The Playoffs are coming!!!!

So as the season winds down, teams begin securing their spots in the playoffs. I have always been fascinated by the spoiler mentality. Is it really fun to be a spoiler when there is nothing else for the team to gain in terms of going to the playoffs? I suppose. I do know what it feels like when my personal team is in the playoffs, or at least going to the playoffs and some team comes to town and spoils what would be a high seed, or even just messing with a team’s mojo. Funny thing this year is that there really is no spoiler scenario. There is so much parity right now, that either a team eliminated, or the teams that are separated by two or three points are playing each other! That is either a case of good scheduling on the NHLs part, or just proof at how tough a teams won division can be.

This year there are no real surprises in the east, other than Atlanta and the Rangers fighting for an eighth spot. The only big surprise, I think is how poorly the Flyers have been playing to the point that they almost fell out of the eighth spot all together!

The western conference is all about shock and awe this season with the Phoenix Coyotes stirring up the playoffs this year. Add Los Angeles to the list of surprises at how quickly they made a claim to being in the top eight, but also how far they fell towards the end! They too were at risk of sliding right out of the top eight just two weeks ago. And then there is Colorado….this team is on life support right now barely holding on the eighth spot with 89 points. Calgary is now right on top of them with 89 points as well, along with Anaheim and their 85 points. The last four games of the Western Conference are going to be huge for these three teams.
So what does that say for the eighth seeded teams just holding on? What about the teams that almost fell out of the top eight? That does not seem to fair to well for their playoff shelf life in four rounds of hockey. Or maybe it is just a bump in the road to the greatness? The playoffs start very soon, so before you know it, we shall have all the answers to these questions and more.