Saturday storylines: The Sedins say goodbye

Welcome to what was supposed to be the final night of the NHL regular season. Tomorrow’s makeup game between the Panthers and Bruins threw a wrench in things, but never mind that — the league is hitting us with everything they have tonight, with the maximum 15 games on the schedule and everyone other than the Penguins in action.

HNIC Game of the Night: Canucks at Oilers

As far as the standings go, this one barely matters. The only meaningful stakes are a few percentage points worth of lottery odds, and maybe Connor McDavid‘s final push for Hart Trophy votes.

But some things are more important than wins or losses or individual honours. And to fans across the country looking at the big picture, tonight represents something much more: Their last chance to see the Sedin twins in action.

It’s been a whirlwind week since the Sedins dropped the Monday bombshell that they wouldn’t be returning for an 18th season. The announcement led to an emotional Tuesday night against the Golden Knights, one that saw each twin take a rare turn in the shootout in front of the Vancouver crowd. That was followed by Thursday’s final home game, one that ended just about perfectly.

Through it all, tributes have poured in from around the hockey world, with fans, media, teammates, opponents and community leaders lining up to sing the twins’ praises. In a league where it’s relatively rare to see players make it through long careers without being turned into villains by at least some segment of the fan base, the Sedins are going out with near-universal respect and admiration.

The only negative has been the schedule, which inconveniently serves up a road game for the Canucks’ season finale. But if the Sedins’ final bow couldn’t be in Vancouver, Edmonton isn’t a bad second choice. There’s even a little symmetry in play – longtime Oiler Ryan Smyth had his final game against the Canucks four years ago, one that even saw his opponents return to the ice to show their respect.

We can expect something similar from the Oilers and their fans tonight, much like the moment that Jarome Iginla and the Flames once provided for another beloved Canuck. And if history is any guide, the Sedins will take it all in stride, without much in the way of fanfare or drama.

Vancouver fans, maybe not so much. It would be hard to blame them, and you can bet that more than a few fans of other teams will be cheering along with them.

>> Read the full post at Sportsnet

Grab bag: Hart problems

In the Friday Grab Bag:
- The Hart Trophy debate gets complicated
- The NHL makes small progress in the replay review mess
- An obscure player from one of my favorite 1980s teams
- The week's three comedy stars make me worry for Winnipeg
- And a look back at the selection of the Sedins at the 1999 draft

>> Read the full post at Vice Sports

Podcast: The firing squad

In this week's episode of Biscuits, the Vice Sports hockey podcast:
- Dave debuts his creepy new podcast voice but I promise it only lasts the first minute or so
- Another week, another goaltender interference controversy, and I've pretty much had it with all the feigned confusion
- We make our picks for which coaches and GMs are getting fired
- The playoff races come down to the wire, and we try to figure out the Western tie-breakers
- Erik Karlsson picked up a puck. What can it all mean?
- Reader questions, including a pretty brutal dig at the Oilers
- And most importantly: 100% zero Hart Trophy talk, guaranteed

>> Stream it now:

>> Or, subscribe on iTunes.

The ten types of games you meet in the season's final week (and how to watch them)

We’re into the final week of the NHL season, with just six days left on the schedule. At this point, just about every night of action should feature at least a few games worth watching.

But which ones? In the final week, it’s no longer as simple as just looking for matchups between top teams or division rivals. That strategy works fine in December, but this is April. When there’s this little time left on the schedule, different kinds of games require different strategies to ensure an optimal viewing experience.

So today, let’s sort through the various types of games you can encounter in the final week of an NHL regular season, some possible examples from the next few days, and the best way that you as a fan can approach them.

No. 1: The de facto playoff game

The matchup: It’s not a playoff game per se, since, you know, it’s not the playoffs yet. But the way things are playing out, it’s probably not going to be the playoffs at all for one of these teams unless they can pick up a win.

Possible examples: Anything involving the Panthers or any of the Western wild-card teams. But the big one comes on Saturday, when the Blues face the Avalanche in a game that could be for the conference’s final playoff spot.

How to watch it: If you’re a fan of the team that needs the win, consider this practice for the real thing. All post-season superstitions go into full effect. Screaming profanities at officials is mandatory. Screaming at broadcasters, opposing fans and anthem singers is optional but encouraged. Screaming at children and pets is probably overdoing it but nobody’s judging you.

Whichever way you decide to approach it, be ready, because you are in full playoff mode for the next few hours. By halfway through the game, you’ll remember that playoff mode feels awful.

(There’s also the evil cousin of this game: the de facto playoff game between two teams that your favourite team is chasing in the standings. Fun fact: Literally every one of these ever played has mysteriously gone to overtime and become a three-point game.)

