Race to the Sin Bin (Apr 8)

Only two days left to go in the hockey pool and there are 24 games left to play. 14 of those games go on Saturday, so it's fight night!

Marcie's team opens up with 645 minutes in penalties, while Troy's team is only 44 minutes back at 601.  It's fun to think that last season, Derek B.'s team finished with 762 minutes, setting the bar for future goon teams to come.

20 skaters have the potential of playing today, 11 of which belong to Marcie, but Troy does have four of the top five players playing today, which kind of evens it out, right?

It's quantity over quality for Marcie's side, as her team won't boast a 100-minute player tonight, as close as her team will dress will be 95 minutes from Edmonton's Patrick Maroon and there's a good chance it will get a bit testy against the Canucks tonight in Vancouver.  Calgary's Sam Bennett is her other big chance at minutes, as he has 75 PIM on the season, so far, and their match-up against San Jose won't be an immediate playoff match-up, but they may still want to leave something to remember each other by, just in case they find each other in the second round.

If Troy is going to see his team claw their way back, who has to be rowdy tonight?  It gets started bright and early with Mark Borowiecki and the Senators hosting the Rangers this morning.  Both teams have clinched their playoff spots, so it may be a bit of a struggle to find some passion, since they won't face each other in the opening round.  Cody McLeod was a scratch for the Predators last game, but a game in Winnipeg, who has another one of Troy's top goons, Chris Thorburn, may make for an interesting head-to-head, assuming both are playing.  Matt Martin was a stud for Troy on Thursday night, picking up 15 minutes in penalties, as he tries to will the Leafs into the playoffs and he might need to be fired up again against the Penguins tonight, if he is going to will his team to victory.

No one likes a runaway victory, there's no drama in that.  Let's see this race get a little bit tighter, as we head to Sunday's schedule.  Let's have it mean something!