Your Northwestern Division CHAMPS: MINNESOTA WILD!!!!!!!

[mr_jman]

What a great game and now we can bring on the playoffs!!!!! Anyone making predictions on how we'll do? Hopefully bring back the 2003 excitement!

[ole]

It was a great game, I personally would love to see us matched up with Colorado. But in our division we won't know until the end. Gabby looked [PoorWordUsage] when they took that goal away. The ref was thinking about blowing the whistle?

[Fishing_High]

Great game tonight there playing there best right at the end. Backstrom looks real strong and we don't have to worry about a shoot out thank god. We got the physical game and they have been scoring I give them at least past the first round. Good thing about hockey Home ice and Momentum go a long way Wild have both right now. GO WILD.

[jwhjr]

Nice win for Lemaire's 500th.

[Scott M]

Great win. Hopefully they can carry things into Sunday and on into the playoffs.

[mr_jman]

It'll be interesting to see who plays and sits for the "meaningless" game Sunday! So who would you want the Wild to play in the first round? I agree the Avalanche would be OK, and thats who we'd play as of tonight! I still wouldn't want to face Calgary if they get in! Although, they haven't been playing great hockey as of late!

NO MATTER WHAT THIS TEAM HAS A GREAT SHOT TO WIN IN A 7 GAME SERIES! If we win in round one we'd most likely play San Jose which would be quite tough!

[blue_healer_guy]

Nice win, the thing about hockey is home ice usually means nothing.

[irvingdog]

Boy, what a fun game. The XL was rockin'....

[CrappieFshr651]

Are you serious home ice means nothing? I beg to differ, i can only imagine a crowd of 18,000 fans cheering for you can boost your motivation a little bit. It might not make a huge difference, but it does help, especially at a place like the xcel with wild fans

[Mudcutter]

home ice only means a thing if it goes 7. nice to have games 1-2 at home--- but only if you win--- ask the Twins how quickly home field can be stolen away.

I'd like to see Col, and SJ play Calg. I think Calg can beat SJ.

But anything can happen, like Detoilet losing to the 8th seed.

[blue_healer_guy]

what I'm saying is in the nhl, more road teams win than any other sport.

[boatfixer]

I'd like to get Anaheim right away. We got some unsettled business with them guys.

[mnwild]

Great win for them last night, this team is getting hot at the right time. It was nice to see the Canucks get eliminated from the playoff's. Can't wait till next week when the 2nd season starts.

[polarsusd81]

Should be a lot of fun watching them in the playoffs. I am really looking forward to it. With the goal last night that was taken away, I think that really pumped up the crowd and the players. They just exploded after that and really turned the game into their favor big time.

[Scott K]

It was nice to see Burns out there scrapping, you could tell he was pumped up for this game!

 Quote:

The ref was thinking about blowing the whistle?

What a bunch of [PoorWordUsage] that was! If that would have costed us the game, I dont think them refs would have made it home last night! The crowd sure didnt like them after that! If they would have allowed that goal that would have been a Hat trick for Gabby!

[echotrail]

I agree with Ole, I think the Wild will be much better matched in the first round against Colorado, but then we may have to loose to them on Sunday if Calgary wins in Vancouver on Saturday. I'm not sure about a Colorado vs. Calgary tie breaker. Should Calgary win and we beat Colorado in OT or a SO they would both have 94 points. Is it good to rest our top players on Sunday and maybe lose the Colorado game? Or would that give Colorado too much of a mental edge going into the playoffs? Then again if Colorado beats us and Dallas beats the Sharks we may play the Stars depending on Colorado/Dallas tie breaker......where's the advil!

[jwhjr]

Yeah I liked the ruling that if they were thinking of blowing the whistle the play was dead even if they didn't...

[Skeets]

 Originally Posted By: boatfixer

I'd like to get Anaheim right away. We got some unsettled business with them guys.

I agree, that would be an awesome series!!!!!!

It dosen't look like it will happen tho.

Looks like AV's, Burning C's or the Texas stars!

We are ready, bring it on!!

