advantage. With Carolina going 7-2-1 in their last 10, it's hard to imagine Alexander Ovechkin making his playoff debut this year. Ottawa continues to tumble and I expect them to continue to do so. While they suffer from a variety of injuries right now, including Heatley and Alfredsson who are playing a two-man game of musical chairs, their problems seem to run deeper. They've at least selected a goalie and Martin Gerber has played well but his team hasn't done much to help him. On the opposite end of the spectrum, you have the New York Rangers. After dipping deep into the free agent pool and signing both Chris Drury and Scot Gomez, the Rangers were surprisingly inconsistent throughout most of the season. Jaromir Jagr is having one his worst seasons in awhile but the team has found some passion as of late and Henrik Ludnqvist, fresh off of a 29 shot shutout, has his team currently in 6th and 8-0-3 in their last 11.

West

1. Detroit Red Wings
2. San Jose Sharks
3. Colorado Avalanche
4. Anaheim Ducks
5. Dallas Stars
6. Calgary Flames
7. Vancouver Canucks
8. Minnesota Wild

The Red Wings are starting to get healthy and it's showing as they've now won 3 in a row. Nicklas Lidstrom returned today and earned 2 assists in Detroit 4-3 win over Nashville. However, Detroit was up 4-0 and allowed Nashville to score 3 in the third on 13 shots. While a win is a win, Babcock, Detroit's coach, can't be happy. They've brought back heart and soul winger Darren McCarty and perhaps he'll re-introduce them to their heart. The Sharks, in my opinion, are probably the most dangerous team in the West. Acquiring a guy like Brian Campbell was absolutely monstrous for them. They needed a guy to run the powerplay, Campbell has 25 points with the advantage, and a guy who could move the puck quickly to the forwards and aid the transition game. They also have a workhorse in net and have only lost 2 out of their last 8. If they can continue to get second line scoring, especially from Patrick Marleau and Jonathan Cheechoo who've both recently their game again, they could finally secure that first round playoff victory they've been pursuing. The Avalanche are the hottest team in the West right now behind Jose Theodore who has been on fire as of late. Peter Forsberg got on the board yesterday with 2 assists and the Aves have shown the ability to beat the best teams in the league. The Ducks are still my pick to win the cup, but they'll only do it if Getzlaf can get it going offensively and they can learn to play their trademarked physical style without taking so many penalties. They're the most penalized team in the league and it continues to cost them games. Losing Corey Perry, who'd been struggling for awhile, still hurts but it should open a spot on the top line for Teemu Selanne which could reinvigorate an offense that's been anything but stellar lately. Dallas is starting to show cracks in the foundation and Brendan Morrow, their captain, challenged them in the media over the weekend after losing to Colorado. Tonight's game against the Avalanche will tell us quite a bit about the heart of the Stars and the fate of the West. The Flames, Canucks and Wild are all stuck in a battle for the Northwest division with the Avalanche. The Wild are a bit inconsistent and still need to find some offense but the Flames have been great lately and, as always, as goes Luongo so go the Canucks. All three are great defensively and have good goaltending so I would expect all of them to make the playoffs above the teams battling for that last spot.

If this turned out to be the final regular season standings the first round matchups would be:

East

Flyers at Devils
Bruins at Canadiens
Senators at Hurricanes
Rangers at Penguins

West

Wild at Red Wings
Canucks at Sharks
Flames at Avalanche
Stars at Ducks

I'm not sure any of this could be classified as "easy" matchups and there are a number of dark horse candidates scattered throughout the league. The biggest question is which of these teams is built for the high intensity, high impact nature of the playoffs. My answer is, and will be through the rest of the season barring a major injury, the Ducks.

