Eighth place in the Western Conference is up for grabs; Who takes it?

At a minimum the Ducks need to win 25 of their remaining 34 games to make the playoffs, or a .735 winning percentage. To put that in perspective, Detroit leads the conference and has a .670 winning percentage so far.

Ducks fans can keep dreaming, but this isn't going to happen.

As a Calgary fan, I think Dallas just takes 8th because they are reasonably solid on all fronts. Calgary and Minnesota don't have the guns and Colorado doesn't have solid goaltending. Phoenix will suffer the agony of missing out on the last day.

As an Avalanche fan, I hate to say it, but our power play is not nearly as good as the ranking. I've seen nearly every game this season and I honesty believe that our power play stinks. I definitely believe that we have the talent and hustle to make the playoffs this season, despite our terrible coach. It'll be nice to have Duchene back in the lineup. Mark my words, if this group of young talent stays together and we get a new coach, I see the Avs as a Stanley Cup contender for years to come.

You need to learn how to read the standings correctly. Sharks are only 5 points ahead of the wild. They are sitting up at the 3rd spot because they lead the division, by a meager 2 points.

With that said, I still think the Sharks will make the playoffs, but as of now, they are one bad 5 game streak from being on the outside looking in.

Also, I think the Avs will miss the playoffs, they lack depth at every position. I think both Dallas and Phoenix will end up ahead of them. While Dallas certainly does not have depth at D, they have much better depth in goal and up front. The Coyotes are fairly average up front and in net, but by far have better defense than rhe Stars, Wild, and Avs.

On the flipside, six teams (the Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks, Vancouver Canucks, San Jose Sharks, St. Louis Blues, and Nashville Predators) are all nine or more points clear of 8th place, and can probably begin screening their logos onto cheap towels.

I swear Mooney.... if you jinx this for the Blues........... -(

The Stars have a five game losing streak in their last 10 games when they were missing Benn and Ribeiro, their top 2 centers. Both of them are back now, so it's reasonable to expect them to be better now. Also, the Stars have games in hand on everyone else in the 8-12 range.

Can we just pretend for awhile that the Ducks can do it? It would do wonders for my overall mental well being.....
(Yeah, and I believe in the tooth fairy. What of it?!)

"you could argue only there's one spot available."
Sounds like a french canadian talking

Avalanche are really going to have to hope that Giguere keeps up his excellent goaltending, or they WILL fall out of the playoffs.

There's a good analysis at Flamesnation that looks specifically at Calgary's chance for making the playoffs... http://flamesnation.ca/2012/1/30/calgarys-playoff-probability

It will come down to injuries. Parity in the NHL is so close that all it takes is one or two injuries to start a losing streak and teams will fall off. Look at Dallas' recent slide and the Ducks in November. Staying healthy and having a hot streak like Nashville and Anaheim are on will make all of the difference. It will be exciting to say the least.

I think the Avs are set at Goalie who has the top prospect in hockey in goal right now THE AVS they will keep Seymon trade js for some more depth at one of the wing spots and you have playoffs written all over the AVS!!!!!!

The flip side of this is that no 1 in the West has never been more valuable. Teams in the 2, 3, and 4 slots are going to have first round matchups with teams that are basically their equals. The series will be toss ups. But on paper at least, the 8th place team is going to be significantly weaker than the team that finishes first.

J.G. is merely playing at an unsustainable level; if he had all that much left to begin with, then they wouldn't have overpaid for what is rapidly becoming a third-string tender. As much as I can't stand Dallas, I have to give it to them.

If the avs can stay as good as they have been defensively lately, they have a good chance. They dont have as much forward depth as most of the other teams fighting for the playoffs, but the defense is a solid group now. I dont even think Varly is a factor anymore with his inconsistency, but Giguere has seemed to stabilize the goaltender position. Just need some extra scoring touch, hopefully Duchene is back soon

I would say the Flames, but apparently Jay Feaster disagrees with me (based upon their liquidation of Brendan Morrison yesterday).

As long as Selanne is still a Duck they still got a chance…

The Ducks have gone like 8-2 in their last 10 and went from being 1 point away from the Blue Jackets to catching up into that 8-12th place cluster. Ducks are not out of it by any stretch of the imagination

Calgary has the best schedule and a hot goaltender right now. But they have folded in crunch time the last couple of years. If they can start putting the puck in the net I think they will get the last spot.

to bad any of these teams in the hunt would lose to the wings hahahahah

I agree 100%, the Avs are CLEARLY the best team of those fighting for 8th spot.

The Avs are deceiving - take it from a fan. Sure, they take tons of shots, but how many are terrible, terrible shots (usually in terms of angles)? I know, get the puck on net, but this seems to be an anomalous stat for the Avs. As for the power play, I wouldn't say it stinks like Lunar Storm, but it certainly isn't one of the tops in the league. They will secure the 8th spot if, and only if, one of their apathetic forwards can turn it up, see: David Jones. Duchene will have to return with a bang (but I'm not worried about that). Mueller will have to stay healthy (who knows anymore with concussions). And Varly will have to give Ol' Man Giggy some time in the hot bath between games. I predicted 9th at the start of the season, and I'll stick with 9th. But that's only what my logic tells me. Hockey ain't a game of logic