Pete Choquette's blog

We're seeing a narrowing and tightening in the field of teams vying to make the postseason in the AHL's Eastern Conference. Three teams look pretty much guaranteed to be in: Hershey (109 pts, 1st in East), Worcester (89 points, 1st in Atlantic), and Portland (86 points, 2nd in Atlantic).

Albany (84 points, 2nd in East) is probably a very good bet to hang onto a playoff spot, but they're not a lock to remain in 2nd place in the East. The Admirals, for instance, are 6 points back of Albany with 1 game in hand and 1 game head-to-head remaining on the schedule. So, things could tighten up even more very quickly, especially if the Rats keep stubbing their toes against teams like Binghamton.

They're the first of six teams, including the Admirals, fighting for five playoff spots. Typically, they'd be treated separately by division, but with the crossover rule potentially vaulting a 5th place Atlantic team over a 4th place East team, we should treat them as lumped together. The other five teams are: Manchester (79 points, 3rd in Atlantic), Lowell (79 points, 3rd in Atlantic), Norfolk (78 points, 3rd in East), Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (77 points, 4th in East), Bridgeport (75 points, 5th in Atlantic).

Here's what's left for the six teams:

The KHL's regular season came to a close Sunday, the NCAA is in the midst of its conference playoffs, and Canadian junior regular seasons will be closing next weekend. So, it's getting close to signing season, and I figured I'd post a little on the blog about some of the players who will potentially be joining the organization in the coming weeks and months. Before I do, though, I wanted to quickly address the new ownership situation.

While no one was looking...

Antero Niittymaki is currently tied for the best save percentage in the NHL with Ryan Miller of Buffalo with a .939 mark. He's also second in the league in goals against average at 1.93.

We give props to the Turku mobster.

Here's your stat of the week:

Through six games, Norfolk's goaltenders have a combined 2.19 GAA and .925 save percentage. Mind you, they're 2-4-0 as a group, but you'd have to believe that if Tokarski, Helenius, and Janus keep this up the Admirals are going to be in great shape.

I mean, it's not like Martins Karsums can stay scoreless forever, right?

Just a reminder that tonight is opening night for the Lightning and Admirals, and Bolt Prospects chat will be open. It's available to anyone registered on the BP message board, and registration is free.