This weekend I decided to get my 2009 Stanley Cup playoff tickets. I had decided earlier in the weekend to take a look at the playoff race and this is what I found. The playoff setup seems to be really taking shape in the last week or so. We can finally see that some teams have clinched something and other teams have been eliminated. Let’s start in the Eastern Conference. Boston, Washington and New Jersey are in. This is quite a coup, especially for Washington, as they have struggled more in recent years, so making the playoffs at position #2 is an especially exciting event for them. Philadelphia, Carolina and Pittsburgh will have to mess up big-time to get bumped from the postseason. In the West, San Jose and Detroit are for sure in, but Calgary, Chicago, and Vancouver are looking very good too. It’s going to be a great postseason!

The new NHL rankings prove several things about the NHL nowadays. Hockey is an interesting sport right now. The CBS writer I’m reading now says that it proves that this kind of balance that we’ve always wanted to have in the sport. You can see that there are a few teams that are way out ahead, including Detroit, Boston, New Jersey and San Jose. Boston is an interesting case because they have fallen off the cliff the last month or so, when they’ve been playing under .500. They are going to have to work hard to get back on the mark, although they don’t need to worry about making the playoffs. But there aren’t any eliminated teams from the playoff hunt quite yet, even though the last month is well underway. Keep an eye on this race, because it’s going to be very exciting.