The Toronto Maple Leafs are off tonight.
The country of Canada has a lot of really stupid laws, many of them antiquated from bygone times. But one law that wouldn’t be stupid and which would never go out of date, would be to make it illegal for the NHL to not schedule the Leafs to play on Saturday night.
Millions of people will be feeling weird and like they’re forgetting something, because with no Saturday Night game they will be left to fend for themselves.
Uh who wants to play Gin Rummy?
To help get you through, here is an article funning down the NHL standings.
Toronto Maple Leafs: Fun With the NHL Standings
As you might already know, the Bruins are ten points ahead of everyone for first overall, and are currently on pace to become the best NHL team of all-time.
The Hurricanes are second, and the Leafs are third. Fourth if you go by points-percentage.
The Leafs are second in the NHL with 25 regulation wins. They have lost eight times in overtime though, and with just a little luck could they could have four more points. This could easily have happened with the Leafs doing nothing different – overtime is nearly completely random.
And let’s say they beat Boston in that coin-flip game a couple weeks back. That teams would only be separated by four points and not 12.
That isn’t to make excuses, or make the Leafs look better than they are, it’s just meant to illustrate the razor thin margins between teams in the salary capped NHL.
Like I said, its fun with the NHL standings.
Other than Colorado, one could make the argument that the next six best teams in the NHL are all in the East – A lot has been made out of Toronto, Boston, Tampa, and how 2 of those teams will have to face each other in the first round.
As ridiculous as that is, the Metro isn’t much better. Carolina, New Jersey and New York are all almost just as good, and it’s hardly fair for New Jersey to open against New York while Edmonton would get to play Dallas or LA.
Anyway, that’s just the way it is. No point in complaining. Why should the Toronto Maple Leafs care who they play? If they build the best team, it won’t be an issue.
Let’s close things off with some notable losers who would miss the playoffs if the season ended today: Colorado, Nashville, St. Louis, Buffalo, and Florida.