A MIRACLE!
A small miracle is all that will get the Canes into the playoffs. I am not trying to stir the pot, but the facts are hard to deny. I reviewed the schedule of the bottom 7 teams in the Eastern Conference and the Hurricanes have the toughest road to the playoffs of these 7 cellar dwellers. Doing some quick math, this is how I believe the East will end up.
#6 EDM ... 72
#7 BRA ... 70
#8 PA ...... 65
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#9 REG ... 59
#10 LTH .. 57
#11 SC ... 56
#12 CAL ..48
As I stated above, the Canes remaining schedule is probably the most difficult, with Edmonton and PA's being the easiest. The Canes could realistically only win 3 of their remaining games, and probably lose a few more in O.T. and/or a S.O.
The relative strength of the teams schedule is why their should be more separation come the end of the season than their currently is in the standings. For example, Edmonton gets Lethbridge and Calgary 6 more times in their last 15 games. The Oil Kings and Raiders seem to have a favorable schedule and that is why I have them both making the Dance come Spring. Brandon gets to boogey also as they are just playing darn good hockey as of late. I tried to account for 3 point games but if 2 or 3 of these teams have a lot of them, the final standings will be closer than my predictions.
Here is a list of Lethbridge's last 9 games.
Wed Mar 02 .. Lethbridge 0 Chilliwack 0
Fri Mar 04 ... Lethbridge 0 Kamloops 0
Sat Mar 05 ... Lethbridge 0 Kelowna 0
Wed Mar 09 ... Moose Jaw 0 Lethbridge 0
Fri Mar 11 ..... Lethbridge 0 Calgary 0
Sat Mar 12 .... Medicine Hat 0 Lethbridge 0
Tue Mar 15 ... Lethbridge 0 Edmonton 0
Fri Mar 18 ... Kootenay 0 Lethbridge 0
Sat Mar 19 ... Lethbridge 0 Kootenay 0
I hope I am wrong about the Canes playoff chances but they really don't look good right now. We could quite likely lose everyone of our last nine games. The only somewhat easy game in the last nine is at Calgary.
Let's cheer for Swift Current and the Seattle Thunderbirds to win a few more games than it looks like they will. This will give the Canes the #2 and #3 slots in the lottery for the bantam draft, which gives us 2 very good chances at the number one overall pick.
Last edited by HURRICANE'S ROCK; 02-13-2011 at 06:55 PM.
An opinion should be the result of thought, not a substitute for it.