With only five points (as of this writing) separating the fourth seed from the 10th in the Eastern Conference, defining who will make it and who will come up short is very tough. Teams are swapping positions in the standings daily.
I expect the Ottawa Senators to squeak into fourth, thus continuing their stellar second half of the season. Though their number one goaltender, Ray Emery, is out for three contests due to a suspension for slashing the Canadiens' Maxim Lapierre, the Sens will keep up the good work. With the resurgence of Dany Heatley and the return of Jason Spezza from injury, the Sens are now running on all cylinders.
Aided by constant scoring outbursts from their young but tremendously talented core, the Pittsburgh Penguins will give anyone a run for their money in the postseason. I'm still outraged at the fact that the Pens' front office hasn't picked up a proven enforcer to protect golden boy Sydney Crosby. These days, critics keep blabbing about how difficult it is to find a guy who can fight and play. Honestly, if your name is Sidney Crosby, do you really care? Don't you think Sidney will be able to pick up a bit of slack if that means his opponents will think twice before spearing him in the gut?
Tampa Bay and Carolina seem to have regained momentum in the race to the finish. That leaves the Montreal Canadiens fighting for the eighth and final spot. The Habs, who were not so long ago fourth in the standings, are fading fast. They have so many areas for concern that nobody knows quite where to turn. The media up there is running wild analyzing every little aspect of their game. If you ask me, the problem lies in leadership, or lack thereof! Everybody is pointing fingers and nobody in red white and bleu is stepping up.
But Montreal is not the only Canadian city panicking over their underachieving hockey club. The Toronto Maple Leafs sit in the eighth spot. This spring will mark the 40th season since the Leafs actually won the Stanley Cup. No need to say that the media has been dreaming about a storybook ending all year. That said, I think leadership is not a problem for the Leafs. They will stay above the New York Islanders and Monteal and slide in to the eighth spot. Sorry, Habs fans! Don't worry, though, that doesn't mean I see Alexei Ponikarovski drinking out of the Cup anytime soon.
Just a few weeks ago, the Boston Bruins still had a shot at making it to the dance. They had as much as five games in hand over teams ahead of them and were playing decent hockey. Looks like they've all but given up. Management has kept up with the trend of bad trades sending Brad Stuart, their number two defenseman, and Wayne Primeau to Calgary.
Many must be asking themselves why the B's keep letting key assets go. Look no further than last year's travesty in getting rid of Joe Thornton. They tried to fool everybody by signing big Zdeno Chara in the offseason. The fact is that nobody's blind. The Bruins are as conservative as ever. Until they start fighting to the death to keep their talent in town, they won't even get a sniff at the playoffs.
The clock is winding down. Teams that have the collateral to make a move must take a good look at offers because these days, windows for a championship are few and far between. Ask any Leaf fan.
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