NHL

It's all about timing when it comes to entering the playoffs on the right foot.

With only 16 games left in the regular season, the Pittsburgh Penguins are picking a good time to elevate their game and make them—yet again—a force to be reckoned with as the second season approaches.

Sure, the Pens have the best group of centers in the game—but while Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Jordan Staal are hitting the top of their game, the rest of the team is right behind them.

Now that the NHL is in the final quarter of the season and the trade deadline has passed, teams are who they are—and the forecast of the future is clearer. Thus, it seems logical to gaze into the crystal ball and project the final standings.

For this article, I will examine not only each playoff team's position, but also predict the number of points each finishes with and give a brief explanation why. In the next article, I will project the playoffs.

While watching the Toronto Maple Leafs game against Boston, my roommate, David West , and I started talking about Rickard Wallin, the player who does not have a role on the Toronto Maple Leafs...at least not anymore.

Rickard Wallin has put up 6 points, only one of them being a goal, in 44 games, which is not enough. Admittedly, Wallin is now a defensive forward, but last season in the Swedish Elite League, he did put up 55 points and 18 goals, which he apparently left in Farjestad.

Elliott Friedman of CBC has an intriguing couple bullet points in his latest blog . He says:

It's amazing how far the Carolina Hurricanes have come this season.

Heading into the New Year, the 'Canes were last by far in the conference and looking like an utter disaster just one year removed from their conference finals run in 2009.

After a decently successful January in which the Hurricanes went 9-5, they had pulled themselves up a bit but were no longer in position to "earn" the num.

The First round of the 2010 NHL entry draft has a lot of depth. There will be talented players near the bottom end of the first and into the second rounds. The following article outlines my choices compiled from numerous scouting rankings and reports. This is a list from 30-21 of who I think will get drafted, where, and when.

30. Washington Capitals: Jarred Tinordi (D)

After Tuesday morning’s skate, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville told the media that Antti Niemi would start in net against the Los Angeles Kings.

Round and round we go…

The staggering issue the Blackhawks continue to deal with is neither of their netminders appears ready/willing/able to grab the top of the depth chart. Niemi has had a handful of opportunities to become the undisputed No. 1, and has struggled with each chance. Meanwhile, Cristobal Huet has defined mediocrity all season, especially since the beginning of the calendar year.

Brian Rafalski and Jerome Iginla will renew acquaintances tonight as the two Olympic standouts and their teams will engage in what could prove to be a very critical battle for playoff positioning.

If the Flames win, they will exchange their ninth seed position with Detroit and gain the one point cushion the Red Wings currently have on them .

As we await tonight's Habs vs. Tampa game, a thought occurred to me about the Montreal Canadiens: Maxim Lapierre was out of the lineup for the last two games, and I didn't even notice.

Did you? Did anyone except for Max?

In case you didn't know, Maxim Lapierre was suspended for four games for a 'dirty' hit on San Jose's Scott Nichol this week.

Sunday's game against the Ducks, was the second game of Lapierre's suspension and I for one didn't even notice that he was out of the lineup?

His uncle Danny was a 50-goal man in the NHL. His father Ernie still holds the record for most assists during a game in the BCHL with 9.

Yet Leath Gare, with all his skill and bloodlines, keeps having to carve out his own path in hockey. Something he has been successful in doing so far despite being told time and time again that he was too small.

While playing minor hockey in Vernon, B.C., he watched as players who were less skilled moved up to the Junior "A" and WHL ranks, while he waited for an opportunity.