Second Round Predictions/1st round post mortem

1) Wow, what an exciting conclusion to the first round last night that saw 2 game 7's with one going to double OT before the NJ Devils advanced along with the NY Rangers earlier in the evening. That concludes the first round. A surprise for sure, especially in the East where we saw the 2nd, 3rd and 4th  (and almost the 1st) seeds bite the dust. WE were 50:50 as far as our predictions were concerned. WE saw the Bruins and Penguins winning. Only the Caps winning was a shocker to us as we felt the Philly-Pens series was pretty evenly matched.  The Bruins never seemed able to get on track and didn't exploit what appeared to be a very beatable Washington team (despite Holtby's heroics)

2) In the West we were also 50:50 but we weren't shocked at the Kings upset of the Canucks.  We saw that series going 7 if Vancouver was going to win. It was surprising how rather easily the Kings beat them. The surprise for us in the other series is how Mike Smith continues to play better than we expect. He's not the sieve he was the past few seasons in Tampa bay.  He's looked down right amazing.  We're still not fans, but give him full credit for propelling the desert dogs into round 2 for the first time. Clearly the Black hawks need to do something about their goaltending.  Only the Flyers in round 1 were able to win despite getting crappy/mediocre goaltending.

3) On to round 2:
  First the East:
NY Rangers (1) vs- Washington Capitals(7): Third meeting in 4 playoff seasons. Caps have won the last 2 but we don't that to continue.  They won't roll over, but these Rangers have something past teams lacked, character.  WE don't see this squad falling to the upstart Capitals. Yes, all the games will be close but the rangers will prevail this time.
Rangers in 6

Philadelphia Flyers(5)-vs- NJ Devils:  Won't quite be the war the penguins gave the Flyers but will be a battle nonetheless.  The key will be in net ofcourse. The Devils will need Marty to play like Marty of 5+ years ago and steal games as the Flyers offense is much more potent than what the Devs saw in Florida. Can Brygalov play the way he's paid?  If he plays the way he did in the first round the Flyers will be in trouble, but if he plays even decently, the Devils will have trouble keeping pace with the Broad street Bullies.
Flyers in 6

Next the West:
(2) St Louis Blues-vs- (8)Los Angeles Kings: This series, like the other West series will feature stifling defense and great goaltending if the teams' regular seasons are any indication.  Both teams allowed the fewest goals in the first round of the playoffs with only eight against apiece in five games. There certainly won't be any blow outs and probably a couple of OT, but we feel the Blues have a slight edge overall and will advance.
Blues in 6

 (3) Phoenix Coyotes-VS- Nashville Predators: The upstart Yotes are where few expected them before the season.  Count us among the non believers who have been impressed with the job Tippett has done with this bunch.  Mike Smith as we mentioned earlier deserves considerable credit as well.  That said, we don't believe that they will be much of a hindrance for the Predators destiny to be in the Finals. 
Predators in 5

Dilemma for Pens and Canucks?!?

1) With their playoff seasons cut prematurely two of the teams many expected to compte for the Cup are back to the drawing boards. Both have significant decisions to make this off season.  For the Penguins its especially tough.  If they could count on Sidney Crosby being 100% and playing a majority of their games we are told they would entertain trade offers on Evgeni Malkin whom management is not all that happy with.  Sources in steel town tell Fauxrumors that they would have been happy to have gone into the 2012-13 season with Crosby and Staal as their 1-2 centers.

