Checking In On Our Teams

(image from pennlive.com)

We here at T!!! HQ follow a few hockey teams in our spare time. You may have noticed. Or not. In any case, we root for the Flyers (BMFS), Flames (Snizza), Stars (BMFS & Snizza), and Caps (yours truly).

As it stands today the Flames and Stars are on the outside looking in of the Western Conference playoff picture. The Flyers are hanging on in the East like Wile E. Coyote. Their furry figures could slip at any moment, plunging them and their Acme Road-Runner-Killer-5000 Strap-on-Slingshot 15,000 feet into a canyon.

With six games to go, the Flyers are sixth, ahead of Montreal by tiebreaker, 2 points up on Boston and 4 points up on the Atlanta. In terms of making the playoffs, the odds are squarely in Philadelphia's favor. Which is more than you can say for Dallas who hasn't been officially eliminated yet, but needs to win every game left and have every team ahead of them lose every game. Thats called "a bad bet".

The Flames are better off than Dallas, but not much. They're solidly in 9th place but are four points back of Colorado with six games to go for the right to get smushed by the Sharks in the first round. And oh yeah, Colorado has a game in hand. The good news, if there is any good news, is the Flames get a shot at Colorado (in Colorado) this Friday, April 2. That'll be an elimination game.

The only team with no worrying to do is the Caps who, as I've discussed here ad nauseum, lead everyone in everything. The Caps have two concerns right now. First, staying/getting healthy. Second, finding out who they'll be playing in the first round. If the season ended now, their opponent would be the flailing Boston Bruins, whom the Caps have twice beaten 4-1 in Boston. Interestingly enough, both teams play each other twice in DC within the span of a week starting Monday, April 5th.

The Caps other potential playoff opponents are Montreal and - surprise surprise - Philadelphia. The Caps are 3-1 against Philly this season, including an 8-2 crushing of the Flyers in Philadelphia which I attended (read about that here). Their only loss to Philly came in overtime back in October.

Against Montreal the Caps record is a less desirable 2-2. Each team won a game in regulation and one in overtime, a game on the road and one at home. In total, the Caps outscored Montreal by one goal. That could be an interesting series.

Baring a sea change in the standings, Snizza will be out in the cold, BMFS will throw on his orange Flyers sweater, and I'll rock my red Ovechkin sweater from the warmth and comfort of first place.

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