Re-Alignment Standings: Done Out West!

The West would be all set under next season's re-alignment but back East there is still a lot on the line with tomorrow's Ottawa-Boston affair.



Pacific
1) Anaheim Ducks: 66 pts in 48 games (24 ROW)
2) Los Angeles Kings: 59 points in 48 games (25 ROW)
3) Vancouver Canucks: 59 points in 48 games (21 ROW)

Midwest
1) Chicago Blackhawks: 77 points in 48 games (30 ROW)
2) St. Louis Blues: 60 points in 48 games (24 ROW)
3) Minnesota Wild: 55 points in 41 games (22 ROW)

Western Conference Wild Card Standings:
1) San Jose Sharks (Pacific): 57 points in 48 games (17 ROW)*
2) Winnipeg Jets (Midwest): 51 points in 48 games (22 ROW)*
3) Phoenix Coyotes (Pacific): 51 points in 48 games (17 ROW) 
4) Dallas Stars (Midwest): 48 points in 48 games (20 ROW)
5) Edmonton Oilers (Pacific): 45 points in 48 games (17 ROW)
6) Calgary Flames (Pacific): 42 points in 48 games (19 ROW)
7) Nashville Predators (Midwest): 41 points in 48 games (14 ROW)
8) Colorado Avalanche (Midwest): 39 points in 42 games (14 ROW)

Playoff Match-Ups
Chicago v. Winnipeg
St. Louis v. Minnesota
Anaheim v. San Jose
Los Angeles v. Vancouver

Atlantic
1) Pittsburgh Penguins: 72 points in 48 games (33 ROW)
2) Washington Capitals: 57 points in 48 games (24 ROW)
3) New York Rangers (Atlantic): 56 points in 48 games (22 ROW)*
         *New York and Detroit are tied in points and ROWs so the next tiebreaker would be season series. Since they didn't actually play each other this season, I'm just going to give this spot to New York for now because they are both in either way.

Northeast/Southeast (Looking forward to Bettman's "Senisble Geographic Division Name")
1) Montreal Canadiens: 63 points in 48 games (26 ROW)
2) Boston Bruins: 62 points in 47 games (24 ROW)
3) Toronto Maple Leafs: 57 points in 48 games (26 ROW)

Eastern Conference Wild Card Standings:
1) Detroit Red Wings (N/SE): 56 points in 48 games (22 ROW)*
2) New York Islanders (Atlantic): 55 points in 48 games (20 ROW)*
3) Ottawa Senators (N/SE): 54 points in 47 games (20 ROW)
4) Columbus Blue Jackets (Atlantic): 55 points in 48 games (19 ROW)
5) Philadelphia Flyers (Atlantic): 49 points in 48 games (22 ROW)
6) New Jersey Devils (Atlantic): 48 points in 48 games (17 ROW)
7) Buffalo Sabres (N/SE): 48 points in 48 games (14 ROW)
8) Carolina Hurricanes (Atlantic): 42 points in 48 games (18 ROW)
9) Tampa Bay Lightning (N/SE): 40 points in 48 games (17 ROW)
10) Florida Panthers (N/SE): 36 points in 48 games (12 ROW)


**There is a final game Sunday between Ottawa and Boston that would actually mean something in the big picture. If Ottawa wins in regulation they would push the Islanders out and be tied with Detroit and the Rangers, earning themselves a wild card by virtue of being 5th in their division. If they lose in OT or a shootout they would tie the Isles in points with the same number of ROWs, moving to the season series tiebreaker. The Senators won at home over NYI, lost in a shootout on the Island (a game that would not count in the tiebreaking procedure), and then won on the Island, so they would make the playoffs over New York with an OT/shootout loss. If Boston wins, the only thing that would change is they would pass Montreal for the Division win.

Playoff Match-Ups
Pittsburgh v. Islanders
Washington v. Rangers
Montreal v. Detroit
Boston v. Toronto

Changes Since Last Time
–The Stars played themselves out of the playoffs (again; how many years running is that now?) and let the Jets sneak by them. Winnipeg gets in over Phoenix on ROWs as last year's Western Conference losers miss the playoffs either way, but come a lot closer under re-alignment.

-Were the Canucks really awful these last two weeks or something? Because it sure didn't seem like the Kings were that great. And yet, even though under the current alignment, L.A. played themselves out of home ice advantage, under re-alignment they would have gotten past Vancouver based on ROWs.

-The final playoff spot in the East is still very much up for grabs. The Senators get into the playoffs with any points at all. Or they could miss the playoffs entirely. I'm sure Senators fans are happy re-alignment hasn't happened yet.

-The Islanders should also be glad re-alignment hasn't happened yet because they would be sitting at home hoping the Sens lose in regulation in order to keep the playoff spot they are firmly in holding onto now.

-Moving Detroit and Columbus into the East next season could very well knock a couple of teams from playoff competition next season. Removing them from the West is going to really diminish competition in that conference.