Cammalleri to Centre and the Playoff Race

by Mitch Smith on Feb 14, 2012 9:38 AM PST in A Case of the Mondays

Mike Cammalleri is being moved to Centre and it remains to be seen if he will be successful. A Centre is not the same as a Winger, it is a much more challenging position. It is common to have a Centre downgrade to Winger without much concern but the transition from Winger to Centre is much rarer.

Mark Messier is an example of a former Winger who made the move to Centre with tremendous success but other examples are few and far between.

Cammalleri does have the historic advantage of being a Centre in the distant past and this certainly bodes well but it is not exactly a position that has stood still in time. He will be a player to watch closely tonight. Those who have not fully appreciated Mikael Backlund and his contributions should watch Cammalleri for his positioning and how he tends to his defensive responsibilities.

The position in the modern NHL has become one of the most important.

Make the jump for a update in the playoff race. The Canucks just couldn't do the Flames a favor last night with a clean win in regulation.

It is early in the season to do so but it is hard not to start cheering for some alien teams and high ranking former foes in the standings to take down the direct competition on the playoff bubble.

The Canucks with a regulation win over the Coyotes last night could have given the Flames a chance tonight to catch them. No such luck as our friends in Vancouver just couldn't deliver in regular time.

The Blackhawks who were securely in the playoffs have plummeted recently losing their last 5 games and tabling a 2-7-1 record over their last ten games. If they keep that up they will fall into the playoff pit of no mercy where every point matters. Almost inconceivable to imagine the Blackhawks missing the playoffs but it may happen.

The Kings are treading water and the Wild have been steadily fading. The Ducks, regardless of their recent surge, are out of it but they will be lethal spoilers.

The Flames, Yotes and Stars are in the thick of it. The Stars with their two games in hand could shoot up into the standings with a couple wins. The Flames simply have to win and keep winning.

A full docket for tonight and cheer those Red Wings over the Stars, the Ducks over the Wild, the Predators over the Blackhawks. Wins over the Flames playoff competition now is worth watching at this point.

Here is a grid for the playoff race breakdown. The top 5 in the West are more or less locked into position for the playoffs. Whenever you see a "Pt% Needed" of less than 0.500 you are in a fairly safe state going forward.

									Point	Pts for
	West	GP	W	L	OT	Pts	Pt %	GR	Pace	8th	Pt %
										91	Needed
1	Red Wings	57	38	17	2	78	0.684	25	112	13	0.260
2	Canucks	56	35	15	6	76	0.679	26	111	15	0.288
3	Sharks	54	31	17	6	68	0.630	28	103	23	0.411
4	Blues	55	34	14	7	75	0.682	27	112	16	0.296
5	Predators	56	32	18	6	70	0.625	26	103	21	0.404
6	Blackhawks	56	29	20	7	65	0.580	26	95	26	0.500
7	Kings	57	27	19	11	65	0.570	25	94	26	0.520
8	Coyotes	57	27	21	9	63	0.553	25	91	28	0.560
9	Flames	56	26	22	8	60	0.536	26	88	31	0.596
10	Avalanche	57	28	25	4	60	0.526	25	86	31	0.620
11	Stars	55	28	24	3	59	0.536	27	88	32	0.593
12	Wild	55	25	22	8	58	0.527	27	86	33	0.611
13	Ducks	55	22	24	9	53	0.482	27	79	38	0.704
14	Oilers	55	22	28	5	49	0.445	27	73	42	0.778
15	Blue Jackets	56	16	34	6	38	0.339	26	56	53	1.019

	East	GP	W	L	OT	Pts	Pt%	GR	Point		Pt %
									Pace	93	Needed
1	Rangers	54	36	13	5	77	0.713	28	117	16	0.286
2	Bruins	53	34	17	2	70	0.660	29	108	21	0.362
3	Panthers	55	27	17	11	65	0.591	27	97	26	0.481
4	Flyers	56	31	18	7	69	0.616	26	101	22	0.423
5	Penguins	56	32	19	5	69	0.616	26	101	22	0.423
6	Devils	55	31	20	4	66	0.600	27	98	25	0.463
7	Senators	58	28	22	8	64	0.552	24	90	27	0.563
8	Maple Leafs	56	28	22	6	62	0.554	26	91	29	0.558
9	Capitals	56	28	23	5	61	0.545	26	89	30	0.577
10	Jets	57	26	25	6	58	0.509	25	83	33	0.660
11	Canadiens	57	23	25	9	55	0.482	25	79	36	0.720
12	Lightening	55	24	25	6	54	0.491	27	81	37	0.685
13	Islanders	55	23	24	8	54	0.491	27	81	37	0.685
14	Sabres	55	24	25	6	54	0.491	27	81	37	0.685
15	Hurricanes	57	21	25	11	53	0.465	25	76	38	0.760

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Comments

is the "grid for the playoff race’ broken for anyone else or just me? maybe my work computer doesn’t like something about it. might have to check it out at home?

by xis10ce on Feb 14, 2012 10:57 AM PST reply actions

Hmmm – I see it fine. I did copy and paste it as a picture.

Let me know when you get home if you still can’t see it…

Consider contributing to Wiki if you can. It has come a long way since its inception in quality and its founders have resisted attempts to commercialize it. Lets keep it alive with a few dollars each.

by Mitch Smith on Feb 14, 2012 11:47 AM PST up reply actions

right on, for some reason it’s up and running now and I’m still at work, all is well

by xis10ce on Feb 14, 2012 1:41 PM PST up reply actions

Working ok for me.

by Colin S on Feb 14, 2012 2:17 PM PST up reply actions

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