As the team comes home to Montreal after their sort-of good, two wins, two losses, California and Phoenix roadtrip, they only have a day and a half before they clash with the New Jersey Devils. So while they’re getting massages from their wives, helping with the kids’ homework, and resting those weary bones, it gives us a little time to ponder the future.
Have a look at the standings and see if we can kind of figure out just who might play who in the playoffs, which are coming up fast. First though, notice how many goals Montreal has scored? It’s fire wagon hockey! (Cont’d after stats)
| GP | W | L | OT | Pts | GF | GA | Home | Away | L10 | |||
| 1 | New Jersey Devils* | 69 | 40 | 23 | 6 | 86 | 180 | 159 | 22-12-1 | 18-11-5 | 7-2-1 | |
| 2 | Montréal Canadiens* | 70 | 38 | 23 | 9 | 85 | 223 | 197 | 16-12-5 | 22-11-4 | 6-4-0 | |
| 3 | Carolina Hurricanes* | 71 | 37 | 29 | 5 | 79 | 216 | 221 | 21-12-3 | 16-17-2 | 7-2-1 | |
| 4 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 70 | 39 | 24 | 7 | 85 | 206 | 192 | 19-10-5 | 20-14-2 | 5-3-2 | |
| 5 | Ottawa Senators | 70 | 38 | 25 | 7 | 83 | 223 | 209 | 20-12-3 | 18-13-4 | 3-5-2 | |
| 6 | New York Rangers | 69 | 36 | 24 | 9 | 81 | 183 | 169 | 22-13-1 | 14-11-8 | 8-0-2 | |
| 7 | Boston Bruins | 69 | 36 | 25 | 8 | 80 | 183 | 191 | 18-13-4 | 18-12-4 | 6-2-2 | |
| 8 | Philadelphia Flyers | 69 | 35 | 26 | 8 | 78 | 212 | 197 | 16-13-4 | 19-13-2 | 5-2-3 | |
| 9 | Buffalo Sabres | 69 | 32 | 27 | 10 | 74 | 209 | 201 | 17-13-4 | 15-14-6 | 4-4-2 | |
| 10 | Washington Capitals | 70 | 32 | 30 | 8 | 72 | 203 | 209 | 17-15-3 | 15-15-5 | 4-4-2 | |
| 11 | Florida Panthers | 71 | 32 | 31 | 8 | 72 | 190 | 200 | 14-13-7 | 18-18-1 | 5-3-2 | |
| 12 | New York Islanders | 70 | 32 | 31 | 7 | 71 | 170 | 204 | 17-16-3 | 15-15-4 | 4-6-0 | |
| 13 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 70 | 30 | 30 | 10 | 70 | 196 | 216 | 16-14-5 | 14-16-5 | 6-3-1 | |
| 14 | Atlanta Thrashers | 70 | 30 | 32 | 8 | 68 | 186 | 230 | 17-15-3 | 13-17-5 | 1-5-4 | |
| 15 | Tampa Bay Lightning | |||||||||||
Anyway, if New Jersey, for example, keeps playing stingy hockey and Martin Brodeur continues his great goaltending, they stand a good chance to finish first. If Montreal finishes second, they’d play Boston.
However, Boston’s been faltering lately and Philadelphia could overtake them. Pittsburgh’s coming on strong. The Rangers are heating up. Montreal, of course, is in the thick of it, could very possibly end up in first, and I’m mighty proud. Ottawa could get back on track at any time.
So what this means is, I know absolutely nothing about who’s going to play who. Even Buffalo, now out of the race, could find themselves back in it if Philly slumps and the Sabres put together a decent winning streak.
So as much as I wanted it to look like I knew how this was going to play out, I don’t know a thing. It’s too tricky, too unsure. You just never know. Toe Blake was right.
I’m going back to sleep.
What Toe neglected to mention was that predictions are also for scientists. The essence of science is to make generalisations that apply whenever & wherever the postulated conditions are met. Thus, an experiment must be reproducible in Powell River, Moscow, on the moon or any where else in the universe. Science works great for the external objective world but not so good for the subjective human world. Hence, the diff between the hard sciences such as physics & chemistry & the soft ones such as sociology & psychology. That human behaviour continues to defy all attempts to quantify it lies at the heart of the appeal of our sporting endeavours. Yes, it might be said/argued that a hockey fan (even those of the lesser orders of teams) is as pure an expression of individuality as is out there, he/she is a walkin’ talkin’ celebration of our `irrational’ selves that defies all attempts to reduce us to anonymous symbols in impersonal equations: perfection in imperfection, eh? hehehehe