I agree with the one comment above, this will probably be the year Ovechkin finally breaks through and gets that chance to play for Stans cup. With the capitals currently sitting at +130 to win the east, books seem to agree heavily with this logic. It's going to be Washington vs take your pick. The west looks to be completely wide open....the least predictable that I've seen in years, any team stands a great chance to win the West.
My crystal ball is showing wazzu vs dallas or st louis. Will be a wacky postseason for sure. Kind of depressing too, with pucks season being almost gone whats left? baseball?
I agree with the one comment above, this will probably be the year Ovechkin finally breaks through and gets that chance to play for Stans cup. With the capitals currently sitting at +130 to win the east, books seem to agree heavily with this logic. It's going to be Washington vs take your pick. The west looks to be completely wide open....the least predictable that I've seen in years, any team stands a great chance to win the West.
My crystal ball is showing wazzu vs dallas or st louis. Will be a wacky postseason for sure. Kind of depressing too, with pucks season being almost gone whats left? baseball?
OK, I'm going with the matchup that the front offices want to
see.....Crosby vs Ovechkin in the ECF. In the WCF, I'm going San Jose
vs Anaheim.
VERY likely to meet 1st round as Ducks #2 and Sharks #3 Pacific seeds
Seeds 3 thru 5 are currently a mere 2 points apart in the standings.....5 games left......youre right they could meet, but i don't know how VERY likely it is..not to mention nashville is only 1 pt behind SJ.
OK, I'm going with the matchup that the front offices want to
see.....Crosby vs Ovechkin in the ECF. In the WCF, I'm going San Jose
vs Anaheim.
VERY likely to meet 1st round as Ducks #2 and Sharks #3 Pacific seeds
Seeds 3 thru 5 are currently a mere 2 points apart in the standings.....5 games left......youre right they could meet, but i don't know how VERY likely it is..not to mention nashville is only 1 pt behind SJ.
Seeds 3 thru 5 are currently a mere 2 points apart in the standings.....5 games left......youre right they could meet, but i don't know how VERY likely it is..not to mention nashville is only 1 pt behind SJ.
Where Nashville and San Jose finish is totally irrelevant unless San Jose finishes first in the Pacific, and would therefor play Nashville if they end up the #1 Wild Card. Nashville could finish with more points than San Jose, the Kings or the Ducks and would still play whichever of those 3 teams wins the Pacific, unless the Wild end up with more points than Nashville, in which case Nashville would play the first place team in the Central Division (assuming that team had more points than the first place team in the Pacific Division as the Stars do now over the Kings)
It sounds complicated, but it's really not. First place overall team in the Western Conference plays the #2 Wild Card. Then the First place team from whichever Division the first place overall isn't from will play the #1 Wild Card. Then the second and third place teams from the Central would play each other in one Playoff round, while the second and third place teams from the Pacific Division will play each other in the other Playoff round.
As I write this, I see it can look confusing, so I just found a site that shows how the Playoff pairings would match up if the Playoff were to start tomorrow. It's much less confusing when you actually see the Brackets laid out
Seeds 3 thru 5 are currently a mere 2 points apart in the standings.....5 games left......youre right they could meet, but i don't know how VERY likely it is..not to mention nashville is only 1 pt behind SJ.
Where Nashville and San Jose finish is totally irrelevant unless San Jose finishes first in the Pacific, and would therefor play Nashville if they end up the #1 Wild Card. Nashville could finish with more points than San Jose, the Kings or the Ducks and would still play whichever of those 3 teams wins the Pacific, unless the Wild end up with more points than Nashville, in which case Nashville would play the first place team in the Central Division (assuming that team had more points than the first place team in the Pacific Division as the Stars do now over the Kings)
It sounds complicated, but it's really not. First place overall team in the Western Conference plays the #2 Wild Card. Then the First place team from whichever Division the first place overall isn't from will play the #1 Wild Card. Then the second and third place teams from the Central would play each other in one Playoff round, while the second and third place teams from the Pacific Division will play each other in the other Playoff round.
As I write this, I see it can look confusing, so I just found a site that shows how the Playoff pairings would match up if the Playoff were to start tomorrow. It's much less confusing when you actually see the Brackets laid out
Not necessarily mbb. Its all determined by Division in each of the two Conferences. #1 plays #8, but from there it's first place team in the Division that #1 is not in that plays #7. So in the West, if the season ended now, #1 Dallas would play #8 Minnesota, then #3 L.A. would play #7 Nashville (even though #2 St. Louis has more pts than L.A., the Kings are the Pacific Division winner)
From there the second place team in each Division plays the third place team in their Division regardless of how many points each has. Again, in the West, if the season ended today #2 St. Louis would play #5 Chicago, and #4 Anaheim would play #6 San Jose.
