It looks like the longest active playoffless streak in hockey is about to end, as the Flames beat the Blues tonight to drop the Flames' magic number to clinch from 10.5 to 8.5. That means, any combination of 8 1/2 Flames wins or Blues losses [a tie or overtime loss counts as half a Flames win/Blues loss] means we FINALLY get playoff hockey.
About damned time.
THE FLAMES: 35-26-7-3 for 80 points in 71 games 3rd in Northwest Div.; 6th in Western Conf.; 13th in NHL
Originally posted by fuelinjectedHere's hoping that the Flames catch Dallas so we can have a Canucks/Flames First Round series! That'd be a lot of fun.
It'll be either Flames/Canucks, Flames/Sharks, Flames/Red Wings or Flames/Avalanche. All very watchable series.
THE FLAMES: 36-26-7-3 for 82 points in 72 games 3rd in Northwest Div.; 6th in Western Conf.; 13th in NHL MAGIC NUMBER: 8.5
They would be good series but the Flames/Canucks have history and their games have been really good this year. There's a little bit of dislike between the two teams that would make for a great battle. Plus it gurantees that at least one Canadian team makes it to the next round in the West.
I'm just not looking forward to a Canucks/Stars series. One as a Canucks fan because the Canucks haven't played the Stars all this season. And two as a hockey fan, the games haven't been all that entertaining. And three, if Dallas does win their first round series, that would pit them against the top seed which is probably Detroit and it hurts Detroit's chances at winning the Cup.
Speaking of Detroit, they could get really screwed this year if the 8 Seed ends up being St. Louis. The Blues have the talent to put up a real tough fight in the Playoffs. I doubt they would beat the Wings but it'd be a tougher series then say Nashville or LA, who are seriously lacking in Playoff experience.
Originally posted by fuelinjectedSpeaking of Detroit, they could get really screwed this year if the 8 Seed ends up being St. Louis. The Blues have the talent to put up a real tough fight in the Playoffs. I doubt they would beat the Wings but it'd be a tougher series then say Nashville or LA, who are seriously lacking in Playoff experience.
Yeah, no. Look I love my Blues and at the start of the season things were looking great but to be honest they just plain aren't very good this year. Not enough depth and (as usual) no consistant goaltending. Which pains me since all Blues fans hate the Wings, but oh well.
They fired one of the leagues best coaches and may miss the playoffs for the first time in what 25 or so years? If they back their way in, they'll likely get swept out quickly.
And how many more god damn years do we have to go before we get an actual GOOD goalie!!!!!!!!! Fuhr was old, Cujo falls apart when it matters most, Turek has mental problems and sucked, Johnson was a joke, and now Osbad. This is really getting old.
Originally posted by wmatisticYeah, no. Look I love my Blues and at the start of the season things were looking great but to be honest they just plain aren't very good this year. Not enough depth and (as usual) no consistant goaltending. Which pains me since all Blues fans hate the Wings, but oh well.
They fired one of the leagues best coaches and may miss the playoffs for the first time in what 25 or so years? If they back their way in, they'll likely get swept out quickly.
And how many more god damn years do we have to go before we get an actual GOOD goalie!!!!!!!!! Fuhr was old, Cujo falls apart when it matters most, Turek has mental problems and sucked, Johnson was a joke, and now Osbad. This is really getting old.
Eh. If the regular season has taught me anything, it's that the regular season means squat. I agree that Osgood isn't the most proven playoff goaltender, but any team (even the Blues) could rise up and bite the Wings. Especially for the same reason you brought up ...
Originally posted by wmatistic...Cujo falls apart when it matters most...
Could happen again. Not like Wings fans here are expecting to coast through the 1st round again - especially with the Ducks debacle last year.
BTW, the "all Blues fans hate the Wings" thing makes me chuckle. I think you could phrase it "all (insert every other NHL team here) fans hate the Wings" and it would be accurate. That's what makes it so much fun for me to root for them.
Originally posted by Reverend J ShaftBTW, the "all Blues fans hate the Wings" thing makes me chuckle. I think you could phrase it "all (insert every other NHL team here) fans hate the Wings" and it would be accurate. That's what makes it so much fun for me to root for them.
Well I dunno that they are that hated overall. Here we went through man it felt like four years or so of losing to them in the playoffs, plus having them pick up our old players(Shanahan, Hull). I think it really goes back to that year we went seven games and then lost in triple overtime. Ever since that day it turned from we don't like the Wings to MY GOD WILL SOMEONE KILL THOSE PRICKS! You know, the kind of anger where you hope someone would smash Drapers monkey face into the boards so he'd need to get it fixed again.
