PLAYOFFS

The Vancouver Canucks will open the 1st round of the playoffs on the west coast as they face off with the 1st place Los Angeles Kings.The Canucks had a strong second half of the reg season and snuck into the final playoff spot on the second to last day of the schedule.
The Kings have an awesome offensive team and it will be a struggle for the visitors to shut them down.The Canucks will count heavily on Jose Theodore toshut down the kings and will need timely scoring of their own.
Late season additions of Modin and Tkachuck should help with some scoring and some much needed leadership in the dressing room.Jerome Iginla coming off a subpar season will be looked upon to lead the Canucks offence.
Game 1 is scheduled for 7 pm from the Staples Center in Los Angeles.CbC has sent Don Wittman amd Kelly Hrudey to do the game which will be shown on the west coast only.

Both Senators Teams Thriving!

GM Schmucky has apparently done something right. His Pro CLUTCH Senators have clinched their first ever playoff spot and his Jr. Senators are on the brink of clinching first in the Wales of CLUTCH Junior.

Now, although it seems that the Jr. Sens may or may not hold onto that first spot, after taking a major hit in the MISSEASON SCAM ROLLS, the team has still managed to have an excellent season and looks as though they are poised to make a run in the playoffs. Last year, their disappointing 2nd round loss to Buffalo ended up handing the JR. Sabres the title. This year, the Sens are one year older, though still young, and are hoping to capitalize on some of their past playoff experience.

The Pro Sens are in tough. Having made the playoffs for the first time, they have 7th seed locked up. However, they will play the tough and gritty Sabres or the Elite Penguins.. Obviously, Ottawa would prefer to play the Pens who have lost 4 straight to the Sens this season, but it is out of their hands.

Whomever the JR and PRO Senators face this year should watch out for their young firepower, energy and riding a high of success this season could be enough to push them deeper into the playoffs than one would predict.

Canucks clinch elusive playoff spot

Well a turbulent season which saw so many moves and many ups and downs has come to a happy end for the Canucks organisation.The Canucks lowered the boom on the Oiler,s to clinch with a resounding 7-2 massacre.
With many moves that included Jovo, Nash,Richards,Zubruis,Madden,Leopold and Defoe and many more shiped out and players like Iggy,Ollie,Rachunek,Aucoin,Briere,Theo,Modin,Knuble and now Tkachuk brought in the trade boards were kept busy.
So now we venture into uncharted water,s as the post season aproaches.The Canuck,s are primed to make some noise with a fairly balanced 3 lines and the pleasant surprise of rookie d-man Walker leading the way.Theo will be the starting goalie and will be needed to come up big.
Thanks to most of the gm,s in this league for making this an enjoyable season.The one who didnt knows who he is so go anyone in the draft lottery except you know who.

Schmucky's Sens clinch first EVER Playoff Spot!!

Okay, so it's not the first ever in Ottawa history, but the first under GM Schmucky who has been trading, grooming, and developing this team over the past seasons.

"It's been a tough go. When I came here it was a depleted, old squad with little promise. Now, we've got franchise players, youth, energy..oh ya, and a playoff spot."

It has been tough seeing as the previous GM had traded all first round picks, including this years still, most key players and there was no cash!

The only remaining players now are youngster PM Bouchard, Teemu Selanne, who was a 76 OV then, Dick Tarnstrom and Ryan Whitney. The rest have been aquired in moves over the past couple years and Schmucky is excited!

"We are not going to win a cup this year. However, we're in the hunt and that is a big step. We are hoping to go as deep as we can but in retrospect, it's been a fantastic season and we're pumped about the direction this club is going in."

The Sens are awaiting their round one opponent who, at this point, appears to be the Penguins. This could be a great matchup for the Senators as they have OWNED Pittsburgh in the regular season and that could see the Sens sneak into the second round. If not, they are just happy to be there.

GO SENS GO!

Senators Make Surprising Monster Deal

The Ottawa Senators shocked the hockey world yesterday trading their franchise player from last season, Alexei Kovalev.

However, in return the Senators are excited to announce the arrival of youngster Scott Hartnell. Hartnell who has over 50 points this season, is only 24 years old. He has similar ratings to Alexei, who obviously is the superior player, but brings with him youth, energy and a face to paint the future of this franchise.

"We never had any intentions of trading Alexei. Especially in the midst of our race for a playoff spot. However, as a sophomore GM in Clutch I was faced with a tough decision: continue the race and keep our team together, or, look at the future of this franchise and bring in a player that very well could be a leader, star player and producer on the Senators for years to come. I chose the second option."

