Sunday's Major NHL Impact

Almost EVERY GAME has a consequence today, so I will do a brief profile of the games instead of Game of the Night:

Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Black Hawks 12:30 on NBC
The Wings just grabbed the 8th spot and will be hoping to hold on to it by meeting a strong Chicago Blackhawks team. Both teams have beaten each other twice this season. Detroit will be watching the next one, the Flames vs. the Wild. If Detroit and Calgary both win their games, they will be tied for 8th out West. If Detroit loses... read on...

Calgary Flames vs. Minnesota Wild 3:00pm
If Calgary beats Minnesota (3pm today) and Detroit loses, the two will swap for the 8th spot in the West.

Carolina Hurricanes vs. Atlanta Thrashers 5pm
If the Carolina Hurricanes can win tonight, that will put them one point behind Florida in the 12th spot. No one between those teams play tonight so if the Hurricanes can win today and hope for some other teams losses going forward, they actually have time to pull off a miracle! However, they face a desperate Thrashers team that needs to win to tie for the 8th place. But thats only if Anaheim wins... read on...

Montreal Canadiens vs. Anaheim Ducks 8pm
With a tight race out the Anaheim Ducks are going to be seeking two points to keep them in the race.They're tied for Minnesota for the 12th spot. Montreal will be looking to hold on to their position in the 8th spot. If the Thrashers win and the Ducks win, Atlanta will take Montreal's spot in 8th and the cafe culture Quebec will be ugly in the morning.

But wait - STOP THE PRESSES – there's one more huge factor in the East!

NY Rangers vs. Buffalo Sabres 7pm
If the NY Rangers beat the Sabres tonight, and the Thrashers lose, The Rangers will leap-frog to the 8th spot.

This is what you call a hockey Sunday. I hope all of you hockey nuts went to the early church service. If you have center ice, get that remote, take your pick and click, click, click!