Maple Leafs make the playoffs? Don't be too sure

So the Toronto Maple Leafs pull off a miracle tonight and win their final game of the season against the Montreal Canadiens. Woohoo! The Leafs make the playoffs... wait a sec. Not yet.

I am a Leaf fan, have been since I was I wee nipper. If you look at my picture at the top of the page you will notice my Mike Palmateer jersey. Anyone who was a fan of those Leaf teams is a die hard fan. So I know exactly where I come from when I tell you that at least 80% of the Leaf fans in this city now think that the Leaf's are in the playoffs.

I hate to be the one to break it to you Leaf fans, but if the Islanders beat the New Jersey Devils tomorrow we will be eliminated from the playoffs. Sounds like a good deal doesn't it?

I mean, what are the odds of the New York Islanders beating Martin Brodeur, Patrick Elias, Brian Gionta and the rest of the Atlantic leading New Jersey Devils.

There is only one problem with that, rumors around town are saying that Lou Lamoriello is planning on sitting as many as 7 of the Devils usual starting lineup, including Martin Brodeur, Patrick Elias and Brian Gionta.

This scenario sounds likely to me and if it does turn out to be the case, I would put my money on the Islanders beating the Brodeur-less Devils.

So Maple Leaf fans, stop your celebrating and make sure that you are in good enough shape to head out to church on Easter Sunday to pray for the New Jersey Devils.

And just in case my cousin's are reading this. Ok Ok... The Leafs actually pulled out the win. But they will still miss the playoffs when the Islanders beat the Devils tomorrow... so.

Nah nah nah nah nah naaaaahhhh.

UPDATE: Since the Vancouver Canucks (and Roberto Luongo) won tonight it is very likely that you will see Martin Brodeur in net tomorrow as he tries to hold off Luongo for the wins record. He has already been quoted as tell Looney Lou that he wants to play, and if he wants to play he wants to win. Strangely enough, the Leafs should thank Vancouver for winning tonight as it may get them in to the playoffs!

Starting Goalies in the NHL tonight Saturday, April 7

Below are the reported starters for Saturday night:

(Bold is my predicted winner, Italic is an uncertain starter)

Islanders - Wade Dubielewicz vs Flyers - Martin Biron
Blackhawks - Nikola Khabibulin vs Red Wings - Domink Hasek
Sabres - Ryan Miller vs Capitals - Olaf Kolzig
Coyotes - Curtis Joseph vs Kings - Mathieu Garon
Canucks - Roberto Luongo vs Sharks - Evgeni Nabokov
Lightning - Marc Denis vs Thrashers - Kari Lehtonen
Panthers - Mikael Tellqvist vs Hurricanes - John Grahame
Canadiens - Jaroslav Halak vs Maple Leafs - Andrew Raycroft
Senators - Ray Emery vs Bruins - Tim Thomas
Ducks - J.S. Giguere vs Blue Jackets - Frederik Norrena
Rangers - Henrik Lundqvist vs Penguins - Marc-Andre Fleury
Blues - Jason Bacashihua - Wild - Niklas Backstrom
Predators - Tomas Vokoun vs Avalanche - Peter Budaj
Oilers - Dwayne Roloson vs Flames - Miikka Kiprusoff

How did I do last night?
5-6 for starters, 1-3 on winners

Thrashers - Johan Hedberg vs Hurricanes - Cam Ward
Panthers - Ed Belfour vs Lightning - Johan Holmqvist
Ducks - J.S. Giguere Ilya Bryzgalov vs Stars - Marty Turco

Starting Goalies in the NHL tonight Friday, April 6

Below are the reported starters for Friday night:

(Bold is my predicted winner, Italic is an uncertain starter)

Thrashers - Johan Hedberg vs Hurricanes - Cam Ward
Panthers - Ed Belfour vs Lightning - Johan Holmqvist
Ducks - J.S. Giguere vs Stars - Marty Turco

How did I do last night?
21-24 for starters, 6-12 on winners

Stars - Marty Turco Mike Smith vs Blue Jackets - Frederik Norrena
Devils - Martin Brodeur vs Flyers - Martin Biron
Canadiens - Jaroslav Halak vs Rangers - Henrik Lundqvist
Bruins - Hannu Toivonen vs Sabres - Ryan Miller
Penguins - Marc-Andre Fleury vs Senators - Ray Emery
Maple Leafs - Andrew Raycroft vs Islanders - Wade Dubielewicz
Oilers - Jussi Markannen vs Wild - Niklas Backstrom
Blues - Jason Bacashihua vs Predators - Tomas Vokoun
Red Wings - Chris Osgood vs Blackhawks - Nikolai Khabibulin
Avalanche - Peter Budaj vs Canucks - Roberto Luongo
Kings - Mathieu Garon Sean Burke vs Coyotes - Curtis Joseph
Flames - Miikka Kiprusoff vs Sharks - Vesa Toskala Evgeni Nabokov

Oilers and Hurricanes go from top to slop

Back at the end of February I wrote a post about Parity in the NHL and how the Carolina Hurricanes and the Edmonton Oilers are making a case for it this season.