2) With moving Malking they not only could potentially receive back several decent assets, they also would be dumping a considerable salary (8.7 mil). Malkin's No Movement Clause (NMC) doesn't kick in until after next season (his UFA season) so in theory the Pens can deal the Russian center anywhere/anytime they wanted.  They could have bolstered their weakness on the wings, especially the right side. In addition they would have loved to be able to add another mobile defender to take some pressure off Letang. However all this is up in the air with the Crosby uncertainty. Our sources tell us its still not off the table (trade of Malkin) but instead of it being a 60:40  proposition its now 70:30 against a deal getting done, unless Shero is blown away with an offer. A Malkin for Anaheim's Bobby Ryan and another asset, possibly a pick or two is something Shero will have to consider as the Ducks would be all over such a deal.  A dilemma indeed for the Flightless Birds as they enter their longest of season in many years

3) Mean while in the Pacific North West the Two-time Presidents Trophy winning Vancouver Cauucks, coming off a humiliating first round defeat at the hands of the 8th seeded Kings may be looking towards some significant changes.  Their dilemma is not whether they want to make a deal, but who will 'dance' with them, and what can they expect to get in return is a deal is consummated?  After Cory Hirsch replaced embattled All star goalie Roberto Luongo mid way through the series it all but sealed his fate as the odd man out in Vancouver. Luongo has a very long term deal  that has a cap hit of 5.33 mil for the next 10 seasons (but the deal's last 3 seasons are tack on seasons to reduce the cap hit) 

4) So who might need a goalie?  Let me first start by saying that it would be a mistake for any team to acquire that long contract. Luongo has proven by his past playoff disappointments that he is NOT a solid go-to guy and certainly not worthy of a long term investment.  That said, we have no doubt that some foolish GM will decide that his regular season stats will be enough to get his team to whatever "next level" they need to achieve. Whether its a playoff appearance in Columbus or a Cup in Tampa.  Teams in need of a goalie will probably be blinded by is stats, overlooking that he collapses and shits the bed when his team needs him mostt.  From what we have learned the Blue Jackets are the most likely destination for Roberto. Its probably the best fit for him as the expectations there are not high and if they fail, it won't be the same kind of response in the media from let's say Toronto(another team in search of a real #1 goalie. We believe that even Brian Burke is not stupid enough to try to trade for Luongo, but Scott Howson in Columbus clearly is! A dilemma for the Bluejacket owners!!

Continued NHL IN-Justice?

1) I can not recall a season, and now playoffs where more players are being fined/suspended for illegal hits, etc. This season we were led to believe there would be a crack down on illegal hits, especially to the head to help reduce the out of control concussion rate the NHL has seen the past few seasons. The man encharged to dole out NHL justice was none other than Hall of Famer Brendan Shanahan. Certainly his credentials gave him significant respect around the NHL. His initial reign as disciplinarian appeared to be a good one. He put down the hammer hard and fast early on. We commented on it last September: http://newfaux.blogspot.com/2011/09/shanny-asserting-himself.html My biggest potential issue turned out to be prophetic: .....will 'Shanny' be equally up front if he has to discipline a star player down the stretch or in the playoffs? Will he continue to rule the same way all season and with all offenders......

2) I don't feel that Shanahan's recent rulings have shown the consistency necessary for the job. The past 2 weeks we have seen instances that should have been by all rights deserving of long suspensions and the player given a mere slap on the wrist (if that). Specifically the Shea Weber head smash of Zetterberg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyJB42HY_J0 Clearly this met all the criteria Shanahan used earlier to levy long suspensions. The head was targeted with mal-intent. Thankfully Zetterberg wasn't seriously injured, but should that play a role in the discipline decision? Shanahan gave Weber the least he could, a paltry $2,500 fine. Amazing. Then another star Penguins James Neal was involved in not one but TWO separate incidents in one game http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAFjvfA8zqk. One of those deserved at least 5 games, but two consecutively automatically makes Neal a repeat offender, no? What did he get? One game!!!! Absurd! His team mate Arron Asham got an appropriate 4 games for his thuggery on Schenn. Why the difference??

3) Now, we understand that Shanahan's job is a difficult one. However, much like the on-ice officiating, the most important factor that players want is consistency. Call the game for both teams the same way from start to finish. Clearly Brendan has changed the way he doles out discipline and it appears that stars are given a degree of latitude that the grunts do not. Its always a shame when it appears that the officials helped decide the outcome of important games. However now it is quite possible that games and series could be tilted or even decided by the NHL head disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan!

