The Blackhawks have three regular-season games remaining but let's be honest: you're not thinking about the rest of the regular season. You're thinking about the playoffs, "the fun hockey," as Brent Seabrook referred to it on Sunday afternoon.
Everything's sewn up for the Blackhawks, outside of maybe figuring out if the lineup tweak or two. The West is theirs. So is home ice throughout the conference portion of the postseason. The Presidents' Trophy is… well, someone else is winning that (Washington, most likely), but that's not a big surprise.
So, back to the playoffs. While the Blackhawks' spot is secure their first-round opponent is not. Who are the possible foes? Hockeyviz.com has a day-to-day update on the odds of that, so let's look at the candidates, along with their percentage possibility as of Monday afternoon.
1. Nashville Predators (63 percent chance): Oh, quelle surprise that the Blackhawks may be facing the Predators again. Even winning the West, they may not get away from the division matchup in the first round. For the Predators this season, consistency has been an issue. Nashville has gone 8-4-0 since March 11 but, three of those losses have come in their last four games (including their 4-1 loss to St. Louis on Sunday). Pekka Rinne has looked more like himself lately, however, winning six of his past eight outings. But both times they faced the Blackhawks in the playoffs (2010 and 2015), they gave Chicago everything they could handle. Corey Crawford was chased in Game 1 and wouldn't appear again until Game 6. No matter how the Predators come into the postseason, they'll push their first-round opponent.
2. Calgary Flames (33 percent): Well, this would be a different look, wouldn't it? The Flames had a rough go the first half of the season but they have been a different team down the stretch. A 10-game winning streak in late February/early March have catapulted the Flames back into the playoffs, where they entertained us all with their appearance in 2015. These Flames have a few playoff veterans to help them, including former Blackhawks Cup winners Troy Brouwer (2010), Michael Frolik (2013) and Kris Versteeg (2010 and 2015). When leading after two this season, the Flames are 32-0-1. All apologies to my friend and colleague Mark Lazerus, who wants no part of that perilously perched press box, it would be nice to have a different series in the first round.
3. St. Louis Blues (1 percent): Yeah, the chances of this one are dwindling by the day. But in the true spirit of, "so you're saying there's a chance," let's talk about it anyway. At the start of this season, with identity players like David Backes going elsewhere, Kevin Shattenkirk talked of, "new, fresh faces and a new fresh mindset." Well, there's been even more "new" since then. Ken Hitchcock was fired on Feb. 1. Shattenkirk was traded to Washington. Death blows for a team that was struggling through late January? Hardly. The Blues have lost just one game in regulation since March 5 (12-1-2). Chances are, they're the Minnesota Wild's problem in the first round but in case the unexpected happens, we all know the fire and brimstone that will accompany a Blues-Blackhawks series.
4. San Jose Sharks (1 percent): It's another unlikely scenario but since there's endless internet space let's fill it with a look at the Sharks. San Jose has a few concerns right now, the latest being Joe Thornton's status after suffering a lower-body injury on Sunday. As for their overall game, the Sharks are in the same camp as the Wild, a team that found a lot of success until the calendar hit March. San Jose has lost eight of their last 10. Could the fatigue effect be hitting the Sharks, who went to the Stanley Cup final last season? Maybe.