Well lo and behold! I make a prediction that actually comes through. The Hurricanes and Oilers will miss the playoffs this year marking the first time in the history of the NHL that the two teams who contended for the Stanley Cup both missed the playoffs the following year.

In fact, if I remember this correctly, the last Stanley Cup winning team that missed the playoff's the following year was the 1996 New Jersey Devils. (Okay, so I looked it up on the 'net to make sure I was right).

The Oilers have been pretty much horrible all year long but considering that they were a last minute add-in to the playoffs last year AND the first 8 seed to ever make it to the Stanley Cup final it is not too surprising that they ended up missing the dance this year.

The Carolina Hurricanes came out of the gate strong this season and for a time were one of the highest scoring teams in the league. In fact, according to ESPN they still rank 12th in the League in team scoring posting an average of 2.94 goals per game. The big problem is on the other side of the coin. The 'Canes goaltending has been erratic to say the least and they average 3.00 goals against per game. Anyone with grade 3 math can see the problem that disparity causes.

As we enter a new era in the NHL I wonder if this type of thing will happen more often?

Starting Goalies in the NHL tonight Thursday, April 5: Updated

Below are the reported starters for Thursday night:

NOTE: Life intruded yesterday and I was unable to post last night's starters, since there were only two games I figure you were able to work it our for yourselves.

More Notes: Updated Boston and Detroit starters... oh yeah and today's date!

I will continue to update today as more news is available.

(Bold is my predicted winner, Italic is an uncertain starter)

Stars - Marty Turco vs Blue Jackets - Frederik Norrena
Devils - Martin Brodeur vs Flyers - Martin Biron
Canadiens - Jaroslav Halak vs Rangers - Henrik Lundqvist
Bruins - Hannu Toivonen vs Sabres - Ryan Miller
Penguins - Marc-Andre Fleury vs Senators - Ray Emery
Maple Leafs - Andrew Raycroft vs Islanders - Wade Dubielewicz
Oilers - Jussi Markannen vs Wild - Niklas Backstrom
Blues - Jason Bacashihua vs Predators - Tomas Vokoun
Red Wings - Chris Osgood vs Blackhawks - Nikolai Khabibulin
Avalanche - Peter Budaj vs Canucks - Roberto Luongo
Kings - Mathieu Garon vs Coyotes - Curtis Joseph
Flames - Miikka Kiprusoff vs Sharks - Vesa Toskala

Starting Goalies in the NHL tonight Tuesday, April 3: UPDATED

Below are the reported starters for Tuesday night:

NOTE: Ed Belfour has been replaced by Craig Anderson

(Bold is my predicted winner, Italic is an uncertain starter)

Panthers - Craig Anderson vs Capitals - Olaf Kolzig
Sabres - Ryan Miller vs Penguins - Marc-Andre Fleury
Senators - Ray Emery vs Devils - Martin Brodeur
Hurricanes - Cam Ward vs Lightning - Johan Holmqvist
Flyers - Martin Biron vs Maple Leafs - Andrew Raycroft
Rangers - Henrik Lundqvist - Islanders - Wade Dubielewicz
Bruins - Hannu Toivonen vs Canadiens - Jaroslav Halak
Blue Jackets - Frederik Norrena vs Red Wings - Dominik Hasek
Oilers - Jussi Markkanen vs Wild - Niklas Backstrom
Blackhawks - Nikolai Khabibulin vs Predators - Chris Mason
Avalanche - Peter Budaj vs Flames - Miikka Kirprusoff
Kings - Mathieu Garon vs Canucks - Roberto Luongo
Blues - Jason Bacashihua vs Coyotes - Curtis Joseph


How did I do last night?
2-2 for starters, 0-1 on winners

Blues - Curtis Sanford vs Stars - Marty Turco

NHL Weekly Wrapup - Who's Hot and Who's Not

This week the Ottawa Senators and New York Rangers have been hot lately and are getting production from their 2nd and 3rd lines. Scan the waiver wires for guys like Mike Comrie, Sean Avery and Brendan Shanahan for some key additions in the last week of the regular season.

Centers: Mike Comrie snapped a 5 game pointless streak on Friday by contributing a goal and two assists and followed it up on Saturday with 2 goals. He potted the game winners on both nights.

Ollie Jokinen: 1 goal, 6 assists, 1 GWG
Saku Koivu: 1 goal, 5 assists, 1 GWG
Vincent Lecavalier: 2 goals, 4 assists
Sidney Crosby: 2 goals, 4 assists
Michael Nylander: 2 goals, 4 assists

Who's Not: Other than my entire center corps? How about Pavol Demitra, and yes he is on my roster. Demitra is pointless in 4 games, at this point in the season drop him for a hot replacement... or a bag of pucks.

