February 17, 2010
Final placings still in the air!
February 17, 2010
The GMHL regular season is reaching its climax, and final placings in the standings may just have to wait until the final night of the regular season.
This Sunday, February 21, Deseronto will travel to Gravenhurst to play the South Muskoka Shield in the final game of the season, making up for the game postponed in December because of weather.
In the meantime, there are a few teams settled into their final positions while others on upcoming results. Let's look at some of the possibilities.
Of the race for top spot, as well as who will finish 2nd and 3rd as a result:
Bradford will finish with 70 points after their default win this week against Minden. The Shield already have 70 with that last game against the Storm. A win or tie for Muskoka will put them ahead of the Rattlers, while a regulation time loss would put them in a tie with Bradford, in which case the Shield will finish behind the Rattlers. Elliot Lake has their destiny in their own hands as the overall regular season champions - two wins against the heavy underdog 77's clinch first for the Cats. A Shield win, combined with anything less than 4 points for the Cats, and the Shield finish ahead of the Cats with the head to head tiebreaker. Oro has been a handful for anybody at times this year, and it can't be a given that the Cats come away with 4 points. A single point for the Cats, combined with a Shield loss, and we'd have a 3 way tie for top spot, and as unlikely as that may appear to be, we'd be forced to go to GF&GA differential.
4th and 5th place are the two spots that were basically decided for the last couple of weeks, though now it's official - Storm in 4th and Innisfil in 5th.
Brock is now settled into 6th, or at least will be after Friday night's default against Minden shuts the door on any hope Algoma and King could catch them.
7th place comes down to Algoma playing host to Oro-Medonte on Thursday night - a win over the 77's and 7th belongs to the Avalanche. If Algoma is held to a single point, and King can beat the Moose Saturday night, King grabs the 7th spot to qualify for the Quarter-Finals and the Avalanche are forced to play the qualifying round from 8th.
Toronto's place could be decided tomorrow night against Brock. Anything less than 2 points settles the Moose into 9th and a single knockout game vs Oro-Medonte, while a victory against the Bucks keeps them alive for 8th with a follow up victory against King in their final game, resulting in a qualifier with the Dragons while the Wild would fact Oro.
Oro-Medonte will finish 10th, even if they were to sweep their last 4 games and catch the Moose in points - the Moose would win the tiebreaker, and Powassan has long been established in 11th, though the Dragons have come alive recently, winning twice and playing well.
Unfortunately, the playoff schedule is still way up in the air because of all the combinations and possibilities, but the qualifying round will get underway no later than Monday and should conclude no later than the following Sunday. Stay tuned to the league site as games are posted as they are scheduled. You might even see the Quarter Finals get underway at the same time, considering only first place has to wait for the qualifying round to determine their opponent. Any of the other teams could schedule games and space them out so their QF schedule isn't quite as hectic.
What a season it's been, and we're sure to have a playoff season with more suspense than ever in our fourth season.