no chance. mostly due to games in hand for everyone we are contending with for the 8th spot. if everyone had played the same amount of games, with us being out the number of points we are, i would give us a chance. just too many teams with 1, 2, 3 games in hand on us.
I think it's too close to call. As JacketFan said in a previous post, even Hitch thinks it's gonna go down to the wire (or that's what he's saying anyway). This is starting to remind me a whole lot of last year in the East. They literally didn't know until the last game involved how it would play out. And it ended like this: #6- 94 pts., #7- 93 pts., #8- 92 pts., #9- 91 pts., #10- 90 pts. WHEW!
Someone on here mentioned awhile back that our final game vs. St. Louis might turn out to be huge. Maybe they have ESP.
It was a good run but it's done. The games in hand bothered me all season long (i.e., so what if we're ahead of St. Louis by 2 or 3 points but they've played 2 - 3 fewer games).
Things felt better during the All-Star break. I was thinking maybe 85 - 90 points. Maybe even ~95 and enough to make the playoffs. At the time they were one of the best home ice teams in the league (I know the road record was weak and that they had many road games left in bunches). Then they really started to tank on home ice. Even the 1/2 points gathered in overtime sucked because there were times when we should have gotten 2 (i.e., Washington).
It all seemed to coincide along the duration of Fedorov's concussion and Jody's trade. I see maybe 85 points now. Let's be honest. They've probably overachieved and are definitely under-talented (zero secondary scoring, weak PP over most of the year). The last few weeks have shown that this team is not consistent enough and does not deserve to make the playoffs. It's been hard to see them tank down the stretch. They played with a lot of heart all season so it's been disappointing to witness them buckle under this recent pressure.
It sucks to say it but I guess there's always next year. Nevertheless, this should go down as their best season on record and I'm glad. It's been fun.
It'll be interesting to see what Scotty does (along with the rest of the NHL) over the next 7 days.
I am clueless. Seriously. How you can attempt to predict anything that's going to happen with this team is beyond me. I voted other.
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"Every game, every point is a necessity." -- Ty Conklin, January 2007
"I'll have a chance to compete for the post of first issue. This is the most important thing." -- Sergei Bobrovsky, June 2012
I predict that there is no way to predict what this team is going to do.
However, we have pretty much played .500 hockey since the beginning of November. The curse of DM and ".500 since Feds joined us" lives on. (that's DM bashing, not Feds - retract the claws whoever is tempted)
I voted the same way I have all along: close, but no cigar. Improvements, this year, but still a ways to go. I expect significant activity at the deadline and money to be spent in the off-season to make this our last non-playoff year for quite some time.
Note: Brave fans will make their prediction BEFORE tonight's game.
Votes after tonight's game will only count half you cowards
Gut check time for fans and players alike.
Disclaimer: predicting they won't make the playoffs is not an indication of how good a fan you are or how much you love the team. Likewise, predicting they will make the playoffs is not a measurement of your sanity. It is merely a prediction.
I'm exactly in the same place I was this pre-season (how's that for consistency JF )
My head says they won't make it, and that being sellers at the trade deadline is the best thing for the team.
My heart still wants a win every night, and wants the players and fans to experience the playoffs.
My head says they won't make it, and that being sellers at the trade deadline is the best thing for the team.
Most of the time being a seller is "fool's gold", it rarely works out for you the next season.
It's best to keep the important parts and get replace what's broken, which is not true selling. If you continue to sell your assets, you spend 1/4 of the season working on intigrating new parts.
However since this team appears to have a weak core of players, it's a harder decision on who to keep. H&H seem to want to keep the Foote, other then that they don't seem sold on many of the veterans. Interesting situation.
Note: Brave fans will make their prediction BEFORE tonight's game.
I'm not brave, just insane. I voted No, I think we're going to just miss out. 9th or 10th.
I'll even go so far as they'll somehow stay well in contention, and might even get to 7th or 8th for a brief pause, before breaking our hearts in OT on 4/6/08.
I voted yes i think there's a chance, mainly because if we can stay within a couple points of 8th place through Feb. we get all those home games in march and if we regain our home ice dominance of early season, we could make a run. of course i would love to see us add a player or two but i'm not sure that's going to happen.
10th place, 86 points. Same place I've been since before the season started.
We need to make trades to acquire assets to build for the future. We can't simply stand pat and do nothing. Howson may wait to see where things stand in 5-6 days, but we should be sellers and then the die will have been cast.
We won't make the playoffs with the roster we have. However, if we DID by some miracle make the playoffs, I like the matchup against Detroit in the first round. We all know miracles CAN happen in hockey.
I keep saying that we're out of it, not gonna happen, but no on else is pulling away from us. It's almost as though 7 through 11th teams don't really care which of them makes it. I think we have a shot, but only because everyone else is in a funk as well. Not of our own doing.
I still have faith. It's close enough that a couple of surprising wins/losses here and there could mean anything. I may be overly optimistic, but what the heck - I still think they make it.
I still have faith. It's close enough that a couple of surprising wins/losses here and there could mean anything. I may be overly optimistic, but what the heck - I still think they make it.
They could but as someone already said they need to win 15 of 21 games to do it (or some combination of at least 30 points). I'd set the odds of that happening at less than 1 in 10... Not likely.
So far I'm about dead on with what I said in the beginning. They'll flirt with the playoffs, but not make it. Could prove me wrong though. You never know.
However...
I still believe that this team needs to NOT make it this year. So there will be a much needed fire sale here in the next week. We need to trade some of these guys, not bring in others to try and make the playoffs this year. Fedorov, Peca, Vyborny, Hainsey, and maybe Foote. At least the first three need to go. And they should bring something good. Heck, I'd be willing to let Foote go as long as there was some sort of unsaid deal that he re-signs in the off-season. I still think he needs to be here for about two more years. But a first rounder for him and a re-sign in the off season (Like what Tkachuk did) would be great.
The best thing for this team right now is to make those trades, get more ammo for next year and years after, and more importantly, clear some money for a couple of big name free agents this summer. Next year is the key. My $0.02 as usual...
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