Western Conference Playoff Race
Playoff teams are almost set, but matchups are still up in the air.
Position battles for first in the West and for the Northwest Division could see alot of movement within the top eight spots of the Western Conference.
Last time we looked into the position that many Eastern Conference teams were in with 15 games remaining until the end of the regular season and today we will look at teams from the Western Conference.
The playoff scene is a lot clearer in the West as to who is in the playoffs but not necessarily as to where teams will finish in that 8 team grouping. Only the Colorado Avalanche have an outside chance to squeak into the playoffs as they currently sit 8 points back of the Minnesota Wild for 8th in the Western Conference. Although Colorado has been playing well as of late (6-3-1 in last 10) the Wild have been playing just as good (6-2-2 in last 10).
Maybe the best race in the Western Conference is at the top as there are three teams lobbying for the Presidents Trophy and or the first place seed in the West. Currently Nashville leads the West and the league with 96 points but Detroit is only 3 points behind them and the Anaheim Ducks are only 5 points back. Both Anaheim and Detroit were recently hit with the injury bug as Chris Pronger and Henrik Zetterberg respectively are due to miss a few more weeks of action. So it looks like it could be a good race but injuries shouldn’t hamper either Anaheim or Detroit, the Ducks have too much depth and Detroit as well has good depth and the addition of a healthy Todd Bertuzzi won’t hurt either. Detroit plays 7 of their 15 remaining games against playoff teams, Anaheim 5 of 14 and Nashville 7 of their last 13 are against playoff teams.
The other playoff battle for positioning in the West is that of the Northwest division where currently Vancouver leads the division by 4 points over Calgary and Minnesota. Minnesota has been playing well as was said before but Calgary and Vancouver could have the edge as they both have strong goaltending in Kiprusoff and Luongo. Minnesota currently is using Niklas Backstrom as their starter Manny Fernandez is injured. If Minnesota is able to overtake both teams Minnesota could bump up to the division lead from 8th to 3rd in a matter of days.
It should be a great race leading up to an even better playoffs with the Western Conference having many cup favorites.
For more information on the playoff race in the Eastern Conference check out Eastern Conference Playoff Race.
