Around the League: News/Notes

[RainyCityHockey]

Holy shit. Flyers won today.

Might they actually try and join the battle for 3rd - 6th worst?
Though, it was against Montreal, who've had their moment with their new coach and have been their old selves for some time again.

 

[The Marquis]

Boy does Montreal suck right now. They really really suck, and unlike Arizona, didn’t lose their two best players of the season

 

[RainyCityHockey]

Boy does Montreal suck right now. They really really suck, and unlike Arizona, didn’t lose their two best players of the season

Yeah, they suck.

All that talk about St. Louis and how great is everything under him has somehow stopped as well.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

Devils were up 2-0 against the Canes with 5 minutes left in the 3rd and lost 3-2 in OT.

 

[RainyCityHockey]

Devils were up 2-0 against the Canes with 5 minutes left in the 3rd and lost 3-2 in OT.

How very Kraken of them.
Though, that's only a two goal lead they gave up in the third period this time around...

BTW: There's some interesting stuff going on tonight, in that race to the bottom, with the Sens hosting the Habs and the Blackhawks playing at San Jose.

 

[RainyCityHockey]

Looking around the (bottom) of the league.

The Sens won against the Habs and have said goodbye to the craptastic race to the bottom.
The Devils are not able to hold onto leads but have been better as of late and at least get loser points, while the Hawks aren't able to do much after all.

So here are the current bottom race standings:

Blackhawks ---> 63 points ---> 79 games played
Devils ----> 62 points ---> 78 games played
Flyers ----> 59 points ----> 78 games played
Kraken ----> 58 points ----> 78 games played
Coyotes ---> 51 points ----> 79 games played
Canadiens ---> 51 points ----> 79 games played

Both the Habs and Coyotes have secured a top four pick and bottom two finish as they can't collect more than 57 points with only three games left each.

That leaves the Kraken, Flayers, Devils and Hawks to decide positions 3 - 6,

Here are the remaining schedules for those four teams.

Seattle:
@Vancouver
vs Los Angels
vs San Jose
@ Winnipeg

Philadelphia:
vs Pittsburgh
@ Chicago
@ Winnipeg
vs Ottawa

New Jersey:
vs Detroit
@ Ottawa
@ Carolina
vs Detroit

Chicago:
vs Philadelphia
vs Vegas
@ Buffalo

Best case I could see the Kraken winning three games with Vancouver eliminated from the playoffs and only the Kings playing for something.
That would get us to 64 points and could potentially have us finish with the 6th worst record, if Chicago doesn't get points and New Jersey only one more.

Though, to me that's not all that likely so the most realistic outcome would be 3rd or 4th worst with Seattle and Philly battling out those spots, while the Devils and Hawks are finishing at 5th and 6th worst.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

Flyers beat the Pens 4-1 today. They play the Hawks tomorrow and that is a good result for us either way though the Flyers winning again may be preferred.

 

[The Marquis]

Flyers beat the Pens 4-1 today. They play the Hawks tomorrow and that is a good result for us either way though the Flyers winning again may be preferred.

More wins by Philly.

 

[RainyCityHockey]

Flyers beat the Pens 4-1 today. They play the Hawks tomorrow and that is a good result for us either way though the Flyers winning again may be preferred.

I'd rather the Hawks got two points and basically get out of reach for us.

But hey, may there be an OT game and points for both.

 

[RainyCityHockey]

With their win the Hawks are now at 65 points.
So unless we go 3-0-1 and they don't collect any more points, we're not going to catch them anymore.

Though, Philly, on the other hand, is still a possibility and you never know about New Jersey.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

Devils lost to the Sens but made it to OT so that is another point for them.

 

[RainyCityHockey]

Devils lost to the Sens but made it to OT so that is another point for them.

Well, with our loss the Blackhaws are out of reach and we've secured a bottom five finish which guarantees us a top seven pick.

And unless we go at least 2-0-1(while the Devils lose both of their games in regulation) during the final three games the Devils are also ut of reach.

Like I've said it's probably going to be 3rd or 4th from bottom for us.

 

[RainyCityHockey]

 

[The Marquis]

I saw that it was one of those group ticket purchasers who did that for their free Jumbotron message.

 

[The Marquis]

Who had Buffalo 5th in the Atlantic at 75 points when the season started? They are no longer a lost cause.

 

[RainyCityHockey]

Looking at the playoff series with implications for the Kraken.

The Avs are leading the Preds 3-0 and it seems very realistic that this means we'll end up with the #49 pick from that Jeremy Lauzon trade.
Also, having watched most of that game, Lauzon still really likes to take those penalties....

The Caps are currently leading the Panthers 2-1 and might be able to pull off the upset and show why winning the presidents trophy is rather an indication who won't win the cup.
If that happens the pick we got from the Jarnkrok trade would be at #56 instead of #64.

On the other hand, the Maple Leafs are leading the Lightning 2-1 in their series, with game four tonight, and might do the impossible of beating their toughest rival, the first round of the playoffs.

 

[The Marquis]

Looking at the playoff series with implications for the Kraken.

The Avs are leading the Preds 3-0 and it seems very realistic that this means we'll end up with the #49 pick from that Jeremy Lauzon trade.
Also, having watched most of that game, Lauzon still really likes to take those penalties....

The Caps are currently leading the Panthers 2-1 and might be able to pull off the upset and show why winning the presidents trophy is rather an indication who won't win the cup.
If that happens the pick we got from the Jarnkrok trade would be at #56 instead of #64.

On the other hand, the Maple Leafs are leading the Lightning 2-1 in their series, with game four tonight, and might do the impossible of beating their toughest rival, the first round of the playoffs.

This has us winning the TDL more than we thought.

 

[RainyCityHockey]

Barry Trotz just became available with the Islanders letting him go.

Though, he seems to be more interested in a front office role.

 

[The Marquis]

Barry Trotz just became available with the Islanders letting him go.

Though, he seems to be more interested in a front office role.

He's a smart cookie. The kind of guy a team in need of something new should take a gamble on.

 

[RainyCityHockey]

The Panthers did end up winning that first round series with Washington.
That means the 2nd rounder we got in the Jarnkrok trade won't end up being better than #60.

Today will be game 7 between Toronto and Tampa, which has implications on that 2nd rounder we got in the Gio trade.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

The Panthers did end up winning that first round series with Washington.
That means the 2nd rounder we got in the Jarnkrok trade won't end up being better than #60.

Today will be game 7 between Toronto and Tampa, which has implications on that 2nd rounder we got in the Gio trade.

Looks like that did go in our favor.

 

[RainyCityHockey]

No surprise here.
Supposedly at 1M AAV.

 

[The Marquis]

Good for him. Gets to finish his career at home.

 

[RainyCityHockey]

Tampa currently leads Florida 3-0 with game four tonight in Tampa.

Might be the Bolts that help us improve the draft picks we got from those Giordano and Jarnkrok deals.

 

[RainyCityHockey]

Tampa just swept Florida and Vasylevsky with another shutout in a series clinching game.

The Avs are also close to finally making it past the 2nd round leading 3-1 against the Blues.