In the Cold

So...it's cold again. Go figure. We had a gorgeous weekend a while back - then we had a week of gloomy rain - now it's 18 degrees with a wind chill that makes it feel like it's 1. There were actually schools cancelled in Minnesota this week due to snow. In April. Gotta love Midwest weather. Then again, if it didn't suck from time to time, we'd never really appreciate the good days.

I've been looking at getting a new computer to replace my current PC, which is beginning to show it's age. The latest is that I just picked up Command and Conquer 3 and I didn't even bother trying to install it on my machine - it doesn't even come close to the minimum specs. So we play that one exclusively on my wife's box (where it looks absolutely awesome, mind you).

Anyway, as I've been looking at new machines, I've actually started looking at getting a Mac. I don't know that I really will, or not, but their top-end desktop, the Power Mac, currently comes with 2 Intel Xeon dual core processors. Needless to say, that's some pretty serious power for a desktop system. So I've been looking at some information about OS X (the operating system for a Mac) to see what I think of it. So far, I've been pretty impressed, but I'd love to sit down and play with one for a while. Nonetheless, Apple has a new OS on the horizon (Leopard) so I wouldn't think of getting one until that came out. So, even though I'm looking, there's no new machine in my immediate future.

So, all that said - hockey news.

The collegiate season is winding down quickly. The Badgers, after winning the national championship last season, made a rather poor showing and didn't even make it to the post-season tournament this year. Last night, in the frozen four, MSU topped Maine and BC bested North Dakota. The championship game will be tomorrow between MSU and BC.

In the NHL, time is ticking down before the playoffs and, while most of the playoff picture is coming into view, there are a few stories out there to watch.

1 - Claude Julien is fired as the coach of the New Jersey Devils.
This may not sound like that big of a story until you realize that, when Julien was fired by GM Lou Lamoriello, the Devils had accumulated 102 points in the standings, had won four of their last five, were the favorites to win their division and claim the second seed in the Eastern Conference. Oh - and they had only 3 games to go in the regular season.

Coaching duties will be picked up by the GM that did the firing, Lou Lamoriello. Talk about turning the spotlight directly on your team.

2 - Montreal, Toronto, and New York duke it out for the last playoff spot in the East

As it stands right now, Montreal has the final spot in the playoffs. They have one game reamining - against Toronto, who trails Montreal by just one point. It would seem that their game on Saturday will decide the final playoff position. Toronto, should they win in regulation, could jump in front of Montreal in the standings and snatch away that final precious playoff spot.

However, even with that drama, we can't forget about the New York Islanders. The Islanders are 2 points behind Montreal (and 1 behind Toronto), but they have 2 games to play, unlike Montreal and Toronto, who are down to their final matchup. Should Toronto win their game against Montreal, the Islanders would still be able to claim the final spot by finishing the season with two wins.

3 - Calgary fights to hold on to the final playoff spot in the West

Calgary has nearly assured themselves a spot in the playoffs. There is only one unclaimed position in the West and, right now, Calgary holds it by 3 points over the Colorado Avalanche. Each team has two games to play. If Calgary can win their next game against a horrible Edmonton club (1-8-1 over their last 10 games), the battle is over. On the other hand, there is still a chance for a last minute thriller.

If (and it is a pretty big "if"), Calgary should lose to Edmonton and Colorado beats Nashville, the final playoff position in the West will be decided by what would quite literally be the final game of the season - Calgary vs. Colorado on Sunday night.

Honestly, I think the odds are stacked against a last-minute thriller in the mile-high city, but it could be the perfect end to the season.

4 - Position Battles in the East and West

Even with their playoff hopes well intact, there are a few teams that are still jockeying for position coming into the playoffs.

In the West, you've got a couple key matchups.

Anaheim leads their division over San Jose by just one point. The winner of that division will claim the number 2 seed in the playoffs while the loser will likely be relegated to the number 6 seed. That's quite the swing for only a point or two. Anaheim leads by one point and has one game in hand over the San Jose Sharks.

There's a similar battle in the Northwest division where Vancouver leads Minnesota by 1 point. The winner of the division will claim the number 3 seed while the loser will fall to number 7. As it is in the Pacific, the leading Vancouver Canucks have one game in hand over the Minnesota Wild.

In the East, there's really only one battle and it's over home ice advantage. Then Pittsburgh Penguins and the Ottowa Senators will be facing off against one another in the playoffs. That much is certain. One will be the number 4 seed (claiming home ice advantage) while the other will be the number 5 seed. Which will be which is yet unknown. Thanks to some last second heroics last night (Maxime Talbot scored the game winner for the Penguins with just 10 seconds left to lift them over the Senators), the Penguins have pulled dead even with the Senators with 103 points. Each team has 1 game remaining on the schedule. The Senators control the tie-breaker, courtesy of having one more win than the Penguins do, but whoever fares the best this weekend will control home ice in that first round matchup of the playoffs.



So, even with the playoff picture nearly in place, there's still some room for some last-second drama over the weekend. The playoffs officially begin next Wednesday.