16 Thoughts, Home Stretch Edition
Feb 18, 2019 21:47:49 GMT
Josh - Dallas, Lou - Buffalo, and 4 more like this
Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2019 21:47:49 GMT
DHL 16 Thoughts
Home Stretch Edition
The final three weeks are upon us, after the conclusion of the last inter-division battles in Week 18. Three teams have clinched playoff spots, and three divisions look pretty locked up. There is a dog-fight in the Pacific, with the loser potentially being left out of the playoffs. And the battle for the final three playoff spots has heated up, adding to the intrigue as the season wraps up. Here are 16 questions for the final stretch.
1. Buffalo, Presidents Trophy hopeful?
The Sabres have been curb-stomping fools over the past five weeks. All of a sudden this team has risen from the ashes to find itself in 7th, with 6th place in the cross hairs. An 11-3 beatdown of the Senators in Week 18 capped off Buffalo’s fifth straight win. After a terrible start to the season, Buffalo has gone 9-2 since week 8. This team has the appearance of last year’s Rangers, who rode a second-half wave to sixth place and then went all the way to the finals. Watch out, whatever favourite ends up in a first round knife-fight with the Sabres.
2. Senators, in playoff jeopardy?
Going the other way, Ottawa still sits in 6th. What once looked like a sure bet to finish well clear of the playoff bubble, the Senators are now only 4 points up on Buffalo in 7th and 5 points up on St. Louis in 8th. Even more concerning, the 9th place Golden Knights are only 15 points back of Ottawa. After going 2-6-1 since week 10, the Senators are hanging by a thread to playoff hopes. And even if Ottawa manages to hang on, can anyone see them being anything else but first round fodder at this point?
3. LA Kings, spoiler extraordinaire?
It seems that all LA had to do to turn around its season was trade a bunch of its best players. Although the Kings saw their four week winning streak snapped in week 18 by Las Vegas, the Kings still took 6 categories from the Knights and, in doing so, put a serious dent in Vegas’ playoff odds. The week before that, LA essentially knocked Colorado out of the playoff race with a 10-2 win. And before that, LA smoked Calgary 10-3 to give the rest of the Pacific hope of catching the Flames. At this point the Kings are too far out to have a chance at 8th, but they are not going down without a fight.
4. Does Calgary have enough to hang on?
After the second divisional matchups, when Calgary swept the Pacific division, the Flames were so far ahead in the divisional race that only a major collapse could have altered the outcome. It looks like we’re well into major collapse. With its 8-5 loss to the Avalanche in Week 18 – a team with nothing at all to play for – Calgary has gone 1-5 since Week 13 and seen its lead in the Pacific shrink to 12 points. The Flames have the Blues, Flyers and Senators left to play, and two of those teams are fighting for their playoff lives. The Golden Knights have the Flyers, Sabres and Leafs left. All said, the 12 point cushion might just be enough for Calgary to hang on to 4th. If not, there is a very real possibility that Calgary’s collapse could not only cost them the divisional crown, but the playoffs as well.
5. Golden Knights, Pacific champions?
12 points. That’s what separates Las Vegas from Calgary, as well as from the 8th seed St. Louis Blues. Being down that much is not what GM Josh had in mind, but his team is doing what it can to close the gap. An 8-5 win in week 17 over Calgary kept the dream alive. However, Vegas has to be disappointed only winning 7-6 against LA in week 18. Now the Knights need a dominant win against Philadelphia in week 19 – if they can’t pull that one off, this final push might be for naught.
6. Philadelphia, Pacific division king-maker?
The Flyers don’t have much to play for. They sit in 14th but Toronto owns their 1st and 2nd round picks in the 2019 draft. However, all is not lost. Philly has the chance to determine the fate of the Pacific contenders, and likely also determine whether one or two Pacific teams make the playoffs. Check out the final schedule for the Flyers. Golden Knights in week 19, followed by the Flames in week 20. Then, if those two teams are not beat out by Philly, the Flyers have St. Louis in a final week matchup that could determine the final rankings of the entire bottom of the bracket. There’s not a lot of optimism in Philly, but at least the Pacific teams might hate them.
7. Toronto, cheering on the Pacific?
Toronto still holds its own 1st round pick as well as Philadelphia’s 1st in the upcoming draft. This is a team in drastic need of an overhaul, and if the chips fall right they could be in line for two lottery picks. Currently the Leafs are only 9 points up on the Islanders, who hold down the 15th spot. Even better, Philly sits in 14th. With matchups against the Islanders, Blues and Golden Knights, Toronto’s best bet may be to “rest” its stars and hope the Pacific teams beat up on the Flyers.
