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Why the Rangers and Sharks Are Going to The Finals. +Updated Standings |
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Why the Rangers and Sharks are Cup Bound...
I have been saying for a month now that I feel the Rangers are the best team in the east. More than that, they are the ONLY team in the East that I feel right now has a serious shot at beating the best of the West.
They have a really nice blend of experienced players, clutch players, and potentially light out goaltending. The Rangers could have assured them of coming out of the east if they could have pulled off a Danny Boyle deal which I am told would have happened had the Stars not moved for Brad Richards.
The Sharks have been building towards this moment with incredible precision for the better part of a decade. Brian Campbell has helped fill the one major hole they had, and Marleau is a sleeping giant who appears to have found a new set of legs since making it through the deadline.
The ironic thing about these two teams and the one thing that could absolutely derail them is that both are depending heavily on a single goalie. When you look at the four teams that have been in the cup finals over the last two year, each, especially the winners had two solid goalies for the long road.
I do like the pickup of by the Sharks of Brian Boucher, who has carried a team to within a single goal of the Cup Finals.
WHO DO YOU THINK WILL BE IN THE CUP FINALS, AND WHY?
THE HOCKEYBUZZ VIRTUAL FINAL STANDINGS for March 15
The Eastern Conference Final Standings
1. New Jersey 110
2. Montreal 107
3. Carolina 97
4. Pittsburgh 107
5. Ottawa 105
6. Boston 92
7. NY Rangers 91
8. Washington 89
9. Philadelphia 88
10. Florida 88
11. Buffalo 85
12. Toronto 76
13. Atlanta 74
14. NY Islanders 72
15. Tampa 68
The Western Conference Final Standings
1. Detroit 120
2. San Jose 114
3. Minnesota 102
4. Anaheim 102
5. Calgary 102
6. Dallas 99
7. Colorado 97
8. Vancouver 95
9. Nashville 94
10. Chicago 84
11. Phoenix 83
12. Columbus 79
13. Edmonton 76
14. St. Louis 69
15. Los Angeles 62
I have written a program that gets a result for each game for the rest of the regular season should the favorite in each game prevail. There is also a factor written in that simulates games between teams within a .05 "points per game percentage" into three point games, where the loser gets a point.
This system has some serious pros and cons to it, but I feel that it is VERY interesting when extrapolating the rest of the season due to the strength of schedule factors that need to be taken into account in such tight races.
The biggest "pro" in my mind is this gives you a true sense of what teams you need to be scoreboard watching. For example, Philly needs to watch Washington and Florida more than perhaps Buffalo.
The biggest "con" this system has is that it does not take current streaks into account. For example, Ottawa may have more points, but has not played nearly as well as Montreal...of course then again, Montreal was beaten by the Sens last night, and in the NHL that could be the kind of game that helps a great Ottawa team find itself again.
Anyway, it is my goal to make this morning VIRTUAL STANDINGS blog into something you will want to keep checking each morning to see how it all plays out, and you can be sure of course that with each night that passes there remains less games that are variables. So we get a clearer picture.
Enjoy.
More to come today in just a bit!
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