No. 2: The possible first-round preview

The matchup: These two teams have a good chance of meeting in the first round. In the old days, everyone knew what this meant: Sound the gong, because it was set-the-tone time. But today’s NHL is a kinder and gentler place, and we typically don’t see much of that nonsense anymore. Instead, these games typically start off feeling like any other. But eventually, depending on how things go, we can still get a hint of bad blood, and maybe even a little bit of message sending.

Possible examples: Penguins at Blue Jackets on Thursday. Bruins at Panthers on Thursday. Devils at Capitals on Saturday.

How to watch it: Talk yourself into disliking the other team, even if you have to really reach to do it. Work your way up to something approaching hatred. Finish off with a degree of loathing you never though humanly possible, and then spend the next few days plotting all the ways you can’t wait to you see your team smite their enemies. Try to look surprised when the matchup falls through on the season’s final weekend and your team ends up playing someone else instead.

No. 3: The possible Stanley Cup final preview

The matchup: This is the offshoot of the first-round preview, because it features two very good teams in different conferences. These matchups are actually relatively rare these days, thanks to a schedule that emphasizes divisional matchups down the stretch. But every now and then we luck into one or two, and when we do it’s hard not to have your mind wander ahead to June.

Possible examples: Predators at Capitals on Thursday. Blue Jackets at Predators on Saturday if we’re feeling generous. Predators at Panthers tonight if we’re feeling really generous, which let’s face it, we are not.

How to watch it: Those are the only inter-conference games between playoff teams left on the schedule, but at least they feature a genuine contender in the Predators. So watch, enjoy, project ahead to that Cup-final matchup, and then try not to think about how this category will probably disappear entirely once we’re back to an even number of teams again after Seattle arrives.

>> Read the full post at Sportsnet

Weekend wrap: The final countdown

With one week to go in the season, we can skip the dramatic preamble and cut right to the chase. Here’s where we’re at.

In the East, the Panthers are on life support, as a late-season slump threatens to derail their second-half comeback. They’ve dropped three straight, including Saturday’s loss in Boston. That one was especially demoralizing. Not only did they come away empty in a game where they needed to pick up some points, but the Bruins loom as their most likely first-round opponent if they do make it in, and the Panthers didn’t look like they could keep up. The news got even worse last night, as the Devils earned a comeback win in Montreal by a 2-1 final. The Panthers now trail New Jersey by seven points and the Flyers by eight for an Eastern wild card spot.

The only real good news for the Panthers is they still hold two games in hand over both New Jersey and Philadelphia. That’s a mixed blessing this late in the year, since it means five games crammed into seven nights for a team that already looks like it’s running out of steam. And some of those games will be tough ones, with two more against the Bruins and one against the Predators. It’s possible that one or both of those teams could be resting guys this week, and the other two games against the Sabres and Hurricanes are winnable. But right now, the situation in Florida is bleak, and even a 5-0-0 finish might not be enough.

Things are looking a lot more interesting out West, where we’ve got four teams still in it and three spots up for grabs. The biggest game of the weekend was Sunday’s matchup between Colorado and Anaheim, and it featured an early Avalanche lead, a third-period Ducks comeback, and an Ondrej Kase overtime winner. The win moved the Ducks to third in the Pacific, bumping the Kings back down to a wild card spot and officially eliminating the Stars. The Avalanche currently hold the other wild card, with the Blues lurking a point behind but holding a game in hand on all three teams.

There are lots of ways this could all play out over the next week, but it may come down to Saturday’s showdown between the Blues and Avalanche in Colorado. Despite holding a spot right now, the Avs may be facing the longest odds after learning that they’ll finish the season without Semyon Varlamov or Erik Johnson. They’re not the only team hurting, as the Ducks lost John Gibson and Cam Fowler last night and we’re not sure yet if either injury is serious.

Further up the standings, we still need to sort out the battle between the Bruins and Lightning for top seed in the Atlantic (and the Eastern Conference). The Capitals have clinched the Metro’s top spot after Sunday’s win over Pittsburgh, but the rest of the division’s seedings are up for grabs. The Jets won’t catch Nashville for first place in the Central, but they’re making the Predators work for it. And the Knights are home and cooled out in the Pacific, but still have something to play for thanks to an outside shot at the Presidents’ Trophy.

Of course, that only covers the races involving teams. At an individual level, there’s still plenty left to sort out, as we’ll see in the next section.

Road to the Cup

The five teams that look like they’re headed towards Stanley Cup-favourite status.

5. Vegas Golden Knights (50-22-7, plus-50 true goals differential*): The team raised a banner on Saturday honouring the 58 victims of the October shooting.

4. Winnipeg Jets (48-20-10, plus-51): They went into Toronto to preview a potential dream Cup final, and looked like the better team from start to finish.

>> Read the full post at Sportsnet