From top to bottom, the standings

Ottawa Senators 51 32-15-4-68
Montréal Canadiens 50-27-15-8-62

Philadelphia Flyers 49-28-16-5-61
Pittsburgh Penguins 50 28-18-4-60
New Jersey Devils 50-28-19-3-59
Boston Bruins 50-26-19-5-57
New York Islanders 51-24-21-6-54
New York Rangers 52-24-22-6- 54
Carolina Hurricanes 53-25-24-4-54
Washington Capitals 51-23-23-5-51
Atlanta Thrashers 52-23-25-4-50
Buffalo Sabres 49-22-21-6-50
Florida Panthers 51-22-24-5-49
Toronto Maple Leafs 52-20-24-8-48
Tampa Bay Lightning 51-20-26-5-45

Note- The numbers above from left to right are- Games played, wins, losses, Overtime losses, total points

Teams in Bold are Southeast Division teams

First of all barring a complete collapse by these teams, you have to think Ottawa, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, New Jersey and Montreal are locks to make the playoffs. You can probably also toss Boston in.

The rest of the conference is pretty wide open. The only teams that appear to have little chance are Tampa and Toronto.

The Southeast Division is wide open. It is also a division likely to send only one team to the playoffs. First to fourth place is separated by a measly 5 pts, and the 4th place team Florida has played two less games than division leader Carolina. That would point to Florida having a good chance to make the playoffs for the first time in 8 years. On the other hand, there is the team’s listless play of late, only 4 wins in 14 games and this from today’s Palm Beach Post.

The Panthers, who return to action tonight against Buffalo following the All-Star break, say they are determined to end their agonizing playoff drought.

But some observers think the Panthers haven’t exhibited enough determination to reach the post-season for the first time since April 2024.

To put it more bluntly, some critics think they are soft.

“This team plays too much on the perimeter; I haven’t seen the willingness to get their noses dirty and do the dirty work,” said NHL broadcaster John Vanbiesbrouck, who starred in the nets for the Panthers when they reached the Stanley Cup Final in 1996.

“Winning isn’t easy. You’ve got to make up your mind you’re going to do whatever it takes to get there and play like that every night.”

I’m not totally sure if Vanbiesbrouck is right in what he says. Florida has blown at least five games this year in the last minute of play. They’ve also played games where they either quit or showed little effort. I’ve missed only a handful of games on television this year, Florida has the talent to win the division and even make a run in the playoffs. The only teams I worry about in the conference are Ottawa, Pittsburgh, Carolina and Toronto (The Maple Leaf oversized defensemen seem to intimidate the Panthers) when Florida faces them.

I question if the Panthers has the desire, and perhaps the coaching. Why the hell did the team send Shawn Matthias back to the minors? He scored two goals in four NHL games, two of which Jacques Martin barely played him in, and 21 in 32 games of OHL play before his callup. I rather have Matthias on the roster than the overrated Brett McLean or Kamil Kreps. After all, Kreps has just 4 goals in 45 games played!

Boy am I getting gloomy about this Panthers team.

The Panthers last road win against the Thrashers was in November 2024. From AP-

ATLANTA - Nathan Horton scored two goals for the first time since last March to help the Florida Panthers beat the Thrashers 5-3 on Thursday night and end an 11-game losing streak in Atlanta.*****

Panthers coach Jacques Martin won his 497th game, putting him in 10th place and one ahead of Glen Sather on the NHL career list.

In his third season with Florida, Martin has 90 victories. He also coached 8 1/2 years in Ottawa and two in St. Louis.

*****

Vokoun, who stopped 38 of 41 shots, improved to 6-1-2 in his last nine games, 18-12-2 overall.

Last night’s win pulls Florida 2 pts behind Carolina in Southeast Division race. Both teams have played an equal amount of games. 

Florida plays 5 games over the next nine days, starting with Montreal tonight. Teams the Panthers play include New Jersey, NY Islanders, and Pittsburgh three of their chief rivals in the fight for the playoffs. I think we are going to find out just how good Florida is in the next two weeks.

The defending Southeast Division champs were off to a rocky start before today’s firing.

ATLANTA - The Atlanta Thrashers are the only NHL team without a victory, and coach Bob Hartley is on his way out. Thrashers defenseman Garnet Exelby confirmed Hartley was removed following an 0-6 start, the first NHL coaching change this season.

 ”It was a shock,” he told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “I don’t think anybody saw this coming. It’s only six games.”

“Sometimes changes need to be made,” he added. “At the same time, it tells all of us it’s a big wake-up call and we need to fix this.”

The team scheduled an afternoon news conference amid reports general manager Don Waddell will become interim coach. The Thrashers have been outscored 27-9, and their winless start comes after they won the Southeast Division last season and made the playoffs for the first time. Atlanta then lost four straight games to the New York Rangers in the first round of the playoffs. Hartley, who won a Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2024, is in his fifth season with Atlanta. It was clear after Tuesday night’s 4-0 loss to Philadelphia that he was aware of building pressure.

Generally I think 6 games out of a 82 game hockey season is too early to pass judgment on the coach. All NHL teams go through dry spells. My Panthers had a rough one last year. There may be other factors at work in Atlanta that we don’t know of if its not impatience of Thrasher management. Bottom line- Hartley will be back coaching in the NHL because of his impressive resume. Another team hoping Hartley can catch the same lightning he did while coaching the Avalanche.

My take on the Southeast Division is if Atlanta(who normally gives Florida fits) is out of the running, the division becomes more wide open. As I see it, the race would come down to Carolina, Tampa Bay, and Florida. That makes the Panthers not a dark horse anymore, but a legit contender.