CrimsonFlame

You're right in saying that if divisions don't get automatic top seeds than there's no point in having divisions. However, think about what the divisions bring to the table and the consequences of removing them. Division races make for exciting hockey. Especially at the end of the season. Why? Look at the Pacific and Southeast divisions right now. Teams are STILL vying for their playoff lives with only a few games left. If you take away the divisions than what do you have? Meaningless hockey in a league where there is already too many games. Besides the top two seeds fighting for dominance you are going to have the other six basically coasting into the playoffs because the risks of injuring key players far outweighs gaining one seed in a league where seeding really doesn't matter that much aside from do you get to stay home an extra game. It basically comes down to this: Would you rather help the wings out in a once in a while strange off year at the cost of making hockey games down the stretch a lot less entertaining every year?

Is it me or does Shannon have an identical speech pattern to John Keeting

Entertaining? Somewhat. While I do enjoy Tigers games, I can't sit down and purely watch one like I can an NFL or Wings game. I have to be doing something else at the same time. But that's just how baseball is. It's leisurely. Also I feel 82 games is too many for a pro sports season. Let alone, 162. The season just rolls on and on and on and games don't really mean anything until late August.

Yeah you would think that the summer of all seasons would have the most entertaining sports.... but all we get is 100 games too many of baseball.

And then the team who should have been seeded 8th and is now ninth will be pissed off. That only translocates the problem. And they lose a lot more by missing the playoffs completely rather than another team just losing a home advantage. At least they still get to play. The bottom line is this, people want what ever system helps their team win. If we were in Dallas's place we would all be defending it as a great idea. In all reality it's fine the way it is. People just feel the need to fight for every little advantage they can, reasonable or not.

60 minutes or bust. Literally.

There is a point to winning the division because it means you automatically get a top seed.... That's the point. If they got rid of that than there's really no point for divisions. Just get rid of them and have two fifteen team conferences. The whole reason we have divisions is because it adds meaning to more games since more than just the top two teams and the 8th/9th teams are fighting for anything of significance. It also adds meaning to games earlier in the season since division games are crucial if you want to clinch your division. Right now people are just mad at it because it's hurting us. But it has helped us a lot in the past and I'm sure people had no problem with it then.

Having the division winners automatically be the top seed is fine. It ensures good representation and puts emphasis on winning the division. Otherwise there is really no point to win the division. Just get into the top eight. Also it probably has helped us a lot more than it has hurt us up to this point.

Right now Detroit is playing like s***. I hate to say it but it's the truth. So yeah I would expect the Blues to win... That said, if there's one thing I've ever learned watching the NHL it's that the playoffs are a whole different animal. Anyone can win any game, and how your season went (or how portions of your season went) don't necessarily determine how you play in there.

Putting Howard in is not going to make our defense all of a sudden play well again. He would have gotten lit up too last night the way the Wings were playing.

I think we should worry about the prednecks before we start looking towards the blues.

Frazen won't be gone. Nobody in their right mind would take that contract.

Comeback tease engaged

What is defense? If you know please inform the Detroit Red Wings.

Seriously? How do you let a guy just skate behind you like that?

Wait so the ref is right in front of Stuart who gets hit in the face... no call... But emmerton does it and WHISTLEEEEEEEEE. This is why everyone hates refs. Is a little consistency too much to ask for?

I think it's pretty close to even. Both teams are pretty similar in my opinion. When fully healthy at least. But then again I am also a big member of the "Vancouver sucks and chokes" bandwagon so I'll take the Wings in a head to head series. *Edit* Double thread

Lol I think you just wanted to make a thread called "JUCK ******* POTT"

Calling him Goose makes me think of Topgun.... and yeah we don't want that to happen.

So I just get home from work, turn on the TV, and it's 4 nothing. 4 nothing and WE HAVE THE FOUR. What the hell happened. Are these our wings?

