Photo courtesy of Roger via Flickr.com
The best time of year is upon us: Playoff Hockey. Sixteen teams will begin their quest next Wednesday for hockey’s ultimate prize, and while most matchups are set, there are still a few spots up for grabs.
Eastern Conference:
The East was a powerhouse this year, especially in the Metropolitan Division where the Capitals, Penguins, Blue Jackets, and Rangers all reached the 100-point plateau. The Capitals need only one more point to clinch the division, and if they do so, will face off against the second wild-card team in the East. The Penguins and Blue Jackets are the two and three seeds, and will face off against each other in the first round. Who gets home ice is still to be determined, but it is looking like the Penguins have a good hold on the second seed with a three-point lead over the Jackets with one remaining. The Rangers are the odd-man out in this division, as they occupy the first wild-card spot and will face-off against the Montreal Canadiens in the first round. This isn’t the worst thing for the Rangers, as they will be able to avoid facing a team from their own division until the conference finals. Overall, the Metro division is stacked, and it is quite possible for any of these four teams to come out of the East and into the Stanley Cup Finals.
The Atlantic Division is definitely the lesser of the two divisions in the East, and the only all the playoff spots got locked up last night. The other two division seeds along with that second wild-card spot are still up for grabs however, but it looks like the three teams who will occupy those spots are the Bruins, Maple Leafs, and Senators. As of April 5th, the Senators and Bruins hold the last two division spots while the Leafs are holding on to the second wild-card spot. All three of these teams should want to be either the two or three seed, as the second wild-card team will have to face-off against the Washington Capitals, which surely isn’t favorable. Toronto’s remaining game is against the Buffalo Sabers, The Bruins, while being the fourth seed, have locked up a playoff spot by beating the Lightning on Tuesday night. Their playoff seeding is in limbo, because if Toronto wins they will head to Washington, but they could also go play at Ottawa. The Senators have the two seed in this division, and will have home ice advantage. Overall, and it will be an awesome weekend of scoreboard watching for fans to see where these teams end up.
Western Conference:
The West is a much different story from the East, as eight teams have already clinched playoff spots. However, the seeding for some of these teams is still to be determined, especially in the Pacific Division where the Ducks, and Oilers are vying for first place. The Ducks currently have a two-point lead over the Oilers, and four-points over the Sharks with one game remaining. The Oilers stand a better chance of getting the first seed than the Sharks do, as the Oilers 2 points behind. They finish their regular season against the Vancouver Canucks. The Sharks will face the Calgary Flames. Along with these three teams, the Calgary Flames have also clinched a playoff spot, but will be one of the two wild-card teams. They finish against the Sharks this week, and it will be interesting to see their playoff series with the winner of their own division. Calgary was lucky to avoid Chicago in the First Round.
The Central Division has already crowned the Blackhawks as the division winner, and they will face off against the second wild-card as they also have the best record in the entire Western Conference. The Minnesota Wild, while having slipped over their past fifteen games or so, still hang on to the second seed in the division comfortably, and will have home-ice advantage against the Blues, since they will finish as the three seed. The Predators on the other hand finished their season with 94 points. The Predators will undoubtaly have to face the Chicago Blackhawks in the first round, the Preds finished as the last wild card team in the Western Conference.