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A (narrow) path to the playoffs


patience is a virtue

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We can definitely finish in the bottom 5 and with the lottery we could get a very good pick. Tanking is not about the players, its about the general manager dumping all his vets for picks and prospects and naturally falling down the standings.

Even if we miss the top two picks, if we get a top 5 pick and several others due to trades, we increase our chances of getting one or two "keepers". Once you are out of the playoffs, there is no victory in being 9th, you might as well be last.

Remember, Gionta and Markov are out and probably will be most of the season. If they both come back next year, we get a good draft pick, we pick up a free agent or two, we can be back in the playoffs with a restocked system and a pretty young team. I can live with a losing season if we turn it into a net positive going forward.

We had a brutal list of injuries this year. Let's find the silver lining.

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We can definitely finish in the bottom 5 and with the lottery we could get a very good pick. Tanking is not about the players, its about the general manager dumping all his vets for picks and prospects and naturally falling down the standings.

Even if we miss the top two picks, if we get a top 5 pick and several others due to trades, we increase our chances of getting one or two "keepers". Once you are out of the playoffs, there is no victory in being 9th, you might as well be last.

Remember, Gionta and Markov are out and probably will be most of the season. If they both come back next year, we get a good draft pick, we pick up a free agent or two, we can be back in the playoffs with a restocked system and a pretty young team. I can live with a losing season if we turn it into a net positive going forward.

We had a brutal list of injuries this year. Let's find the silver lining.

OIlers are only 6 points back with 2 games in hand! I keep saying the Habs aint bad enough for top 5 pick, but maybe i am out to lunch, there are that bad and with a little guttin by Gauthier should seal a lottery pick!

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OIlers are only 6 points back with 2 games in hand! I keep saying the Habs aint bad enough for top 5 pick, but maybe i am out to lunch, there are that bad and with a little guttin by Gauthier should seal a lottery pick!

Agreed. Let me be the devils advocate. The Leafs lost again last night. Seems nobody really want that final playoff spot.

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It's bizarre, as Leafs keep losing. We win tonight, which is obviously not easy, we're 5 back. Leafs could lose tonight, as it's second game in two nights. Then they've got Vancouver, which radio says they don't do well against. We were supposed to be dead on December 1st, that was the magical cut off date. We're still alive. Crazy year.

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It's bizarre, as Leafs keep losing. We win tonight, which is obviously not easy, we're 5 back. Leafs could lose tonight, as it's second game in two nights. Then they've got Vancouver, which radio says they don't do well against. We were supposed to be dead on December 1st, that was the magical cut off date. We're still alive. Crazy year.

The Habs still have to go out west and you know how that story goes, lose the 1st two for sure and lucky if they can grab a point or two before they come home.

I much prefer to look down and see that the Habs are only 6 points out of 29th with the Oilers having played 2 less games

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Will the narrow path be closed with a loss tonight?

Pretty much I'd say. Monday night was a heartbreaker. That was so winnable. Tonight will be tough against the goons. Thankfully they are in a bit of a rut.

I sincerely hope that whatever issues are going on with Gomer and AK have been dealt with so that AK can get back on the Eller line and Gomez can focus on trying to redeem himself as a shutdown fourth line C.

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The Habs still have to go out west and you know how that story goes, lose the 1st two for sure and lucky if they can grab a point or two before they come home.

I much prefer to look down and see that the Habs are only 6 points out of 29th with the Oilers having played 2 less games

It's worth repeating, this thread is about trying to make the playoffs. Not what your opinion is on where you'd prefer the team wind up. The eighth place Leafs have a tough game on Saturday in Vancouver. It's possible we make up ground this weekend. Friday night in Buffalo, which normally has many Hab fans in attendance. Then a day off Saturday, and a Sunday night game vs the Devils at home. This game against Boston shows this team still has plenty of fight in it.
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The eighth place Leafs have a tough game on Saturday in Vancouver. It's possible we make up ground this weekend. Friday night in Buffalo, which normally has many Hab fans in attendance. Then a day off Saturday, and a Sunday night game vs the Devils at home. This game against Boston shows this team still has plenty of fight in it.

