What’s more likely to happen? Lightning strike or Leafs making the playoffs?

TORONTO – It’s been one of those banner years for Leafs fans.

The boys in blue look good, we’ve reserved our seats at the pub for Round One. And, in typical fashion, the bottom drops out.

But it never completely drops though. As fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs know, there’s always a glimmer of hope – if it weren’t for hope, the team would be hard-pressed to keep fans from jumping ship to reliably less-heartbreaking teams.

The Leafs kept their playoff hope alive by the skin of their teeth, snapping an eight-game losing streak against Calgary on Tuesday night.

At the same time, the Vancouver Canucks lost to the New York Rangers, another frustrating night for a team that is now all but assured of missing the NHL playoffs for the first time in six seasons.

“All but assured,” “by the skin of their teeth” – meaning, it’s looking dismal, but we can’t yet call it quits on the season and start planning for next year (which will be their year, in case you were wondering).

So with that in mind, we decided to look at the chances of these teams making the playoffs (perhaps you’d be better off buying a lottery ticket).

After Tuesday’s loss, the Canucks went from having a 0.5 per cent chance to 0, zil, zilch. (I’ll wait as Canuck fans close their browser window…)

The Leafs now have an 8.5 per cent chance of making the NHL’s “second season,” according to sportsclubstats.com

If you’re pregnant, there’s a 3.31 per cent chance of giving birth to twins.

The odds of getting a Royal flush in poker stand at 0.000154 per cent.

According to Environment Canada, 10 people on average are killed by lightning in Canada and between 100 and 150 people are injured each year – that’s out of around two million lightening strikes per year. That’s a 0.00045 per cent chance of being killed by lightning and around a 0.005 to 0.0075 per cent chance of being injured.

The odds of winning the Lotto Max jackpot is one in 28,633,528 – a 0.0000034 per cent chance – and yet people continue to play.

So, cheer on Leafs fans, 8.5 per cent isn’t looking so bad.