saturday Saturday SATURDAY!

IT'S ALL COMING DOWN TO SATURDAY!

I don't even know where to start with this. I cannot think of a season in recent memory that has been so close, with just one or two games remaining.

Let's start with the top. The Penguins and Canadiens are tied atop the Eastern Conference, each respective team has won their division already but who gets the Conference title goes down to who can pull out a win on Saturday.

The Carolina Hurricanes, sit atop the Southeast division, but they sit on top of a shaky deck of cards. If the Hurricanes lose and the Washington Capitals win their last game, (coincidentally they both play their final game against the Florida Panthers) then they would jump from 8th right into 3rd spot because the Capitals would take the Southeast Division title. This would leave Carolina sitting in 8th with the Philadelphia Flyers (who have two games remaining) with just one point to make up.

Currently position 4 and 5 are taken by the New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers, both have two games remaining and have also clinched a playoff spot. The last two games are for seeding only. What is interesting is that these two teams sitting in fourth and fifth have clinched a playoff position, yet the division leader of the Southeast hasn't clinched one yet. (as per scenario involving Hurricanes, Capitals above).

Down to sixth spot. The Senators. The poor, poor Senators. Remember the glory days. Of course you do... they were 4 months ago. The team was ripping up the NHL. The next Stanley Cup Champions. But they fell apart. They sit in sixth with 94 points. They have one game remaining. Boston, just two points back have two games remaining. Do the math. And although the Capitals have just one game remaining, they stand to move to third position if they win, and we already talked about the scenario with the Hurricanes. What if the game goes to overtime? That would leave the Canes with 93 points. If the Senators lose their last game. They're in 9th. But that's only if everything I talked about goes the way I planned... I mean... predicted.


Now that I've analyzed the Eastern Conference to death, let's do the West....


Oh gawd, I'm so kidding. See you after Friday's games.