LAST PLACE

- 30-17-5, 65 points, 1st in the Atlantic, 2 points up on both New Jersey and Pittsburgh

How about this? Just three points back of Ottawa now for the top spot in the conference. The Senators have been struggling (the Flyers gave them a nice pounding) and with the Flyers playing the way they are, 1st in the East is not out of the question by any means. Of course, 3rd place in the division is not out of the question either. I hope Stevens is emphasizing the importance of every game at this point to the team. February will be a critical month to set up for the final push. Capitals at home tomorrow, then a couple division games against the Rangers at home and the Penguins on the road. We need a good game tomorrow against Washington, because the next two will not be easy.

That's what I wrote on February 5th. Now we are in the basement of the division and are 10th in the conference. Funny how the sports world works. I really have nothing more to say on the matter. I'm not NHL-savvy enough to break down exactly what's going wrong with the team and how we can turn it around. I can't offer any more insight than other people. All I'm going to say is I'm still hoping we will return to form in enough time to make a serious playoff push.

-ajd