News From the Far East

1	New Jersey Devils*	72	42	24		6	90	188	168	22-12-1	20-12-5	6-3-1
2	Montréal Canadiens*	73	40	24		9	89	230	200	18-13-5	22-11-4	7-3-0
3	Carolina Hurricanes*	74	39	30		5	83	225	229	22-12-3	17-18-2	8-2-0
4	Pittsburgh Penguins	72	41	24		7	89	220	196	21-10-5	20-14-2	6-3-1
5	Ottawa Senators	73	40	26		7	87	231	215	21-12-3	19-14-4	4-5-1
6	New York Rangers	72	37	26		9	83	188	177	22-13-1	15-13-8	7-2-1
7	Boston Bruins	73	37	27		9	83	189	202	19-14-4	18-13-5	3-4-3
8	Philadelphia Flyers	73	35	28		10	80	220	214	16-14-6	19-14-4	4-3-3
9	Buffalo Sabres	73	34	28		11	79	227	214	18-13-5	16-15-6	4-4-2
10	Washington Capitals	73	35	30		8	78	212	213	20-15-3	15-15-5	7-3-0
11	Florida Panthers	74	35	31		8	78	200	205	17-13-7	18-18-1	7-2-1
12	Toronto Maple Leafs	73	32	31		10	74	205	227	17-15-5	15-16-5	6-3-1
13	New York Islanders	73	32	34		7	71	176	219	17-16-3	15-18-4	2-8-0
14	Atlanta Thrashers	74	31	35		8	70	196	246	18-16-3	13-19-5	2-4-4

Allright, let me break down how the east will role from hear on in. It looks as if Ottawa will not bump their slump. They shouldnt slide any further down in the standings. watch for them to finish in 5th and play either pittsburgh or new jersey. New York has been playing pretty hot lately. not hot enough to catch ottawa. Even with the addition of the golden chuck, the playoffs are growing dimmer for bruins fans everywhere. With the surging washington capitals and florida panthers, look for Philly and Bostons playoff hopes to come down to the wire. I think Florida is long overdue for a playoff berth. they have finished a couple points out of a playoff spot, just like toronto for a few years. Also, i take back everything i said in my last post about toronto having a chance to make the playoffs, but maintain that they have a really good chance in fucking up their future for next year.

Also, i was talking with a lot of bloggers over the weekend. there is a certain tendancy among our folk to want to predict a 70 goal season by Alexander Ovechkin. Very few are willing to make this prediction, because on a blog, old posts can come back to haunt you. however, i feel that i am bold enough to make a prediction of this caliber. So here it is....ovechkin gets 70 (take my word for it).