The Official Western Conference Playoff Race Thread

[WestcoastCanuck 0]

As of now, the standings look like this:3. Calgary 9 904. Nashville 9 925. Anaheim 9 885. Colorado 8 887. Vancouver 7 878. Edmonton 8 869. San Jose 10 8210. Los Angeles 8 81The Canucks shootout loss vs the Wild stung tonight. I think they are playing their best hockey of the season, but they are in a nasty spot as far as games left go. It is insane to think that 4 teams still have a shot at the NorthWest division title (the best division in hockey).I know there are some Flames and Avs fans on here, so get in here and trash talk! If you are lurking, sign up and get the hell in here.

[Zach6668 513]

Go Penguins!!!!

[nell789 0]

Go Penguins!!!!

heh, nice

[digitalmonkey 929]

As of now, the standings look like this:3. Calgary 9 904. Nashville 9 925. Anaheim 9 885. Colorado 8 887. Vancouver 7 878. Edmonton 8 869. San Jose 10 8210. Los Angeles 8 81The Canucks shootout loss vs the Wild stung tonight. I think they are playing their best hockey of the season, but they are in a nasty spot as far as games left go. It is insane to think that 4 teams still have a shot at the NorthWest division title (the best division in hockey).I know there are some Flames and Avs fans on here, so get in here and trash talk! If you are lurking, sign up and get the hell in here.

You can remove Los Angeles from the list.And how does parity make the NorthWest division the best?

[WestcoastCanuck 0]

And how does parity make the NorthWest division the best?

The only reason any of the NW teams have low point totals is because they have to play each other so much. I can't remember their out of division (and conference) records off the top of my head, but I know they are all good.

[Meatwad 0]

On the race: http://www.tsn.ca/columnists/bob_mckenzie.aspMcKenzie: The 'loser point' revisitedTSN.ca Staff3/31/2006Earlier this week we conducted a highly scientific study on the impact of the "loser point" on NHL standings and discovered it really hasn't made much of a difference at all.But an astute viewer correctly points out the "loser point" is not something new to the game, it's been there since overtime was introduced and that the real "difference" this season has been the advent of the shootout win, an extra point that previously was not available at the conclusion of a tied game in overtime.The "real" study, the viewer suggested, would be to back out the points earned in shootout victories.Unfortunately, the results of this investigation are not much more exciting than our first effort.Based on the league's standings going into Friday night's action, there are the eight Eastern Conference playoff teams with shootout victory points included and there are the eight teams with their extra shootout points backed out.It's the same eight teams.But that is a bit misleading.The New Jersey Devils currently have a nice seven-point cushion on ninth-place Atlanta, but if you took away the extra nine points they earned in shootout wins (which is the second most in the NHL this season), they would only be three points up on the adjusted Thrashers, who have won five shootouts.In the Western Conference, backing out the shootout victory points would knock Edmonton (with seven shootout wins), out of eighth spot and vault the San Jose Sharks (with only one shootout victory), ahead of them. Our previous study indicated the Oilers were a team that benefited greatly from the "loser point" as well, so we can conclude that Edmonton is a huge beneficiary of both the "loser point" and the extra point for a shootout win and probably wouldn't make the playoffs otherwise.But beyond that, shootout victories in the west haven't greatly skewed the standings, even though Dallas leads the entire league with 11 shootout wins, more than double any Western team with the exception of Edmonton.Dallas would still be the second seed even without all those shootout victory points, but this investigation does raise an interesting question.There are no shootouts in the playoffs.That being said, will the Stars be as effective in sudden-death overtime as they have been in shootouts?Or more precisely, does a shootout specialist like Jussi Jokinen have any Steve Thomas in him?For TSN.ca, I'm Bob McKenzie.

[WestcoastCanuck 0]

Also, LA should not be removed from the list. They are struggling, but all of their remaing games are against teams directly infront of them. With their win tonight they are only 3 points back.

[Azreous 0]

What, you don't have the Coyotes in the race?....Oh.I'm still a closet Avs fan, since I used to spend vacations there most of the time and followed the team if the season was going on. Summers were much worse there, because the Rockies have been horrible since about a decade ago.

[digitalmonkey 929]

Also, LA should not be removed from the list. They are struggling, but all of their remaing games are against teams directly infront of them. With their win tonight they are only 3 points back.

Three points out but also tied with San Jose who has 2 games in hand.

