Vancouver Canucks Schedule Analysis: Great Playoff Chances
By David Joun
Schedule Advantage #3: Controlling their Own Destiny
The amount of control the Canucks have on their own destiny is surreal. By the end of the road trip, the Canucks will have 18 games left against Pacific Division rivals and 18 against the six teams mentioned above. Taking into account overlaps between the two groups, that is 25 of their last 33 games that are “four-point games”.
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If the Canucks manage to salvage just 60 percent of the points available in those 25 games and stay an even .500 for the rest (so 13, including the road trip after the Washington Capitals loss), that is good for 43 points, a season total of 87 points. The final wild-card spot in the West (held by Colorado as I write) is projected to be at 84 points, based off of projections using the Avalanche’s record to date.
All the math aside, 87 points is higher than 84. And the 87 point projection comes using an injury-riddled Vancouver squad as the sample. If the Canucks managed an even 17-17-10 without Sutter, Sbisa, and Dan Hamhuis, they will be better than an 87-point team with them. That will be more than enough to climb into that last wild-card spot in the West.
Enough numbers already. I did tell you that I like numbers, right? Numbers tell me that the Canucks are making the playoffs.
In more concrete terms, the Canucks have five games against San Jose that they have yet to play. They have three games each against the Flames, the Avalanche, and the Predators that they have yet to play. The opportunity is there to steal the points from these “four-point” affairs.
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