While Kovalev had decent numbers, almost identical to those of Hartnell in Nashville, Kovalev is turning 34 years old and his rates are undoubtedly set to decline over the next few years. Hartnell, being similar in his ratings, is only turning 25 which means he still has a lot of development left and will be a future star in CLUTCH.

It is expected he will move to Center and play in between Selanne and Friesen on the top line while Marchant will centre a line with PM Bouchard and Justin Kelly that could be an interesting combination.

Oilers Release Jeff Halpern

The Edmonton Oilers made their deal for Modano official and in order to make cap room they've decided to release Centerman Jeff Halpern into the Free Agent market, Modano is going to start in the Oilers next game and with the leaving of Mitchell, this gives Chris McAllister a spot in the lineup for now. The Oilers look forward to seeing how Modano fits into their lineup.

Rumour has it; Modano might become an Oiler?

The Nashville Predators recently hired a new General Manager and trade talks and rumours began immediatley around the league. Rumour has it Mike Modano is in the process of being acquire by the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers as we all know have been a 1 lined team all year only producing from the first line of Kariya, Allison & Krivokrasov, The addition of modano will add the packed 1-2 punch at center and greatly increase the Oilers leadership and scoring ability. Modano is becoming an Unrestricted Free Agent at the end of this season but the Oilers need him to make and possibly move farther into the playoffs. This is still unconfirmed but was heard from a reliable source.

Gorovikov Steals Another One for Playoff Hungry Senators

In a showdown last night, gutsy GM Schmucky decided to stickwith what was working and it worked again!

Young farmer Konstantin Gorovikov pulled off his 2nd straight victory last night as his Ottawa Senators defeated the Avalanche 3-2 in a close battle.

The Senators youngster, Pierre-Marc Bouchard scored the lone goal in the first to give the Senators the lead. That 2nd line has really been clicking with 4 goals in two games!

The Avs gave them a scare though as Svatos scored the lone goal in the 2nd to set up a thrilling third period!

Tanguay scored early in the 3rd to give the Avs the lead, but the Sens would not give up!

30 seconds later Teemu Selanne tied the game again and gave Ottawa a major boost in morale. Finally, Justin Kelly closed out the game with an individual effort that brought the home crowd to it's feet! Gorovikov shut the door from there.

The win leapfrogs Ottawa into 6th, 3 points ahead of the pushing Canes and barely ahead of the Rangers and Devils. The Sens play their 3rd in a row tonight versus the Lightning in a win that could seethem lock up a spot in the playoffs for the first time in 3 seasons!

Senators get HUGE win!

The Ottawa Senators, struggling for their playoff lives last night, came up big vs. the dominant New York Islanders.

In what seemed like a crazy move the Senators, who sat only 1 point ahead of Carolina for the 8th and final spot, pulled Osgood and Turek and played Farm Goalie Konstantin Gorovikov. WHO? WHY? The theory was since the game was a sure loss, they should rest their stars. Thus, Schmucky rolled 4 lines, something he hasn't done in 3-4 weeks, brought up the farm goalie, and rested the allstars.

Konstantin Gorovikov stopped 28 out of 32 shots for his first pro win ever! Jeff Friesen came up big with a goal and three assists. P-M Bouchard scored a goal and two assists and Kovalev, Marchant, Selanne and Kelly all had 2 point nights.

The Senators now sit in 7th, one point ahead of the Devils and Canes for in the playoff race. They are also only 1 point out of sixth, behind the struggling Rangers, and 3 points out of 5th!

Don't expect many changes tonight as GM Schmucky goes with the old, if it ain't broke, don't fix it approach as they face another strong team in the Colorado Avalanche.

Oilers down sharks 3-2

The Oilers have stuggled all year vs. the Sharks but they finally beat them last night when it counts the most! The 1st period is where most the scoring happened, Kariya put in the 1st goal of the game just 7:42 in on the powerplay on a Jason Allison pass. Then just 5 minutes later Paul Kariya did it again at even strength on almost the same set play. Then off the draw 20 seconds later Dupuis set up Battaglia for a blister slap shot goal and before they could get going it was alreadty 3-0 for the Oilers. Elias brought the Sharks within 2 goals before the end of the 1st period. The second held no scoring and with 10 minutes to go Kozlov scored on a tip off of a shividki slap shot to put the Sharks within one. Ty Conklin stopped everything else that came his way in the 3rd period to hang on for a much needed Oilers victory. Their hunger for a playoff spot was obvious tonight and the win put them within one point of the Canucks and Predators.The Oilers GM was rumoured to be on the phone trying to acquire some UFAs at the deadline to make the final push to the playoffs.

