2017–18 C3 Playoff Preview
April 3, 2018
Now that winter has returned to the State of Hockey, it’s time for the AHA playoffs. Except for the Spiders, after being eliminated from post-season contention thanks to a week 19 loss to the Wolf-Rayets, are instead trying to shovel snow off the tee boxes at the golf course.
The AHA Winter playoffs begin tonight, so here’s how the C3 matchups ended up.
Duly noted, the AHA “Presidents” Trophy-winning, C3 East-leading, undefeated-in-regulation Fighting Loons (19–0–0–1; 39 pts.) were allowed to remain at the C3 level to test the AHA’s parity policy.
Seeding for C3 Tier:
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Pool A:
- East #1 (Fighting Loons C3)
- North #2 (Minnesota Mild)
- West #3 (Black Ice)
- East #4 (Wolf-Rayets)
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Pool B:
- North #1 (Mastodons C3)
- West #2 (Rebellion)
- East #3 (Maroons C3)
- North #4 (Gold Rush)
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Pool C:
- West #1 (Troopers C3)
- East #2 (Les Etoiles du Nord C3)
- North #3 (Spartans C3)
- West #4 (Marauders)
Despite last year’s C3 champs (Northern Gators) having moved up to C2 (and finishing in sixth place), the C3 field still has a familiar look to previous seasons. All the Pool A teams, and all but one of the Pool C teams (Marauders, who finished last or second to last in their three seasons at C3) were in the playoffs last season (Pool C #1 seed the Troopers won the D1 championship last season). Pool B has the Mastodons in after missing out on a tiebreaker last season, and last season’s cellar-dweller Scarlet Rebellion recast as the Rebellion jumped to second place (13–6–0–1; 27 pts. in 2017–18; from 1–18–1–0; 3pts. in 2016–17) thanks to the return of their goaltender. And the fourth-place Gold Rush, with Spider sub Dave Sommerness, return to the playoffs after a one-year hiatus.
Up in B3, the other Spiders team returns to the playoffs for the second consecutive season after a second-consecutive second-place finish in B3 East (14–5–1–0; 29 pts.). With both Cory Vandenberghe and Eric Grotbeck on the roster, at least some C3 Spiders will get a taste of April hockey. And by luck of the draw, that team kicks off the entire AHA campaign tonight. Head to SLP E at 6 p.m. to see the Spiders take on the B3 Saints.
Final regular season C3 standings:
| Team | GP | W | L | T | OTL | P | GF | GA | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
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| Fighting Loons C3 –y | 20 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 39 | 93 | 39 | 66 |
| Les Etoiles du Nord C3 –x | 20 | 15 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 75 | 43 | 75 |
| Maroons C3 –x | 20 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 26 | 65 | 51 | 111 |
| Wolf-Rayets C3 –x | 20 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 22 | 62 | 52 | 88 |
| Leafs C3 | 20 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 21 | 65 | 57 | 158 |
| Blade Runners | 20 | 9 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 81 | 80 | 158 |
| Spiders C3 | 20 | 8 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 65 | 71 | 96 |
| Nighthawks Gold | 20 | 7 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 55 | 73 | 193 |
| Hooligans Green | 20 | 6 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 61 | 82 | 124 |
| Minnesota Warriors | 20 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 115 | 108 |
| Team | GP | W | L | T | OTL | P | GF | GA | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|||||||||
| Troopers C3 –y | 20 | 16 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 33 | 87 | 46 | 120 |
| Rebellion –x | 20 | 13 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 27 | 56 | 50 | 100 |
| Black Ice –x | 20 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 24 | 74 | 67 | 98 |
| Marauders –x | 20 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 23 | 65 | 51 | 107 |
| Arctic Wolves | 20 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 22 | 75 | 70 | 153 |
| Stars | 20 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 20 | 53 | 47 | 90 |
| Silverbacks | 20 | 9 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 51 | 60 | 98 |
| Bulls | 20 | 6 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 52 | 72 | 97 |
| Nighthawks C3 | 20 | 6 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 50 | 78 | 130 |
| Wildcats | 20 | 5 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 67 | 89 | 145 |
| Team | GP | W | L | T | OTL | P | GF | GA | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|||||||||
| Mastodons C3 –y | 20 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 33 | 92 | 58 | 50 |
| Minnesota Mild –x | 20 | 15 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 31 | 119 | 70 | 70 |
| Spartans C3 –x | 20 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 118 | 57 | 86 |
| Gold Rush –x | 20 | 11 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 24 | 78 | 74 | 86 |
| Royals C3 | 20 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 22 | 70 | 78 | 92 |
| Ak Bars | 20 | 6 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 17 | 52 | 64 | 96 |
| Icedogs | 20 | 7 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 47 | 67 | 155 |
| Knights C3 | 20 | 7 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 60 | 80 | 88 |
| Shame On Ice C3 | 20 | 3 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 44 | 79 | 92 |
| Hooligans Black | 20 | 2 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 29 | 82 | 70 |
Regular season tiebreakers:
In the event of a tie in the regular season standings, the following criteria are used to determine post-season seeding:
- Total points in the regular season.