Wingers: Peter Schaefer had back to back multi-point games and managed 5 assists last week.

Jaromir Jagr: 3 goals, 3 assists
Daniel Sedin: 3 goals, 2 assists
Zach Parise: 2 goals, 3 assists
Simon Gagne: 1 goal, 4 assists
Evgeni Malkin: 1 goal, 4 assists

Who's Not: Paul Kariya is on a 4 game pointless streak and has only 1 point in 8 games as the Predators have lost 5 of their last 8.

Defensemen: Don't look now but Mark Streit is on another streak, he has 5 points in his last 5 games as the Canadiens make a push for the last playoff spot in the East. And in case you missed it, super prospect Jack Johnson was called up by the Kings and will play the remainder of the season. If you are hurting for points from your d-men take a chance on Jack.

Tomas Kaberle: 2 goals, 3 assists
Ryan Whitney: 3 goals, 1 assist
Mark Streit: 2 goals, 2 assists
Chris Pronger: 2 goals, 2 assists
Brian Rafalski: 4 assists

Who's Not: Brian Campbell is on a 4 game pointless streak. Don't panic, he should snap out of it.

Goaltenders: Miikka Kiprusoff has singlehandedly kept the Calgary Flame in the last playoff spot in the West and put up 3 wins and a shutout last week. An interesting side note, Niklas Backstrom posted 0 wins and 1 shutout last week, he got the shutout in a 1-0 shootout loss to Kiprusoff and the Flames. How often do you see two shutouts in 1 game?

Miikka Kiprusoff: 3 wins, 1 shutout
Martin Brodeur: 3 wins
Evgeni Nabokov: 3 wins
Marty Turco: 2 wins, 1 shutout
Roberto Luongo: 2 wins

Who's Not: Dwayne Roloson lost twice last week and let in 6 goals on 48 shots. However, if you are desperate enough to be starting an Edmonton Oiler goalie at this point in the season you obviously have nothing to lose by continuing to start him.

Who to watch this week: Any New York Ranger. The Rangers seem to be on a mission and their lines are clicking right now. For some reason Martin Straka was available in my league this morning and I dumped Pavol Demitra for him. Sean Avery, Brendan Shanahan and Michael Nylander all put up multiple points last week. On the defensive side, as noted above, Jack Johnson has been called up by the L.A. Kings, if you need some help on the back end this may be a good gamble.

Starting Goalies in the NHL tonight Monday, April 2

Below are the reported starters for Monday night:

(Bold is my predicted winner, Italic is an uncertain starter)

Blues - Curtis Sanford vs Stars - Marty Turco


How did I do last night?
10-12 for starters, 4-6 on winners

Red Wings - Dominik Hasek vs Blue Jackets - Frederik Norrena
Oilers - Jussi Markkanen Dwayne Roloson vs Blackhawks - Nikolai Khabibulin
Bruins - Tim Thomas vs Devils - Martin Brodeur
Hurricanes - John Grahame Cam Ward vs Panthers - Ed Belfour
Kings - Mathieu Garon vs Sharks - Evgeni Nabokov
Maple Leafs - Andrew Raycroft vs Rangers - Henrik Lundqvist

Starting Goalies in the NHL tonight Sunday, April 1

Below are the reported starters for Sunday night:

(Bold is my predicted winner, Italic is an uncertain starter)

Red Wings - Dominik Hasek vs Blue Jackets - Frederik Norrena
Oilers - Jussi Markkanen vs Blackhawks - Nikolai Khabibulin
Bruins - Tim Thomas vs Devils - Martin Brodeur
Hurricanes - John Grahame vs Panthers - Ed Belfour
Kings - Mathieu Garon vs Sharks - Evgeni Nabokov
Maple Leafs - Andrew Raycroft vs Rangers - Henrik Lundqvist


How did I do last night?
15-20 for starters, 7-10 on winners

Thrashers - Kari Lehtonen vs Bruins - Joey MacDonald
Wild - Niklas Backstrom Josh Harding vs Avalanche - Peter Budaj
Penguins - Marc-Andre Fleury vs Maple Leafs - Andrew Raycroft
Rangers - Henrik Lundqvist vs Flyers - Martin Biron
Sabres - Ryan Miller Ty Conklin vs Canadiens - Cristobal Huet Jaroslav Halak
Senators - Martin Gerber vs Islanders - Wade Dubielewicz
Capitals - Olaf Kolzig vs Lightning - Johan Holmqvist
Ducks - J.S. Giguere vs Blues - Curtis Sanford Jason Bacashihua
Stars - Marty Turco vs Predators - Tomas Vokoun
Flames - Miikka Kiprusoff vs Canucks - Roberto Luongo