Off Wing Opinion

With the Western Conference title sewn up, the Red Wings put backup Marc Lamothe back in net for a 3-2 victory over the desperate St. Louis Blues. With the win, Detroit clinched the President's Trophy, annually awarded to the team that finishes the regular season with the best record. But as most hockey fans know, the winning the trophy is by no means the first step on the path to winning the Stanley Cup.

With St. Louis losing, Nashville moved to take advantage, defeating the Blackhawks 3-2 in Chicago. Former Hawk Steve Sullivan, proving to be one of the best deadline acquisitions this season, scored for the Predators against his former teammates. With the win, Nashville climbed into a three-way tie for seventh place in the Western Conference with St. Louis and Edmonton. By dint of the tiebreaker, St. Louis and Nashville are in, while Edmonton is on the outside in ninth. Both St. Louis and Nashville have two games remaining, Edmonton has just one.

Back East, three of the top teams in the Conference were in action. At home in Tampa, the Lightning scored three times in the third period to gain a 4-3 comeback win over las Panteras. Martin St. Louis scored twice for Tampa Bay. With the win, the Lightning have clinched first in the East and home ice advantage throughout the playoffs.

Up in Boston, the Bruins had to settle for a 3-3 tie with the undermanned Capitals. But more critically, Bruins captain Joe Thornton was forced to leave the game in the third period with the dreaded "upper body injury" that becomes so prevalent near playoff time. And in Montreal, the Flyers beat the suddenly slumping Canadiens, 2-0. The win moved the Flyers two points clear of New Jersey in the Atlantic Division. Both teams have two games remaining.

After a dispute with their hosting company, The Hockey Pundits are back! And with Edmonton looking like they might miss the playoffs after a 90 point season, Jordon Cooper is wondering if it isn't time to expand the playoffs once more. The official Off Wing position is no, the playoffs drag on way too long already -- especially since we stopped playing on back-to-back nights in order to accomodate the television people.

While the rest of us are looking forward to the playoffs, Steve Ovadia is still talking about the Rangers. The bridge and tunnel crowd laughs in your general direction. For another roundup of the Manhattan debacle, check outHockeybird.

If you're not already reading Vancouver Canucks Op Ed, you at least out to stop by for the Thursday Quote Sheet.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 2nd, 2004 at 6:33 am by Eric McErlain and is filed under Hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

In Columbus, the Red Wings scored two third period goals in a 3-2 win over the Blue Jackets. The win clinched the Western Conference title and home ice advantage throughout the playoffs for Detroit. Rob Visconti is rejoicing!

In Los Angeles, the Sharks shutout the Kings 3-0 behind Evgeni Nabakov's 22 saves, and clinched the Pacific Division and the second seed in the Western Conference playoffs. In anticipation of the banner raising next season, PJ at Sharkspage has been having some fun with Photoshop.

In St. Paul, Marc Chouinard scored his second goal of the game in the first minute of OT to give the Wild a 5-4 win over slumping Colorado. Minnesota Masterson Trophy nominee Alexandre Daigle added two goals and an assist for the Wild. Meanwhile, back in the O.C., the Canucks got a third period goal from Sami Salo with only 21 seconds remaining in the third period to defeat the Ducks, 2-1. The win, combined with Colorado's OTL, moved the Canucks into a first place tie with the Avalanche in the Northwest Division. By virtue of the tiebreaker, the Canucks actually lead the division, and currently own the third playoff seed that goes with it.

In Phoenix, Jarome Iginla's first period goal was all Calgary needed in a 1-0 victory over the Coyotes. Mikka Kiprusoff had 27 saves in the victory.

Further South in the Western Conference standings, the Oilers continued their heroic drive for a playoff spot with a 3-1 win over the Stars on enemy ice in Dallas. The win moved Edmonton back into the eighth spot in the Conference, just two points ahead of idle Nashville. Unfortunately for the gallant Oil, Nashville has three games remaining compared to just one for Edmonton.

Back East, the Islanders awoke from another periodic funk to crush the Canadiens, 5-1. Adrian Aucoin and Mark Parrish both scored twice for New York, who couldn't pull away from ninth place Buffalo after their 4-3 win over the Rangers in Manhattan. With two games remaining for both teams, Buffalo still trails the Islanders by three points.

In Sunrise, the five different players scored for the Senators in a 5-4 win over Florida. With the win, the Sens clawed their way back into fourth place in the East.

After the game at the Garden, it sure looked like Mark Messier was saying goodbye. Thanks for the memories, #11. Elsewhere, Patrick Roy is still retired, just like Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead. Steve Ovadia has some thoughts.

Todd Bertuzzi has hired a lawyer. Thanks to Tom Benjamin for the link. If you're looking to get a better handle on the NHL labor impasse, check out Ordinary Least Square, written by a Rangers fan out of New York. Lots of solid business reporting here that could easily be found in the pages of the Wall Street Journal or Forbes.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 1st, 2004 at 7:02 am by Eric McErlain and is filed under Hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.