Agreed. They just bought themselves a little more time with that gritty comeback effort. Sad they couldn't consilidate it into 2 points. Symbolic of the season. The path remains, however precarious. I do not envy PG as he tries to walk the tightrope between selling and buying.

Toronto has a pretty rough looking schedule from here on in, including 2 more against the Habs - we can make up four points right there. Ottawa has a bit of an easier run, but 3 games against Montreal = 6 points to be made up. There is hope!

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It's worth repeating, this thread is about trying to make the playoffs. Not what your opinion is on where you'd prefer the team wind up. The eighth place Leafs have a tough game on Saturday in Vancouver. It's possible we make up ground this weekend. Friday night in Buffalo, which normally has many Hab fans in attendance. Then a day off Saturday, and a Sunday night game vs the Devils at home. This game against Boston shows this team still has plenty of fight in it.

We got 1 out of 4 points at home,in two games that could have gone either way. As Don Meredith sang: Turn out the lights,the party's over

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It's worth repeating, this thread is about trying to make the playoffs. Not what your opinion is on where you'd prefer the team wind up. The eighth place Leafs have a tough game on Saturday in Vancouver. It's possible we make up ground this weekend. Friday night in Buffalo, which normally has many Hab fans in attendance. Then a day off Saturday, and a Sunday night game vs the Devils at home. This game against Boston shows this team still has plenty of fight in it.

Gee- I thought it was about travelling down that narrow path and taking stock of a dwindling road. There are teams every year that won't be mathematically eliminated for a month passed the deadline or longer. Just for once, smell the coffee, and help the cause for subsequent years.

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What happened to a huge section of this discussion? Someone censoring again? Not a good idea, as this site has lost many contributors.

not sure why but it happened to a bunch of threads. I think the site was restored from a backup last night ar some point.

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An update, things are still screwy. Believe it or not, I posted a GDT an hour ago but it's not appearing for most. Bear with us, our website host is working on it.

I posted one I don't know if anyone can see one, if you see it add in the lines or something haha!

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I posted one I don't know if anyone can see one, if you see it add in the lines or something haha!

Once everything is back up and running, we'll probably wind up merging the two depending on how many posts are in there. If there are just a couple, I'll copy/paste the lines and delete mine. (Note: I can't see the GDT I made either...)

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If Toronto loses tonight we're 6 points back and nobody has a game in hand. We also have 2 game against Toronto left. We're playing the best hockey of the season statistically. Sadly, I don't think the playoffs are out of reach. Which bring me back to my original thought, we're going to finish just out of a playoff spot and too high for a good draft pick.

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If Toronto loses tonight we're 6 points back and nobody has a game in hand. We also have 2 game against Toronto left. We're playing the best hockey of the season statistically. Sadly, I don't think the playoffs are out of reach. Which bring me back to my original thought, we're going to finish just out of a playoff spot and too high for a good draft pick.

Honestly, now that I think about it, if we trade Gill, Kostitsyn, Moen, Campoli and Darche and still make the playoffs? Hey, cool.

Honestly, what else could the team do? They put an incompetent rookie coach with an incompetent rookie assistants and is doing nothing to stop Cole, Pacioretty and Price's performances. The boys are going to play.

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Obviously making the playoffs is next to impossible, as the cutoff date was December 1st. But I'll say this. The Leafs and Capitals are not exactly grabbing the bull by the horns. That point total needed for 8th might have dropped.

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Obviously making the playoffs is next to impossible, as the cutoff date was December 1st. But I'll say this. The Leafs and Capitals are not exactly grabbing the bull by the horns. That point total needed for 8th might have dropped.

I think that because of these teams poor play its still possible, had these teams been playing even decent hockey I think everyone would have accepted that we are missing the playoffs, but we are playing better hockey then them both... but really I am hoping Winnipeg will make the playoffs, I think that would be really good for their organization. The fan base deserves it after waiting so long.

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There are a lot of teams between us and the playoffs, not just the leafs. There are fewer teams between us and a top pick. We have actually played some good hockey in the last week or two and picked up a number of points, while Toronto and Washington have struggled. I suspect the trends will reverse as they usually do and we will drift away from Washington, Toronto and the Jets.

I hope we keep selling ant stocking up. If the kids go on a run, good for them. If they don't, good for the draft. If we start acting like buyers, bad for all.

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