8. Islanders, with nothing at all to play for?
New York sits in 15th. But at least they smoked their New Jersey rivals in week 18. Plus they’ll be watching St. Louis draft with their first round possible lottery pick. At least they can hope for Montreal to lose in the first round of the playoffs, as the Islanders hold Montreal’s first.
9. New Jersey, also with nothing much to play for…
The Devils just lost bad to the Islanders, which also meant they lost the season series against New York. But hey, at least the loss dropped them closer to the lottery, right? Wait for it … New Jersey’s first round pick is owned by St. Louis as well. The Metro bros seems to be joined at the hip. Even worse, St. Louis also owns New Jersey’s second round pick. Devils fans should be rooting for the Blues to miss the playoffs, just out of spite.
10. Winnipeg, contender?
The Jets are still the worst team. But they’ve been playing as if they’re respectable all of a sudden. The last divisional matchups resulted in Winnipeg beating Dallas, then losing 8-7 to Minnesota and 7-6 to St. Louis. What team is this, anyways? Of course, the WPG pick is owned by Montreal so lets hope the Jets don’t win first overall.
11. Colorado, still hoping to lose?
This is the most infuriating team in the league. These guys are like the Edmonton Oilers of the DHL, wasting McDavid’s prime years. Plus they have Matthews! And yet they continue to play just under .500, never really making a push, and nothing seems to change. No trades, no moves, still rolling out Mike Smith in net. They’re tied in 10th, but likely too far out to make the playoffs. At least they still hold their own first round pick, so the losses have some meaning.
12. Blues, big winners even if they miss the playoffs?
St. Louis looked secure in a playoff berth as little as a few weeks ago. They’ve continued to play ok, but with Buffalo leaping teams, the Blues find themselves in 8th place, only one point out of seventh and still within range of 6th. But also only 12 points up on 9th. This team has the longest playoff drought of anyone still in contention, so god knows that Blues fans want to see some playoff action. And they remain talented enough to pull off a first round upset, especially after beating Minnesota 9-4 in week 16. But either way, St. Louis owns the first round picks of New Jersey, New York Islanders, and Vegas. There’s a good chance two of those picks could be lottery bound.
This could end up a win-win in St. Louis. Or at least a lose-win.
13. Stars, concerned in Big D?
Dallas looked like one of the top three teams in the league all season. There was hope that they might even topple the Wild one of these weeks and take first in the Central. Alas, Minnesota crushed the Stars 11-3 in Week 18, winning the season series 3-0. Even more concerning was the loss to Winnipeg in week 16, and the tight win over St. Louis in week 17. Dallas has gone 2-4-1 in its last seven, hardly the stuff of champions. It appears that 5th is now locked up, with a battle against a Pacific champ in round one. The Stars will no doubt be favoured in that one, but at this point there is very little hope Dallas will go any further than that. Which, after the start this team had, has to be disappointing.
14. New York, a product of an easy division?
The only question in Ranger-land these days is whether this is a good team, or just a team good enough to beat up the terrible Metro teams three times each. The Rangers are 10 points back of Minnesota for 2nd in the league, and very comfortable in at least settling into 3rd seed for the playoffs. But after another stretch of pummelling the Metro teams (going 35-7-3 over the last three weeks), there really isn’t an answer of whether this is a good or great team. Certainly, the Rangers have taken advantage of its competition. Meanwhile, of its likely first round matchups, New York beat Buffalo 8-5, beat Ottawa 8-5, and beat St. Louis 7-4. But until New York has success against the Wild or Habs, no one cares.
15. Minnesota, Central champ?
There was one nightmare scenario in Minnesota. With a 10-point lead on Dallas going into week 18, the Wild could theoretically have lost the week and even the division, and set up a semi-final against Montreal. Those concerns were to no avail. The Wild crushed the Stars, clinching a playoff berth, and look pretty comfortable in 2nd. The Presidents Trophy is not impossible either, with a final week matchup against the Canadiens looming. But first will be a week 19 battle against New York, with 2nd on the line.
16. Montreal, Presidents trophy winner?
Montreal could theoretically still lose the Presidents Trophy. But it would take a surprise to end up there. The addition of Crosby and Wheeler has made this juggernaut even stronger. Very unlikely that this team gets seriously challenged until at least the semi finals, although keep in mind that the Sabres beat the Canadiens 7-6 in week 16 and a Buffalo-Montreal first round matchup is still a possibility.
