It’s official, Spiders fourth seed in D1 Pool B

April 4, 2010

As presumed following Thursday’s victory over the fourth-place Fighting Ice Fish, the Spiders claimed the fourth and final D1 West playoff spot and will appear in the AHA playoffs for the second consecutive season. The AHA standings still report the Spiders in fifth (10–8–2; 22 pts.), but thanks to the regular-season tiebreakers (#3 — head-to-head record), it’s the Spiders who get the nod over the Fighting Ice Fish.

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 (with regular season record):

1. Yellow Jackets (16–2–2; 34 pts.)
2. Fighting Piranhas (16–2–1–1; 34 pts.)
3. Diablos (12–8; 24 pts.)
4. Lumberjacks (11–6–1–2; 25 pts.)

D1 Pool B:

1. Chaos (17–2–1; 35 pts.)
2. Royals (15–2–1–2; 33 pts.)
3. Ice Gators (14–5–1; 29 pts.)
4. Spiders (10–8–2; 22 pts.)

With the pools set, the full round-robin schedule is now available, and the no. 4 seed Spiders now know their matchups for the three-game campaign:

• #1 seed Chaos – Tuesday, 9:30 p.m., Eden Prairie 2
• #2 seed Royals – Thursday, 6 p.m., Augsburg B
• #3 seed Ice Gators – Saturday, 2:15 p.m., St. Louis Park E

Spiders’ fans will recognize all teams listed, as they are familiar opponents.

• Chaos:

  With not only the top record in D1 (17–2–1; 35 pts.), but tied (with the C2 Jets) for the best all-AHA record, and having gone the first 13 weeks of the season undefeated, the Chaos wrapped up the no. 1 seed a few weeks ago. The Spiders faced the Chaos twice this season, including the season opener, both of which resulted in Chaos victories.

• Royals:

  The second-place team in D1 East (15–2–1–2; 33 pts.), the Royals have improved on their fifth-place finish in D1 East last year, where they missed the playoffs. That year, the Spiders won both games over the Royals, 6–3 and 7–1. Lifetime the Royals have dominated, with the Spiders’ record 2–6.

• Ice Gators:

  The third-place team in D1 East (14–5–1; 29 pts.), the Ice Gators also finished third last season. The subsequent post-season was the only time the Spiders and Ice Gators have met, with both victories going to the Spiders, including the D1 Pool A championship.

Though the Spiders appear outmatched in the standings, they have had a resurgence of late, making good on their New Year’s resolution to go .500 (and beyond) by going 7–2–2 since the new year. Can they carry that momentum into the post-season? Stay tuned...

The full D1 post-season schedule:

Follow the Spiders’ results on the scoreboard and the playoff standings.

Playoff Rules/Tiebreakers

• There will be no overtime in round-robin pool play. Games will end in ties and will count in the standings.
• 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 goes below six goals, the clock will revert back to stop time.

• 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 less) 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:
  1. Most points
  2. Wins
  3. Head-to-head
  4. Goal differential (six goals max per game)
  5. Fewest goals against
  6. Fewest minor penalties
  7. Fewest total penalty minutes
  8. Earliest goal scored
  9. Coin toss

  Note: If three teams are tied, once a team is determined as the higher seed, the tie breaker reverts to step 1 of the criteria between two remaining teams if necessary.