We're drawing nearer to the playoffs and the Playoff Pool needs to be trimmed, just for all of those who are not quite in the loop like the rest of us. Looking at the standings and some of the Death Watch numbers, I think we can safely eliminate a number of teams, like we eliminated the Panthers the other night. Actually, the Panthers probably could have held out until this post, while a couple of teams I'll note here could have gone before them.
Despite the wondrous efforts of
Steven Stamkos this season, the Tampa Bay Lightning are not going to make the playoffs in 2010, as they go into Wednesday's action with only one game to lose or one game to win for the Boston Bruins. Of course, the loss seems a little more believable, especially with the Bolts facing off against the Penguins on Wednesday night. The 14th place team in the East will be removed from the online selection sheet, with no hesitation.
In the West, it will be the ol' heave-ho for the Dallas Stars, who sit a 1.5 games away from complete elimination on Wednesday afternoon. The Stars host the Sharks on Wednesday night, while the Colorado Avalanche have the Anaheim Ducks, which has a pretty good combination of possibilities for elimination for the Stars. If the Avalanche win and the Stars lose, then there is little math to do here. An overtime loss to either team, in lieu of their other elimination possibilities, should do it as well.
Finally, its the Minnesota Wild who sit in the same boat as the Stars, in terms of points left to go, as they host the Blackhawks on Wednesday night. Again, a Wild loss and Avalanche win will do the trick, with the overtime loss possibilities also in there. So, being this close makes it really easy to eliminate the Wild from the Playoff Pool sheet tonight. No
Martin Havlat, Marek Zidlicky or
Niklas Backstrom for your picking pleasure this year.
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