Poor Edmonton. I guess it was bound to happen, since St. Louis was losing so bloody much they had to win a game eventually.

I'm waiting for Montreal to clinch a playoff spot and Toronto to be guaranteed shutout. Then my season is complete. Hehe.

PEACE, Mike.

The Oilers don't even deserve to make the playoffs, after that pitiful showing. Losing to the worst team in the conference, who had lost 13 games in a row? Not acceptable.

Part of me is kinda hoping that the Oilers don't make the playoffs, so that maybe the management wakes up and hires some people who actually know what they're doing.

As long as they stay ahead of Vancouver, they'll be okay. If San Jose beats Vancouver in both of their games coming up, the Canucks are done. If not, the Oilers are done. It's that simple.

The Oilers are going to beat Detroit tonight, I can feel it. They have a better away record than home, anyways. In any event, I am predicting the Oilers to win in my betting group, soooo... they better win like I think they will! Hehe.

PEACE, Mike.

I hope you're right, but I'm just not feeling it. They played really badly against St. Louis in the first two periods, so I don't know if they're gonna be competitive against Detroit tonight. And they're already down by one after one.

Atlanta's rolling over Tampa tonight, it's 4-1 halfway through the second. If Tampa's not careful, they're gonna become the first team in ten years to miss the playoffs the season after winning the cup.

Hahaha, Vancouver sucks.

Trixster!!! The Oilers clinched a playoff berth! Winning 2-1 over Anaheim, coupled with Vancouver's second loss to San Jose (thank you San Jose!) allowed them to get it tonight. Vancouver is done for.

At the same time, Colorado obviously also clinched a playoff spot since they are right above Edmonton. So, that means the Western conference is set. Detroit, Dallas, Calgary, Nashville, Anaheim, San Jose, Colarado and Edmonton are in the playoffs.

The Eastern conference is still open, but I think that will be narrowed down to just the last spot up for grabs soon. Montreal needs just one point (i.e. a win or an overtime loss) to clinch a playoff berth; or they can do it by Atlanta losing one of their games. That should be within ability, since Montreal doesn't even need to technically win. The 8th and last playoff spot will then be fought over by Tampa Bay, Atlanta and Toronto.

PEACE, Mike.

Woot! Edmonton is my nearest city and I fucking hate Vancouver, so I'm happy.

They're only one point away from 7th, which would mean another Dallas vs Edmonton entry . Even though Edmonton would be doomed, I actually want it to happen. Like Sox vs Yankees, it's fun to watch.

Shack, where do you live?

If Colorado loses both their remaining games (against Vancouver and Edmonton) then Edmonton would vault over them into seventh and play Dallas, again, in the opening round. It would be nice and traditional if that happened, but the way Vancouver is playing, I don't see them beating Colorado. So Edmonton will probably finish 8th, and play Detroit, which would be better, as they've beat them twice this year already.

The West will probably shake down like this:
Detroit vs. Edmonton
Dallas vs. Colorado
Calgary vs. Anaheim
Nashville vs. San Jose

The only change would be 6th and 7th, as Anaheim and San Jose could swap places. Colorado could also get in there. But it doesn't matter, as long as Edmonton's in. Woohoo!

The East will probably look like this:
Ottawa vs. Tampa/Atlanta/Toronto
Carolina vs. Montreal
New York vs. New Jersey
Buffalo vs. Philadelphia

Tampa's let Atlanta and Toronto get back into it. Any one of the three could make it now. That's the only remaining playoff race. For all the talk about this season being the tightest, the playoff teams could all be determined before the final weekend. All that's left now is the positioning.

I can't wait for playoff hockey.

I'll root for Carolina in the playoffs, but I don't see myself watching too many games. Ever since the Bruins were out of playoff contention, 2 months or so ago, I haven't watched many games. I've probably watched three. I still like Dallas to win it all.

The Red Wings have won 11 in a row on the road...

They are the BEST road team this season and they have home ice advantage throughout the playoffs. They have some of the BEST young players, Datsyuk/Zetterberg, and have TWO goalies playing at a tremendous level.

Unstoppable? Yes

I live in Jasper. Technically Hinton is closer, but I consider Edmonton the closest real city.

Well, Hinton's more a town anyway. Same with Edson. The only real cities in Alberta are Edmonton, Calgary, Red Deer, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, and maybe Lloydminister.

Do people in Jasper cheer for the Oilers or the Flames? Or both?

