The Playoff Picture

[Cornuck]

Speaking of 3 point parity - it's a busy night on the scoreboard tonight.

Buffalo - Philly: Buffalo's tied with Washington for the 8th spot, but has 4 less ROW wins.

Rangers - Pittsburgh: A Rangers win will force us to win our last two games and hope for Rags loss to win President's Trophy.

Florida - Washington: Big game for the Caps, who are battling Buffalo for 8th, but the Caps are also 4 points behind Florida and could possibly catch them for the division title.

Boston-Ottawa: If the Sens win, then they clinch a spot. (depends on tiebreaker, maybe they did already?)

Dallas - Nashville: Dallas has to win to retain hope for 8th.

Columbus - Colorado: Avs need a win to keep the mathematical chances alive (depends on tiebreaker)

Vancouver - Calgary - Canucks (well, duh) need the win to catch the Rangers and stay ahead of the Blues.

San Jose - LA - Huge game in the tight Pacific. San Jose could move back to 3rd, or be close to Dallas (if Dallas wins).

[coco_canuck]

This is exactly why the NHL is so resistant to adopt the true three point scoring system for regular season games.

Yup, and I can't blame them for not wanting to change it.

There's a lot of things I like to criticize the NHL for, but the 3 point system keeps more teams in the race and makes the last quarter of the regular season very exciting.

It's about keeping attendance and ratings up to increase revenues, which in turns allows the salary cap to grow.

The problem is applying the "ends justify the means" philosophy to things that affect the integrity of the game. Although that's up to some debate, the integrity of the NHL isn't bulletproof.

[mathonwy]

Speaking of 3 point parity - it's a busy night on the scoreboard tonight.
..

Yeah.. the hockey being played right now is absolutely OUTSTANDING.

The Wings/Blues game last night was great!!

[wafflecombine]

I watched bits and pieces of the Blues/Wings game. Never count out the Wings cause man they can burn you in a hurry. I'm curious to see if Shanny reviews that 5 min & game boarding call on the Blues. If he does and with only 2 games left in the season this will be our first indication is Sheriff Shanny will still give out supplementals during the playoffs and if there will be any consistency to how the rules are applied.

[Aaronp18]

There's a lot of things I like to criticize the NHL for, but the 3 point system keeps more teams in the race and makes the last quarter of the regular season very exciting.

Yeah, lets face it if the Northwest was more like the Pacific these last few games would be far more interesting and exciting to watch. We're all just bored as f*ck because the division and at least second place has been locked up for weeks if not longer.

Everyone is nitpicking at this point when we're fighting for the President's Trophy.

But I am enjoying the fact that a team we are going to play in the first round is fighting tooth and nail at this point in the season just to get into the playoffs. Go beat the piss outta each other boys!

[coco_canuck]

But I am enjoying the fact that a team we are going to play in the first round is fighting tooth and nail at this point in the season just to get into the playoffs. Go beat the piss outta each other boys!

Hey now, those akin to the bountiful crowd would have you believe those teams are battle tested and better prepared for the playoffs than the Canucks. Don't mind the fact that the Canucks have been beating these desperate teams down the stretch.

If the Canucks don't dispatch their 1st round opponent in 4-5 games I'll be shocked.

[donlever]

If the Canucks don't dispatch their 1st round opponent in 4-5 games I'll be shocked.

I hate it that we are going to end up with San Jose.

I love our team, don't get me wrong.

Something just feels wrong about the Sharks to me.

It's like all this time they have been expected to win and they choke, now they have no expectations and....

Hate it.

[Farhan Lalji]

If the Canucks don't dispatch their 1st round opponent in 4-5 games I'll be shocked.

I hate it that we are going to end up with San Jose.

I love our team, don't get me wrong.

Something just feels wrong about the Sharks to me.

It's like all this time they have been expected to win and they choke, now they have no expectations and....

Hate it.

I feel the exact same way. The Sharks scare me greatly for some reason. Even last year when we beat them in 5, I didn't get a sense that we truly outplayed the Sharks after Games 1 and 2, and that those games easily could have gone the other way.

Sharks will be a formiddable opponent, as will the Kings. I don't mind playing any team in the 2nd round, but I hope we avoid those teams in the first.