Penguins Embarassing Themselves!

1) After watching yet another implosion by the Pittsburgh Penguins yesterday I felt the need to discuss their organization. If yesterday's incident(s) were isolated to one game we wouldn't see the need to bring this up, but there seems to be a pattern/consensus developing with regard to the team, its fans and organization as a whole. That is they feel 'entitled,' 'arrogant', are 'cry babies', 'divers' and in general 'punks'. Recently we have had several public statements made by folks with regard to the Penguins. John Tortorella's recent rant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaIwY2gO0YA. Also Mike Milbury had this to say regarding the Pens, and their super star Sidney Crosby:" He's not the perfect gentleman. He's not the sweet kid you see in interviews with his hat pulled down over his eyes. I'd say screw him, hit him."

2) Of course Milbury, an NBC analyst/employee, was forced to recant those statements. (The heat was put on the network from the NHL!) Privately Milbury is still telling close friends that his views concerning Crosby and the Penguins are unchanged. If anything they are solidified. Yesterday's display vindifies his statement. Tortorellas comments caused him to receive a $20,000 fine! Pretty excessive since he didn't use any "colorful language and didn't say anything against the league or the officiating. We're told the NHL/Bettman hates it when their face(Crosby) is defamed in anyway.

3) Fast forward to yesterday. Another game against the Flyers and another situation where Crosby helped instigate several fracases Additionally, team mates http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tdGZAsNTro James Neal (twice) and Arron Asham could have caused serious injury with their reckless "hits" to Schenn, Giroux, and Couturier. One NHL exec told us that "if Neil doesn't get 10 games the Shanahan discipline system will be looked upon as a joke and you'll see more teams institute their own vigilante justice". WE have to agree. On both occasions Neal went after his opponents heads and left his feet" launching himself" with ill intent. Classic definitions that have been used this season to suspend other players

4) What we at Fauxrumors are asking ourselves: Is this the same Pittsburgh organization that was so offended and sanctimonious over the Islander penalty-filled game last year? Where is Mario Lemieux's outrage today? This club was exposed for what they are on national TV. A collection of arrogant, cry baby punks! All the folks speaking out against this team the last few weeks were apparently proven right and we won't be disappointed to see them go down in flames as soon as possible!

Who's He Kidding?

1) Yesterday when NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was asked about the Phoenix Coyote ownership situation he offered this verbal gymnastics effort worthy of an Olympic gold medal: "We're not setting a timeline," Bettman said Wednesday night. "We're dealing with it, and we're continuing to pursue a solution and reach a point where we conclude we can't reach a solution, we'll deal with it. But we do hope we can reach a solution so that the timing will become irrelevant."

2) Let me offer a translation: Stop fucking asking me questions I don't want to answer!! Seriously speaking though there probably is no news and regardless of the persistent rumors of 1,2 or even 3 parties interested in buying the moribund franchise that is still hemorrhaging money estimated in the tens of millions despite their on ice success. No sane person is going to spend millions to be in the position to be guaranteed to lose millions more! There simply is no scenario that we can see where the franchise can suddenly become profitable. The City of Glendale, who owns the arena, is in no financial position to give a new owner the tax breaks, etc needed to make the team appear viable. A few have, and are sniffing around the edges, but as soon as hard numbers are discussed they run!

3) So what is the ultimate end game here? From what our sources tell us the deadline to get a deal in place appears to be June 1. Some say they could extend it to July 1, but that would be a tough sell especially if that means the team will be relocated. For there are NO shortages of prospective buyers who would love to move the team to a profitable location. Whether that be Kansas City, Seattle, Hamilton or some other NHL-ready city there is little doubt that the NHL would no problem unloading the team in short order if they were a 'free agent'.