More so Edmonton, thanks to most newspapers and news channels coming from there.

Montreal still can't clinch that playoff berth! Sheesh. Let's go folks!

Good news is Toronto is done. They're out; officially not in the playoffs. The last 2 spots are being fought over by Montreal, Tampa Bay and Atlanta. Montreal thankfully still has lots of possibilities to clinch a spot, and one of them better pull through. Montreal has to get at least one point in their last game OR Tampa Bay has to lose their last game OR Atlanta has to lose one of their last 2 games. One of those three will allow the Habs to clinch.

PEACE, Mike.

Well Ottawa just got spanked by Toronto. It was 5-0 when the second period ended and I was just too depressed to watch the rest. I don't agree with those who say that it's all Hassek's fault for Ottawa's recent losing streak, but I do think that it plays into things. At least a little bit...

As for Toronto, are you sure they're officially DOA, Mike? Cuz I certainly hope so

With Tampa's win, Toronto's done. Thank god. I'm very happy for that.

I find it funny that the Oilers clinched a playoff spot before the Habs, even with Montreal's huge winning streak.

Yeah, it's all over the news. Headlines on television and on the net. Check out of the front page of TSN, which says "All for Naught" in regards to Toronto. Tampa Bay's win put Toronto out, since they can't catch up now even if they win both their last 2 games. They are done.

PEACE, Mike.

I really don't understand why Gainey put Aebischer in net. The logical thing to do was to put up Huet, and then put in Aebischer for the last game, allowing Huet to rest for the playoffs. At least now Huet is definately going in net, and I'm glad, because while I think they both rock, I still trust Huet a lot more. He's more dependable.

PEACE, Mike.

I'm sure the mayor will call for a state of emergency within the next few hours.

Toronto did all they could down the dieing stretch, they were really hitting a stride. Too little too late though, if the season lasted 3-5 more games than it does they probably would've made it with the way they're playing. I'm still happy they missed.

Colorado lost to in Vancouver in overtime, and San Jose clinched 5th by winning. With the Colorado point, in the West 1 Detroit vs 8 Edmonton is locked, joining 4 Nashville vs 5 San Jose. The other two can still be decided, with 2 Dalling playing either Anaheim or Colorado, and 3 Calgary playing the other. Colorado is down by one point but has more wins, so with an Anaheim loss a Colorado win or tie will vault them over.

The other side is much more muddled, with not a single match-up set yet. 1 and 2 Carolina and Ottawa are still battling between those spots, as are their opponents 7 and 8 Montreal and Tampa/Atlanta. The 3 seed has an uber battle, as NY Rangers are up by 1 point on Philly and by 3 on Jersey, but only have 1 game left while they have 2. All 3 who are clinched can possibly take it, they'll spread out as the 3 5 and 6 seeds. Only one ranking is nailed down, that's Buffalo as 4 who will play the leftover of that group.

Man, the Leafs just gave up, didn't they? Buffalo just rolled over them, 6-0. Quinn's as good as gone now, whether by retirement or firing I don't know.

I think the Oilers have a lot better chance against the Wings than against Dallas again. They could give Detroit a run for their money. If any team's gonna upset, it would be Edmonton or Montreal.

I kinda consider this years Wings team a better Pittsburg Steelers last year... Yzerman is probably in his last season and will want to go out on top... like Bettis. And like Bettis, he is one of the greatest players to ever play the game

Wooohoo! Habs clinch playoff spot. As do the Lightning. Both conferences now set in terms of who is in the playoff, it's just the complete order that has yet to be determined.

PEACE, Mike.

Any early predictions on who'll be in the final?

I'm thinking Calgary/Ottawa right now, mostly because I'd like to see an all-Canadian final for once. They also seem to be the most likely at this point. Detroit/Dallas/Colorado are all too old, Carolina/New York are too inexperienced, Nashville/Tampa/Edmonton have no goalie and Philly's performance depends on Forsberg's health, which is never good. San Jose, Anaheim, New Jersey or Montreal could surprise, though.

Yeah, the Thrashers blew it. Caps should've been an easy win to stay alive.

The fight for the 3rd seed and that division is looking ridicously fun. I can't remember the last time 3 teams had equal chance to take the division, on almost the last day.

Btw, Crosby has 3 assists tonight to give him 100 points, making him the youngest player to do so. He really came on strong the last two weeks of the year, the Penguins should focus on building around him.