I know that Arctic Ice Hockey hasn’t really been doing the Game Day Thread articles (at least, not consistently) and some people are fine with that since they feel the GDT’s don’t really serve a purpose. Well don’t worry Padre, I’m not here to try to convince anyone of the merits of such articles.
To drive that point home, I am barely going to even mention tonight’s game in my post, though I will include a potential line up the Jets may or may not use against the Ducks right at the end. Why I am doing this at all is because I took a quick peek at what the teams’ vying for the best record in the Central Division had in store for them in the games left. To start off, let’s look at the NHL’s Western WildCard standings (courtesy of ESPN).
Focusing on the top of the Central Division, the race for first could get even tighter with a Winnipeg victory this evening, which would tie the Jets, Stars, & Avalanche with 89 points on the season. Should our squad manage a regulation win over the Ducks (30th in NHL), then the Peg would find themselves officially in the top spot by holding the first tie-breaker (37 regulation wins over Colorado’s 36 & Dallas’ 29).
Even though the three franchises have differing games remaining (between 14 & 17), I decided to take a peek at their final stretches to try and determine the level of competition in store for the Avs, Stars, & Jets.
Beginning with Winnipeg, the Jets have 17 games left in the regular season featuring 4 games against the NHL’s top 8 teams, 5 versus the 9th to 16th place squads, 6 matches facing franchises vying for a playoff spot (17th to 24th), and 2 contests against the bottom-dwelling 8. The average point total for the Peg’s remaining opponents is 74.294, which would put the point total just outside of the playoff race in the Western Conference.
Moving onto Colorado, the Avalanche have the second most games remaining with 15 and they have to face off against the NHL’s top 16 teams in a total of 10 of those games. The Avs play 3 top 8 teams and 7 squads sitting between 9th and 16th place, but they do get the benefit of playing only one team still in the playoff hunt and 4 of the worst franchises in the NHL. Colorado’s opponents average point total works out to 75.333, the highest of the squads looking to lock up the Central Division title.
Finally we get to Dallas, who have by far the easiest remaining road to the post-season, with 9 games versus teams currently sitting outside of the playoff picture. That includes 5 against the NHL’s worst squads and 4 against teams with varying degrees of playoff hopes left. The Stars do have to face 3 games against top 8 teams and 2 matches with squads sitting between 9th and 16th place. The Lone Star State’s NHL franchise’s remaining opponents have an average of 69.214 points on the season, possibly making up for having the lowest games left (14).
Well, if the “numbers” ran things, the Stars would be a lock to bet on to finish atop the Central….but we all know that they have to play out the games to find out for sure. Will be interesting to see if the higher quality opponents that Winnipeg & Colorado will have to face prepares them better for the grind of the post-season. Or will it just wear the Jets & Avalanche down earlier than necessary? Either way, I will be here watching it unfold along side you all.
Mentioned a potential Winnipeg Jets lineup for tonight earlier…well here is a post from long-time member ForgetTeemu that will provide that tip.
That is about all I have to say before making a pre-game meal……..Go Jets!!!
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