Oilers aiming for a playoff spot

The Oilers haven't given up yet and have still retained all of their veterean players hoping to still sneak into the playoffs, With 5 games remaining they sit 3 points out of the 8th and final playoff spot. Paul Kariya is almost at 100 pts, and Allison is not far behind with 91. Niinimaa has been a fantastic defensman for the Oilers ever since he came over from Carolina and leads Oilers defense with 53 pts. Willie Mitchell is out injured and will be out for the remainder of the season, This hurts the Oilers defense. The Oilers face the Sharks tonight and hope to pull off another win.

Senators Control Fate as Season Winds Down

The Ottawa Senators will have no one to blame except themselves if they're watching the playoffs on television this postseason. Ottawa has 6 games left and currently, BARELY, holds onto that 8th and final spot.

"We are holding on..that's all we can really do" stated GM Schmucky at this morning's press conference.

"We control our own destiny."

That they do! The Sens have 2 games in hand on the chasing, and arguably much more talented, Carolina Hurricanes. This means that all the Sens have to do is WIN!

"Our schedule is tough. We've got Pittsburgh twice, Tampa, NYI - yikes, Panthers and Avalanche. It will not be an easy road. However, it's our own fault. We've lost some must win games recently, namely against the Blues, that were crucial to our playoff success."

Ottawa traded #1 Center Brendan Morrison, who was set to be a free agent at seasons end, to New Jersey in exchange for Todd Marchant. Todd scored 2 goals in Ottawa's loss to Florida last night.

The Sens have the night off before heading into New York for an ass whopping by the super competitive, dominant, Islanders.

CANES D AT LEAST LOOKS GOOD, EVENTUALLY

Carolina

With an obvious season of failure slowly closing down, the Carolina Hurricanes have been seen as somewhat content with the future of this organization.

Indeed, despite the on ice failure and the continual revolving door of talent, the Canes seemed to have locked up a young defense core that is worthy of mention.

Brad Stuart, who was acquired earlier in the season for young gun defender Rostislav Klesla has made his mark and is the odds on favourite to take over the captaincy duties next season for the unfortunate club. Stuart leads all Cane defensemen in points and is one of the leaders in penalty minutes, an act that has quickly gotten little positive feedback from management.

Dion Phaneuf, one of the team’s heralded Team Canada juniors, has shown that he has the makings to be one of the most ferocious hitters in the league and a pretty crafty offensive blueliner as well. Phaneuf, 21, has a knack to take others off their game and despite his young age, seems more than willing to get involved with today’s top players.

Jordan Leopold, the teams smooth skating defender, acquired as part of the big Nash/Iginla swap, has delivered what the team had hoped he would. A puck moving defenseman who can chip in offensively but isn’t afraid to do his job in the defenisve end. Leopold, 26, seems to be taking any and all advice from veteran defense partner Phillipe Boucher.

Ron Hainsey, picked up in the wildly scrutinized Chris Pronger deal, has all the makings to be a top defensive rearguard in this league. He is smart in his own end, positionally sound and makes a great first pass. The Canes are high on this 25 year old and are looking forward to building a future with him in it.

Sharks' GM Remains Inactive Heading into Playoffs

April Fool!

Sharks GM Dan Hooper was front and center in the recent flurry of trade activity. Booking flights out of San Jose are stars like Sergei Gonchar, Daniel Sedin, Martin Straka, and promising junior goalie Patrick Ehelechner. Some might think it was a fire sale signifying that San Jose was throwing in the towel and looking toward next year.

On the contrary, the Sharks' GM has figured out a way to strengthen the team for the playoffs while addressing personnel issues. Surfing into San Jose will be veterans Aaron Ward and Patrik Elias. These two will be joining a first line already containing Radek Bonk, Jaromir Jagr and Scott Neidermayer. This should create one of the top lines in CLUTCH. In addition to forming this impressive lineup, Hooper has secured enough junior players and draft picks to avoid league violation scenarios left by the previous GM.

When asked for comment Hooper had the following to say, "It was hard to pull the trigger when moving such quality players not to mention quality people. The contract status [UFA] of Sergei and Martin made them logical choices. I think a lot of us hated to see Danny and Pat go, but at least now we can look ahead without roster problems looming overhead."

Is the roster finally set for the playoffs? "We'll see." replies Hooper with a grin, "I wouldn't mind adding a quality center for the postseason. We've been in contact with several GMs and could have another deal in a matter of hours."

"It felt like trade deadline night" - Panthers acquires Gonchar

FLORIDA - As the end of the season approaches some teams are planning for next season and others are beefing up their teams for a playoff run.