Divisional Quarter Finals- Predictions

1) Yes, its our favourite time of the year, NHL playoffs. When unarguably the most exciting team sports action takes place over the next 60 or so days. We will go through each of the 8 opening round series. Predict the winner and the number of games it may take to achieve the results as well as discuss some of the factors that resulted in our prediction.

First The East:

(1) NY Rangers- VS- (8) Ottawa Senators: Both teams come into the series on a bit of a skid. The Rangers ended the season with 2 losses while the Sens only won 4 of their final 10. The Senators won 3 of the 4 games during the season and appear to match up well against the Blueshirts. Can Erik Karlsson withstand the bulls-eye that will sure be on his back? Can Lundquist finally play in the post season as well as the regular season? We don't feel the Senators can score enough to beat the rangers 4 times. Rangers in 5

(2) Boston Bruins-VS- (7) Washington Capitals: The Bruins get the first round bye this season. By getting the Capitals the Bruins play a physically inferior team as well as one that is psychologically as fragile as they come. Just dump and make them chase and they will eventually get frustrated. Braden Holtby s still too inexperienced to be a reliable NHL starter, although he could steal a game. However in the end we don't think the B's will have too much trouble handling the Caps, Bruins in 5

(3) Florida Panthers-VS (6) NJ Devils. Virtually no one (including us) picked the Panthers to make the playoffs for the first time since 2000, let alone win their first Southeast Division title. Pete DeBoer on the other side has a chance to show his previous employers their mistake in letting him go. His counterpart, Kevin Dineen, is in his first NHL season has done a great job defining the Panthers' identity after a summer that saw a massive turnover in personnel. The Panthers come into the playoffs playing poorly defensively, and their goaltending is probably the weakest of all the playoff teams and will be exploited. Devils in 5

(4) Pittsburgh Penguins-VS- (5) Philadelphia Flyers: The premiere series of all the 8 first round match ups. Too many sub plot lines to list them all here, but suffice to say it will be anything but dull hockey in the Keystone state. Too bad its only the first round. Neither team lacks scoring and toughness, but we feel that the Pens have superior depth where it counts and should come out on top, albeit quite battered and bruised. Penguins in 7

Next The West:

(1) Vancouver Canucks-VS- LA Kings: We feel THIS will be the best series to watch in the West! It won't be the classic 1 vs 8 matchup. The teams split their 4 games this year. Questions for both teams with regard to health, as both Daniel Sedin and Jeff Carter are not 100%. The Kings have been goal starved much of the season, but seem to have found their offensive stride in the final quarter. Jon Quick has had a Vezina calibre season, while in Vancouver the Luongo-Schneider drama (in the press at least) continues. Roberto will be the starter, but if he falters how will the team react to the inevitable controversy? Ultimately the superior Canuck depth will prevail, although not easily. Canucks in 7

(2) St. Louis-VS- (7)San Jose: Battle of the Saints! The amazing turn around in the Gateway City culminated with a solid 2nd seed. The Sharks on the other hand struggled all season to find consistency and if not for a late season surge would be playing golf right now. Overall despite their recent success we feel that the Blues defense first approach will frustrate the Sharks and they will lose their composure and allow odd man opportunities for St. Louis to exploit; making for a relatively short series. Blues in 5

(3)Phoenix Coyotes -VS-(6) Chicago Black Hawks:The Black hawks may be a lower seed but they had 101 points and finished the season with only 1 regulation loss in their last 10. If they get back Jon Towes they will be even more formidable. However, the Yotes appear to have the edge in net where Mike Smith had a career year. Can he continue his stellar play in the post season? If so an upset could be possible. Yes, we would see the Yotes beating the Hawks as an upset regardless of seeding. However we don't think it will happen. Ultimately the Chicago superior experience and depth will win out. Black Hawks in 6

(4) Nashville Predators-VS (5) Detroit RedWings: What many will point to as the Marquis series of the first round in the West. We do not see it this way. Detroit just has too many questions as well as advanced age. Nashville finally has some scoring to go along with its stingy/tough defense and superior goaltending. We don't think the Predators will have a tough time with the Wings and will advance to the second round for the first time in franchise history. Predators in 5

Oilers Cop Pick.......Again!

