Will there be a playoff race in the West?

Originally written Feb 22, 2007

Will there be a playoff race in the west this year? It's starting to look like it may not happen. As it stands before todays games, both the Oilers and the Avalanche are are in 9th, 8 points out of the final playoff spot held by Calgary, and 9 points out of 7th which is currently held by another Northwest Division rival Minnesota.

The one thing that both teams have going for them is that both teams they are chasing are in the same division, so they will have some head to head games, where they can gain points fast. What do the Oilers and Avs have going against them, besides time? They play in the same division as well, which means one of them will lose ground against the team they are battling with in the two games they have remaining against each other.

Although the Flames are currently struggling, you have to assume that they finish the remaining 23 games of the season at .500. Can either of the Oilers or Avs go four games over .500 during that same stretch? I can't. The Oilers traded away their power-play quarterback, last week for merely a prospect. That doesn't put a lot of faith in the current roster by management. The Avs have been really inconsistent this year. Their longest winning this streak this year is three games. It's hard to think that they can get hot down the stretch, when the most games they won in a row this year is three.

But this is hockey. All it takes is a hot goaltender and a few lucky breaks and you're back in it. Analysing it at this point though makes me think there is a slim chance it will happen