Originally posted by The GoonI thought the memo went out that everyone's supposed to hate the Leafs. I'm confused.
I hate the Leafs, if that helps. Actually, it's more of a general apathy towards every team except the Avs, who I will always loathe (I'm sure the feeling is mutual, Broncolanche). However, considering wmatistic's comments on Draper, I may have to elevate the Blues to that lofty status as well. :)
Originally posted by fuelinjectedSpeaking of Detroit, they could get really screwed this year if the 8 Seed ends up being St. Louis. The Blues have the talent to put up a real tough fight in the Playoffs. I doubt they would beat the Wings but it'd be a tougher series then say Nashville or LA, who are seriously lacking in Playoff experience.
Yeah, no. Look I love my Blues and at the start of the season things were looking great but to be honest they just plain aren't very good this year. Not enough depth and (as usual) no consistant goaltending. Which pains me since all Blues fans hate the Wings, but oh well.
They fired one of the leagues best coaches and may miss the playoffs for the first time in what 25 or so years? If they back their way in, they'll likely get swept out quickly.
And how many more god damn years do we have to go before we get an actual GOOD goalie!!!!!!!!! Fuhr was old, Cujo falls apart when it matters most, Turek has mental problems and sucked, Johnson was a joke, and now Osbad. This is really getting old.
I think that even if you pulled off a coup and got a front-line, grade-A, mack daddy goalie, something would happen. Some teams are just cursed to look 20 years for a position player. The Mets always need a 3rd baseman, the Dolphins went two decades looking for a running back until they finally found one, the Heat have needed a shooting guard since day 1 and never found one until they had to give up 2 quality, ascending players for a descending Eddie Jones (I'm STILL bitter about that one), the Maple Leafs can't keep anyone on the blue line, and the Blues can't keep a goalie running for more than a season tops.
Not that it matters, but if the NHL had a 3-points for a win, 1-for a tie, NO overtime policy, the Northwest (?) division standings would look like this:
CGY 36-27-12 120 points COL 30-20-25 115 points VAN 27-24-25 106 points EDM 26-27-22 100 points MIN 25-27-22 97 points
...and the Flames would be in third in the West, so they would have home-ice advantage in the first round. (Of course, in the NHL that means you LOSE your playoff series, so maybe you should just hold off on sending those cards and letters to Gary Bettman just yet.)
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Yep. 5 points by the Flames (or points not gotten by the Blues) gets them a playoff berth.
FLAMES GAMES LEFT: Tonight: @ San Jose March 27: vs. L.A. March 31: vs. Phoenix April 2: @ L.A. April 4: @ Anaheim
BLUES GAMES LEFT: Tonight: vs. Anaheim March 27: vs. Chicago March 28: @ Chicago March 30: vs. Edmonton April 1: vs. Detroit April 3: @ Nashville April 4: @ Minnesota
THE FLAMES: 38-28-7-3 for 86 points in 76 games 3rd in Northwest Div.; 6th in Western Conf.; 13th in NHL MAGIC NUMBER: 5.5
I think it's pretty safe for Calgary at this point. Edmonton, Nashville and St. Louis will have a hard fight to the end for the last two spots.
Blues got lucky to have two against Chicago over the weekend, but now Nashville gets two against Chicago as well so they should make it in based on that but the other two games they have are against St. Louis and Colorado.
St. Louis plays a huge game against Edmonton Tuesday then ends with Detriot, Nashville(another big one) and Minnesota.
Edmonton plays St. Louis, Dallas and Vancouver.
From that I would say whoever loses the St. Louis vs Edmonton game will likely be the one out of the playoffs.
Edmonton has the toughest schedule out of the three teams competing in the west. If they win against St. Louis then they have a real shot, but if they lose or even tie they may just run out of time. I'm hoping as a Vancouver fan they can do us a favour and beat the Stars.
Originally posted by Omar PadillaFLAMES IN THE PLAYOFFS!!
I love that.
And....by virtue of 20 sell-outs at the Saddledome (plus, at LEAST 2 sell-outs during the playoffs), the Calgary Flames are expected to turn a profit this year...after losing money for the past 5 seasons.
THE FLAMES: 40-29-7-3 for 90 points in 79 games 3rd in Northwest Div.; 6th in Western Conf.; 13th in NHL MAGIC NUMBER: 1.5
Flyers trade Cechmanek to Kings for draft pick (ESPN) Al Morganti's take this morning: "The Flyers have gotten a second-round draft pick in 2004... for their MVP?" Peter Svoboda, Cechmanek's agent, on whether Roman really wanted to leave: