WOW! What a day!

[Chuzwazza]

I don't think I've come across a day or two where I cared less about my own results and more about those around me! It didn't hurt that my game was basically inconsequential, but even so, this year has proven to have a lot of good finishes in store for us....and possibly the best yet to come

STORY 1: OTTAWA VS. WASHINGTON FOR HOME ICE THROUGHOUT.
With the Senators up by a point, but having only 1 game left (compared to Washington's 2) and a tough game against the Bruins on hand, things looked pretty good for the Caps. However, the Sens came out hard and shelled Marty Turco, putting 5 past him before he got dragged. Even Chris Osgood didn't escape the barrage, letting in a goal on just 2 shots. With Ottawa taking care of 1 part, the Flyers took care of the other, beating the Caps 4-1 and sealing the #1 seed throughout for the Sens. On a side note, the Bruins now have to wonder how Turco will recover from the shelling in their last game of the season, and must deal with the injury to center Jason Allison, who could miss the first couple of games in the opening round.

STORY 2: ISLANDERS VS FLYERS FOR HOME ICE IN 1ST ROUND
At first the Isles looked safe, while the Flyers were more worried about staying ahead of the Sabres, but after a poor stretch by the boys from Long Island, and a good run from the Flyers, things got awful close. The Islanders managed to lose back-to-back games against the Devils, leaving Philli to try to get 5 points in 3 games to take the lead, but losses to the Coyotes and the red hot Rangers means that Philli will start the playoffs on the road this season....wait for it...AT the Islanders. Talk about a painful loss! Did we mention they're without Aaron Ward for a week or two?

STORY 3: PITTSBURGH, ATLANTA & THE RANGERS FOR THE FINAL PLAYOFF SPOT
This was one of the more interesting battles down the stretch. The Pens and the Thrashers both unloaded vets at the deadline, and tried to steal that 8th spot in the east. Both teams struggled to get some composure down the stretch, and ended up leaving the door open for a charging Rangers squad. The Pens went 3-7 in their last 10, and the Thrashers went 4-5-1 while the Rangers reeled off their last 6 straight. After upsetting the Flyers to take a 1 point lead over the Pens, the Rangers sealed their post-season ticket with a 4-1 win over Florida. They will be without Aleksey Morozov for most, if not all of their post-season campaign, something which I'm sure Ranger fans are not looking forward to!

STORY 4: THE WINGS, JACKETS, DUCKS & SHARK LOVE SQUARE.
Here in the HFNHL, things are far more complicated than real life. We don't settle for a simple love triangle. No, we take it 1 step further. what was a 3 way battle for the 3, 4 and 5 spots suddenly became a 4 way battle when the Sharks came tearing through on a 7 game win streak. The Jackets lost to the Ducks, not only costing them home-ice advantage, but meaning that they will probably finish in 6th in the West. The Ducks now have an outside chance at moving ahead of the Wings. Anaheim plays the struggling Pens, while the Wings play the Western conference champ Blues, and the lowly Nashville Predators. San Jose could shake things up with a pair of Wins over the Avs, forcing Anaheim to beat pittsburgh to keep home ice advantage. Throw in a couple of long standing rivalries between arguably the 3 most influencial front offices in the league and it's all good...particularly given the 4 teams will play each other in the 1st round!

STORY 5: D-DAY, THE DAY OF DAYS
Buckle up your seat-belts folks!, this one is going to be a dandy! When it got down to the last 4 or 5 games of the season, and we saw that Edmonton and Calgary (who were locked in a fight for the 8th playoff spot out west) were playing each other 3 times (including the last game of the season for both teams) we wet our mouths in anticipation. Now, it's down to 1 game. The Oils need to win, but have to do it without their best offensive player...Ryan Smyth. The safe money is on the Flames, but these Oilers have a habit of overachieving. Just in case you needed more incentive for a game than the playoffs being on the line...did we mention that they're both from Alberta?


So, most of these have played out, but the best is almost certainly still to come. Stay tuned folks. this one should be one to remember!


Buffalo Bill,
Hockey Editor for The Buffalo News

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[HFNHL Red Wings]

Good read Josh.

Heres hoping the Sim Gods countinue to shine on my Wings. With my Bramption Battalion and more recently Montreal Canadiens being eliminated from playoff hockey all I have to look forward to is a Wings vs. Jackets matchup (with the Wings winning of course)

 

[Donga]

but these Oilers have a habit of overachieving

wow, in my first season, they were underachieving... Man what a difference a year or two makes... Maybe this gives me hope as I climb the ladder...

