Clinch
For 1070 days after one of the most thrilling seventh games ever, there has been no playoff hockey in the city of Vancouver.
Now we can finally all forget last season.
With their 3-0 win over the Avalanche on Tuesday, the Vancouver Canucks are headed back for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
I hope that whoever put that sign on my door last April (probably an Oilers fan) is reading this right now.
Enjoy your draft position.
Each one of those sentences was important enough to deserve its own paragraph. And those sentences together deserved their own post.
It should also be noted that, if Calgary wins four of their remaining six games, all eight of the Western Conference playoff-bound teams will have accumulated 100 points during the regular season. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: any team out of those top eight would beat any team from the East right now.
By the way, watch for my free playoff pool entry form, to which I will provide a link on Monday, April 9. I want you to sign up.
I will also take this opportunity to officially say that I am extremely busy with homework, and that my impending exams will not do much to ease my workload in the foreseeable future. I’ll post when I can, which won’t be often.
Labels: Hockey
"I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: any team out of those top eight would beat any team from the East right now"
The Buffalo Sabres? I hate the Eastern Conference more than any hockey fan should (they gave the West Joe Thorton, and Roberto Luongo, two potiential MVP candidates, and all they got back was a washed-up Power Forward, and Wayne Primeau! Who Has Since Been Traded!)
But, the Cup has been there for 3 seasons, and I can seriously see the Buffalo Sabres having a walk in the park in the East, while the teams in the West beat the crap out of each other.
But, if it must be a team from the West, I want Nashville. I have no reason what-so-ever to hate them. I have a reason to hate every other team in the West playoffs.
Posted by
Unknown |
5:38 p.m.
Your argument is well-received; however, I look at the Western Conference and I see teams absolutely dominating (Colorado and Minnesota, to name a couple) who are making up no ground whatsoever in the standings. The competition for these teams night in and night out makes them play at an extremely high level.
The main weakness I will have in any such argument is that I don't watch Eastern Conference games... but from the highlights I have seen, the Eastern teams' defense is just miles behind that of the West. Also, out West, a single loss is an enormous setback in the races for placement in the playoffs. While there is a great playoff race going on back East, most of those teams are merely stumbling into the postseason. I think that whoever comes out of the Western Conference will have to have played some of the best hockey we've ever seen in the playoffs. It seems to me that the Eastern champion will just be whoever can outscore their opponent. Good luck with that strategy against the Western defensive powerhouses.
Buffalo has a great offensive team, and their defense, while not as good as last year's, still measures up well against the rest of the conference. However, I think that Miller is a bit overrated, and their defensive game is pretty shoddy when compared to teams like Minnesota, Vancouver, and Dallas. They've also been merely okay in 2007, winning 21 of 38 games.
The point about the Western teams beating the crap out of each other is a good one; I think that the Western teams will have a greater tendency to get worn down throughout their series.
More than simply measuring how good the teams are, though, the conflict of styles is what will be truly telling in the final series. Unless New Jersey wins.
Posted by
Farewell, Free Will |
7:27 p.m.
...of course Buffalo has been battling injuries for the last while.
Posted by
Farewell, Free Will |
7:48 p.m.