Happy Monday y'all! I hope you advanced in your playoffs or if your postseason starts this week, good luck to all! I have two leagues that start this week so please keep me in your thoughts as well. I know a lot of us want the NHL to switch up the playoff format to see the teams with the most points advance, kind of like how our fantasy leagues do it. Unfortunately, that is what our league formats are for, fantasy. 

The league contains so much parity in today's salary cap world that things fluctuate on a yearly basis. It was not that long ago that the Western Conference was the power house and teams in the Eastern Conference were struggling to make the playoffs. If the road to the Stanley Cup were to start today, HALF of the teams in this year's dance would be different than last season. Think about that, 50% of the playoff field did not adventure on the trip to Lord Stanley. We want new and exciting things in our life and that is why teams play the game and play the schedule that has been assigned to them. 

At the end of the day, there will be 31 losers and only one Stanley Cup Champion. It won't matter how many points you gathered in the regular season, you will be judged on winning 16 games through April, May, and June. 

I do like the divisional playoff format. I wish they would go back to playing teams in their division seven, eight times a season and limiting matchups against the other conference to one game (play one division on the road and the other at home and vice versa, would save on travel costs, etc). And that would really bring the bad blood back against close proximity rivals.

And an idea to spark new rivalries and maybe help with this playoff format could be the remaining four wild card spots go to the teams with the most points. Doesn't matter if three are from the East and one from the West or all four from one and none from the other, but in this instance, the last four teams are the "best" ones in terms of points. Let me know what you think of this idea on Twitter, @LAM1926.

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Last week I wrote about how the Vegas Golden Knights were looking like an organization who was starting to hit their stride. They are an experienced group and know when to turn it on, but I turned it into a complete mush. Vegas only scored one goal during a three-game losing skid, but they got out of their funk with a 3-2 over the Dallas Stars yesterday. The amount of extra hockey their top players played at the Olympics has had an impact so staying fresh and rested down the stretch is going to be key. It is still too early to start scratching players for rest, but we may see a lot of limited practices and morning skates in the near future.

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The Pacific Division is pretty much the reason we're having this debate and they did not do themselves any favors last week. Counting the teams still in the playoff chase (so the top six, ending with San Jose), those teams went 5-12-3. What makes that record look even worse is that only one of those games was in division; the Edmonton Oilers defeated the San Jose Sharks.

Again, we live in the moment of now and instant gratification, so this week wasn't one to write home about, but that's why they play all 82 contests. That number will change for the final three and a half weeks and the perception will be different.

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Don't look now, but since some of these teams won't take the reins and take control of the wild card, teams like the Nashville Predators, Winnipeg Jets, and even the St. Louis Blues have crawled back into the race. 

The Preds have been led by a resurgent Steven Stamkos who has 28 goals and 47 points in 45 games  since the start of December. As it stands on Monday March 23rd, Nashville does have the final wild card spot. Who would have thought this in the middle of December?

There is a reason why Connor Hellebuyck will be a first ballot hall of famer and it was shown when he was hurt earlier this season. The Jets dug themselves a pretty big hole while he was out of the lineup, but he has led the charge in making this surprising come back. Winnipeg currently sits at NHL .500 and only five points out of a playoff spot.

Much like Hellebuyck, Robert Thomas has missed a lot of time for the Blues this season, but when he was inserted back into the lineup, the almost traded Blue has injected new life into this squad and has them in the single digit territory now for that wildcard spot with a 7-1-2 record in their last 10. 

It could be too little too late for these franchises, but it makes more games matter, which leads to better intensity for our viewing pleasure.

I hope y'all have a great week and good luck in your matchups if you are still alive!