Playoff Picture: 3 1/2 weeks to go!

Hey gang!

With three and a half weeks left in the season, I thought now would be a good time to hear your opinions and offer mine on how the playoff picture will look when the clock strikes midnight on Sunday, April 11th, 2010. We'll first look at the Leastern Conference, and then the West, then a quick look at the playoff match-ups that the standings would produce. I'll list the team, the place I expect them to finish, their current point total, record, and how many games they have left. As always, have at it in the comments, tell me where I went wrong and what changes you'd make to the standings. Most of all, LGRW!

Eastern Conference:

1. Washington Capitals, 103 points, 47-14-9, 12 Games remaining
2. New Jersey Devils, 87 points, 42-24-3, 13 Games remaining
3. Buffalo Sabres, 82 points, 36-22-10, 14 Games remaining
4. Pittsburgh Penguins, 87 points, 41-24-5, 12 Games remaining
5. Montreal Canadiens, 78 points, 36-29-6, 11 Games remaining
6. Boston Bruins, 74 points, 31-26-12, 13 Games remaining
7. Ottawa Senators, 79 points, 37-38-5, 12 Games remaining
8. Philadelphia Flyers, 77 points, 36-28-5, 13 Games remaining

Summary: Washington will obviously not be caught. I believe Jersey holds off Pittsburgh for the second seed because they have a) one game in hand b) tie breakers working in their favour c)Martin Brodeur hitting his stride, which would lead to Pittsburgh coming in 4th by default, since they hold a 10~ point lead on the field. I don't see anyone in the Northeast catching Buffalo. With that being said, however, Montreal is heating up at the right time while Ottawa is floundering a bit. Boston is going to heat it up a little down the stretch, I believe, especially with the teams ahead of them faltering. Philly is gonna miss not having a legit NHL goaltender with Leighton out of the picture long term, and fall to 8th. The only reason they won't fall out of the playoff picture is there is simply not enough time left for the Rangers or Thrashers to make up the necessary points.

Western Conference:

1. San Jose Sharks, 96 points, 43-16-10, 13 Games remaining
2. Chicago Blackhawks, 94 points, 44-19-6, 13 Games remaining
3. Vancouver Canucks, 89 points, 43-24-3, 12 Games remaining
4. Phoenix Coyotes, 91 points, 43-22-5, 12 Games remaining
5. Los Angeles Kings, 85 points, 40-23-5, 14 Games remaining
6. Detroit Red Wings, 80 points, 34-23-12, 13 Games remaining
7. Colorado Avalanche, 86 points, 40-24-6, 12 Games remaining
8. Nashville Predators, 83 points, 39-26-5, 12 Games remaining

Summary: The Sharks will not be caught. The only team I believe had the opportunity is the Blackhawks, and with their recent misfortune with the injury bug, I don't think they'll get it done. That being said, I don't think the Canucks will catch them, as they are 5 points back, and Chicago has a game in hand. Phoenix will lead the way for the non-division leaders, as they have done for much of the season. Their trade deadline pickups have solidified an already solid (...that sounded strange...moving on..) team, but they don't have the time to catch San Jose. Los Angeles has a couple games in hand on Colorado, and at only one point back, they will leapfrog them sooner than later, but fall short of Phoenix. Detroit, having one of the easier schedules remaining, as well as a game in hand on Colorado, will pass them by the end of the year. This relegates Colorado to the 7 seed, and Nashville holds on to the 8 seed. The brutal schedule Calgary faces will prove to be too much for them and they will fall just short of Nashville for the final spot.

Playoff outlook:

Eastern Conference First Round Match-ups:

1. Washington Capitals vs. 8. Philadelphia Flyers
(This will be one of the marquee match-ups as there is a heated rivalry between the two teams)
2. New Jersey Devils vs. 7. Ottawa Senators
(Has the potential to set an all-time low TV viewing record)
3. Buffalo Sabres vs. 6. Boston Bruins
(If a Boston goalie grabs the reigns and gets hot, this could be a long, low scoring series)
4. Pittsburgh Penguins vs. 5. Montreal Canadiens
(Crosby always seems to show up against Montreal, this could be a quick series)

Western Conference First Round Match-ups:

1. San Jose Sharks vs. 8. Nashville Predators
(The Sharks make quick work of the overmatched Predators. Or lose spectacularly. Your pick)
2. Chicago Blackhawks vs. 7. Colorado Avalanche
(Our current and former biggest rivals. Maybe someone will be catastrophically injured? One can only hope)
3. Vancouver Canucks vs. 6. Detroit Red Wings
(Yikes...not the ideal first round match-up, but this is what we get for not winning our division this year. Could be a very tightly-played series)
4. Phoenix Coyotes vs. 5. Los Angeles Kings
(Which young team blinks first and realizes they are in the Stanley Cup Playoffs? Whichever goaltender plays better, that's your winner)

Let's hear it guys, whaddaya think??