Maple Leafs make the playoffs? Don't be too sure

So the Toronto Maple Leafs pull off a miracle tonight and win their final game of the season against the Montreal Canadiens. Woohoo! The Leafs make the playoffs... wait a sec. Not yet.

I am a Leaf fan, have been since I was I wee nipper. If you look at my picture at the top of the page you will notice my Mike Palmateer jersey. Anyone who was a fan of those Leaf teams is a die hard fan. So I know exactly where I come from when I tell you that at least 80% of the Leaf fans in this city now think that the Leaf's are in the playoffs.

I hate to be the one to break it to you Leaf fans, but if the Islanders beat the New Jersey Devils tomorrow we will be eliminated from the playoffs. Sounds like a good deal doesn't it?

I mean, what are the odds of the New York Islanders beating Martin Brodeur, Patrick Elias, Brian Gionta and the rest of the Atlantic leading New Jersey Devils.

There is only one problem with that, rumors around town are saying that Lou Lamoriello is planning on sitting as many as 7 of the Devils usual starting lineup, including Martin Brodeur, Patrick Elias and Brian Gionta.

This scenario sounds likely to me and if it does turn out to be the case, I would put my money on the Islanders beating the Brodeur-less Devils.

So Maple Leaf fans, stop your celebrating and make sure that you are in good enough shape to head out to church on Easter Sunday to pray for the New Jersey Devils.

And just in case my cousin's are reading this. Ok Ok... The Leafs actually pulled out the win. But they will still miss the playoffs when the Islanders beat the Devils tomorrow... so.

Nah nah nah nah nah naaaaahhhh.

UPDATE: Since the Vancouver Canucks (and Roberto Luongo) won tonight it is very likely that you will see Martin Brodeur in net tomorrow as he tries to hold off Luongo for the wins record. He has already been quoted as tell Looney Lou that he wants to play, and if he wants to play he wants to win. Strangely enough, the Leafs should thank Vancouver for winning tonight as it may get them in to the playoffs!

3 Spots open in the East for 6 teams

This week in the NHL: The Eastern conference playoff race is tightening up as 6 teams are within 5 points of the final three playoff spots in the East. The Rangers, Lightning and Montreal have 6 games remaining while the Hurricanes, Islanders and Leafs each have 7 games remaining. It should be an interesting week in the NHL as these teams face each other frequently over the remainder of the season.

The Rangers play 4 of their remaining 6 games against the 6 teams in the playoff race
The Lightning play only 2 of their remaining 6 games against teams in the race
The Hurricanes play 3 of their remaining 7 games against teams in the race
The Islanders play only 2 of their remaining 7 games against teams in the race
The Canadiens play 3 of their remaining 6 games against teams in the race
The Maple Leafs play 4 of their remaining 7 games against teams in the race

Looking at the schedule we can see that the Rangers and the Maple Leafs hold their playoff destiny in their hands. Winning the remaining games against their conference rivals could propel these two teams into the playoffs. The Rangers are perhaps the hottest team in the NHL right now and have won 5 straight. The Leafs on the other hand haven't been able to decide which type of team they are, a contender or a pretender. The coming weeks will show us which.