- Number of wins in the regular season.
- Head-to-head record between teams in the regular season.
- Fewest total penalty minutes in the regular season.
- Fewest goals allowed in the regular season.
- Most goals scored in the regular season.
- Coin toss.
The post-season schedule matchups for the C3 tier:
| Date | Time | Arena | Pool | Home | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday, April 4 | 6:15 p.m. | BIG 2 | A | Minnesota Mild (2) | Wolf-Rayets C3 (4) |
| Wednesday, April 4 | 6:15 p.m. | BIG 3 | B | Rebellion (2) | Gold Rush (4) |
| Wednesday, April 4 | 8:00 p.m. | BIG 2 | A | Fighting Loons C3 (1) | Black Ice (3) |
| Wednesday, April 4 | 8:00 p.m. | BIG 3 | B | Mastodons C3 (1) | Maroons C3 (3) |
| Wednesday, April 4 | 9:45 p.m. | BIG 2 | C | Troopers C3 (1) | Spartans C3 (3) |
| Wednesday, April 4 | 9:45 p.m. | BIG 3 | C | Les Etoiles du Nord C3 (2) | Marauders (4) |
| Thursday, April 5 | 6:15 p.m. | BIG 3 | A | Black Ice (3) | Wolf-Rayets C3 (4) |
| Thursday, April 5 | 7:30 p.m. | Richfield 2 | C | Troopers C3 (1) | Les Etoiles du Nord C3 (2) |
| Thursday, April 5 | 8:00 p.m. | BIG 3 | A | Fighting Loons C3 (1) | Minnesota Mild (2) |
| Thursday, April 5 | 9:15 p.m. | Richfield 2 | C | Spartans C3 (3) | Marauders (4) |
| Thursday, April 5 | 9:30 p.m. | Breck | B | Maroons C3 (3) | Gold Rush (4) |
| Thursday, April 5 | 9:45 p.m. | BIG 1 | B | Mastodons C3 (1) | Rebellion (2) |
| Saturday, April 7 | 9:30 a.m. | BIG 2 | A | Fighting Loons C3 (1) | Wolf-Rayets C3 (4) |
| Saturday, April 7 | 11:15 a.m. | BIG 2 | A | Minnesota Mild (2) | Black Ice (3) |
| Saturday, April 7 | 1:00 p.m. | BIG 2 | B | Mastodons C3 (1) | Gold Rush (4) |
| Saturday, April 7 | 2:45 p.m. | BIG 2 | B | Rebellion (2) | Maroons C3 (3) |
| Saturday, April 7 | 3:15 p.m. | BIG 3 | C | Troopers C3 (1) | Marauders (4) |
| Saturday, April 7 | 5:00 p.m. | BIG 3 | C | Les Etoiles du Nord C3 (2) | Spartans C3 (3) |
| Sunday, April 8 | 9:00 a.m. | BIG 1 | SF | #1 vs. #4 | |
| Sunday, April 8 | 10:45 a.m. | BIG 1 | SF | #2 vs. #3 | |
| Sunday, April 8 | 7:30 p.m. | BIG 2 | Championship | ||
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:
- Most points
- Wins
- Head-to-head
- Goal differential (six goals maximum per game)
- Fewest goals against
- Fewest minor penalties
- Fewest total penalty minutes
- Earliest goal scored
- 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.)
For more information, see the full AHA Winter Playoff info page and the full AHA Winter Playoff schedule.