[coco_canuck]

It's like all this time they have been expected to win and they choke, now they have no expectations and....

Hate it.

The Sharks are the scariest 1st round opponent, but their goaltending is questionable and so it their team speed/fwd depth.

That's a series I can see go 6 games, but at the end of the day, I see San Jose having trouble against a healthy and motivated Canucks team.

[Island Nucklehead]

Going in vs. Chicago last season would have been a lot harder on the nerves for fans and player alike. I don't think San Jose or LA pose those kind of mental roadblocks for the Canucks.

I'd still rather play Phoenix.

[coco_canuck]

Sharks will be a formiddable opponent, as will the Kings. I don't mind playing any team in the 2nd round, but I hope we avoid those teams in the first.

I don't find LA to me all that formidable for the reasons I've outlined in this thread.

The Yotes would be more difficult because of their team speed IMO.

[Farhan Lalji]

Sharks will be a formiddable opponent, as will the Kings. I don't mind playing any team in the 2nd round, but I hope we avoid those teams in the first.

I don't find LA to me all that formidable for the reasons I've outlined in this thread.

The Yotes would be more difficult because of their team speed IMO.

The thing that scares me greatly about the Kings, is that their team defense is pretty damned good. Their offense however, despite having tremendous talent up front, has struggled mightily this year for reasons I cannot fathom. However - given the talent level up front, I get the feeling that they could 'turn it up' in a playoff environment.....making them a threat both offensively and defensively.

The Kings almost have a Mount Vesuvius feel for me. The Kings also have the ability to push teams around physically, and the Canucks haven't always responded well to that.

Phoenix is a hard nosed team with a great work ethic, but I don't think they'll be able to beat us provided that we play at our best. In that sense - I think the Canucks would beat Phoenix similarly to how we beat Nashville last year (i.e. a team that will beat us in a few games if we are slightly off, but a team that will lose if we're at the top of our game).

I don't think Chicago or Dallas will pose too much of a threat to us. Neither would Colorado if we're still counting them.

[mathonwy]

The most formidable opponent in the west is...

Your Vancouver Canucks.

We're on a 7 game winning streak playing at 50-75%.

In those seven games, we've been without Dank, Bieksa's been out for a few, our goalies have pitched two shut outs against teams that are desperately trying to get to the post season and in our last game, coming back from being down 4-2.

Not too shabby considering we had absolutely nothing to play for.

[Zamboni Driver]

Sharks will be a formiddable opponent, as will the Kings. I don't mind playing any team in the 2nd round, but I hope we avoid those teams in the first.

I don't find LA to me all that formidable for the reasons I've outlined in this thread.

The Yotes would be more difficult because of their team speed IMO.

Yet the Kings seem to give us trouble and if Quick gets hot it could give us more trouble.

[coco_canuck]

The thing that scares me greatly about the Kings, is that their team defense is pretty damned good. Their offense however, despite having tremendous talent up front, has struggled mightily this year for reasons I cannot fathom. However - given the talent level up front, I get the feeling that they could 'turn it up' in a playoff environment.....making them a threat both offensively and defensively.

Their lack of offence stems mainly from 3 factors:

1, their stifling defensive style
2, lack of mobility and puck movement from the back-end.
3, lack of overall team speed.

Teams that score goals either, or a combination of, a mobile, puck moving defence, team speed, and a more up-tempo system.

The Kings have played some physical games versus Van, but their last meeting, the Canucks answered the physical bell and out-hit and out-muscled LA. Even if the Kings get the slight advantage in toughness, it's not great enough to really be a major factor in the series. The Sharks and Preds were just as tough, if not tougher last season.

If the Canucks face the Kings, Vancouver will be able to play patient, defensive hockey just like LA, but they'll eat the Kings alive in transition and off turnovers.

The games will be probably be close, but Van should win that series in 5, 6 max.

Phoenix is a hard nosed team with a great work ethic, but I don't think they'll be able to beat us provided that we play at our best. In that sense - I think the Canucks would beat Phoenix similarly to how we beat Nashville last year (i.e. a team that will beat us in a few games if we are slightly off, but a team that will lose if we're at the top of our game).

Yeah, I see a Phoenix/Van series working out in a similar way.

The reason I find Phx more of a challenge is their team speed and skill on the back-end.