Spiders maintain lock on D1 West, playoffs spots still up for grabs
Feb. 26, 2011
With the season almost three-quarters the way through, the 2–3–4 spots still have no team names penciled in for the post-season.
The Spiders domination of their D1 West opponents means the top spot is all but sealed. Team accountants place the magic number at 4, with any combination of Spider wins or Puck Hounds losses giving the Spiders their second-ever division title. Looking ahead on the schedule, those final two games at the end of March between the Spiders and Puck Hounds may still come into play.
The Puck Hounds themselves have positioned themselves for a post-season slot regardless, leaving just two spots open in the West. And as it has been all season, the middle is still all clogged, with a six-point spread among four teams. The Maroons (18pts), Royals (16pts), Chaos (14pts) and Fighting Saints (12pts) are all vying to come out in the top four. And the Ice Gators (10pts) are still mathematically in the race, though it looks grim for the team the Spiders have faced most often in the playoffs (three games, all Spider wins). Finally, the Gold Rush, though eliminated, have shown they can not only win at this level, but can skate with every team.
As always seems to be the case, thanks to AHA’s ScheduleMaker3000 fortune-telling, all the teams’ schedules paint a perfect picture for post-season jockeying:
- Puck Hounds: Fighting Saints, Ice Gators, Royals, Spiders (twice)
- Chaos: Maroons, Gold Rush, Fighting Saints, Ice Gators
- Fighting Saints: Spiders, Puck Hounds, Maroons, Chaos, Gold Rush
- Maroons: Chaos, Fighting Saints, Ice Gators, Royals
- Royals: Gold Rush, Spiders, Puck Hounds, Maroons
Keep an eye on the standings and AHA trade deadline wires for an exciting finish to the 2010–11 regular season.
| Place | Team | GP | W | L | T | OTL | P | GF | GA | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
||||||||||
| 1 | x–Spiders D1 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 78 | 31 | 78 |
| 2 | x–Puck Hounds | 15 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 64 | 38 | 108 |
| 3 | Maroons D1 | 16 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 48 | 48 | 94 |
| 4 | Royals D1 | 16 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 44 | 54 | 120 |
| 5 | Chaos D1 | 16 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 49 | 63 | 132 |
| 6 | Fighting Saints | 15 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 50 | 58 | 106 |
| 7 | Ice Gators | 16 | 4 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 46 | 53 | 58 |
| 8 | Gold Rush | 16 | 3 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 41 | 75 | 74 |
And over in the other D1 divisions:
| Team | GP | W | L | T | OTL | P | GF | GA | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Horde D1 | 14 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 69 | 17 | 64 |
| Diablos D1 | 14 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 68 | 25 | 54 |
| Muskies D1 | 13 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 64 | 27 | 68 |
| Fighting Ice Fish | 13 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 49 | 33 | 62 |
| Lakers D1 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 58 | 37 | 125 |
| Arctic Wolves | 14 | 4 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 36 | 83 | 32 |
| Stars | 15 | 4 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 29 | 74 | 58 |
| Icedogs | 12 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 23 | 52 | 82 |
| Wolf Pack | 14 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 20 | 68 | 52 |
| Team | GP | W | L | T | OTL | P | GF | GA | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ak Bars | 16 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 26 | 68 | 29 | 106 |
| Lumberjacks | 16 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 24 | 62 | 36 | 114 |
| Wingmen | 16 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 63 | 38 | 96 |
| Sled Dogs D1 | 16 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 21 | 54 | 39 | 62 |
| Nighthawks | 16 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 41 | 31 | 96 |
| Blade Runners | 16 | 5 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 47 | 95 | 163 |
| Fighting Piranhas D1 | 16 | 4 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 60 | 61 | 70 |
| Buccaneers | 16 | 1 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 84 | 60 |
The usual details for the post-season, the top four teams from each division will advance to playoffs, based on the usual regular-season tiebreakers:
- Total points in the regular season.
- Number of wins in the regular season.
- Head-to-head record between teams in the regular season (if equal number 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.
For the D1 playoffs, it will be three pools, three round-robin games, with the top four teams (three pool winners plus next-best pool play record) advance to single-elimination pool championship semi-final (with the winners also earning the tournament fee comp), and finally, the D1 title game in the Tier Championship.
With three divisions, the expanded D1 pools will be:
- Pool A: East #1, North #2, West #3, East #4
- Pool B: North #1, West #2, East #3, North #4
- Pool C: West #1, East #2, North #3, West #4
