Five: The Magic Number
There are several key relations to the number five when it comes to the NHL. There’s the late great Bernie “Boom Boom” Geoffrion who slid into a Canadiens jersey in nineteen-fifty-five and won the Art Ross trophy with “numero cinq” on his back, becoming only the second player in NHL history to score fifty goals. Then there’s nineteen-sixty, when Hector “Toe” Blake became the first, and only, coach in the history of the game to coach an NHL franchise, the Montreal Canadiens, to five straight Stanley Cup Championships. Now, the magic number is set for what could potentially be a historical stage for the future of a franchise – five more losses and the Canadiens long time competitor, the Toronto Maple Leafs, will officially be knocked out of playoff contention.
With just twenty-three games remaining in the regular season, the Maple Leafs have found themselves in dead last in the Eastern Conference, and the feeling about the club is they have found where they rightfully belong. A team that underachieved from what was expected, due in part by fluke injuries, is facing a major dilemma that could in fact determine the direction of the team for the next decade.
Brian Burke considers the upcoming draft to be “seven players” deep “and then there’s a drop-off,” and according to Howard Berger in his latest blog, the Ducks are a key team suspected in providing a Mats Sundin offer to Cliff Fletcher that will “blow-your-socks-off.” Mats Sundin, who reiterates his desire to remain in Toronto almost twice daily, would need to consider how his club will fare over not only the next week or so, but also throughout the remainder of the season. As of today, Boston maintains eighth place by a hair. Here’s a mathematical view on each club.
The Maple Leafs rest comfortably in fifteenth place with fifty-five points in fifty-nine games; fifty-five divided by fifty-seven is 0.932 points per game. That leaves the blue and white club on pace to finish the year with seventy-six points. The Boston Bruins have sixty-three points in fifty-seven games; the same calculation leaves the Bs with 1.105 points per game, and reveals an approximate total of finishing with ninety-one points. If mathematically, that is the number to acquire for the eighth and final place in the standings, the Leafs must acquire at the very least, thirty-seven points of a possible forty-six in the remaining twenty-three games in order to leap frog the Bruins into the playoff. The very worst they can do from here on out would be a record of eighteen, four, and one.
Not to destroy the dreams of the few hopefuls, keep this in mind. Detroit, the elite team in the league, is currently playing at a level of 73.7% hockey. Compare that to Toronto’s goal of a winning streak of 80.4% for the remainder of the year, leaving the buds with less than a hope and a prayer.
By: Micheal A. Aldred