Four weeks later, the Leafs...haven't been as good as we'd like.  Let's see what that's done to the chances of PLAYOFFS!!!1 and other things...

Distance from the President's Trophy:  28 pts. (27 behind Chicago, Leafs lose the tiebreak).  10 points farther from when we last checked.  I think we can safely forget about this now.

Distance from the conference lead:  25 pts. (24 behind New Jersey, Leafs lose the tiebreak, New Jersey has 3 games in hand).  7 points farther from when we last checked.  This is out of reach too.

Distance from the division lead:  23 pts. (22 behind Buffalo, Leafs lose the tiebreak, Buffalo has 2 games in hand).  11 points farther from when we last checked.  Buffalo's also got a 10 point gap on Boston so it looks like they'll take the division.

Distance from the PLAYOFFS!!!1:  10 pts. (9 behind Montreal, Leafs lose the tiebreak, Leafs have 1 game in hand).  5 points farther from when we last checked.  This can still be done...if the Leafs can figure out how to score goals and make saves and win games and quick.  As an aside, Ottawa is tied with Montreal right now (with a game in hand), and they are missing...well, most of their lineup.

Distance from getting out of the Taylor Hall sweepstakes:  5 pts. (5 behind Tampa Bay, Leafs win the tiebreak, Tampa Bay has 2 games in hand).  3 points farther from when we last checked.  Realistically, this should be the Leafs goal...get out of here and win the Kessel trade.  Or something.

Distance from last place:  6 pts. (6 ahead of Carolina, Leafs lose the tiebreak, Carolina has 2 games in hand).  3 points closer than when we last checked.  Canes still aren't very good.  The Leafs can make this gap 8 points with a regulation win at home Tuesday.  Edmonton is also behind the Leafs right now, Pat Quinn is running out of things to say.  I think.

The Leafs will need to win more than the once in January that they've done so far to have any shot at...well, anything.

Note:  Karina has done a wonderful Airing of Grievances about Daniel Alfredsson which can be viewed here:

http://www.pensionplanpuppets.com/2009/12/23/1217676/airing-of-grievances-daniel

Oh, the Ottawa Senators.  Where can I really start about them.  What a wonderful job they have done...or at least you'd think that if you read Ottawa newspapers.  Media sweethearts they are, and I cannot figure out why.

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Okay, so it's been 3 weeks since I posted one of these.  Let's see how the improved play of the Leafs has affected this...

Distance from the President's Trophy:  18 pts. (17 behind Washington, Leafs lose the tiebreak, Leafs have a game in hand).  It's still a pipe dream, but it's closer than we were last time we looked.

Distance from the conference lead:  See above.

Distance from the division lead:  12 pts. (11 behind Buffalo, Leafs lose the tiebreak, Buffalo has two games in hand).  An outside shot at best, Buffalo (and Boston two points behind) seem to be the real deal.

Distance from the PLAYOFFS!!!1:  5 pts. (4 behind Montreal, Leafs lose the tiebreak, Leafs have a game in hand).  Looking a lot more possible now :)

Distance from getting out of the Taylor Hall sweepstakes:  2 pts. (2 behind Islanders/Florida/Anaheim, Leafs win the tiebreak over all those teams, and have a game in hand on Florida).  With a win over Ottawa tonight and some favourable results, the Leafs can get out of here tonight!  Amazing.

Distance from last place:  9 pts. (9 ahead of Carolina, Leafs lose the tiebreak).  Let's hope this is a distant memory by now.  I mean, Carolina hasn't exactly fired Paul Maurice yet or anything.  ;)

So far in December, the Leafs have lost twice to Boston, and beaten EVERYONE else ;)  If they can continue this, PLAYOFFS!!!1 may be possible...

So the Leafs were 1-1-1 last week, let's see how that affects the races...

Distance from the President's Trophy:  23 pts. (22 behind San Jose, Leafs lose the tiebreak...Leafs have four games in hand).  (That seems pretty far to me.)

Distance from the conference lead:  18 pts. (17 behind Washington, Leafs lose the tiebreak...Leafs have two games in hand).  (Well at least it's no farther away than last week.)

Distance from the division lead:  13 pts. (12 behind Buffalo, Leafs lose the tiebreak...and Buffalo has a game in hand).  (We're gaining on them!)

Distance from the PLAYOFFS!!!1:  11 pts. (10 behind Boston, Leafs lose the tiebreak...Leafs have a game in hand).  (One point farther away than last week...)

Distance from getting out of the Taylor Hall sweepstakes:  7 pts. (6 behind St. Louis, Leafs lose the tiebreak...and St. Louis has a game in hand).  (We can still get out of here!)

Distance from last place:  Uh oh...we're there right now!  But we're only 1 point from getting out (and have a game in hand on 29th place Carolina).  (This can be done tonight if things fall into place...)

Our current record in "the month that matters" is 3-4-2...come on Leafs, hurry up and play like it's November already ;)

Editor's Note: Time is slipping away from the Leafs in terms of starting to play some good hockey that results in actual wins rather than moral victories but just how far are they from certain benchmarks? Now we know. Playoffs don't seem THAT far away...

Might make this a weekly thing...just to see how far the Leafs are from various positions in the standings.

Distance from the President's Trophy:  22 pts. (21 behind San Jose, Leafs would lose the tiebreak...Leafs have four games in hand).  (Yeah, we can probably forget about this one.)

Distance from the conference lead:  18 pts. (17 behind New Jersey, Leafs would lose the tiebreak).  (This one is probably out of reach too.)

Distance from the division lead:  15 pts. (14 behind Buffalo, Leafs would lose the tiebreak...and Buffalo also has a game in hand).  (Leafs probably won't get this either.  As an aside, if the PLAYOFFS!!!1 started now, every other team in the Northeast would not make it.)

Distance from the PLAYOFFS!!!1:  10 pts. (10 behind the Islanders...Leafs have two games in hand).  (If the Leafs would just play better and put some wins together, maybe this wouldn't seem so far...)

Distance from getting out of the Taylor Hall sweepstakes:  6 pts. (5 behind St. Louis, Leafs would lose the tiebreak).  (Surely they can get out of here?!?)

Distance from last place:  Leafs have a 1 point lead over Carolina and would win a tiebreak (and the Leafs also have a game in hand).  (Let's hope they get as far as they can ahead of here...!)

So...well they're not screwed yet...but the Leafs had better start playing like it's November soon.

Oh wait, it IS November!  Uh oh...