Stephen Daniel back with the 2nd and regular Sunday edition of Pen Zen. Currently, the NHL regular season is starting to draw to a close. Right now the vast majority of people in this country are still shredding their NCAA March Madness Brackets and Googling just where on earth is St. Marys and Northern Iowa.
Nevertheless, the thing that I have noticed is that there is a parallel between March Madness and the NHL season. For most casual watchers, an NCAA basketball game is about 1 thing: the last 2 minutes. Fans casually talk to friends in the first half, but then buckle down as the final seconds tick off the clock. With the NHL, a regular season is 82 games which is a great deal of playing time (especially if you played in the olympics). Casual fans are just now taking their Jaromir Jagr or Alexei Kovalev jersey they bought off ebay for $20, dusting off the cobwebs and just now checking the standings.
That's right... It's the playoffs
While the inevitable bandwagon train of casual fans (and Steeler fans) comes rolling to your local watering establishment, it's time for the real fans to focus on what's important. You guessed it... Playoff Seeding.
In the NHL there are no easy games, therefore there is no easy seeding. If you had followed the Pens in the mid nineties, you know that 7-8 seed was our turf. We came into highly seeded New Jersey and Washington and beat them in their own house. Because, afterall seeding doesn't make that much of a difference, it's a best of seven. Four wins, you move on. Four losses, you are sitting at home with the kids eating popcorn watching other teams sweat it out for the glory. The Penguins of the mid to late nineties proved that seeding was irrelevant. However, we are not in the Jagr era anymore
Since the Sid and Geno era, we have been in 3 playoff runs. One ending abruptly in the first round, one ended tragically in the finals, and one ending gloriously with champagne and Mike Lange saying so eloquently, "Lord Stanley, Scratch their names in your fabled cup". Breaking the series down though, there is a distinct pattern. Home vs. Away made all the difference in the Penguins most recent playoff series.
Over the last 3 years, in series we were the lower seed and did not have home ice, we have played a grand total of 25 games and have a combined record of 11-14 with a series record of 2-2. When you take out the Ottawa series the first time we made the playoffs in the Sid and Geno era, I suppose it's not THAT bad. But let's look at the home record. In series that we did have home ice advantage we played a grand total of 28 games and have a combined record of 24-4 with a series record of 5-0. Perhaps most notably, is the fact that every playoff series in the new era has gone back to their building with the Pens being up 2 games to none.
The point being is that those statistics are unbelievably lopsided in favor of home ice for the Pens. It's the last year of the Igloo, and everyone knows that it will be louder than it has ever been. The Pens want to play there, the Pens NEED to play there. Therefore, it is the opinion of this humble author that there should be no hesitation to try to win the Atlantic division over the Devils. Once we clinch a playoff spot, we should be very cognizant of where we stand in the East, and try to maintain the 2nd seed. After-all, one blown series by the Capitals and we have another shot at complete home ice advantage up to the Stanley Cup.
The reflective part of this article is this: There are no easy playoff series. An 8 seed can be just as dangerous as a 1st seed because of playing lights out, dominant hockey to sneak into the playoffs. Last year, the Penguins had won 18 of their last 25 games to earn a spot in the playoffs. Perhaps most notably, was the fact that the Pens had to battle to earn the 4th seed in the playoffs last year. It was the Flyers spot to lose, and they lost it. Which makes you really think, if the Flyers would have beaten the Rangers in the last game of the regular season, there would have been 2 games in the Wachovia center instead of the igloo. If the Flyers would have beaten the Rangers in the last game of the regular season... Do the Penguins win the Stanley Cup?
Every game counts, every point matters.
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