Spiders on Standings Watch
March 4, 2012
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
Place | Team | GP | W | L | T | OTL | P | GF | GA | PIM |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
||||||||||
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:
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 |