Where they stand

Well with the shootout loss to Carolina last night, they picked up a point, but they also lost their point lead against the Hurricanes, also the head to head tiebreaker. But I have zero idea how the tiebreakers work in the playoff standings, so I won't go into them. They are currently in Eighth place today. And only 2 points out of 5th. So really they aren't in a bad spot. There are plenty of games left and if Miller isn't as badly hurt, then the Team should be ok. Well, that's assuming they play alright and not give the puck up all the time and put Lalime in bad spots. The next 10 games will be big for this team. So lets look at the next 10 games. And they are not all must wins. But getting as many points as possible is key.

Saturday @ the Islanders
3/4 vs Canadiens
3/6 vs Coyotes
3/7 @ Senators
3/10 @Philadelphia
3/12 vs Panthers
3/14 vs Senators
3/20 vs Flyers
3/21 @ Rangers
3/25 vs Panthers

They have 6 games at home. But two of those are the back to back, one at home one on the road. Which make zero sense to me. They play the worst team in hockey next, the last game before the trade deadline. They have to win the game on Saturday. Then the game against the Habs is another huge one. The Coyotes game is a throw away. But then they have 2 against the Sens and two against the flyers. The flyers seem to far to catch, but they sweep the next two and the Flyers are back in range. Plus two games against the Panthers. Thats a split able series in my eye.

Hopefully the Sabres can go 7-3 in the next 10. But 6-4 or 5-4-1 wouldn't be the end of things. They need to create space. But they also need to keep pace. They can't let the Miller injury lead to an excuse. The Sabres can play well and win if they really want to. The trade deadline, will show what Regier thinks of this team. If they are sellers, the year is over. They do nothing, they are confident in the team. Buyers? It shows Darcy really likes the team and thinks they can go far, or next year. Which may give the team a nice shot in the arm.

Is Glen Metropolit still available?

So another look at the standings

Well listening to local sports radio they were bringing up changing the point totals for wins and shootout wins and losses. Jeremy White the boy wonder, was like it would be worse for the Sabres as they would be 4 points back. Really, did he just multiply wins by 3? So lets look at it game by game and rip apart the season and see what wins were shootout wins and realign the Eastern Conference. This will take a little time, but could be fun. We'll use Cbssportsline, since they do a good job of game breakdowns. (Its also where i get my logos)

The Eastern Conference Standings as of 3/5/2008

	1. Pittsburgh	68	83
	2. Montreal	67	81
	3. Carolina	68	73
	4. New Jersey	67	82
	5. Ottawa	67	80
	6. Boston	66	77
	7. N.Y. Rangers	67	77
	8. Philadelphia	67	74
	9. Buffalo	67	73
	10. N.Y. Islanders	68	71
	11. Washington	67	70
	12. Toronto	68	68
	13. Florida	69	68
	14. Atlanta	67	65
	15. Tampa Bay	66	5

Ok we'll now break it down with Regulation wins as 3 points, OT/Shootout wins as 2 points, and OT/Shootout losses as 1 point. We'll only go to 11, since I have limited time.

1. Ottawa 111 points
2. Pittsburgh 110 points
3. Carolina 99 Points
4. Montreal 109 Points
5. New Jersey 108 Points
6. Philadelphia 104 Points
7. Boston 104 Points
8. NY Rangers 103 Points
9. Buffalo 99 Points
10. NY Islanders 94 Points
11. Washington 93 Points

Well I guess Jeremy White was right, about being 4 points back, but with the 3 point structure. A four point lead isn't as daunting as it may seem. But still the early part of the season is catching up to the Sabres right now. Starting 6-10-1 in the first 17 really put them in a early hole. Of course Ottawa was 15-2 in their first 17 games. Now the Sabres have gained 10 points on the Sens since their first meeting.

So the conclusion to this study is, the system is fine where it is. It really doesn't make much of a difference. Things even out over 82 games.