Leaf fans pray for Brodeur's swollen head

Last night I posted a story about the upcoming New York Islanders vs New Jersey Devils game today and the implications that it has for the continuation of the Toronto Maple Leafs season into the playoffs.

I had heard and read hints that the New Jersey Devils were planning to sit many of their star players today in order to give them some extra rest prior to the playoffs since the game against the Islanders meant nothing in respect to either the regular or post season.

Well, things have changed.

Martin Brodeur holds the record for the most goaltender wins in a single season at 48, but as of last night he holds that record in tandem with Roberto Luongo. Who incidentally grew up a mere stones throw from the Brodeur home in St-Leonard, Quebec. Luongo and the Canucks play Phoenix tonight and I am sure that everyone is willing to bet that Vancouver will get Luongo the win.

That means Brodeur will lose his record to Luongo later today.

So Leaf fans, pray today and pray hard that Marty Brodeur's ego gets the best of him and he wants to play, and win, against the New York Islanders today in order to keep ahold of this NHL record. If he does, and they do, the Leafs make the playoffs. God help us all.

On a side note, this Leafs fan is pulling for the New York Islanders, the sooner we realize that this team will never be good enough to win the Stanley Cup and gut it in order to rebuild the better.

Why? Three words. 2009, Julian Tavares (Editors Note: His name is John Tavares, not Julian! Julian Tavarez is a relief pitcher for the Boston Redsox). By 2009 we need to be one of the worst teams in the League so that we have a chance at Tavares. Probably the most exciting prospect in the NHL since some guy named Sidney Crosby (or Evgeni Malkin, or Jordan Staal, or Alexander Ovechkin).

So, GO Isles GO!

NHL East: Leafs, Hurricanes, Islanders miss playoffs

Earlier this week I wrote a post about the tight Eastern conference playoff race that broke down as follows:

3 playoff spots + 5 points + 6 teams = priceless

Well 4 days later, and 6 out of the 39 games remaining for these teams, the race has become tighter than a devout nun.

3 playoff spots + 3 points + 6 teams = even more priceless

In fact you could argue that there are now 8 teams fighting for 4 playoff spots if you include Atlanta, which could conceivably be caught by Tampa Bay, and Florida who are only 6 points out of that final playoff spot.

As of today there are 31 games remaining for the 6 teams, 14 of which are head to head matchups between the contenders for the final three spots.

Rangers - 87 points in 6th - 5 remaining, 3 head to head, a possible 16 point swing
Lightning - 86 points in 7th - 5 remaining, 2 head to head, a possible 12 point swing
Canadiens - 86 points in 8th - 5 remaining, 2 head to head, a possible 12 point swing
Maple Leafs - 85 points in 9th - 5 remaining, 3 head to head, a possible 16 point swing
Islanders - 84 points in 10th - 6 remaining, 2 head to head, a possible 14 point swing
Hurricanes - 84 points in 11th - 5 remaining, 2 head to head, a possible 12 point swing

Looking over the above numbers it looks like the teams with the best chance to make the playoffs are the Rangers, Lightning and Leafs if you only look at the numbers.

If I had to predict the outcome of the remaining games in the East they would end up as follows (assuming that Rick DiPietro is gone for the remainder of the regular season!):
Rangers - 3 wins (PHI, NYI, MON), 1 loss (PIT), 1 IT/SO Win (TOR) for 8 points
Lightning - 3 wins (CAR, WAS, FLA), 2 losses (CAR, ATL) for 6 points
Canadiens - 2 wins ( BOS, TOR) , 3 losses (OTT, BUF, NYR) for 4 points
Maple Leafs - 2 wins (PHI, NYI), 2 losses (PIT, MON), 1 OT/SO loss (NYR) for 5 points
Islanders - 1 win (PHI), 5 losses (BUF, OTT,NYR,TOR,NJD) for 2 points
Hurricanes - 3 wins (FLA,FLA,TAM), 2 losses (TAM, ATL) for 6 points

This leaves the standings as follows:
6 - Rangers - 95 points
7 - Lightning - 92 points
8 - Canadiens - 90 points
8 - Maple Leafs - 90 points
8 - Hurricanes - 90 points
9 - Islanders - 86 points

Giving us a threeway tie for 8th place. The tiebreaker is number of games won putting Montreal in 8th (and the playoffs), Carolina in 9th and Toronto in 10th.

Interesting no?

As pivotal as the head to head matchups will be in the final days of the season the real clincher is likely to be games against Florida, Washington, Boston and Philadelphia. Each of the teams in the race for the East have at least 1 game against these weaker teams. Missing out on those two points will decide the season for more than 1 team in this years playoff race.