C3 post-season field finalized, Spiders bottom seed

March 26, 2013

As usual, it came down to the final game of the regular season before playoff seeding could be finalized. Though C3 East finished their regular season over a week ago, the West division wrapped up Monday, with post-season potential in the last game.

In C3 East, the playoff race was down to two teams for the last few weeks, whether the Spiders or the Sled Dogs would clinch thanks to tiebreakers and move on to the playoffs, or end up packing their gear bags for the summer.

The final C3 pool seedings:

C3 Pool A (with regular season record):

1. Moose (15–2–2–1; 33 pts.)
2. Gold Rush (12–5–3–0; 27)
3. Wingmen (12–6–2–0; 26)
4. Spiders (11–9–0–0; 22)

C3 Pool B:

1. Fighting Piranhas (15–3–1–1; 32)
2. Mastodons (15–2–0–3; 33)
3. Fighting Saints (14–6–0–0; 28)
4. Blade Runners (11–7–2–0; 24)

The Spiders, of course, having made a habit of squeaking into the playoffs at the very last minute, this time thanks to the cellar-dweller IceDogs, enter the post-season with their own cellar-scraping record of all eight C3 playoff teams, a feat they managed last year as well as 2009–10.

Though not as long as last year’s 25-day hiatus until the playoffs, the 18 days between the end of the C3 East regular season schedule, whereas the C3 West teams just finished this weekend, either means the East teams will be nice and rested, or will have collected enough rust on their Bauers to stand around and watch the West teams like orange cones.

The now-final post-season schedule matchups for the C3 tier (subject to change):

A look at the Spiders’ three upcoming round-robin opponents:

• Moose:

  First up, last year’s C3 champions and this year’s C3 East division title holders, thanks to a tiebreaker, as the Moose (15–2–2–1) and Mastodons (15–2–0–3) both finished with 33 points apiece. In the three games this season, it wasn’t until the final matchup that the Spiders found their Moose Mojo, and held on to win 2–1.

  The two teams have not met in the playoffs, with last year’s weighted seeding keeping the two teams in separate pools.

  Spiders record this season vs. the Moose: 1–2–0–0. Lifetime: 1–3–0–0.

• Wingmen:

  The Wingmen finished their C3 West season at 12–6–2–0, with 26 points in third place, unable to jump ahead of the Gold Rush in their final game, due to a 3–2 loss to the last-place ShameonIce.

  The Spiders and Wingmen, longtime opponents, dating back to the 2008–09 season, last met in the playoffs last April, with the Wingmen overtaking the Spiders 4–3. That season, it was a clean-sweep for the Wingmen, winning both regular season games as well.

  In the playoffs, the Wingmen’s first appearance was in 2008–09, where they went 2–1; their second 2010–11, where they went 1–1–1, including losing in dramatic fashion to the Spiders in the final 25 seconds. And last year, 1–2 just like the Spiders.

  Spiders lifetime record vs. the Wingmen: 2–3–1–2.

• Gold Rush:

  The Gold Rush finished their first season at C3 with a 12–5–3–0 record, 27 points in second place.

  The last (and first) time the Spiders played the Gold Rush was 2010–11, where the Spiders won all three meetings.

  The Gold Rush had stayed at D1 for the 2011–12 creation of the new C3 level, when they finished 13–6–1–0 (27 pts) and went 2–0–1 in the playoffs to make it to the D1 final, where they lost in a shootout 2–1 to the Silverbacks.

  Spiders lifetime record vs. the Gold Rush: 3–0.

The Spiders will have their work cut out for them as they make their fifth consecutive return to the AHA post-season.

Playoff rules/tiebreakers

• There will be no overtime in round-robin pool play. 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 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:
  1. Most points
  2. Wins
  3. Head-to-head
  4. Goal differential (six goals maximum 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 tiebreaker reverts to step 1 of the criteria between two remaining teams, if necessary.)