So we as of today (Friday March 16th) are 4 games back, have 11 games to go, and have one game less played than the Blues. We still have a shot, but it's going to be tough. They need to win 8 games (Really win 7 and get 1 OT Loss,and assuming we win out) or win 5 and tie their last 5 to clinch the division. Or any combination in between. So realistically what will the Blues do in their next ten games? Well they play: -At Tampa bay (Currently 11th in the east, 5-4-1 Last 10) -At Anaheim (Currently 12th in the west, 4-5-1 Last 10) -At Los Angeles (Back to back, currently 11th in the west, 6-4 Last 10)*** -At Phoenix (Currently 7th in the west, 3-5-2 Last 10)*** -Vs Nashville(Currently 5th in the west, 6-2-2 Last 10) -At Chicago(Currently 6th in the west, 5-4-1 Last 10) -Vs Columbus(Currently LOL in the west, 4-6 Last 10) -Vs Detroit(Currently 4th in the west, 3-6-1 Last 10) -Vs Phoenix(Currently 7th in the west, 3-5-2 Last 10)*** -At Dallas(Currently 3rd in the west, 8-1-1 Last 10) Anyone stared is in a close playoff fight so we can assume they are going to elevate their game slightly Average conference ranking: 9.2 Average record in last 10: 4.6 - 4.4 - 1.1 So only four home games and six road games. That can be daunting. Also four games against teams that will probably fighting for their playoff lives when the Blues roll into town. There are three games I can pencil in as for sure wins, TBL Ducks and CBJ. Assuming I am correct and these are in fact wins, than that lowers St. Louis's magic number to 5.5 games (11 points) to clinch. Now let's look at our remaining schedule to compare: -At San Jose(Currently 9th in the west, 3-4-3 Last 10)*** -Vs Washington(Currently 8th in the east, 7-2-1 Last 10)*** -At Rangers(Currently 1st in the east, 5-4-1 Last 10) -Vs Carolina(Currently 13th in the east, 4-3-3 Last 10) -Vs Columbus(Currently LOL in the west, 4-6 Last 10) -At Columbus(Currently LOL in the east, 4-6 Last 10) -Vs Nashville(Currently 5th in the west, 6-2-2 Last 10) -Vs Florida(Currently 3rd in the east, 6-3-1 Last 10) -At St. Louis(Currently 1st in the west, 7-2-1 Last 10) -Vs New Jersey(Currently 6th in the east, 6-3-1 Last 10) -Vs Chicago(Currently 6th in the west, 5-4-1 Last 10) Average conference rank: 7.5 Average record in last 10: 5.2 - 3.6 - 1.4 So as you can see, not only are we four games back but we also have a harder schedule to play through. The only real bonus we have over St. Louis is the fact that seven out of our remaining eleven are at home. Our home and road records are very similar to theirs. The only major difference is they have slightly more ties and slightly less losses on the road than we do. I would only feel confident penciling in three wins, CBJ x2 and Carolina. And since I would assume that we both would win these three automatically, we are right back where we started just with significantly less time to make up the point deficit. So what do you guys think. Is it realistic to say we still have a shot given the data?

My heart wants me to say "Easy two points", and yet my brain tells me "We tend to play our worst against the worst teams". But countless romantic comedies and Disney movies told me to always listen my heart.

Alright Nashville decided to absolute destroy Chitown tonight. That leaves us one point behind the preds for 4th with seven to go and one game in hand. Their last six: -At St. Louis (1st place, 6-2-2) -At Detroit (5th place, 2-6-2) -Vs Chicago (6th place, 7-2-1, back to back) -Vs Minnesota (13th place, 3-7) -Vs Dallas (3rd place, 7-3)*** -At Colorado (10th place, 6-2-2)*** Even 3/3 split Home and away. Average conference rank: 6.3 Average record in last ten: 5.1 - 3.7 - 1.2 And as before, triple stars means the team is fighting for a fringe playoff spot so expect them to elevate their game. So their schedule is moderately difficult to close it out. Now Let's take a look at Chitown's. Just for the record they are 3 points back and we have a game in hand. -At New Jersey (6th place in the east, 5-4-1) -Vs St. Louis (1st place, 6-2-2) -At Nashville (4th place, 6-3-1) -Vs Minnesota (13th place, 3-7, Back to back) -At Minnesota (13th place, 3-7) -At Detroit (5th place, 2-6-2) 4/2 Home vs Away so there's a slight disadvantage for them. Average conference ranking: 7 Average record in last ten: 4.2 - 4.8 - 1 So looking at the raw data is looks like the hawks may actually have a pretty easy stretch coming in, but Minnesota really weighs those averages down. Also the home/away split is significant since Chicago is nearly as bad on the road as we are! Considering that if we exclude the Wild games their schedule is pretty damn hard, and the fact that they are a game and a half back with one less to play, I don't see the Hawks going anywhere beyond sixth realistically And for comparison let's look at our last seven: -Vs Columbus(15th place, 4-6) -At Columbus(15th place, 4-6) -Vs Nashville(4th place, 6-3-1) -Vs Florida(3rd place in the east, 5-2-3) -At St. Louis(1st place, 6-2-2) -Vs New Jersey(6th place in the east, 5-4-1) -Vs Chicago(6th place, 7-2-1) 5/2 Home vs Away Average conference rank: 7.1 Average record last ten: 5.3 - 3.6 - 1.1 So looking at the numbers shows that our remaining schedule is roughly as difficult as the preds. At least based on the last ten averages. Columbus's rank weighs down the conference record average. What should really help us is the fact that 5 out of 7 of our remaining games are at home and we are much better at home than on the road. My Final predictions central division are as follows: St. Louis finishes 3-1-2, in first place, and with 111 points Nashville finishes 3-1-2 in, fourth place, with 103 points since I think they have the tie breaker Detroit finishes 3-2-2, in fifth place, with 103 points Chicago finishes 2-2-2, in sixth place with 98 points And also just for fun, St. Louis' magic number is now down to 3.5 games. 3 wins and an OT tie or 4 losses from us and we are eliminated from the running for first place. Anyone else have any thoughts?

Let's update this with some more relevant information. Blue are 6 points up now and we both have seven games to go. So it's still possible to win the division! The magic number is now 4.5, meaning they blues need 4 wins and an OT to clinch the division if we were to win out. Or they need us to lose 4 games and OT 1. Or any combination in between. I'll update this later after the game tonight because it will make it a lot simpler since Chicago and Nashville play each other tonight.

winning. It feel sooooo gooooood.