 

[Chuzwazza]

BEST FINISH TO A REGULAR SEASON IN HFNHL HISTORY? I THINK SO!!!
Check this out folks...

FLAMES VS. OILERS
Oilers are without star forward Ryan Smyth. They've lost a couple in a row and are desperately looking for anything that will get them over the line. The Flames on the other hand have come back from the dead (or so it seemed) with about a dozen games to go, and are in red hot form. The only saving grace for the Oilers? They're at home and have the crowd behind them.

Things go as expected. The Flames score first. Mid-way through the 1st period, a goal from Nylander puts them ahead. Oilers fans start to sweat. A tie is good enough for the Flames, so 2 goals are needed to put the Oilers in the playoffs...without their #1 forward...ouch.

Things get worse. 50 seconds later, and Derrick Morris makes it 2-0. Oilers fans are starting to turn off their TV sets, the thought of missing out on another playoff run (like they did 2 years ago when the Wings beat them on the last game of the season) is just too much for the poor old Edmonton faithful to bear However, for those that stick around, a small consolation is given just before the end of the 1st period, through a Rob Niedermayer goal that gives them some hope going into the break, down 2-1.

The second period is tight. No surprises here. Calgary is basically playing with a 2 goal lead, and in games like these...2 goals are tough to come by.

An early 3rd period goal from Donald Brashear of all people ties it up at 2-2, and gives the fans some hope for a win. The place is now clearly rocking

However the Flames jump back into shut down mode and are masterful down the stretch, leaving Oilers fans questioning...Why us?

So that's it, the season's over and the Flames advance. 1 minute to go, Oilers drag their goalie. 45 seconds, 30 seconds. The Flames fans that made the trip are celebrating 15 seconds, and just then...Havlat fires the puck up the ice off the boards which is picked up by Patrick Stefan. He breaks into the neutral zone and makes a cross ice pass to Martin Rucinsky. Rucinsky fires at the net and SCORES!!!!!!!

Oilers fans are going 's while the Flames fans are left . After the game, Barry Melrose cites the Oilers heart as the reason why they won, while insiders suggest that with Andrew Raycroft in the wings, a performace like this in a crucial game could spell the end for Roberto Luongo's tenure in Calgary.

Oilers management meanwhile is left to ponder how, in the final game of the season, where one playoff spot is on the line between two of the most passionate rivals in the HFNHL only 14, 748 fans turned up to see the game in a 17,099 seat stadium.

The Oilers must now play the Blues in the first round without Smyth, but the main objective on the season has been completed. The Flames must now return home and lick their wounds.

So thats it Folks! The best end to a regular season ever is over. Couldn't have been any more dramatic! Isn't hockey great?

 

[Pandastyle]

Thanks for that great article Josh . It's great, just great. I really expected that to be a loss. Now it's playoff time.

I think it's only fair that Nick has to sit out his best forward in the series. So, how about the Blues have to sit out Thornton, Heatley, or Demitra....it's not like it'd make a difference anyway.

Who am I kidding? Oil in 5.

 

[Ohio Jones]

Great stuff, Josh. Now we'll just have to see what the responses are like for the HFNHL Poll to see who's favoured to get out of Round 1...

Hmm. I would have expected to be an underdog. You're 5-1 against so far in voting - Boston is heavily favoured. But - and here's the weird thing - I'm favoured 5-1 against Drew. I guess since I'm taking on last year's Western Conference champion, with him holding home ice, so naturally I'm the one who's favoured? Go figure...

 

[HFNHL Red Wings]

Hey Andrew if you need any line combination tips on how to beat the Blues just let me know.
As you may recall I stated about midway through the season I believed I knew how to do it but b/c all my games (4 out of 5 anyway) were at the end I couldn't test my theory. Well I applied my theory and it worked winning 3 out of the 4 games. The only loss occurred when Kolzig was doing his imitation of swiss cheese.
Win 3-2
Loss 6-1
Win 3-0 (kept them to only 20 shots)
Win 10-6! (tied a Wings franchise record for most goals scored

I only wish I was facing the Blues in the first round.

 

[MatthewFlames]

Thanks for that great article Josh . It's great, just great. I really expected that to be a loss. Now it's playoff time.

I think it's only fair that Nick has to sit out his best forward in the series. So, how about the Blues have to sit out Thornton, Heatley, or Demitra....it's not like it'd make a difference anyway.

Who am I kidding? Oil in 5.

Great Article, Terrible result!!

Ugh! What a way to lose!

Matthew
GMFLAMES