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!

Starting Goalies in the NHL tonight Saturday, April 7

Below are the reported starters for Saturday night:

(Bold is my predicted winner, Italic is an uncertain starter)

Islanders - Wade Dubielewicz vs Flyers - Martin Biron
Blackhawks - Nikola Khabibulin vs Red Wings - Domink Hasek
Sabres - Ryan Miller vs Capitals - Olaf Kolzig
Coyotes - Curtis Joseph vs Kings - Mathieu Garon
Canucks - Roberto Luongo vs Sharks - Evgeni Nabokov
Lightning - Marc Denis vs Thrashers - Kari Lehtonen
Panthers - Mikael Tellqvist vs Hurricanes - John Grahame
Canadiens - Jaroslav Halak vs Maple Leafs - Andrew Raycroft
Senators - Ray Emery vs Bruins - Tim Thomas
Ducks - J.S. Giguere vs Blue Jackets - Frederik Norrena
Rangers - Henrik Lundqvist vs Penguins - Marc-Andre Fleury
Blues - Jason Bacashihua - Wild - Niklas Backstrom
Predators - Tomas Vokoun vs Avalanche - Peter Budaj
Oilers - Dwayne Roloson vs Flames - Miikka Kiprusoff

How did I do last night?
5-6 for starters, 1-3 on winners

Thrashers - Johan Hedberg vs Hurricanes - Cam Ward
Panthers - Ed Belfour vs Lightning - Johan Holmqvist
Ducks - J.S. Giguere Ilya Bryzgalov vs Stars - Marty Turco

Starting Goalies in the NHL tonight Friday, April 6

Below are the reported starters for Friday night:

(Bold is my predicted winner, Italic is an uncertain starter)

Thrashers - Johan Hedberg vs Hurricanes - Cam Ward
Panthers - Ed Belfour vs Lightning - Johan Holmqvist
Ducks - J.S. Giguere vs Stars - Marty Turco

How did I do last night?
21-24 for starters, 6-12 on winners

Stars - Marty Turco Mike Smith vs Blue Jackets - Frederik Norrena
Devils - Martin Brodeur vs Flyers - Martin Biron
Canadiens - Jaroslav Halak vs Rangers - Henrik Lundqvist
Bruins - Hannu Toivonen vs Sabres - Ryan Miller
Penguins - Marc-Andre Fleury vs Senators - Ray Emery
Maple Leafs - Andrew Raycroft vs Islanders - Wade Dubielewicz
Oilers - Jussi Markannen vs Wild - Niklas Backstrom
Blues - Jason Bacashihua vs Predators - Tomas Vokoun
Red Wings - Chris Osgood vs Blackhawks - Nikolai Khabibulin
Avalanche - Peter Budaj vs Canucks - Roberto Luongo
Kings - Mathieu Garon Sean Burke vs Coyotes - Curtis Joseph
Flames - Miikka Kiprusoff vs Sharks - Vesa Toskala Evgeni Nabokov

Oilers and Hurricanes go from top to slop

Back at the end of February I wrote a post about Parity in the NHL and how the Carolina Hurricanes and the Edmonton Oilers are making a case for it this season.

Well lo and behold! I make a prediction that actually comes through. The Hurricanes and Oilers will miss the playoffs this year marking the first time in the history of the NHL that the two teams who contended for the Stanley Cup both missed the playoffs the following year.

In fact, if I remember this correctly, the last Stanley Cup winning team that missed the playoff's the following year was the 1996 New Jersey Devils. (Okay, so I looked it up on the 'net to make sure I was right).

The Oilers have been pretty much horrible all year long but considering that they were a last minute add-in to the playoffs last year AND the first 8 seed to ever make it to the Stanley Cup final it is not too surprising that they ended up missing the dance this year.

The Carolina Hurricanes came out of the gate strong this season and for a time were one of the highest scoring teams in the league. In fact, according to ESPN they still rank 12th in the League in team scoring posting an average of 2.94 goals per game. The big problem is on the other side of the coin. The 'Canes goaltending has been erratic to say the least and they average 3.00 goals against per game. Anyone with grade 3 math can see the problem that disparity causes.

As we enter a new era in the NHL I wonder if this type of thing will happen more often?

Starting Goalies in the NHL tonight Thursday, April 5: Updated

Below are the reported starters for Thursday night:

NOTE: Life intruded yesterday and I was unable to post last night's starters, since there were only two games I figure you were able to work it our for yourselves.

More Notes: Updated Boston and Detroit starters... oh yeah and today's date!

I will continue to update today as more news is available.

(Bold is my predicted winner, Italic is an uncertain starter)

Stars - Marty Turco vs Blue Jackets - Frederik Norrena
Devils - Martin Brodeur vs Flyers - Martin Biron
Canadiens - Jaroslav Halak vs Rangers - Henrik Lundqvist
Bruins - Hannu Toivonen vs Sabres - Ryan Miller
Penguins - Marc-Andre Fleury vs Senators - Ray Emery
Maple Leafs - Andrew Raycroft vs Islanders - Wade Dubielewicz
Oilers - Jussi Markannen vs Wild - Niklas Backstrom
Blues - Jason Bacashihua vs Predators - Tomas Vokoun
Red Wings - Chris Osgood vs Blackhawks - Nikolai Khabibulin
Avalanche - Peter Budaj vs Canucks - Roberto Luongo
Kings - Mathieu Garon vs Coyotes - Curtis Joseph
Flames - Miikka Kiprusoff vs Sharks - Vesa Toskala