1) The Edmonton Oilers have once again won the NHL Draft Lottery, giving the club
the first-overall selection for the third year in a row. The Oilers had the
second-worst record in the NHL and only an 18.8 percent chance to come out on
top in the lottery. The Blue Jackets who had more than a 44% to get the top pick were screwed over just as they are about to bid adieu to the captain Rick Nash. A top overall pick would have been a nice salve to give their suffering fans (in addition to the likely high pick(s) they should get for the likely Nash trade. They will have to 'settle' for picking 2nd, in a what most scouts are calling a very impressively deep draft

2) Only one other NHL team - the Quebec Nordiques from 1989 to 1991 - ever had three No. 1 overall picks in a row. Even though they never won there, the Nords then Avalanche used those picks to assemble quite a bit of talent to make them a power house squad for a decade. With the last two first-overall selections, the Oilers took winger Taylor Hall and centre Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. The NHL draft is scheduled for June 22-23 in Pittsburgh, where Nail Yakupov
of the OHL's Sarnia Sting is expected by many to be taken No. 1 overall. Undoubtedly there will be much intrigue surrounding the Oilers pick. Many will surmise that perhaps in an effort to speed along their rebuild they will be open to trading the pick, or at the very least move down. Whatever they decide unless they pull a series of Milbury-type dumb trades, the Oilers should be a perennial contender within the next 2-3 years.

The Reward For Sucking!?!

1) The NHL will conduct its Draft Lottery today, Tuesday, April 10th. The lottery will take place in-studio with NHL deputy-commissioner Bill Daly revealing the results live on-air. This will be the 5th time the draft lottery will been aired live on television since the 'Crosby Draft' of 2005, and for only the 6th time in 16 years. The 2012 Scotiabank NHL Draft Lottery, live at 8pm The lottery will also be simulcast live on the TSN.ca, NHL Network, NHL.com.

2) The bottom 14 (non-playoff) teams in the NHL will be eligible for the lottery, where odds are weighted by least amount of regular season points. The winning lottery team can move up no more than four spots in the draft and no team can move back more than one. Tonight's lottery will feature representatives from each of the five teams eligible to win the first overall pick:

- Columbus Blue Jackets Executive Vice-President of Hockey Operations and GM Scott Howson
- Edmonton Oilers GM Steve Tambellini
- Montreal Canadiens Assistant GM Larry Carriere
- New York Islanders Director of Pro Scouting Ken Morrow
- Toronto Maple Leafs President and GM Brian Burke

3) Here's the breakdown: •The five lowest-finishing teams that have a crack at the No. 1 pick: The 30th place team has a 25% chance of winning the drawing, followed by 18.8% for the 29th place team, 14.2% for 28th, 10.7% for 27th and 8.1% for 26th. •The other nine non-play-off teams also have a diminishing chance of winning the lottery, but if they win they just move up four positions in the draft. For example, the 25th place team has a 6.2% chance of winning and would shift to the No. 2 spot in the draft. And, if a 25th to 17th place team wins the lottery, the first overall pick remains with the 30th place team. That's why, when all the math is done, finishing last provides a team with a 48.2% chance of picking first.

4) Here's are a few odd facts:

•In 15 draft lotteries since its inception in 1995, the team finishing 30th has been rewarded with the first pick just five times.

•The team finishing in third-last has been promoted to the first pick four times, even though the odds of that happening are just 14.2%.

•The second to worst finisher has NEVER won the draft lottery! Not only has the second-worst team never won the draft lottery in 16 attempts, but on four occasions it is has been pushed back one drafting spot when the third-worst team won the lottery. If we were betting folks we'd say that this will be the year the second suckiest team wins the lottery.

