7 Eastern Dogfight
The West seems set but the East is still up for grabs
Written by Hosea C
Canucks Access
With less then 10 games remaining in the regular season for all 30 NHL teams, the Eastern conference is in a major battle for the final three playoff spots.
Although nothing is official, it seems as if New Jersey, Buffalo, Ottawa, Atlanta and Pittsburgh are headed to the playoffs, while six teams are struggling to secure a playoff position.
Currently, Tampa Bay has the upper hand in the race, but it seems impossible to predict the bottom three playoff ranks. The New York Rangers are continuing to win, while Toronto, Montreal and Carolina are fighting to gain as many points as possible. The New York Islanders round out the six teams in this standings skirmish.
With such a heated race for the top eight spots going on, it provides fans with entertaining hockey. The games are heated and intense, as the playoff atmosphere is present in every game. Isn’t that what the NHL wants?
With point leads changing basically every night, there is no way to determine who makes it to the ‘show’ and who doesn’t. Oh, the beauty of the stretch drive.
For Canadian hockey fans, the best scenario would be to include all three Eastern Canadian teams in the playoffs. However, there might just be room for one or two. The rest of the country probably wouldn’t mind if the Maple Leafs failed to make the playoffs, as they can join the Edmonton Oilers on the golf course. But Toronto is hoping to prove haters wrong. In Montreal, they are hoping that rookie goaltending, youthful scoring talents and experience can lead them into the post-season and past the first round.
While the Eastern Conference is hosting an exciting pre-playoff frenzy, the Western Conference standings appear to be set. Now I’m not suggesting that the Colorado Avalanche won’t steal Calgary’s final playoff spot, but other then those two teams, everyone one else seems to be guaranteed a ticket to the playoffs.
The arrival of the Stanley Cup playoffs is near, and fans around the league are already preparing themselves for it. In the East, it seems as if the playoffs have started, while the West is just getting warmed up.
The real fight is still to come.
