A New Point in Time

Well, there have been a few interesting developments since the last musings written here. Below is a recap of where things stood a few days ago with any new developments between Wednesday and right now (Sat afternoon prior to the 7:00EST games)...

Western Conference:
1. Detroit- likely all good in first place. Update... same.
2. San Jose- "hopefully" solid in the 2nd spot. Update... affirmed, with a bullet.
3. Northwest Division- a hodgepodge race with Minnesota, Calgary, Vancouver and Colorado all jumbled up, with all teams seemingly destined to make the playoffs. Update... the Wild appear to be pointed towards the division title and Colorado appears to be inviting both Nashville and Edmonton to make things interesting in the race for the 8 spot. The thought here is that Colorado should be a good enough team to hold off the challengers, but it's certainly not a done deal.
4/5. Anaheim / Dallas- pointed towards a 1st round battle with each other. Update... same.

Eastern Conference:
1. Montreal / New Jersey / Pittsburgh / Ottawa- all going for 1st in the Conference, but doesn't seem terribly important who gets the top spot. Update... same as it ever was.
2. NY Rangers- needing to cement their spot in the playoff mix. Update... seem to be good now.
3. Boston- same as NYR. Update... getting perilous.
4. Philadelphia- perilous. Update... have passed the Bruins.
5. Playoffs challengers- Buffalo, Washington, Florida & Toronto all hoping to squeeze in. Update... nobody seems to be distinguishing themselves, but particularly Buffalo and Washington still very much in the mix.

So... a few days have gone by and what has changed? Not an awful lot, but in the West, Edmonton has entered the playoff conversation.