Playoffs. Playoffs?
Feb. 26, 2021
The AHA has announced the preliminary schedule for the 2020–21 Winter League playoffs. Strangely, the Spiders are still in the hunt rather than thinking about golf.
Unlike past years, the format is more like summer league, with single-elimination out of the gate, rather than round robin pool play. So no chance at the Asterisk Cup or Toilet Bowl Trophy this time.
C3 playoff format:
- Top four teams from each division advance to playoffs.
- Single-elimination bracket.
- East division will receive the odd # seeds (1, 3, 5, 7) based on order of standings; West division will receive even # seeds.
Current C3 standings:
| Team | GP | W | L | T | OTL | P | SF | SA | GF | GA | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pines | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 280 | 207 | 35 | 19 | 30 |
| Arctic Wolves | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 241 | 155 | 33 | 23 | 20 |
| Spiders C3 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 201 | 264 | 41 | 29 | 71 |
| Knights C3 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 197 | 239 | 34 | 35 | 38 |
| Royals C3 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 242 | 163 | 36 | 30 | 36 |
| Troopers C3 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 175 | 211 | 21 | 32 | 22 |
| Fighting Loons C3 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 186 | 240 | 24 | 37 | 26 |
| Blade Runners | 8 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 228 | 271 | 18 | 37 | 46 |
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| Team | GP | W | L | T | OTL | P | SF | SA | GF | GA | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fighting Walleye C3 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 274 | 202 | 36 | 19 | 28 |
| Spartans C3 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 254 | 190 | 31 | 19 | 16 |
| Bulls | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 216 | 183 | 27 | 12 | 42 |
| Wildcats | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 212 | 232 | 31 | 27 | 32 |
| Gold Rush | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 178 | 184 | 22 | 24 | 22 |
| Kan Jammers C3 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 225 | 234 | 31 | 32 | 34 |
| Ice Hawks | 7 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 149 | 283 | 16 | 40 | 42 |
| Black Ice | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 197 | 197 | 9 | 30 | 10 |
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Regular season tiebreakers:
In the event of a tie in the regular season standings, the following criteria are used to determine post-season seeding:
- Total points in the regular season.
- Number of wins in the regular season.
- Head-to-head record between teams in the regular season (Applicable only if equal amount of games have been played between tied teams).
- Fewest total penalty minutes in the regular season.
- Fewest goals allowed in the regular season.
- Most goals scored in the regular season.
- Coin toss.
(Note: If three teams are tied, once a team is determined as the higher seed, the tiebreaker reverts to step 1 of the criteria between two remaining teams, if necessary.)
Note: A few teams will have played one extra game compared to other teams in the same division. For these teams, we will use the above tiebreakers based on a per-game basis (i.e., 14 points in 11 games played > 14 points in 12 games played.).
The preliminary post-season schedule matchups for the C3 tier:
| Date | Time | Arena | Home (Seed) | Away (Seed) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday, March 21 | 9:45 p.m. | New Hope S | #4 (West #2) | #5 (East #3) |
| Sunday, March 21 | 6:00 p.m. | Richfield 2 | #1 (East #1) | #8 (West #4) |
| Sunday, March 21 | 7:45 p.m. | Richfield 2 | #2 (West #1) | #7 (East #4) |
| Sunday, March 21 | 9:30 p.m. | Richfield 2 | #3 (East #2) | #6 (West #3) |
| Wednesday, March 24 | 8:10 p.m. | Braemar S | #2 vs. #7 | #3 vs. #6 |
| Wednesday, March 24 | 9:00 p.m. | Parade N | #1 vs. #8 | #4 vs. #5 |
| Saturday, March 27 | 8:30 p.m. | Richfield 1 | Championship | |
Playoff rules/tiebreakers
- If a game is tied after three periods, there will be a five-minute, sudden death, running-time overtime, if time allows in the ice slot. If the game is still tied after overtime, the home team will be declared the winner and advance to the next game (excluding Championship games).
- If at any time the score differential is six or greater in the third period, the clock will convert to running time. If at any time the score differential goes below six goals, the clock will revert back to stop time.
- In championship games, if at the end of the three periods the score is tied, the teams shall play one overtime period of five minutes, running time. If at the end of the overtime period the score is still tied, a shootout will take place. Shootout rules are as follows:
- Three players from each team participate in the order the team captain selects. The home team will elect whether to shoot first or second.
- Each team takes three shots in alternating fashion. The team with the most goals after those six (or fewer) shots is the winner.
- If the score remains tied, the shootout will proceed to a “sudden death” format. No skater may participate more than once until all other skaters have participated.
- Tiebreakers for pool standings:
- Most points
- Wins
- Head-to-head
- Goal differential (six goals maximum per game)
- Fewest goals against
- Fewest minor penalties
- Fewest total penalty minutes
- Earliest goal scored
- Coin toss
(Note: If three teams are tied, once a team is determined as the higher seed, the tiebreaker reverts to step 1 of the criteria between two remaining teams, if necessary.)
For more information, see the full AHA Winter Playoff info page and the full AHA Winter Playoff schedule.
