In a season of parity, there’s no surprise the regular season has come down to the final weekend to determine the quarterfinal match-ups.
Only five games remain in the regular season, and all five will have at least some degree of impact on seeding heading into the playoffs.
The Ripley Wolves are the one certainty, they clinched the number one seed in the AA Playoffs with two wins over the weekend.
The Creemore Coyotes went 1-1-0, with a win over Milverton and a loss on Sunday in Listowel to the Minto 81’s.
That means the Coyotes still do not have 2nd place nailed down, and will need at least a point in their season finale against the Erin Outlaws at home on Saturday to clinch 2nd place.
It gets extremely muddy after that, with a number of scenarios possible.
The Minto 81’s will conclude their regular season in Erin on Sunday afternoon against the Outlaws. The exact ramifications will be uncertain until the outcome of the Outlaws game in Creemore the night prior.
Should Erin prevail in regulation on Saturday, a Minto win on Sunday would give the 81’s the second-seed in the playoffs.
If Creemore clinches second place, then Minto would be playing for the third seed. A loss would relegate Minto further down the bracket, how far depends on results surrounding the Seaforth Centenaires and Durham Thundercats.
Seaforth and Durham meet up on Saturday evening in Seaforth. A Seaforth regulation win would guarantee the Centenaries a place in the 4th vs 5th series, and would secure the 7th seed for Durham.
A Durham win in regulation would set them up to move as high as 5th with another win on Sunday afternoon in Lucknow.
The Tavistock Royals will have home-ice advantage in the opening round as either the 3rd or 4th seed depending on the weekend outcomes, and the Saugeen Shores Winterhawks will be the 6th or 7th seed.
Not lost in all of this is the 8th-and-final playoff spot. The Erin Outlaws were unable to clinch their spot after dropping a 1-0 decision to Tavistock.
That means the Georgian Bay Applekings remain in the hunt, but must win their final game against Ripley on Friday.
A Georgian Bay loss would give the 8th spot to Erin, but if Georgian Bay prevails, then Erin would need to pick up at least one point in either of their remaining games to grab the 8th spot and a first round date with Ripley.
A reminder when viewing the standings page, the tiebreaking procedures are as follows:
- Wins
- Head-to-head points
- Goal differential
- Goals for plus goals against divided into goals for, expressed as a percentage. The higher percentage prevails.
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