5) Of course we will renew our objection to the whole lottery process. Our position, though radical and controversial, would eliminate all possible doubt, and no longer reward failure/incompetence. That is do what was done in the 'Crosby sweepstakes' (2005 draft). Have ALL teams' draft order determined equally by a lottery. It would be a great/exciting show, like then, to have every team a chance at the 1st pick, and it eliminates once and for all any chance that teams would be disincentivized from playing their best/best players at all times!

6) It forces GM's/teams to improve by making good decisions, not by tanking a season or two to rebuild and getting good picks. It eliminates ANY notion that teams aren't playing their best each and every night. Also, and as importantly, it stops once and for all the idiotic notion of reward for failure. While we're a it stop the 'loser point' in games. You lose, you get zero points for your effort!

Week 26 Results

1) The 2011-2012 NHL is history! On to the post(real) season (playoffs). If we had done as well the past two weeks through out the entire season, it would have been a banner season indeed for us here at Fauxrumors! On the day/night we went a quite impressive 13-2!! On the season we went 182-128, for a season long winning % of .587. Not too shabby. We also got out 'Lock" to make that final stat an equally impressive 21-5, or .808 winning %!

2) Now on with the playoffs. Of course we and/or FR2 will break down each series and make our predictions on who will win and how many games it will require. We have had decent success in the past so be sure to check in on that before the drop of the puck Wednesday!!
As always, keep it here for all the latest!

Week 26 Picks

1) Yes its the final week of the 6 month long NHL season. Its a literal FULL schedule with ALL 30 teams in action with major playoff/positioning at stake. A chance to make a final major improvement or decline in our season long weekly picks. Thus far we are 169-126, for a .573 winning %


Chicago vs Detroit: Redwings

New Jersey vs Ottawa: Devils

Boston vs, Buffalo Bruins

Pittsburgh vs Philadelphia Penguins

Calgary vs Anaheim Flames

Washington vs NY Rangers Rangers

Montreal vs Toronto Habitants

Tampa Bay vs Winnipeg Lightning

Columbus vs NY Islanders BlueJackets

Florida vs Carolina Panthers (Lock of The week)

Phoenix vs, Minnesota Coyotes

St. Louis vs Dallas Blues

Nashville vs Colorado Predators

Vancouver vs Edmonton Canucks

San Jose vs Los Angeles Sharks

Final Power Rankings

1) Its been WAY too long since I last contributed to the blog so I asked FR if I could make a final installment of rating all 30 teams before the final weekend and the playoffs.

1) Pittsburgh: Down the middle the best team in the NHL. their whining/diving capabilities not withstanding, we believe they will be the team to beat for the Cup. have to believe that if they survive their first round against Philly, they have to be the favourite to win it all!

2) Vancouver: Yes, the 'Nucks as Presidents Trophy contenders have to be mentioned as Cup favourites. Even without Daniel Sedin, they have stayed at an elite level. If they get him back it would be difficult to bet against them to win the west, again

3) St. Louis: It looks like the Blues are going to be in the unusual position of sitting the goaltender who set the single-season record for save percentage to start the postseason. Brian Elliott enjoyed a shutout streak of 241:33 but figures to watch Jaroslav Halak get the early playoff starts for the Central Division champions.

4) NY Rangers: Hard to place the potential Presidents Trophy winners at 3rd but they haven't quite looked as strong the past few week. They seemed to have stepped off the proverbial gas pedal recently. can Torts get them to resume that high level of play next week? We wouldn't bet against it!

5) Nashville: A popular 'Dark Horse' Cup pick, The production of late-signee Alexander Radulov (seven points in nine games) make this Nashville team the most-dangerous one ever on offense to go along with their usual tough defense!

6) Boston: Have been up and down, but a part from the initial Cup coma they haven't played poorly all year and have largely flown under the radar sort of speak but remain one of the toughest/best teams in the NHL

7) Detroit: Getting long in the tooth, but still possess enough talent to be a top 10 team in the NHL once again

8) Philadelphia: Staying right in that 4th-5th spot most of the past month. Getting ready for their rumble with the penguins next week. We can't wait!

