desperately clinging to a slim lead in the league's worst division is still better than my football and basketball teams have done this year

I was pretty sure the Carolina Hurricanes were poised to give away the Southeast Division tonight after last night's poor effort against Washington(yes, I know that the refs screwed the pooch on more than a few calls but a few calls won't make up for a three-goal loss). We haven't played well against Tampa Bay recently and we haven't played well on the second day of back-to-back games. So I was prepared for the worst.

The 'Canes responded to those expectations by skating with the urgency they needed to have last night and played a heckuva game to keep their narrow division lead. If we take care of business on Friday or the Crapitals drop the ball(or puck, if you will) against the 'Ning tomorrow(here's hoping Tampa Bay was embarrassed enough to mess the Craps up) or Florida on Saturday(here's hoping Florida will be somethinged enough after playing the 'Canes to mess the Craps up) then it's off to the playoffs.

Once in the playoffs, who knows what will happen?

I know a lot of fans in a lot of sports say that, but NHL fans get to mean it.