**Congratulations to the Minnesota Wild on winning the Northwest Division; you can pretty much mark that in ink now. They have clinched over Vancouver, and to finish ahead of the Avs they need to either earn 1 point in their final two games, or have the Avs surrender one point in their final two (Avs can only tie the Wild, but hold the "more Wins" tiebreaker).

If the Flames finish 2-0-1, the Wild lose their last two in regulation, and they tie at 95, Minny has the tiebreaker (more Wins). If the Flames finish 3-0-0 and the Wild finish 0-1-1, the Flames hold the tiebreaker (equal Wins, better H2H record).

For the Oilers to qualify, they need to catch (not pass) two of Calgary, Vancouver, and Nashville. For it to be CGY and VAN, they need both teams to lose all three of their remaining games, excepting the Saturday night game where the Canucks would need to beat the Flames in regulation (then all 3 teams would have 90 points, and the Oil has the most Wins).

The most depressing scenario -- which really rams home what a bloody disaster this weekend this was -- is that it's possible for Saturday's Flames/Canucks game to be meaningless, i.e. with the Flames already mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. That's where they'll be if Nashville wins Tue/Thu/Fri, VAN wins their next two, and CGY loses their next two.

The tiebreakers are a bit mucky with these three teams: it all depends on what point total they tie at and how they get there. The good news, such as it is, is that the Flames completely control their own destiny, not just for making the playoffs but for finishing 6th; with some help, they could finish 5th or 3rd.

**Yes, Andy and I were in Toronto on Friday (he's still there) participating in a recurring CBC special called Test the Nation. When there's a firm air date, I'll post about it, or you can check the CBC site periodically. [UPDATE: it will be airing on Saturday, June 14th. Check your local listings.]

There's a few thrills that keep me going on this site, apart from the ongoing/daily feedback of comments and traffic. Sometimes I see a friend from meatspace who mentions that he's been reading and enjoying the site, maybe even bringing up some post in particular. And once in a while, the site comes up in conversation (or my wife's conversation), and the person says, "You're [or Your husband is] the Matt on Battle of Alberta? Wow, I read that site all the time!" I love being reminded that there are people out there paying attention to what we do beyond the few dozen regular commenters (God bless you all).

I love stuff like this, too: finding out that the BoA was what got a very good hockey blogger into it in the first place. Anyway, I bring this up because, without giving anything away (and violating the release I signed in blood), this weekend provided the biggest thrill I've had since firing this sucker up.

In the course of being at the CBC Broadcast Centre to participate in this TV program, Andy and I got to meet Ron Maclean, and he had some very nice things to say about us. Not just, "I've read your site, keep up the good work!" -- which might nevertheless have been the biggest thrill in these past 3 seasons -- but some very nice and complimentary things. I don't want to drool too much here, but it was terribly gratifying, and I appreciated it a lot.

**This is a related thought, but I'm not passing anything on here, just offering my own opinion (based in no small part on personal experience):

If you're doing something that has value here in the hockeysphere, it'll find an audience, and it will seep into the overall conversation. It really will. It's not for everybody: good baseball stats are 20+ years ahead of hockey's, and yet there are many fans whose opinion of a particular hitter is informed entirely by their own perception of how often he has grounded out in the late innings of close games. I don't even begrudge them that, at least until they get on the TSN panel and insist to the world that that's the way it is.

But it's a big world of hockey fans, and there is a plenty significant segment of them who want to understand the game beyond the Healyisms. Beyond that, there is an even more significant segment of them who worship the "boxcar stats" [G-A-Pts-(+/-)-PIM], but are ready -- one of these years -- to know more and understand things better (especially since the salary cap has made pro scouting and value-for-$$ that much more important). And almost everyone with the nice platforms and the big megaphones, who make a living analyzing hockey for the occasional benefit of us fans (with the exception of a few ex-players and old guys), fall into one of those two segments.

Go Flames.