Belleville dropped Gatineau 6-3 tonight, clinching first place for the Chiefs and sending them straight into next Sunday's Memorial Cup final. The Chiefs have one more round-robin game to play yet, tomorrow against Gatineau, but the outcome is unimportant to the Chiefs' position in the standings. Win or lose, they will finish first.
I know this thought will never cross the Chiefs' minds, but it might be in their best interests to lose tomorrow night. If they win, then Gatineau finishes 0-3 and go home, with no tiebreaker game required on Thursday. Belleville and Kitchener would meet in the semifinal Friday, with the winner playing the Chiefs on Sunday.
If the Chiefs were to (cough) lose tomorrow night, then a tiebreaker game would be necessary, between the Olympiques and the loser of Wednesday's Belleville-Kitchener game. Should the winner of that tiebreaker then also win the semifinal, then they'll have been forced to play two more games than the Chiefs this week. Having the other team feeling a little more fatigued never hurt anyone's chances.
I'm sure the Chiefs aren't thinking this way though....I expect them to beat Gatineau and finish the round-robin at a perfect 3-0.
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