Michele Therrien Pulls Fleury, Penguins Fall Anyways

Marc-Andre Fleury started only his third game since returning from a high ankle sprain but only lasted one period before being pulled in favor of Ty Conklin. The Pittsburgh Penguins defense did absolutely nothing to help Fleury as they allowed a plethora of glorious scoring opportunities and ultimately finished the first period giving up 19 shots on goal. Fleury allowed 3 of those shots to go in and was relieved during the intermission, giving way to Conklin who would stop 21 of the 22 shots he would face in the 2nd and 3rd periods.

Pittsburgh actually had plenty of opportunities to cut the deficit to one goal including back-to-back powerplays in the 2nd but one of the league's best teams on the man advantage just couldn't get the job done. I felt like Therrien actually did the team a disservice yanking Fleury after only one period. While Fleury wasn't dominant, he did face nearly 20 shots in a single period, made a couple of big saves and was completely let down by his defense.

Conklin allowed a big goal only 3:34 into his night that put Florida up 4-1, and despite Pittsburgh scoring shortly thereafter it never really felt like Pittsburgh actually had a shot. They were slow and indecisive in their own zone, they turned the puck over in the neutral zone and in their own corners, and Ryan Whitney had another typical mistake-filled night and ended with a minus 2 next to his name. Overall, Pittsburgh doesn't look like a team that should be competing for the top spot in the East right now and the reason for that has nothing to do with goaltending. In fact, the whole reason they are that high in the standing is because of their surprisingly sharp goaltending making up for defensive mistakes all over the ice. To me, they still seem like the soft, easily overwhelmed team that got exposed in the playoffs last year.

It's great to see Crosby back but there were multiple situations last night where you could tell he's not quite 100%. One scenario had him racing a defenseman into the corner for the puck. Normally, Crosby would lean on him, take the puck and wheel back the other way leaving the defenseman behind. Instead, Crosby eased up and let the defenseman take the puck as if he didn't quite trust his ankle enough to make those kind of hard, pivots that helped him win the scoring title last year. Of course, some credit has to go to the Florida Panther's goaltender Craig Anderson who had a very solid night in net, but if the Pittsburgh Penguins can't play better in their own zone right now, I'm not sure they have a chance of surviving beyond the first round when the speed and intensity are doubled and I still feel that Ryan Whitney may be one of the biggest reasons why the Penguins may struggle in the post-season.

Been a ridiculously long time coming....

After looking at the recent standings it seems as though the NHL may just have achieved a greater level of parity than any other sport in recent memory.

In the East:

Philly is in second with 59 points and Toronto is in 14^th with 48. That’s a massive separation for only 11 points. It’s also interesting to note that if the Caps gain one point on Carolina they will jump from 10^th to 3^rd in the conference.

In the West:

San Jose is in second with 61 points and Chicago is in 14^th with 50 points. Again, 11 points separates pretty much the entire conference. Detroit may be the only team in the league that you can consider dominant in relation to everyone else. Of course, we've all seen what happens to them in the playoffs.

Ultimately, we are going to have a ridiculous number of competitive teams that won’t even get to play in the playoffs. Boston, Islanders, Rangers, Washington, Atlanta, Florida, Buffalo and Toronto will all be battling for the last couple of spots in the east. Now if it weren't for Buffalo's recent slide they would never be on the outside looking in, but that's a different post altogether. As is the importance of Ovechkin (MVP) and the arrival of Backstrom in Washington.

In the West, Calgary, Vancouver, Colorado, Columbus, Nashville (what!??!), Phoenix, St Louis, Edmonton and Chicago will all be fighting for the last 3 spots. It's hard to imagine Calgary and Vancouver missing the playoffs but that last spot is for the taking. Colorado has suffered through massive injuries and, on the back of a rejuvenated Theodore, are actually hanging on to the last playoff spot. Leclaire and Hitchcock have the BlueJackets looking for their first playoff appearance and Bryzgalov's arrival in Phoenix has transformed that team into a playoff worthy group.

Anyone care to venture a guess as to who will make the playoffs and who won’t? I'll make my guesses in a later post.