The Final Countdown

[Rob]

This is the final week of the regular season!  We don't have much going on for a playoff race this year.  Philly and Detroit are battling for the final playoff seed.  Toronto is still in that conversation record-wise but needs to put up an astronomical number of points to overcome both Philly and Detroit.  The only division up for grabs is the Northeast with my Bruins having the edge matchup-wise. 

Good luck!

[shooter47]

Should still be an interesting final week. Lots of important match ups that will determine the seeding in the playoffs.

1)   St. Louis    -    Locked in to 1st seed. Match ups with Buffalo and Edmonton this week will have an impact into playoff seeding.

2)   Vancouver    -    Locked in to 2nd seed. Match ups with Carolina and Vegas this week won't have a huge impact on playoff seeding.

3)   Boston    -    Currently a game ahead of Buffalo for the Northeast Division. Most likely to stay as the 3rd seed or fall to the 6th or 7th seed. Also a slim chance they could fall to the 8th seed. Boston has tough match ups with Los Angeles and Edmonton this week.

4)   Edmonton    -    Locked in to a first round bye for winning the Canada Division. Could move up to the 3rd seed. They have some tough matchups this week with St. Louis and Boston.

5)   Colorado    -    Currently a game ahead of Los Angeles for the 5th Seed. Likely to finish as the 5th seed or 6th seed. Could possibly fall to the 7th seed but would need to be passed in the standings by Los Angeles, Buffalo and Boston in the final week. That’s not going to happen though as they play Calgary and Vegas in the final week and should stay as the 5th seed.

6)   Los Angeles    -    Currently a game ahead of Buffalo for the 6th seed and final bye in the playoffs. Could finish anywhere from 5th seed to 8th seed. Tough match ups with Boston and Anaheim in the final week.

7)   Buffalo    -    Team with the greatest possible chance to move up or down in the final week. Currently sitting in the 7th seed. Easiest way to slide into the top 6 is to pass Boston and win the Northeast Division and claim the 3rd or 4th seed. Could also catch Los Angeles and slide into the 6th seed. Possibility also exists that they find themselves falling to the 8th seed in the final week and get a match up with defending Champ Anaheim in the first round of the playoffs. Tough match ups in the final week as Buffalo gets to play St. Louis and Philadelphia.

8)   Carolina    -    Currently the 8th seed in the playoffs and that is their most likely spot. They do have an outside chance at moving up to the 7th seed or possibly even the 6th seed if they can pass Buffalo and Los Angeles. Match ups for the final week include Washington and Vancouver.

9)   Anaheim    -    Locked in. Could catch Carolina in record but is way back in points. Match ups with Tampa Bay and Los Angeles in the final week. The match up with Los Angeles could have a huge impact on playoff seeding.

10)   Detroit    -    2 wins in the final week will clinch the 10th and final spot in the playoffs. A loss in the final week would open the doors for Philadelphia to sneak into the playoffs. Detroit has match ups with Toronto and Montreal to close the season.

11)   Philadelphia    -    Needs some help in the final week to get into the playoffs. Currently sit one game back of Detroit for the final playoff spot. Gets an easy match up with New York in the final week and a tough one with Buffalo.

12)   Toronto    -    Mathematically still alive for a playoff spot but needs to score a lot of points and get some help to catch Detroit and Philadelphia. Match ups with Detroit and Chicago in the final week will be must win games.

Match ups in the Final week that will have the biggest Impact on Playoff Seeding:
Detroit Red Wings   vs   Montreal Canadiens
Buffalo Sabres   vs   St. Louis Blues
Anaheim Ducks   vs   Los Angeles Kings
Edmonton Oilers   vs   Boston Bruins
Carolina Hurricanes   vs   Vancouver Canucks
Detroit Red Wings   vs   Toronto Maple Leafs
Buffalo Sabres   vs   Philadelphia Flyers
Edmonton Oilers   vs   St. Louis Blues
Boston Bruins   vs   Los Angeles Kings

[Rob]

Regarding the Northeast, last week's matchups were a pretty big deal.  Boston and Buffalo squared off in what may have been the deciding matchup of the season, and Toews came through with a monster week to put Boston on top.  Anaheim was very helpful for me putting up a big week against Buffalo in their 2nd matchup.  Having a 1 game lead going into this week with the points very close now is HUGE for us - as both teams have tough matchups.

As commish I'm really happy to see Buffalo as a top team these past 2 years.  Nice job Jean!  However, as the Bruins GM... screw you hippy!

[Rob]

What's more odd is there hasn't been a real playoff race at all this year.  It's looked pretty much like this for a couple months.  Which kinda explains the lack of trade activity.

[jlapo11]

Too many IR for the last 2-3 weeks. Will be a tough week for me AGAIN

Be nice with me Rob. Never know what could happens in the playoffs.