[Nate The Great 0]

THE ANAHEIM MIGHTY DUCKS ARE CLEARLY THE HOTTEST TEAM IN THE WESTERN CONFERENCE....BAR NONE!!!!!! I live 10 minutes from the Arrowhead Pond and am a huge Ducks fan, so I am biased, but were I not, I would still be forced to admit this. The most points over the last 10 games of any other team other than the Red Wings is one thing, but the way that they are doing it is another thing entirely. This 6 team race for the final 4 playoff spots is intense, and the Ducks are right in the thick of it and kicking *** more than any other team involved. Big wins over Dallas, Colorado, Nashville, and Vancouver have all come over the past week and a half, and they have come in impressive fashion. The Ducks beat the Stars 2-1, then beat the Avs in OT, then blew out the Preds and made them look weak, then dropped two close losses to the Avs and Stars, then handed the Stars their first shootout loss of the season two nights back, and today made the Canucks look completely lame in a 6-2 rout, a team that should have been pumped up because they are in the middle of this race as well, as are the Avs. Long story short, is the Ducks are peaking at the right time, and are reminding me of the 03 playoff team that made such a sick run to game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. The Ducks are a real franchise folks, with young players that are here to stay, and after we lock up 5th place over the next few games, we are going to spank Nashville up and down the ice in round one, and make another legitimate run at the Cup.

[Zach6668 513]

Selanne has been looking good lately. I have actually been impressed by the Ducks.

[Thriceknurd 0]

Not only might the Ducks end up in the 5th spot, but we have a chance at catching Nashville for the 4th. I've been a Ducks fan since the beginning and this is by far the most impressive run the team has had in the regualar season. Very similar to the 03 season and the Stanley Cup run. Very exciting time.Selanne is the comeback player of the year baby... a true player.

[WestcoastCanuck 0]

The Ducks sure spanked the Canucks today. Vancouver is in a real tough spot. There is a back to back series coming up against San Jose that could make or break their season. I will officially concede that LA is out of it after the Canucks beat them tommorow.Anaheim will be tough for any team to beat. Selanne has been great, so has Mcdonald. I don't know when or how he became such a good player. I blame Selanne. Neidemeyer is my pick for the Norris.

[digitalmonkey 929]

I have always been a Selanne fan. I'm surprised Tony Granato did not receive more criricism for the way in which he misused Selanne. I have said it all along that Selanne is one of those players that needs a lot of ice-time to thrive. As for the Ducks, Anaheim fans should be excited as they are playing well and will only get better as players like Bobby Ryan and Ladislav Smid join the team and others like Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf just get better.

[Belanger25 3]

I have always been a Selanne fan. I'm surprised Tony Granato did not receive more criricism for the way in which he misused Selanne. I have said it all along that Selanne is one of those players that needs a lot of ice-time to thrive. As for the Ducks, Anaheim fans should be excited as they are playing well and will only get better as players like Bobby Ryan and Ladislav Smid join the team and others like Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf just get better.

He didn't misuse Selanne. Temmu's knee was so bad he was going to retire if it wasn't for the lockout. That year gave him enough time to rehab the knee.

[digitalmonkey 929]

He didn't misuse Selanne. Temmu's knee was so bad he was going to retire if it wasn't for the lockout. That year gave him enough time to rehab the knee.

Sorry, but I disagree. Granato used Selanne on the 3rd and 4th lines thus reducing his icetime greatly.

[Belanger25 3]

Sorry, but I disagree. Granato used Selanne on the 3rd and 4th lines thus reducing his icetime greatly.

At one point the guy only had 1 goal in like 14 games. He wasn't playing well.

[digitalmonkey 929]

At one point the guy only had 1 goal in like 14 games. He wasn't playing well.

He wasn't playing well because he wasn't getting the icetime. If you go back and look at the stats you'll see that Selanne's icetime was as low as 9-10 minutes on some nights. Like I said, Selanne is a guy that needs plenty of icetime to produce. The more he plays, the more he gets involved and the more he produces.

[Nate The Great 0]

I would say that the Ducks have a legit chance of catching Nashville in the 4 spot if it weren't for the fact that Nashville might have the easiest schedule I have ever seen over the next couple of weeks. It's something like Chicago, Columbus, Chicago, St. Louis, Phoenix, Minnesota, etc. The Ducks have one of the toughest for sure, with a bunch of games against good as well as desperate teams trying to catch them. We go LA, Dallas, LA, and then Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, and some others not necessarily in that order. We will certainly pick up points in a lot of these games but I can't see us catching a Nashville team with such a weak schedule and 4 points on us already.

