Monday notes

Down to the final week of the regular season now....

Two of the West's first-round playoff matchups are known after the weekend's games. Prince George will definitely finish as the #8 seed and thus will definitely play Vancouver, who are locked in as the #1 seed. And Everett will definitely finish in #7 and thus get to play Tri-City, who are locked in to the #2 seed.

Races still to be decided this week include....

• last playoff spot in the Eastern conference. Edmonton has a two point lead on Prince Albert, with both teams having three games to play this week. Edmonton plays Kootenay once and Red Deer twice, while the Raiders play Regina once and the Blades twice. Given Edmonton's two point lead and those remanining schedules, unless the Blades are resting their top players by the weekend, I don't like the chances for the Raiders. The winner of #8 definitely gets to face the Hitmen in the first round.

• #2/#3 seed in the East is still open between Saskatoon and Brandon. The Blades have a three point lead and they both have three games to play. The Blades play the Raiders twice and the Warriors once, while the Wheaties play the Warriors twice and the Broncos once. The Blades only need three points from their three games to lock up #2 so you'd have to think they're looking good for it right now.

• #3/#4 in the West is open between Kelowna (90 points) and Spokane (89 points) with both teams playing four games this week. The big matchup is a head-to-head meeting in Spokane on Sunday, if things haven't been decided by then. The Chiefs have the tougher schedule (Everett once & Tri-City twice, plus Kelowna) over the Rockets (Kamloops twice and Portland once, plus the Spokane game) so Kelowna is looking like they might have the edge there.
  

• #5/#6 in the West (and the eventual opponents for Kelowna/Spokane) is undecided as well, with Kamloops holding a one-point lead over Seattle, but the Birds having one game in hand which they could use to leapfrog the Blazers. Seattle also has a significantly easier schedule (Prince George, Portland, Portland, Everett) than Kamloops (Vancouver, Kelowna, Kelowna) so I have to think the T-Birds are going to get #5 here.
  

• #4 through #7 in the East is still wide open as well, with just seven points separating the four teams. I do think Swift Current is going to get #4 though, they have a three point lead on their nearest opponent and they get to play Regina twice more. One win this week will clinch #4 for them. The Broncos have lost leading goalscorer Matt Tassone for the season though, which is going to hurt them this week and especially in the playoffs. In the #5 through #7 positions are Medicine Hat (77 points, two games left), Kootenay (76 points, three games left) and Lethbridge (73 points, three games left). Very tight, especially with Kootenay & Lethbridge playing a home-and-home on Friday & Saturday.

• And #1 overall is still undecided between Vancouver & Calgary. Vancouver will get it though unless they lose one more point this week than the Hitmen do....