It’s a clinch! Spiders take D1 West title

With the comeback win over the Royals on Sunday, the undefeated Spiders lock up first place in D1 West for the 2010–11 season, the D1 squad’s second-ever first-place finish.

The Spiders’ franchise-unprecedented 17–0 run this season has opponents whispering “Miami Dolphins,” and affixing targets on their schedules for the playoffs. No other team in the AHA has an unblemished record this year, the Chiefs in C1 coming the closest, with a 15–0–3 record. Even the 2008–09 D1 champs (the Spiders, for those who’ve forgotten), missed the win column four times in the regular season, ending with a 16–1–2–1 record.

But, there’s still plenty of hockey on the schedule to play in March, and the Spiders face two tough opponents to close out the regular season. First up, the 3–15 Gold Rush, despite a last-place finish, have shown they can skate with any team in D1 West. After that, it’s a back-to-back with the 13–3–1 Puck Hounds, who have been hot on the Spiders’ tail throughout the season, and will certainly aim to finish strong to carry momentum into their Pool B second-seed playoff berth.

In D1 Pool C, it’ll be the Spiders as the number-one seed, as now officially listed on the AHA playoff section. However, with the D1 divisions — including the fourth and final seed in D1 West — still in the middle of tight playoff races, it may come down to the end of March, with the benefit of the usual tiebreakers, before the Spiders’ post-season opponents are known.

Playoff seeding will be as follows:

Pools:

  • Pool A: East #1, North #2, West #3, East #4
  • Pool B: North #1, West #2 (Puck Hounds), East #3, North #4
  • Pool C: West #1 (Spiders), East #2, North #3, West #4

In D1 West, the contenders’ schedules means it’s up in the air as to which team will grab those seeds:

  • Maroons (in 3rd; 20 pts.), face: Ice Gators and Royals.
  • Royals (in 4th; 18 pts.), face: Puck Hounds and Maroons.
  • Chaos (in 5th; 18 pts.), face: Fighting Saints and Ice Gators.

In a potential spoiler role, watch out for the Ice Gators, who will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2006–07, their first season after B-school, having made it to the post-season the last three years.

Full D1 West standings, as of March 6:

2010–11 D1 West Standings (as of March 6)
Team GP W L T OTL P GF GA PIM
  • y = clinched division
  • x = clinched playoff berth
y–Spiders 17 17 0 0 0 34 106 38 96
x–Puck Hounds 17 13 3 1 0 27 76 41 116
Maroons 18 9 7 1 1 20 56 55 106
Royals 18 8 8 1 1 18 51 65 132
Chaos 18 7 7 3 1 18 60 68 138
Fighting Saints 18 6 12 0 0 12 57 78 122
Ice Gators 18 4 12 2 0 10 49 68 74
Gold Rush 18 3 15 0 0 6 44 86 82

In the other D1 divisions, races may come down the final week. While all D1 North teams have only two games remaining and the playoff teams are accounted for, only the seeding there remains up in the air. But over in D1 East, some teams still have five games on the schedule, so the playoff race there is wide open.

2010–11 D1 East Standings (as of March 8)
Team GP W L T OTL P GF GA PIM
  • y = clinched division
  • x = clinched playoff berth
x–Northern Horde 16 15 1 0 0 30 79 20 74
x–Diablos 16 14 2 0 0 28 75 28 60
Muskies 15 9 4 2 0 20 67 31 78
Fighting Ice Fish 16 8 5 3 0 19 51 37 74
Lakers 15 9 6 0 0 18 66 38 133
Arctic Wolves 16 5 9 2 0 12 42 84 40
Stars 17 5 11 1 0 11 37 82 68
Icedogs 16 1 13 2 0 4 26 66 108
Wolf Pack 17 1 16 0 0 2 27 84 58
2010–11 D1 North Standings (as of March 8)
Team GP W L T OTL P GF GA PIM
  • y = clinched division
  • x = clinched playoff berth
x–Ak Bars 18 14 2 2 0 30 79 31 120
x–Lumberjacks 18 13 3 1 1 28 68 38 139
x–Wingmen 18 12 5 1 0 25 68 41 123
x–Sled Dogs 18 10 5 2 1 23 64 45 72
Nighthawks 18 8 8 2 0 18 51 34 102
Fighting Piranhas 18 5 13 0 0 10 65 68 70
Blade Runners 18 5 13 0 0 10 49 111 183
Buccaneers 18 1 17 0 0 2 20 96 66

A look at the top four in D1 North shows all teams with a history with the Spiders. Right now in third place is the Wingmen (backed by former Spider netminder Jeff Keacher, who is notching a career season there with a 12–5–1 record), and in fourth just a game behind are the Sled Dogs.

As previously announced, the post-season schedule is subject to change. But as it stands, the matchups for the three D1 pools will be as follows:

2010–11 D1 Post-Season Schedule
Date Day Time Arena Pool Home Away
4/4/2011 Mon. 8:30 p.m. Braemar S B 1 4
4/4/2011 Mon. 9:10 p.m. Highland N C 2 3
4/5/2011 Tue. 6:15 p.m. BIG 1 A 2 3
4/5/2011 Tue. 7:15 p.m. BIG 3 C 1 – Spiders 4
4/5/2011 Tue. 8:00 p.m. BIG 1 A 1 4
4/5/2011 Tue. 9:00 p.m. BIG 3 B 2 – Puck Hounds 3
4/8/2011 Fri. 6:00 p.m. BIG 3 C 2 4
4/8/2011 Fri. 6:00 p.m. BIG 1 A 1 3
4/8/2011 Fri. 6:15 p.m. BIG 2 B 2 – Puck Hounds 4
4/8/2011 Fri. 7:45 p.m. BIG 3 C 1 – Spiders 3
4/8/2011 Fri. 7:45 p.m. Richfield 2 A 2 4
4/8/2011 Fri. 8:00 p.m. BIG 2 B 1 3
4/9/2011 Sat. 9:00 a.m. Braemar E B 3 4
4/9/2011 Sat. 10:15 a.m. Braemar W B 1 2 – Puck Hounds
4/9/2011 Sat. 12:00 p.m. Braemar W A 1 2
4/9/2011 Sat. 12:00 p.m. SLP W C 1 – Spiders 2
4/9/2011 Sat. 1:45 p.m. Braemar W A 3 4
4/9/2011 Sat. 1:45 p.m. SLP W C 3 4
4/9/2011 Sat. 7:30 p.m. BIG 3 D1 Semi-Final #2 – 2 vs. 3
4/9/2011 Sat. 8:15 p.m. BIG 1 D1 Semi-Final #1 – 1 vs. 4
4/10/2011 Sun. 2:00 p.m. BIG 1 D1 Tier Championship

Please visit

TheRailingShopCo
Tough Jersey
Buzz Hockey
Pub 42
Summit Brewing
Minnesota Wild
Iowa Wild
USA Hockey
Minnesota Hockey