2009 NHL Playoffs

The 82 game NHL regular season is almost over, but they will not be done with the playoffs until June '09. They will complete the year with their final games on April 12th, with the playoffs currently scheduled to begin 3 days after on the 15th. The races for conference and division winners is still yet to be determined as well as the final seeds in both conferences.

In the Eastern Conference, the Bruins seem to be the lock for conference winner but need at least two more wins out of their remaining five to hold off the Capitals. The Caps can almost relax in their own division. They only need one more win to clinch the the top spot in the Southeast. The last division to be decided in the East is the Atlantic. The Devils are six points ahead of the Flyers and Penguins and look to have it wrapped up, but New Jersey is on a six game slide and they might be taken over by one of these hot teams. The Atlantic just might come down to the wire.

In the Western Conference, two of the divisions are also pretty much locked up but their 3rd division, the Northwest, is even tighter than the Eastern's Atlantic. San Jose and Detroit have clinched their respective divisions but neither has yet to come out as the overall Western winner. There are five games left, and they are only separated by six points for top spot. The tightest race in hockey is currently between the Flames and Canucks. Both have five games left and are tied together at 94 points as a team. We will have to watch this race to the end.