The Redwings, Sharks, Coyotes, Kings, Lightning and Panthers were all busy last night in a flurry of activity.

"It started out as just another quiet night then all of a sudden BAM everything went crazy. ...once the ball got rolling it just snowballed almost out of control." GM Perrault laughed "It felt like trade deadline night."

A total of 8 trades were done in a matter of hours with the Panthers involved in 3 of them.

The Panthers first move was moving centre Matt Cullen to the Lightning for their second round pick next year. GM Perrault then moved young D man Tobias Enstrom and the Jackets third round pick for Detroit defenceman Aaron Ward who was then traded to San Jose along with centre Bruce Graham (JR) and three fourth round picks (PAN 4, THR 4 and COY 4) for this draft for star D man Sergei Gonchar.

"I had talked with Dan (SJ gm Dan Hooper) and inquired about Sergei earlier in the day. He was not too keen on trading him for obvious reasons so I was not sure that the deal would get anywhere and we need another good d man if we want to go deep in the playoffs so when I heard Ward was available I talked to Eric (Detroit GM Eric Boucher) and we agreed on a deal. Matt (Cullen) was moved to make room for Aarons contract. I was just about to go home when I made one more inquiry about Gonchar and made another offer that included Ward and the rest is as they say history."

"I am happy to welcome Sergei Gonchar to the Florida Panthers Organization. Sergeis' experience and puck skills will have an immediate impact and makes our defensive core that much better. Gentleman Sergei Gonchar."

"Thank you." Sergei started saying "It has been a hectic 24 hours for me but I am looking forward to joining and meeting my new team mates. I enjoyed my time in San Jose and was shocked to hear I had been traded but that is part of the business and I will now be focused on helping the Panthers finish the season strong and get ready for the playoffs. I am fortunate to have gone from one good team to another and wish San Jose all the best."

Sergei will become an Unrestricted Free Agent in the offseason and we asked him what his plans were.

"I leave that stuff to my agent. That's what I pay him for. I play hockey and he takes care of the contract. If the Panthers are interested in keeping me and make a decent offer I would have no problem signing with them for next year."

GM Perrault was more direct with his answer on the same question.

"We intend to re-sign Sergei. We would be silly not to try. I was fully aware of his contract status and I usually try not to acquired potential UFA's but we couldn't pass up the opportunity to get such a skilled defenceman and we are hopeful we can get something done in the offseason to keep Sergei around for at least another year."

Capitals Swamped by Islanders

The Washington Capitals ended a run of 188:36 without a goal, but the Islanders were too much on Day 121 and cruised to a 6-3 victory. The loss was Washington's sixth in a row and dropped the club to 23-34-9.

After a scoreless opening 20 minutes, New York took the lead on Schneider's goal from Poulin and Shishkanov at 3:30. The Capitals rallied with a pair of markers to take the lead. Patrick Marleau struck first from Radoslav Suchy and Frantisek Lukes at 5:42, before Peter Tenkrat converted from Nik Antropov and Oleg Saprykin at 11:45. The Isles came right back with two goals in a 19 second span. Hagman got the first from Ehrhoff at 12:19, and Nagy netted the second from Ehrhoff and Hagman at 12:38. Washington tied the game two minutes later on the power play. Jonathan Cheechoo was the scorer from Artem Chubarov and Cory Sarich at 14:38. New York regained the elead for good on Shishkanov's 19th of the season from Peca and Schneider at 15:52.

The Islanders dominated the action in the final period and scored two more goals to put the game away. Chara got the first from Sakic at 6:50, before Poulin converted from McAmmond and Carney at 13:32.

JS Giguere made 21 saves in the loss. Kevin Weekes stopped seven of eight shots he faced in relief. David Aebischer picked up the win after making 22 saves.

The Capitals visit Tampa Bay on Day 125.

Capitals Burned by Devils

The Washington Capitals were shutout for the second straight game and lost its fifth straight on Day 120 in a 3-0 setback to the New Jersey Devils. The setback dropped Washington to 23-33-9.

After two scoreless periods, the Devils turned it on in the final 20 minutes to earn the win. Legwand struck first from Huselius and Devereaux on the power play at 6:18. Volchenkov made it 2-0 from Dvorak and Dagenais at 11:33, and Huselius completed the scoring with the man advantage from Souray and Devereaux at 17:45.

JS Giguere stopped 31 shots in the loss and fell to 24-20-9. Nikolai Khabibulin made 24 saves to earn the win.

The Capitals visit the Islanders on Day 121.