Spiders on Standings Watch

Standings update: The inevitable has occurred: The February skid that has lasted into March has cost the Spiders their playoff spot. Though the Royals (eighth place; 8–8–1–0; 17 pts.), who were in a position to overtake the Spiders, lost to the Nighthawks 5–2, instead, the Fighting Piranhas (sixth place; 8–7–1–1; 18 pts.) tie up the Spiders in the standings by beating the last-place Fighting Ice Fish and, thanks to AHA regular-season tiebreakers, take the sixth and final spot from the Spiders (seventh place; 8–7–1–1; 18 pts.).

Meaning the Spiders will have their work cut out the remaining three games of the regular season if they don’t want an early start on their golf swing instead of an April skate at BIG. With nine of the 11 top teams in C3 still in the running for the four available post-season berths, the end-of-the-season games will have added meaning. Critical weekend matchups for the Spiders’ playoff hopes:

  • Spiders (7th) vs. Fighting Saints (5th): playing for fifth place.
  • Fighting Piranhas (6th) vs. Ak Bars (12th): Ak Bars can play spoiler.
  • Wingmen (2nd) vs. Nighthawks (4th): Wingmen could take first, Nighthawks could lock third place.
  • Puck Hounds (1st) vs. Moose (3rd): Same as Wingmen/Nighthawks.

The AnalStats site accurately predicted the Spiders dropping like insects in the final weeks, and now puts the team’s playoff chances at a mere 60.0%, down 16.5% from last week. Can the Spiders prove the numbers wrong?

The latest standings

2011–12 C3 Standings (week 17)
Team GP W L T OTL P GF GA PIM
  • y = clinched division
  • x = clinched playoff berth
1 x–Puck Hounds 17 14 3 0 0 28 73 39 120
2 x–Wingmen 17 13 3 0 1 27 61 32 106
3 Mintalar Moose 17 11 6 0 0 22 60 40 70
4 Nighthawks 17 10 5 2 0 22 64 38 92
5 Fighting Saints 17 9 7 1 0 19 51 52 102
6 Fighting Piranhas 17 8 7 1 1 18 58 51 74
7 Spiders 17 8 7 1 1 18 61 53 92
8 Royals 17 8 8 1 0 17 54 70 88
9 Diablos 17 7 9 1 0 15 50 57 98
10 Maroons 17 6 8 2 1 15 43 52 98
11 Sled Dogs 17 7 10 0 0 14 46 55 64
12 Ak Bars 17 4 10 2 1 11 37 46 86
13 Lakers 17 4 11 2 0 10 44 67 142
14 Fighting Ice Fish 17 3 13 1 0 7 40 90 88

And for a look at what the pundits have to say about C3:

Chance will make playoffs (courtesy sportsstats)
Team Saturday Results P W L OT T GD % Change
Puck Hounds L Wingmen 1–4 28 14 3 0 0 34 In
Wingmen W Puck Hounds 4–1 27 13 3 1 0 29 In
Mintalar Moose L Sled Dogs 1–4 22 11 6 0 0 20 99.5 -0.0
Nighthawks W Royals 5–2 22 10 5 0 2 25 99.1 9.8
Fighting Saints L Diablos 1–3 19 9 7 0 1 -1 68.0 -12.5
Spiders L Maroons 2–3 18 8 7 1 1 8 60.0 -16.5
Fighting Piranhas W Fighting Ice Fish 5–1 18 8 7 1 1 7 43.3 25.1
Royals L Nighthawks 2–5 17 8 8 0 1 -15 24.9 -9.9
Diablos W Fighting Saints 3–1 15 7 9 0 1 -7 3.9 3.3
Maroons W Spiders 3–2 15 6 8 1 2 -9 0.7 0.5
Sled Dogs W Mintalar Moose 4–1 14 7 10 0 0 -9 0.5 0.4
Ak Bars W Lakers 5–1 11 4 10 1 2 -9 Out
Lakers L Ak Bars 1–5 10 4 11 0 2 -23 Out
Fighting Ice Fish L Fighting Piranhas 1–5 7 3 13 0 1 -50 Out

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