Just had a look at the Eastern Conference standings this morning. I have a feeling that it's going to be a pretty dull playoff push this year (even with the 3 point games).
Now I may be wrong, but the seperation between the "haves and have-nots" seems to be pretty big this year (especially with Markov going down in MTL).
As of this morn, the East standings look like this:
1 Washington Capitals SE 17 10 3 4 24 65 52 5-1-3 5-2-1 7-1-2 Won 2
2 Pittsburgh Penguins ATL 18 12 6 0 24 54 47 5-3-0 7-3-0 5-5-0 Lost 3
3 Buffalo Sabres NE 14 9 4 1 19 40 33 5-2-1 4-2-0 6-4-0 Lost 2
4 New Jersey Devils ATL 15 11 4 0 22 39 33 3-4-0 8-0-0 8-2-0 Won 5
5 New York Rangers ATL 18 10 7 1 21 56 48 6-2-0 4-5-1 3-6-1 Lost 1
6 Philadelphia Flyers ATL 14 9 4 1 19 52 37 6-2-1 3-2-0 6-3-1 Won 4
7 Ottawa Senators NE 15 8 5 2 18 46 45 5-3-2 3-2-0 5-3-2 Won 1
8 Boston Bruins NE 17 8 7 2 18 41 41 6-4-1 2-3-1 5-3-2 Won 2
9 Tampa Bay Lightning SE 15 6 4 5 17 39 47 4-0-3 2-4-2 4-3-3 Won 1
10 New York Islanders ATL 17 6 6 5 17 44 50 5-2-2 1-4-3 5-3-2 Won 1
11 Montréal Canadiens NE 18 8 10 0 16 45 55 5-5-0 3-5-0 5-5-0 Lost 2
12 Atlanta Thrashers SE 14 7 6 1 15 48 45 2-4-0 5-2-1 4-5-1 Won 1
13 Florida Panthers SE 15 5 9 1 11 40 55 2-5-0 3-4-1 4-5-1 Lost 2
14 Toronto Maple Leafs NE 16 3 8 5 11 41 60 1-5-2 2-3-3 3-3-4 Lost 1
15 Carolina Hurricanes SE 16 2 11 3 7 32 59 2-4-1 0-7-2 0-8-2 Lost 6
I think it's safe to assume that they aren't going to change much.
Now I'm not saying that this is the exact order they will finish (Boston still has some climbing to do and Buff will likely come back to earth), but the top 8 as of today could very well be the same top 8 at the end of the yr.
Outside of Tampa, I can't see anyone on the 9-15 spot coming back to steal a playoff spot. I know it's early. What do you guys think?
Montreal has already won every game that they have gone to OT in. They already have more points than they likely should have at this point. That streak can't last forever.
I think what you see is what you are going to get with the Habs this year.
I've watched several games of every Eastern Conference teams, and based on what I saw I think the bottom 4 is starting to shape up(Carolina, Toronto, Florida, Montreal) and we'll see 7 teams fighting for the last 4 playoffs spots as usual.
I've watched several games of every Eastern Conference teams, and based on what I saw I think the bottom 4 is starting to shape up(Carolina, Toronto, Florida, Montreal) and we'll see 7 teams fighting for the last 4 playoffs spots as usual.
My reasoning is alot like yours, and based on the way teams are playing/the simple facts of their skill level.
The Islanders are just too young and while they may overachieve (anything outside the bottom 2 is overachieving), I can't see them sustaining a .500 record (not including playoff losses) for the rest of the season. The 82 game sched will start to catch up with thier young and OLD guys.
Atlanta is still a garbage team. Not much has changed there. I know they have great goaltending right now, but he can't carry the team forever. They started hot/caught some teams off-guard early, but have had a pretty brutal record as of late.
That really only leaves Tampa Bay. As I said, they could make the run (I could see them in and NYR out).
Compared to the West, the East is going to be pretty uneventful this April.
Atlanta is still a garbage team. Not much has changed there. I know they have great goaltending right now, but he can't carry the team forever. They started hot/caught some teams off-guard early, but have had a pretty brutal record as of late.
My reasoning is alot like yours, and based on the way teams are playing/the simple facts of their skill level.
The Islanders are just too young and while they may overachieve (anything outside the bottom 2 is overachieving), I can't see them sustaining a .500 record (not including playoff losses) for the rest of the season. The 82 game sched will start to catch up with thier young and OLD guys.
Atlanta is still a garbage team. Not much has changed there. I know they have great goaltending right now, but he can't carry the team forever. They started hot/caught some teams off-guard early, but have had a pretty brutal record as of late.
That really only leaves Tampa Bay. As I said, they could make the run (I could see them in and NYR out).
Compared to the West, the East is going to be pretty uneventful this April.
Uh...what? 3-3 without Kovalchuk and Pavalec is playing really well.
I can't see the Islanders being worse then Carolina and Toronto. There's really no way I could see that happening. Islanders were underrated going into the season and still are. They have one of the best balanced goalie tandems in Biron/Roloson, a likely Calder candidate in Tavares, and a mostly young squad.
It's pointless to make predictions this early though. Way too early to say that it'll be a boring Spring.
Even if you do try to make predictions now, it's important to look at GP before you say anything. For instance, Montreal is ahead of both Atlanta and Florida (by 1 and 4 points respectively, IIRC), but also has like three or four more GP and will likely lose that spot to Atlanta soon.
I'll say it:
I think Atlanta makes the playoffs. They're 3-3 without Kovalchuk, if they get him healthy and rolling they're laughing.
I think they take Boston or NYRs spot.
Disagree here, Boston is starting to hit their stride and have no where to go but up.
Defence/Goaltending has been great over the past 2 weeks, Savard and Lucic back in a couple weeks, and (hopefully) have gotten their major injuries out of the way for the year.