[mr_jman]

Yeah that ref call taking away a GOAL was about the dumbest ruling I've heard in a long time!... If Gaborik had thought about shooting but instead passes it, and it gets picked off and the other team scores.. Can Gaborik tell the ref he thought about shooting and nullify the other teams goal????? - NO, thats how stupid it was!

ANYWAYS

The playoff scenario is interesting because losing or winning that game in Colorado could change the entire make-up of the playoffs and who we would face. I don't think the playoff picture is entirely in Minnesota's hands so to speak. I say rest the players that need it, and go for the win!

HOME ICE

It seems to mean nothing, the Wild for instance have only Won 3 home playoff games and are 3-5 all time, at home, in the playoffs. Hopefully that trend gets broken, and I think it will this year! I think both teams can feed off of energy in a building, but if the home team gets up on the opponent than the crowd plays a much larger factor! Just as the crowd plays a smaller role if the opponents jump out early!

Gabby also missed an open netter at the end of the game to give him the hat trick as well!

BRING ON THE PLAYOFFS!

[maros91]

I was at the game. Awesome game. The PA at the game said the whistle blew before the puck crossed the line and I now find out that he thought about blowing it is just sad. Anyway, division champs. I would agree that home ice means nothing in the NHL but it is always nice to have it. I would say rest the starters for Sunday's game. You will see guys like Pouliot and Foy play and see Simon and Boogaard get 3rd period ice time on Sunday.

[jwhjr]

Looks like Lemaire is playing all of the top guys tomorrow according to the Pioneer Press.

[walleyes12]

Great Game! I agree with Lemaire playing his top guys, they are on such a nice roll, they got to keep it going.

[Jarrod32]

Looking at the standings and possible playoff scenarios, the top four seeds are set...Detroit, Sharks, Wild, Ducks are 1-4 in that order. The Preds are set at #8.

The Stars at #5 at 95 points, and they play today. The Flames are at 94 points in #6, and are done with the regular season. The Avalance are at 93 points, playing the Wild. If the Wild beat the Avs, they get the Flames in the first round. That is a given.

However, an overtime win by the Wild - and thus one point for the Avs - would put the Avs into a tie with the Flames for the 6 spot, and the Avs would get the tiebreaker as they have more wins than the Flames.

Bottom line...if the Avs get at least one point, they move past the flames.

If the Avs win and the Stars lose outright, the Avs move past the Flames and into a tie with the Stars...and if that happens, the Avs and the Stars will have identical 44-31-7 records. The tiebreaker will go to head-to-head matchups between those two...with the better team getting #5 and the other getting #6. So there is still an outside shot at the Wild playing the Stars.

The Stars play San Jose today...

In such a scenario (Stars loss/Avs win), it would go to the third - and maybe the fourth - tiebreaker. Here, from the NHL HSOforum, is the third and fourth tiebreaker:

3. The greater number of points earned in games between the tied clubs. If two clubs are tied, and have not played an equal number of home games against each other, points earned in the first game played in the city that had the extra game shall not be included. If more than two clubs are tied, the higher percentage of available points earned in games among those clubs, and not including any "odd" games, shall be used to determine the standing.

4. The greater differential between goals for and against for the entire regular season.

If the Wild win outright, they get the Flames in the first round. If the Avs get a point, it is likely Wild/Avalanche in the first round, with a slim chance at Wild/Stars.

[Jarrod32]

Looked at tiebreakers between the Avs and Stars, in the event of a Stars loss and Avs win today. Identical records, so it would go to the third tiebreaker, head to head, Again, it would be identical...with the Avs and Stars perfectly splitting their four-game season series 2-2 (each team winning their two home games).

So, it would go to the fourth tiebreaker, total goals for/goals against differential.

Right now, the Stars have a +33 goal differential (238 for, 205 against) while the Avs have a +11 goal differential (227 for, 216 against).

So the only way the Avs can move past the Stars (for a Wild/Stars first round matchup) is if the Avs beat the wild by 23 goals (less whatever the Stars would lose by).

So...it's gonna be the Flames or the Avs for the Wild in the first round.

If the Avs get a point in today's game, they move into the 6 seed and will play the Wild. If the Wild win outright, it will be the Flames.

[Jarrod32]

Well, the Avs got their point and moved up to #6...