9) Chicago: Their goaltending remains a bit iffy and that could prove their undoing next week, but for now they appear destined for a 10 point season even if they haven't had the services of captain Jon Towes and an off season by his standars for Patrick Kane

10) New Jersey: Despite Marty Brodeur looking his age at times the Devils have stayed right in playoff position all season. We wouldn't bet against them to win a round.

11) Phoenix: A great story. Few expected the Yotes to be contenders when they lost Bryzgalov to Philly, but Mike Smith had an amazing, almost Vezina callibre season to propel the desert dogs into the post season and maybe even their first division title?

12) Los Angeles: Fighting for a spot and perhaps even the division. have improved their scoring of late so might surprise come the playoffs

13) Ottawa: Have clinched at least the 8th spot, and have coasted the past few weeks. We didn't think they'd get the goaltending to get them here, but we have been proven wrong by Mr. Anderson

14) San Jose: Washington-West. Perennial underachievers who will probably(like their east counterparts) sneak into the post season

15) Washington: Very well will make the post season, and may even win the pathetic SE division, but they still would be in our opinion the weakest playoff team

16) Dallas: Seem to be coming up just a tad short in their playoff run. We never expected they'd even be close so nice job fellas. Too bad the fans didn't respond

17) Florida: Appear destined to win their first EVER division and make the playoffs for first time in 80 years(well 11 anyway)

18) Buffalo: Ran out of gas the final 2 weeks after a mad dash from 15th to 8th. If they would have stayed healthy who knows if things would have been different

19) Colorado: Made some strides, but couldn't get over the hump in the very tough West.

20) Tampa bay- Not this year guys. Stamkos had a magnificent season, but their goaltending was horrible all year. If they plug that hole they will be back in 12-13.

21) Calgary: Finished right about where most expected. Competed for the 8th sot but came up short. Team needs to be 'blown up' and reassembled

22) Columbus: If they played as well as they have the past 2 weeks all season we wouldn't be talking about another 'lottery pick', but a run for the 8th seed. Too little too late, and bye, bye Mr. Nash!

23) Winnipeg: Their horrendous road record finally caught up to them. Things are lookig up, but they do need some upgrades all around to compete for a Cup

24) Minnesota: After such a hot start incredible how low they are about to finish!

25) Carolina: Another disappointing season in Raleigh. Got off to a dreadful start that they never were able to recover from. The coaching change occurred to late

26) Anaheim: Seemed to right the ship for a couple of months, but have fallen back down in recent weeks. Too much talent to be in this position, no?

27) Montreal: Team in disarray as they seek a new GM, and probably new coach. They have more talent than their record indicates. A tweak here, a good coach there and we'd expect them to be fighting for the post season next year

28) NY Icelanders: Another season, another (probable) bottom 5 finish. Three more seasons in Nassau then off to Brooklyn? Until then don't expect much out of them!

29) Edmonton: Unfortunately for their fans, familiar territory for the Oilers. yes, they are young, but at some point they have to improve and get out of the bottom 3

30)Toronto: See above. They collapsed down the stretch. Can Brian Burke survive? Probably, but his tenure won't be long if the team falters out of the gate next season!

Week 25 Results

1) The second to last Saturday is complete. Finally we had a day we have been looking for since the start of the season. For the day/night we went an impressive 10-2 to bring our season long totals to 169-126, or a .573 winning %. Oddly, even with a massive winning day we managed to get our Lock of The week wrong for only the 5th time. Amazingly the 30th ranked team in the NHL went on the road into the toughest barn in the NHL to win (St. Louis) and managed to upend the Blues last night rather easily, 5-2. Only the Blues 5th regulation loss at home this season! (One of the reasons we recommend to NEVER actually gamble money on any sport!!!)

2) Anyway we are looking forward to the last week of the season. FR2 states that he may produce a late season Power rankings. other posts are also in the works.
As always keep it here for all the latest!