Home Stretch Edition
The final three weeks are upon us, after the conclusion of the last inter-division battles in Week 18. Three teams have clinched playoff spots, and three divisions look pretty locked up. There is a dog-fight in the Pacific, with the loser potentially being left out of the playoffs. And the battle for the final three playoff spots has heated up, adding to the intrigue as the season wraps up. Here are 16 questions for the final stretch.
1. Buffalo, Presidents Trophy hopeful?
The Sabres have been curb-stomping fools over the past five weeks. All of a sudden this team has risen from the ashes to find itself in 7th, with 6th place in the cross hairs. An 11-3 beatdown of the Senators in Week 18 capped off Buffalo’s fifth straight win. After a terrible start to the season, Buffalo has gone 9-2 since week 8. This team has the appearance of last year’s Rangers, who rode a second-half wave to sixth place and then went all the way to the finals. Watch out, whatever favourite ends up in a first round knife-fight with the Sabres.
2. Senators, in playoff jeopardy?
Going the other way, Ottawa still sits in 6th. What once looked like a sure bet to finish well clear of the playoff bubble, the Senators are now only 4 points up on Buffalo in 7th and 5 points up on St. Louis in 8th. Even more concerning, the 9th place Golden Knights are only 15 points back of Ottawa. After going 2-6-1 since week 10, the Senators are hanging by a thread to playoff hopes. And even if Ottawa manages to hang on, can anyone see them being anything else but first round fodder at this point?
3. LA Kings, spoiler extraordinaire?
It seems that all LA had to do to turn around its season was trade a bunch of its best players. Although the Kings saw their four week winning streak snapped in week 18 by Las Vegas, the Kings still took 6 categories from the Knights and, in doing so, put a serious dent in Vegas’ playoff odds. The week before that, LA essentially knocked Colorado out of the playoff race with a 10-2 win. And before that, LA smoked Calgary 10-3 to give the rest of the Pacific hope of catching the Flames. At this point the Kings are too far out to have a chance at 8th, but they are not going down without a fight.
4. Does Calgary have enough to hang on?
After the second divisional matchups, when Calgary swept the Pacific division, the Flames were so far ahead in the divisional race that only a major collapse could have altered the outcome. It looks like we’re well into major collapse. With its 8-5 loss to the Avalanche in Week 18 – a team with nothing at all to play for – Calgary has gone 1-5 since Week 13 and seen its lead in the Pacific shrink to 12 points. The Flames have the Blues, Flyers and Senators left to play, and two of those teams are fighting for their playoff lives. The Golden Knights have the Flyers, Sabres and Leafs left. All said, the 12 point cushion might just be enough for Calgary to hang on to 4th. If not, there is a very real possibility that Calgary’s collapse could not only cost them the divisional crown, but the playoffs as well.
5. Golden Knights, Pacific champions?
12 points. That’s what separates Las Vegas from Calgary, as well as from the 8th seed St. Louis Blues. Being down that much is not what GM Josh had in mind, but his team is doing what it can to close the gap. An 8-5 win in week 17 over Calgary kept the dream alive. However, Vegas has to be disappointed only winning 7-6 against LA in week 18. Now the Knights need a dominant win against Philadelphia in week 19 – if they can’t pull that one off, this final push might be for naught.
6. Philadelphia, Pacific division king-maker?
The Flyers don’t have much to play for. They sit in 14th but Toronto owns their 1st and 2nd round picks in the 2019 draft. However, all is not lost. Philly has the chance to determine the fate of the Pacific contenders, and likely also determine whether one or two Pacific teams make the playoffs. Check out the final schedule for the Flyers. Golden Knights in week 19, followed by the Flames in week 20. Then, if those two teams are not beat out by Philly, the Flyers have St. Louis in a final week matchup that could determine the final rankings of the entire bottom of the bracket. There’s not a lot of optimism in Philly, but at least the Pacific teams might hate them.
7. Toronto, cheering on the Pacific?
Toronto still holds its own 1st round pick as well as Philadelphia’s 1st in the upcoming draft. This is a team in drastic need of an overhaul, and if the chips fall right they could be in line for two lottery picks. Currently the Leafs are only 9 points up on the Islanders, who hold down the 15th spot. Even better, Philly sits in 14th. With matchups against the Islanders, Blues and Golden Knights, Toronto’s best bet may be to “rest” its stars and hope the Pacific teams beat up on the Flyers.
