If the Playoffs Were Tomorrow...

It would be interesting to see what the match ups for the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals would be if the NHL regular season would end today...Even though there is less than a month left in the regular season, some teams have not yet solidified a spot..this makes it even more interesting to see who the final 16 teams will be...only teams like Boston and New Jersey in the Eastern Conference and San Jose and Detroit in the Western Conference have nothing to worry about..

If the season did end today you would have teams like the New York Rangers and Buffalo Sabres on the outside looking in for a spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs...the Rangers have 76 points and sit in 9th place and the Sabres have 73 points and sit in 10th place...however with double digits games remaining, both those teams still have a chance to get in and knock out teams above them that have a point or 2 more...but if the season did end today...golf is coming early for those two teams who have the talent to be in these playoffs...

In the west you have 5 teams on the outs clawing their way to get into the playoffs and become that 8th and final seed...Edmonton and Nashville hold the 7th and 8th spot which is good for the playoffs but 5 teams below team are only separated by 5 points...wow, the west is always tough and close but you would never think this close...Minnesota and Dallas are a point behind both Nashville and Edmonton...Anaheim is 3 points out...Los Angeles is 4 and St. Louis is 5...Minnesota and Dallas who are almost regulars in the playoffs are out and you have Columbus and Chicago, two teams that did not make the playoffs last year, sitting in the 4th and 6th spots...in fact Columbus has not made the playoffs since their existence...

Eastern Conference (Best of 7)

#1 Boston vs #8 Pittsburgh- I would take Boston in 5...Pitt is not the same team as last year which reached the Stanley Cup Fianls...Boston is too good and deep

#2 New Jersey vs #7 Florida- Who would of thought Florida would be here...Florida as of now has no one over 50 points and David Booth only has 24 goals...New Jersey has been here before and will sweep the young Florida Panthers club

#3 Washington vs #6 Carolina- Washington was in this spot last year and lost to Philadelphia..will it happen again...YES!!...Washington has suspect goaltending and if Cam Ward plays the way he did in '06, Carolina wins this in 7...

#4 Philadelphia vs #5 Montreal- Very, very interesting season for Montreal...they went from a force to be reckoned with to a team in complete turmoil...they fired their head coach, Alexi Kovelev only has 16 goals and Carey Price only has 1 shutout on the year to go along with 14 loses and 20 wins...Phily is strong with 6 guys with over 20 goals..Philly wins in 6

Western Conference (Best of 7)

#1 San Jose vs # 8 Nashville- San Jose will take this series in 4...Nashville plays strong at home and MAY squeak one out but San Jose is just to powerful

#2 Detroit vs # 7 Edmonton- Detroit is the defending Stanley Cup champs and they definitely have the team to repeat...Edmonton has good youth but Detroits experience will over power them and Detroit will win in 5

#3 Calgary vs # 6 Columbus- This could be the series to watch in this Conference...Columbus has yet to play a playoff game while Calgary is almost always penciled in..Calgary has the goaltending in Miika Kiprusoff and defense...Calgary's offense is strong too and will take this series 5

#4 Chicago vs #5 Vancouver- Its exciting to see a team in Chicago make the playoffs with guys like Patrick Kane and Johnathan Towes but Vancouver has elite goaltender Roberto Luongo...Vancouver is another name stay in the playoffs and their experience will take them to the second round...Vancouver in 6

The Nuch