The NHL regular season will end in three weeks, and at press time all 30 teams were still mathematically alive for the playoffs. But don’t bet your hockey dollar on all 30 teams. It would take some heavy quantum lifting to get the Los Angeles Kings, Tampa Bay Lightning and a few others into the postseason.

The Kings (27-38-6) are the worst team in the league this year, 20 points back of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference with 11 games remaining. Tampa Bay isn’t much better at 27-35-8; the Bolts need at least 18 more points to get into the Eastern playoff picture. They also have 12 games to get there. But really, they’re toast.

It won’t be long before we can write off all the pretenders. The 10th-place teams in each conference (there are six such teams, including ties) are seven points off the pace. One of them might sneak in; the Washington Capitals have the shortest Cup odds of this sextet at 30-1.

Games played at indoor venues don’t have nearly as many environment-based variables (weather, park configuration and so on) to bring to the betting table as outdoor games. The Winter Classic gave ample proof of that, as the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres inched through the snow at Ralph Wilson Stadium. But some of the ice surfaces in the NHL make Buffalo look pristine by comparison.

Warmth comes at a price. The ice in most of the Sun Belt arenas looks like it came out of a Slurpee machine. The Staples Center in Los Angeles deserves extra scorn because the Kings share the venue with not one, but two NBA tenants: the Lakers and Clippers.

Or you could go to Edmonton, where the average daytime temperature in January is 11 degrees Fahrenheit. This is where you’ll find Rexall Place and what is widely considered the best ice surface in the NHL. Maybe the league should expand to Nunavut.