8. Islanders, with nothing at all to play for?
New York sits in 15th. But at least they smoked their New Jersey rivals in week 18. Plus they’ll be watching St. Louis draft with their first round possible lottery pick. At least they can hope for Montreal to lose in the first round of the playoffs, as the Islanders hold Montreal’s first.
9. New Jersey, also with nothing much to play for…
The Devils just lost bad to the Islanders, which also meant they lost the season series against New York. But hey, at least the loss dropped them closer to the lottery, right? Wait for it … New Jersey’s first round pick is owned by St. Louis as well. The Metro bros seems to be joined at the hip. Even worse, St. Louis also owns New Jersey’s second round pick. Devils fans should be rooting for the Blues to miss the playoffs, just out of spite.
10. Winnipeg, contender?
The Jets are still the worst team. But they’ve been playing as if they’re respectable all of a sudden. The last divisional matchups resulted in Winnipeg beating Dallas, then losing 8-7 to Minnesota and 7-6 to St. Louis. What team is this, anyways? Of course, the WPG pick is owned by Montreal so lets hope the Jets don’t win first overall.
11. Colorado, still hoping to lose?
This is the most infuriating team in the league. These guys are like the Edmonton Oilers of the DHL, wasting McDavid’s prime years. Plus they have Matthews! And yet they continue to play just under .500, never really making a push, and nothing seems to change. No trades, no moves, still rolling out Mike Smith in net. They’re tied in 10th, but likely too far out to make the playoffs. At least they still hold their own first round pick, so the losses have some meaning.
12. Blues, big winners even if they miss the playoffs?
St. Louis looked secure in a playoff berth as little as a few weeks ago. They’ve continued to play ok, but with Buffalo leaping teams, the Blues find themselves in 8th place, only one point out of seventh and still within range of 6th. But also only 12 points up on 9th. This team has the longest playoff drought of anyone still in contention, so god knows that Blues fans want to see some playoff action. And they remain talented enough to pull off a first round upset, especially after beating Minnesota 9-4 in week 16. But either way, St. Louis owns the first round picks of New Jersey, New York Islanders, and Vegas. There’s a good chance two of those picks could be lottery bound.
This could end up a win-win in St. Louis. Or at least a lose-win.
13. Stars, concerned in Big D?
Dallas looked like one of the top three teams in the league all season. There was hope that they might even topple the Wild one of these weeks and take first in the Central. Alas, Minnesota crushed the Stars 11-3 in Week 18, winning the season series 3-0. Even more concerning was the loss to Winnipeg in week 16, and the tight win over St. Louis in week 17. Dallas has gone 2-4-1 in its last seven, hardly the stuff of champions. It appears that 5th is now locked up, with a battle against a Pacific champ in round one. The Stars will no doubt be favoured in that one, but at this point there is very little hope Dallas will go any further than that. Which, after the start this team had, has to be disappointing.
14. New York, a product of an easy division?
The only question in Ranger-land these days is whether this is a good team, or just a team good enough to beat up the terrible Metro teams three times each. The Rangers are 10 points back of Minnesota for 2nd in the league, and very comfortable in at least settling into 3rd seed for the playoffs. But after another stretch of pummelling the Metro teams (going 35-7-3 over the last three weeks), there really isn’t an answer of whether this is a good or great team. Certainly, the Rangers have taken advantage of its competition. Meanwhile, of its likely first round matchups, New York beat Buffalo 8-5, beat Ottawa 8-5, and beat St. Louis 7-4. But until New York has success against the Wild or Habs, no one cares.
15. Minnesota, Central champ?
There was one nightmare scenario in Minnesota. With a 10-point lead on Dallas going into week 18, the Wild could theoretically have lost the week and even the division, and set up a semi-final against Montreal. Those concerns were to no avail. The Wild crushed the Stars, clinching a playoff berth, and look pretty comfortable in 2nd. The Presidents Trophy is not impossible either, with a final week matchup against the Canadiens looming. But first will be a week 19 battle against New York, with 2nd on the line.
16. Montreal, Presidents trophy winner?
Montreal could theoretically still lose the Presidents Trophy. But it would take a surprise to end up there. The addition of Crosby and Wheeler has made this juggernaut even stronger. Very unlikely that this team gets seriously challenged until at least the semi finals, although keep in mind that the Sabres beat the Canadiens 7-6 in week 16 and a Buffalo-Montreal first round matchup is still a possibility.