The Battle of Alberta is one of the keys as the playoff picture falls into place the final weekend of the NHL season.
The final weekend of the National Hockey League schedule is where the schedule maker has his fun. It is supposed to have some snap, crackle and pop to it.
The New York Rangers playing against division rival Philadelphia Flyers; Detroit vs. another Original Six city, Chicago; Edmonton vs. in-province rival Calgary.
These are games that are supposed to have meaning right down to the last day of the 1,230-game schedule but Calgary-Edmonton?
Hey, don't laugh, there's more here than meets the eye.
Sure the Oilers have already been eliminated from postseason consideration and, to be fair, the end couldn't have come soon enough to put the Oilers and their fans out of their misery (and, perhaps Oiler coach Craig MacTavish out of a job which is sad in a very different way) but don't think for a moment the series doesn't still have meaning.
For starters, MacT and company have decided to start backup goaltender Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers in both outings. Now it can be argued that this has some meaning for the Oilers in that they've started Dwayne Roloson in goal for 36 straight games and they may well need to see if 'Double D' is worthy of consideration for next season but it can't possibly make the Vancouver Canucks happy.
Lest we forget, the Northwest Division title -- and likely a date with (at this writing at least) newbie playoff team Columbus -- hangs in the balance here. The Canucks, clearly having done their part to grab a piece of the crown would surely like to see someone with, shall we say "a tad more experience" in goal for the conclusion of the annual Battle of Alberta.
After all, you can hardly pick your playoff opponent but if you had a choice between opening against the drastically-improved Chicago Blackhawks or the happy-to-be-here Columbus Blue Jackets after a wicked 82-game grind -- which would you choose?
Be honest.
Drouin-Deslauriers will, at 24, be making just his eighth NHL start and the first since Nov. 30.
Now I'm of the school of thought that this could be dangerous for the Flames in that the kid surely has more to prove at this stage of his career than a tired and quite-possibly injured Roloson (suspected hand injury), and that the Flames should not take this series as an opportunity to rest on their perceived division crown. A fresh, young goalie often inspires the team in front of it to dig a little deeper and play a little harder for a kid who has done the yeomen's job of serving as the target in endless rounds of practice shootings all season.
Besides, though nothing would salvage a lost season for the Oilers, being a team that denies their arch-rival a division title can go a long way on the ease-the-pain charts.
It may not have the cache of season finales of the past between these two and it certainly won't make the NBC Game of the Week in the United States, but this is still a contest worth watching and, for the Flames, worth paying attention to.
It's not just a division title that's on the line or even the home-ice advantage. What matters is that it's Calgary playing Edmonton and for the sake of all that is holy in Alberta it's important that the games be played as if they truly mattered for more than just one team.
But then again is it in Calgary's best interest to win the crown? I can't make a strong case for avoiding teams in the playoffs and Columbus may well prove to be a tougher foe for the Flames than the Blackhawks, but sometimes you do wonder.
Take for instance the circumstances the Red Wings find themselves in. They are an elite team that once again competed for the President's Trophy as the winningest team in the NHL, but apparently having missed out on first overall and even first in the Western Conference, you can't help but wonder if they wouldn't like to a bit of a pairings shakeup?.
You see they are pretty much locked in to No.2 and if Anaheim holds on at No. 7, the Wings would open against the Ducks and, frankly, given where they are, the way they play the game and the state of their goaltending, that might not be to their advantage.
The Ducks have been a bubble team all season, but they appear to be secure regarding a playoff berth because they've gotten steadily better in recent weeks. At this writing they've won nine of their last 11 games, they have some emerging scorers in Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and surging rookie Bobby Ryan (now a formidable No. 1 line) to go with their physical forwards, a handful of heady veterans who aren't that far removed from their Stanley Cup-best and a solid and game-controlling defence that features Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer.
The Ducks have their own question mark in goal, but it's fair to assume that if J.S. Giguere gets his game together for the playoffs -and he has a reputation of doing that-he will pose serious problems for the Wings. Even if Detroit survives the series, the travel alone is likely to take something out of them, something they wouldn't have to contend with if they were meeting Central Division rivals Columbus or St. Louis or the still hopeful Nashville Predators.
Now if Anaheim finishes in eighth, that becomes San Jose's problem, but if the Ducks, who close the season with non-contenders Dallas and Phoenix win out and move up to sixth, well then they become the opponent for whichever teams wins the Northwest crown.
That would be a relief to the Red Wings, but it also makes you wonder if those schedule boys were even smarter than we thought.
Just might me a whole heck of a lot more meaning in those Edmonton-Calgary meetings and all the other final match-ups than we thought and in ways we never imagined.
