Leafs Last Chance and International WTF Day

A non-Saturday non-Preview post? My god I've gone mad! Here are a few things:

Toronto On The Edge

Tonight is literally do are die with the Leafs, and it all depends on them winning AND the Sabres losing. After seeing the Bruins blow a 3-0 lead last night (must have thought it was the playoffs), the Rangers are out of the Leafs reach. AS the standing are, Buffalo has 90 points to Toronto's 84, and both teams have 3 games left. Buffalo faces Tampa Bay, Philadelphia, and Columbus, while Toronto must beat Washington, New Jersey, and Montreal. Not exactly a cake walk but not impossible either. So if this all goes well for the Leafs (they go 3-0 while the Sabres go 0-3), who would get that all important 8th and final spot for the playoffs? Well after extensive research in a highly classified lab about 2 minutes figuring out how exactly the tiebreaker works, I've found the answer. The first tiebreaker is "point percentage", but since both team would have 90 points and played 82 games, this tiebreaker is useless. Next up is the total number of wins minus any that came from shootout. And again, both teams are tied with 5 wins apiece. #3 in the tiebreaker is the head-to-head point totals. Here are the results from their match-ups with points for it included (left side Sabres, right side Leafs):

November 6          Buffalo 3 - Toronto 2 (SO)          2-1
November 26        Toronto 1 - Buffalo 3                   4-1
February 5             Toronto 2 - Buffalo 6                  6-1
February 16           Toronto 2 - Buffalo 1                  6-3
March 12              Buffalo 3 - Toronto 4                   6-5
March 29              Buffalo 3 - Toronto 4                   6-7

So Toronto will get by because of an earlier shootout lost to the Sabres. So the "Bettman Point" doesn't look so bad now does it Leaf fans? (note: I'm indifferent to it). Well, I'll cheer for the Leafs, until that last game against the Habs...Then I want vengeance for 2007 (the ONE time witnessing a Habs-Leafs game live, and Toronto would win it).

Those Picks Went To Hell

As previously mentioned, the Division II Group A tournament kicks off the World Championship schedule, and there are upsets to be had. I didn't think the Belgium would be a threat. Even though it was a 3-2 win, I still call that an upset over freshly-relegated-from-Division-I Serbia. Mexico also let Australia walk all over them, losing 11-1. It was 5-0 after 2 and then the onslaught happened. I haven't seen a goal-scoring parade in the 3rd period like that since...well...the Bruins-Rangers game last night. Well, it's early, but...Congrats Australia, enjoy Division I next year.