Spiders inch up to sixth, D1 West race tightens

March 16, 2010

It’s chaos in the middle of D1 West. No, not that Chaos, they’re comfortably perched on top, along with the Fighting Piranhas. But from third to eight place, it’s packed tight, and there’s only room for two on the playoff bus.

A stunning 2–0 upset by the surging Nighthawks over the Diablos keeps that third rung not as far out of reach as it seemed last week. And the fourth and final slot seems to be up for grabs, as the Fighting Ice Fish have faded as fast as the ice fishing season itself, losing two in a row to teams hot on their fins, and going 2–6–1 since the new year. With their three games left, will they cling to that slot, or give it away? I’m sure the Maroons, Spiders or Wingmen, all with a game in hand over the Ice Fish, will gladly accept.

The Spiders have made the leap over the Wingmen, possibly due to the PIM tiebreaker? They sit just a point behind the Maroons, and two games out of fourth. Meaning the Maroons have the best chance at claiming fourth.

Games remaining for playoff-contending teams:

• The third-place Diablos will face: Lakers, Fighting Piranhas, Wingmen.
• The fourth-place Fighting Ice Fish will face: Knights (tonight), Chaos and Spiders.
• The fifth-place Maroons: Chaos, Spiders, Nighthawks, Lakers.
• The sixth-place Spiders: Sled Dogs, Maroons, Knights, Fighting Ice Fish.
• The seventh-place Wingmen: Nighthawks, Lakers, Fighting Piranhas, Diablos.
• The eighth-place Lakers: Diablos, Wingmen, Sled Dogs, Maroons.

And though the Sled Dogs and Nighthawks, each with 11 points, are not mathematically eliminated, they have already shown they can play spoiler.

• Sled Dogs: Spiders, Nighthawks, Lakers, Fighting Piranhas.
• Nighthawks: Wingmen, Sled Dogs, Maroons, Knights.

Current D1 West standings as reported by the AHA:

Over in the East, the Yellow Jackets have jumped out on top:

To recap the playoff entrance gate:

• Top four teams from each division advance to playoffs.
• Two pools, round robin (three games each).
• Pool Championship (top two records in each pool) Saturday night
• Tier Championship (both Pool Championship winners), Sunday.

The D1 berthing will be organized as:

• Pool A: East #1, West #2, West #3, East #4
• Pool B: West #1, East #2, East #3, West #4

And remember, in case of ties in the regular-season standings, the following tie-breakers will be in effect to determine playoff seeding between the tied teams:

1. Total points in the regular season.
2. Number of wins in the regular season.
3. Head-to-head record between teams in the regular season (if equal number of games have been played between tied teams).
4. Fewest total penalty minutes in the regular season.
5. Fewest goals allowed in the regular season.
6. Most goals scored in the regular season.
7. Coin toss.

The post-season schedule matchups for D1: