Playoff races

Updated for the final week of the season....

Three more days of games remaining on the WHL regular season schedule this year. Looking at the standings, I see six distinct playoff "races" in progress. Here's a little look at all six:

(Last updated: after games of March 14)

1. Medicine Hat vs Calgary for #3/#4 in the Eastern Conference:

The Tigers and Hitmen are locked into the #3/#4 seeds in the East. They already know they will have home ice advantage in the first round, it's just a question of who will be #3 and who will be #4. If one is more desirable than the other, it's probably because #3 will definitely avoid conference leader Edmonton in the 2nd round. 

The Tigers have a two point lead on the Hitmen with both teams having two games left. Looking at the schedules, it seems doubtful that Calgary can make up two points on the Tigers.

Medicine Hat's remaining sched:  vs Edmonton, vs Lethbridge
Calgary's remaining sched: @Kootenay, vs Kootenay

2. Kootenay, Regina, Saskatoon, and Brandon for #5 - #8 in the Eastern Conference:

Heading into the final weekend, it is still all but impossible to figure out what could happen here. Any of these four teams could still mathematically finish in any of the bottom four playoff positions in the East and thus none of the first round matchups in the conference is even close to being settled.

Regina is in 5th with 82 points. Kootenay and Saskatoon are tied for 6th with 81 points and Brandon is in 8th with 79 points. So 3 points separate all four teams.

Saskatoon's remaining sched: @Swift Current, vs Swift Current
Kootenay's remaining sched: vs Calgary, @Calgary
Regina's remaining sched: vs Brandon, @Brandon
Brandon's remaining sched: @Regina, vs Regina

Kootenay has the toughest schedule, with both of their games being against a top four team - although, the Ice have had a lot of success against the Hitmen this year. Saskatoon has an easy sched, playing both games against a non-playoff opponent. Regina and Brandon have two games against each other, which is always great to have in these races.

3. Portland vs. Tri-City for the U.S. division title and #1/#3 seed in the conference:

These two are miles ahead of anyone else in the division and have been dueling at the top all season. Two points separate the two right now. At stake is home ice for any potential playoff meeting, and the chance to avoid Kamloops (who are locked into the #2 seed now) in the 2nd round.

Portland's remaining sched: @VIC, vs SEA
Tri-City's remaining sched: vs EVT, vs SPO

Portland has an easier schedule since they only play teams at the bottom of the conference while the Americans have a date with Spokane. But, the Americans have a two point lead in the standings and also have the edge right now in wins, which would be the first tiebreaker.The Hawks MUST sweep their remaining games and hope the Ams lose both games if they want any chance of getting that #1 seed.

4. Spokane and Vancouver for #4 / #5 seeds in the West:

These two teams know they're going to face each other in the first round. They can't move up and they can't move down. They'll be the #4 and #5 seeds in some order, so what's at stake here is who gets home ice advantage for that series. The teams are tied in points and both have two games remaining.

Spokane's remaining sched: vs SEA, @TRI
Vancouver's remaining sched: vs KEL, @KEL

The Giants have the edge in wins, so the Chiefs must get more points out of their last two games than the Giants do. The Chiefs have one top-ranked opponent left (Tri-City) while the Giants finish with a couple against a team with nothing to play for (Kelowna) so it's a tough one for the Chiefs the way it looks now.

5. Victoria, Everett, Seattle, and Prince George for the last two playoff spots in the Western Conference:


Victoria and Everett are currently holding down the two spots with 53 and 52 points each respectively, with Seattle two points back at 50 and Prince George two more back at 48.

With only two games remaining while four points out, Prince George's playoff chances pretty much amount to: "win our two games against Kamloops, while hoping Everett loses all their remaining games in regulation and Seattle does not get more than 2 points from their last three games". In other words, they're pretty much done like dinner and this is a three team race.

Seattle has some control over their fate in that they have (A) two games in hand on Victoria and (B) one game  against Everett plus another game in hand on Everett. Winning the games in hand as well as the game against the Tips would put Seattle into 7th. Of course, talk about what they COULD do is cheap....they have to DO these things for those advantages to count.

Victoria's remaining sched: vs POR, vs POR
Everett's remaining sched: @KEL, @TRI, @SEA
Seattle's remaining sched: @SPO, vs EVT, @POR
Prince George's remaining sched: @KAM, vs KAM

Looking at the schedules, I think it's a decent possibility that for the 2nd time in WHL history we could be looking at a one-game playoff for the final playoff spot.

6. Edmonton, Portland, and Tri-City for #1 overall in the league:

This is one which doesn't mean all that much in the playoffs until May, but could be very valuable then. The order of overall finish will determine who has home ice advantage in that final series, so it's a valuable chip to have in your pocket should you advance that far.

A three team race here, one of whom has 103 points, one of whom has 102 points and one who has 100 points. I think Portland (with 100 points) is probably close to out of the race; they'd need to win their last two and have Edmonton and Tri-City both not get more than 1 point from their last two.