The Official National Hockey League Appreciation Thread

[KarateKen]

Several first round matchups have now been decided as there are only two days left in the regular season.  

The first round in the east will look like this: Flyers vs Penguins, Hurricanes vs Senators, Bruns vs Sabers, and Lightning vs Canadians. 

In the west only one matchup is set: Wild vs Stars.

Many fans, and even some players, are speaking out in anger about the Stars and Wild having to meet in the first round.  They are the second and third best record in the conference and are facing each other in the opening round.  The team with the second-best record, Dallas, should be facing the team with the seventh best record, not the third, according to critics. I agree.  It is a bad format.  These two teams are being punished for having a better record.  If they were 4th or 5th, they would be facing a weaker team than by being 2nd or 3rd. Worthy of criticism in my opinion. It could make for a very exciting first round matchup, but they should be playing a team like Anaheim or Utah who have fewer points instead of facing each other.