[Drac 0]

Ducks fans should have some concern that they may have blown their wad just making the playoffs.It's tough to remember that these aren't the god awful boring ducks of years past. I keep cringing thinking of watching them play forgetting that they don't try to win every game 1 - 0 and have guys like Lupul, Getzlaf, and Perry.The WCF vs. the Wild was the worst hockey I've seen in a long time. It was the only team the Wild had played in their history that was actually clearly much more boring than they were. Even my non hockey watching wife commented on how boring the Ducks were then. Now, not so much...

[Thriceknurd 0]

The WCF vs. the Wild was the worst hockey I've seen in a long time. It was the only team the Wild had played in their history that was actually clearly much more boring than they were. Even my non hockey watching wife commented on how boring the Ducks were then. Now, not so much...

This is a funny statement to me. This was the year Giguere was mind boggling in the playoffs. Yes, the series against the Wild was low scoring, but watching Jiggy shutout a team in 3 games of the 4 wins, that was very exciting, to watch a goalie shatter all sorts of records and stop every shot coming at him. Not just that series, but overall as well.With the new rules in effect on the NHL, scoring has increased overall, and frankly, it's alot of fun seeing the high scoring games (Ducks have scored 5 goals or more in 8 of the last 13 games or something like that) which is insane.I'm more of the type of fan that loves the low-scoring, 0-0 or 1-0, coming into the 3rd period, and waiting for that miraculous equalizer or go ahead goal. It's so intense, and the players feel that intensity too. Same goes for baseball. I like it old school style, low scoring and the pitchers duel.

[Drac 0]

This is a funny statement to me. This was the year Giguere was mind boggling in the playoffs. Yes, the series against the Wild was low scoring, but watching Jiggy shutout a team in 3 games of the 4 wins, that was very exciting, to watch a goalie shatter all sorts of records and stop every shot coming at him. Not just that series, but overall as well.With the new rules in effect on the NHL, scoring has increased overall, and frankly, it's alot of fun seeing the high scoring games (Ducks have scored 5 goals or more in 8 of the last 13 games or something like that) which is insane.I'm more of the type of fan that loves the low-scoring, 0-0 or 1-0, coming into the 3rd period, and waiting for that miraculous equalizer or go ahead goal. It's so intense, and the players feel that intensity too. Same goes for baseball. I like it old school style, low scoring and the pitchers duel.

That was just terrible hockey. I live in MN and am a STH to the Wild so I KNOW boring hockey. Giguere made incredible saves, no doubt about it. The Ducks made little to no effort to score in that series. When the Wild are clearly the better offensive team you are looking at a super sucky boring team. That was the Ducks that year. I've seen tons of great low scoring games. None of them were in that series.

[Thriceknurd 0]

I guess this should go without saying...It was fun for all of us Ducks fans. I'm being a little biased you should know, but, so are you? Are you a WILD's fan?J.S. will take us far again this year in the playoffs. I cannot wait.

[Nate The Great 0]

Yeah it is always boring when a 7 seed SWEEPS the 2nd seed Detroit Red Wings, including a win in game with 5 overtimes. The Wild series may have been boring depending on what kind of hockey you like, but Giguere's performance was RIDICULOUS, as Thriceknurd pointed out, and this was maybe one of the only instances where a goalie can make the game exciting all by himself. Anyways, that was then, this is now, and we are a completely different team with a lot of young playmakers as well as veteran leaders. Unfortunately Colorado and San Jose both dodged bullets tonight and won by slim margins, and either the Canucks or Kings will be gaining two points as well. Its alright we'll beat LA tomorrow night and regain 5th outright.

[Belanger25 3]

Yeah it is always boring when a 7 seed SWEEPS the 2nd seed Detroit Red Wings, including a win in game with 5 overtimes. The Wild series may have been boring depending on what kind of hockey you like, but Giguere's performance was RIDICULOUS, as Thriceknurd pointed out, and this was maybe one of the only instances where a goalie can make the game exciting all by himself. Anyways, that was then, this is now, and we are a completely different team with a lot of young playmakers as well as veteran leaders. Unfortunately Colorado and San Jose both dodged bullets tonight and won by slim margins, and either the Canucks or Kings will be gaining two points as well. Its alright we'll beat LA tomorrow night and regain 5th outright.

The first round and 2nd round was exciting that year but the 3rd round was like watching paint dry. That isn't the Kings fan in me either. It was boring. Giguere deserved all the recognition he got but that series put 2 defensive teams together. I can't remember what was the most amount of goals in a game was in 4 combined?