I think it might be the best playoff race in years.
Atlanta has fixed their PK - it's gone from one of the worst to one of the best in the league. And yet people say 'they're still garbage?' - Get a clue.
The Devils are leading the east in Points/GP despite being down their two best defensemen and 2/3 of the 3rd line (Niedermayer and Pandolfo, yes, but they had been playing great, especially Rob), and they are just now getting their second best forward back from offseason surgery.
Atlanta is still a garbage team. Not much has changed there. I know they have great goaltending right now, but he can't carry the team forever. They started hot/caught some teams off-guard early, but have had a pretty brutal record as of late.
The Thrashers have 4 games in hand on Boston, and are 3 points back in the standings, and they have been a .500 hockey team for the last two weeks without Kovalchuk.
In addition, the Thrashers have 4 1 goal losses in regulation, and are not getting fat on loser points like some of the teams in the East are. That should even out over the course of the season.
As far as them keeping it up. Their PP and PK are well above average right now, if they can keep that up they should be in the hunt for a playoff spot for the remainder of the season.
Right now I can identify which teams I feel are the best in the East and it seems fairly obvious it's Pittsburgh, Washington, and Philadelphia.
It looks like there could be 4 teams from the Atlantic Division in the playoffs again as Jersey always makes it and NYR have improved.
That would yield 5 teams out of 8.
Tampa Bay has an amazing group of forwards that haven't quite come together yet...they could make some serious noise. Also Atlanta seems to have improved. Carolina isn't dead yet either...
Won't speculate on the Northeast Division due to superstitious beliefs!
While i agree the Thrashers are good enough for the top 8 with how they are playing, you cannot remove the B's from that list, they are depleted and still hold a spot and will only get better. In any case it's way too early to discuss playoff spots, let's talk after the Olympic break
While i agree the Thrashers are good enough for the top 8 with how they are playing, you cannot remove the B's from that list, they are depleted and still hold a spot and will only get better. In any case it's way too early to discuss playoff spots, let's talk after the Olympic break
Well it's more, who do you take out?
I personally think NJ, Washington, and Pittsburg all make the playoffs for sure. Buffalo has played very well so far, and I guess they would be a bubble team in my mind, but, their current play makes it hard to guarantee that. Philly is too talented to miss the playoffs.
That leaves teams like Ottawa, NYR, Tampa, Atlanta, Boston, and anyone else really, fighting for a handful of spots. I legitimately believe Ottawa is a playoff team, they're pretty good when they have their #1 D-man in the lineup.. their recent string of losses was reflective of missing Volvo *and* Spezza at the same time, and with Spezza back they seem to be back on track, albeit, barely. NYR was amazing out of the gate but has fallen to earth, and for Tampa, how long can Stamkos keep scoring at this rate?
I agree that Boston is better than their stats indicate.. but I dunno. I mean a lot of their young guys played out of this world last year, and, if that doesn't repeat itself + loosing Kessel, might be tough to dominate like they did last year... We'll see I guess.
-=-=-
Current standings based on Points/GP
1 New Jersey
2 Washington
3 Buffalo
4 Philly
5 Pitt
6 Ott
7 NYR
8 Tampa
9 Atlanta
10 Boston
11 NYI
12 Montreal
13 Florida
14 Toronto
15 Carolina
v.
Current Standings:
1 Washington Capitals SE 17 10 3 4 24 65 52 5-1-3 5-2-1 7-1-2 Won 2
2 Pittsburgh Penguins ATL 18 12 6 0 24 54 47 5-3-0 7-3-0 5-5-0 Lost 3
3 Buffalo Sabres NE 14 9 4 1 19 40 33 5-2-1 4-2-0 6-4-0 Lost 2
4 New Jersey Devils ATL 15 11 4 0 22 39 33 3-4-0 8-0-0 8-2-0 Won 5
5 New York Rangers ATL 18 10 7 1 21 56 48 6-2-0 4-5-1 3-6-1 Lost 1
6 Philadelphia Flyers ATL 14 9 4 1 19 52 37 6-2-1 3-2-0 6-3-1 Won 4
7 Ottawa Senators NE 15 8 5 2 18 46 45 5-3-2 3-2-0 5-3-2 Won 1
8 Boston Bruins NE 17 8 7 2 18 41 41 6-4-1 2-3-1 5-3-2 Won 2
9 Tampa Bay Lightning SE 15 6 4 5 17 39 47 4-0-3 2-4-2 4-3-3 Won 1
10 New York Islanders ATL 17 6 6 5 17 44 50 5-2-2 1-4-3 5-3-2 Won 1
11 Montréal Canadiens NE 18 8 10 0 16 45 55 5-5-0 3-5-0 5-5-0 Lost 2
12 Atlanta Thrashers SE 14 7 6 1 15 48 45 2-4-0 5-2-1 4-5-1 Won 1
13 Florida Panthers SE 15 5 9 1 11 40 55 2-5-0 3-4-1 4-5-1 Lost 2
14 Toronto Maple Leafs NE 16 3 8 5 11 41 60 1-5-2 2-3-3 3-3-4 Lost 1
15 Carolina Hurricanes SE 16 2 11 3 7 32 59 2-4-1 0-7-2 0-8-2 Lost 6
ah...come on. we know nothing yet. The Rangers annually have a brutal second half schedule and will suffer after January. Carolina is not as bad as their record. The Islanders and the Lightning will also fade some as the season stretches on. Montreal with so many new players stands to get better as the season goes along.
The word is injury. All the top teams have been at minimum knicked this season. Malkin's out, Ovechkin's out, Kovalchuk is out, Staal and Ward are out, Lucic is out and so on.