So in essence, in the West, if it ended today, it would be:
#1 vs #8
#3 vs #7
#2 vs #5
#4 vs #6
Sorry, I just wanted to clarify that, and what is there today, will probably be totally different tomorrow, and again the next day, all the way until Seasons end.
Not necessarily mbb. Its all determined by Division in each of the two Conferences. #1 plays #8, but from there it's first place team in the Division that #1 is not in that plays #7. So in the West, if the season ended now, #1 Dallas would play #8 Minnesota, then #3 L.A. would play #7 Nashville (even though #2 St. Louis has more pts than L.A., the Kings are the Pacific Division winner)
From there the second place team in each Division plays the third place team in their Division regardless of how many points each has. Again, in the West, if the season ended today #2 St. Louis would play #5 Chicago, and #4 Anaheim would play #6 San Jose.
So in essence, in the West, if it ended today, it would be:
#1 vs #8
#3 vs #7
#2 vs #5
#4 vs #6
Sorry, I just wanted to clarify that, and what is there today, will probably be totally different tomorrow, and again the next day, all the way until Seasons end.
16 teams will qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The format is a set bracket that is largely division-based with wild cards. The top three teams in each division will make up the first 12 teams in the playoffs. The remaining four spots will be filled by the next two highest-placed finishers in each conference, based on regular-season record and regardless of division. It is possible for one division in each conference to send five teams to the postseason while the other sends just three.
In the First Round, the division winner with the best record in each conference will be matched against the wild-card team with the lesser record; the wild card team with the better record will play the other division winner. The teams finishing second and third in each division will meet in the First Round within the bracket headed by their respective division winners. First-round winners within each bracket play one another in the Second Round to determine the four participants in the Conference Finals. Home-ice advantage through the first two rounds goes to the team that placed higher in the regular-season standings. In the Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Final, home-ice advantage goes to the team that had the better regular-season record -- regardless of the teams' final standing in their respective divisions.
If two or more clubs are tied in points during the regular season, the standing of the clubs is determined in the following order:
The fewer number of games played (i.e., superior points percentage).The greater number of games won, excluding games won in the Shootout. This figure is reflected in the ROW column.
The greater number of points earned in games between the tied clubs. If two clubs are tied, and have not played an equal number of home games against each other, points earned in the first game played in the city that had the extra game shall not be included. If more than two clubs are tied, the higher percentage of available points earned in games among those clubs, and not including any ""odd"" games, shall be used to determine the standing.
The greater differential between goals for and against for the entire regular season. NOTE: In standings a victory in a shootout counts as one goal for, while a shootout loss counts as one goal against.
16 teams will qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The format is a set bracket that is largely division-based with wild cards. The top three teams in each division will make up the first 12 teams in the playoffs. The remaining four spots will be filled by the next two highest-placed finishers in each conference, based on regular-season record and regardless of division. It is possible for one division in each conference to send five teams to the postseason while the other sends just three.
In the First Round, the division winner with the best record in each conference will be matched against the wild-card team with the lesser record; the wild card team with the better record will play the other division winner. The teams finishing second and third in each division will meet in the First Round within the bracket headed by their respective division winners. First-round winners within each bracket play one another in the Second Round to determine the four participants in the Conference Finals. Home-ice advantage through the first two rounds goes to the team that placed higher in the regular-season standings. In the Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Final, home-ice advantage goes to the team that had the better regular-season record -- regardless of the teams' final standing in their respective divisions.
If two or more clubs are tied in points during the regular season, the standing of the clubs is determined in the following order:
The fewer number of games played (i.e., superior points percentage).The greater number of games won, excluding games won in the Shootout. This figure is reflected in the ROW column.
The greater number of points earned in games between the tied clubs. If two clubs are tied, and have not played an equal number of home games against each other, points earned in the first game played in the city that had the extra game shall not be included. If more than two clubs are tied, the higher percentage of available points earned in games among those clubs, and not including any ""odd"" games, shall be used to determine the standing.
The greater differential between goals for and against for the entire regular season. NOTE: In standings a victory in a shootout counts as one goal for, while a shootout loss counts as one goal against.
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