D1 post-season field set
March 29, 2009
Though all eight teams who will receive a playoff bid have been known for a couple weeks, the final seeding is now known as D1 West teams finish up their regular season schedules. The pools, which are set as: Pool A: East #1, West #2, West #3, East #4 and Pool B: West #1, East #2, East #3, West #4, are:
D1 Pool A:
- Spiders D1
- Fighting Ice Fish
- Ice Gators
- Lumberjacks
D1 Pool B:
- Fighting Piranhas D1
- Diablos D1
- Wingmen
- Lakers D1
To open the D1 post-season, the Spiders will scrape off two weeks of rust to face the Lumberjacks, the fourth meeting of the season between the two teams, with a season record of 1–1–1, and a Spiders franchise record of 1–3–1. To note, the Lumberjacks’ 2007–08 playoff performance resulted in a three-and-out 0–3 record, with two shutouts at the hands of the Royals and eventual D1 champs the Nemesis.
The full D1 post-season schedule:
| Date | Day | Time | Arena | Home | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3/31/2009 | Tuesday | 8:45 p.m. | Plymouth C | Spiders D1 | Lumberjacks |
| 3/31/2009 | Tuesday | 8:50 p.m. | Wakota 1 | Fighting Piranhas D1 | Lakers D1 |
| 3/31/2009 | Tuesday | 9:00 p.m. | Wakota 2 | Diablos D1 | Wingmen |
| 3/31/2009 | Tuesday | 9:00 p.m. | Plymouth B | Fighting Ice Fish | Ice Gators |
| 4/3/2009 | Friday | 6:00 p.m. | BIG 1 | Spiders D1 | Ice Gators |
| 4/3/2009 | Friday | 6:30 p.m. | BIG 2 | Fighting Piranhas D1 | Wingmen |
| 4/3/2009 | Friday | 7:45 p.m. | BIG 1 | Fighting Ice Fish | Lumberjacks |
| 4/3/2009 | Friday | 8:15 p.m. | BIG 2 | Diablos D1 | Lakers D1 |
| 4/4/2009 | Saturday | 10:30 a.m. | New Hope S | Spiders D1 | Fighting Ice Fish |
| 4/4/2009 | Saturday | 12:15 p.m. | New Hope S | Ice Gators | Lumberjacks |
| 4/4/2009 | Saturday | 12:30 p.m. | SLP East | Fighting Piranhas D1 | Diablos D1 |
| 4/4/2009 | Saturday | 1:00 p.m. | BIG 2 | Wingmen | Lakers D1 |
| 4/4/2009 | Saturday | 8:00 p.m. | BIG 2 | D1A Pool Championship | |
| 4/4/2009 | Saturday | 8:15 p.m. | BIG 1 | D1B Pool Championship | |
| 4/5/2009 | Sunday | 2:00 p.m. | BIG 1 | D1 Tier Championship | |
Follow the Spiders’ results on the scoreboard and the playoff standings.
Playoff rules and tiebreakers
The AHA’s playoff rules and tiebreakers:
- Each team will play three games against each team in their respective pool in round-robin style.
- The two teams finishing with the best records will meet Saturday night for the Pool Championship.
- Each pool winner will advance to the Tier Championship.
- There will be no overtime in round-robin pool play. Games will end in ties and will count in the standings.
In Pool Championship and Tier 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:
- Following a scoreless five-minute overtime, three players from each team participate in the order the Captain selects. The Away team will shoot first.
- 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 partipate more than once until all other skaters have participated.
Regardless of the number of goals scored during the shootout portion of overtime, the final score recorded for the game will give the winning team one more goal than the score at the end of regulation time.
- Tiebreakers for pool standings:
- Most points
- Head-to-head
- Goal differential (6 goals max per game)
- Fewest goals against
- Fewest minor penalties
- Fewest total PIMs
- Period Points (Period win=2; Period tie=1; Period shutout=1)
- Earliest goal scored
- Coin toss
