The Final Push

No, I'm not talking about that final pelvic thrust that brings you to Pleasure Heaven.

"Blast!" shouted Burgundy.

I'm talking about the last ditch efforts by Burgundy, Safari and Sitch going into the last weekend of Randy's Tri-Hard! Only time can tell what is to occur in the last moments of this year's League, but I am ever so excited to see whether or not these last minute roster switches will make any difference to the standings when this is all over.

Burgundy, who has done a fantastic job fulfilling his D-men games quota, is a bit short on games played by centres, so he's opted to add some more C-men ("Ewe!" said Tree Bone) to his roster. He's centres are currently projected to finish four games under, so he's elected to pick up Derek Stepan from the NYR to help out. He has injuries to Patrick Kane and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, both who can play the centre position, so that has affected his games-played quota.

"... God I miss my Citizen Kane," said Burgundy.

The entire NHL does as well, Burgs.

Burgundy, in deep thought during a press conference last night.

Safari, who has made enormous strides this quarter, is still a long shot to overtake the lead in Tri-Hard!, but with the crazy stories that have happened this year in the NHL (see the Hamburglar, Devan Dubnyk, the potential collapses of the Penguins and the Kings, Mark Stone, etc.) I cannot count him out. He's already maxed out his goalie games, quite unfortunate given he has Carey Price, but he still has ground to catch up with C-men ("Ewe! Again! Really?" said Tree Bone), though it may be a bit late.

"God damn it, why couldn't the season be a week longer?" said Safari. "I swear an extra week would make all the difference."

True Safari, but that's the way the game is played. If we had an extra week of play, I guarantee the Senators would be in a playoff position. 

Safari, mulling over what would transpire if Tri-Hard! was extended by a week.

Finally, we get to Sitch. Still chasing Burgundy to reclaim the lead in Tri-Hard!, Sitch has got plenty of games in hand, but they are mostly D-men games. For Sitch, this is no easy task in making up the games. Two of his most productive D-men, Byfuglien and Letang, are out, and have been out for a while. His reinforcements have been decent, but mathematically there is no way he will be able to make up the 18 D-men games he's projected to leave on the table. How did this happen?

"I got tied up," said Sitch. "The Bitch-It's-Sitch™ program really got me distracted. I love my business; I love my fitness. I started thinking about that more than anything else, and my bench management (extra McGuire) suffered."

You're still just a handful of points back of Burgundy, Sitch. There is still hope.

Sitch, working out his seldom used brain.

As we head into the weekend, the three select-GM's are arguably equally stressed and anxious. Burgundy is just hoping for the status quo and that the laws of ebbs and flows continue. Safari is hoping for a Hail Mary; perhaps Ovechkin will net five goals over the weekend and make this an insanely close race. Sitch is hoping that he just outperforms Burgundy through the weekend; his 22 point gap from Burgundy is recoverable, but only if his roster performs.

As for Dick and Tree, they will be on the sidelines, cheering on the three (and the Senators) and gearing up for next year's Draft.

"Good luck to all," said Dick Burns.

Wise words, Dick.