In the East, seven teams have clinched playoff spots now, and the final playoff spot race is going to come down to two teams - Prince Albert and Lethbridge. Regina mathematically has a chance, but their chance requires them to win all three remaining games while having the Raiders lose their remaining three, all in regulation. The Pats would then have to beat the Raiders in a one-game playoff. Oh, and Lethbridge couldn't win any games either. So, there's really no chance there for Regina - they join Calgary and Swift Current as three of the four Eastern teams who will miss the playoffs.
Back to the Raiders/Hurricanes race - Prince Albert has a huge edge over the Hurricanes in that race. Both teams have three games remaining, but the Raiders have a two point lead AND also have a much easier remaining schedule - all three of their remaining games are against Swift Current (twice) and Calgary. The Hurricanes have to play Kootenay twice, plus Edmonton. Since the 'Canes have to make up two points on the Raiders, they may have to sweep their remaining games and then hope the Raiders lose two points to the Broncos or Hitmen. It doesn't look pretty for the Canes.
In the other races, only two teams aren't in one. Saskatoon is going to be seed #1, and Moose Jaw is going to be #5. They can coast this week; everyone else could still change spots.
Kootenay is very likely going to be #4 and play Moose Jaw. They could catch Medicine Hat for #3 but it probably requires the Ice to win their last three games while having the Tigers lose their last three - and the Tigers play Calgary twice so this is a longshot. But the Ice & Tigers do meet on Tuesday in the Hat so let's see what happens there first.
The Tigers are also in another race, with Red Deer for the #2 seed. Again, this feat will probably require the Tigers to win all three remaining games though, while having the Rebels lose one of their season-ending home-and-home with the Oil Kings.
The two "Kings", Brandon and Edmonton, are also not done settling the #6/#7 spots either. Brandon has a 3 point lead on the Oil Kings, who have one game in hand on the Wheat Kings. Brandon finishes up with a home-and-home against Moose Jaw, while Edmonton has the aforementioned two with Red Deer plus one against Lethbridge. Moose Jaw has nothing to play for, so they may not be as much help as Edmonton would like. And Brandon has been one of the hottest teams in the league for weeks now, so I think they'll hold onto this one. But we'll watch it anyway.
And last East note, Calgary has locked up last overall. If they win only one thing the rest of the year, I'm sure they hope it is next Wednesday when the bantam draft lottery is held.
The Hitmen were first overall last year. I need to research this some more, but going back 20 years to 1990 at least, there has not been another case in the WHL of a team going from first overall to last overall in successive years.
I will do the Western conference playoff races Monday morning. Promise.
And one last thing today, from the NHL world. The infamous Zdeno Chara vs Max Pacioretty incident has dominated the NHL headlines the last week or so, and at least in my opinion it is highly likely that this incident is going to force the NHL in the offseason to take a firmer stance on actions that result in hits to opponents heads. No doubt whatever the NHL does will trickle down to the CHL level within a year (or even less) so it's something that definitely bears close watching if you're a major junior fan.
My take.....I'm not howling for Chara's blood like some are. I think everyone can agree that it was a fairly routine hockey play, something you see a lot of - forward chips the puck past the defenceman, tries to beat him outside while he pivots, and gets rubbed into the boards. I understand why the NHL took no action. I know some people say it was interference - yes, by the letter of the law it was since Pacioretty didn't have the puck. On the other hand, players have always been allowed to "finish their checks", which almost always means hitting a guy who doesn't have the puck anymore.
I think though, given the epidemic of head injuries we're seeing, that some of our ideas about what is a "routine play" or "finishing your check" are going to have to change. Do we need a rule that simply states that if you hit an opponent and the result is either that you make contact with his head or that his head contacts the boards, then that's a penalty?
And oh yeah....one more thing, about the two sponsors, Air Canada and Via Rail, tsk-tsking the NHL over its decision to not suspend Chara. While they probably echoed the sentiments of some fans around the league, the fact that these happen to be two companies whose corporate headquarters are in Montreal and thus their head offices are likely stuffed full of Habs fans makes their "outrage" come across as a little un-objective, perhaps? I can picture a boardroom full of outraged Habs-fans-slash-Air-Canada-employees, allowing their emotions as fans to override their professionalism and deciding to use their company to make a statement.....completely ignoring what might be best for the stakeholders of the company. I think in the end, A-C and Via have come off looking foolish in this situation and that is surely not what is in the best interests of their stakeholders.
Oh yeah, and Via Rail is still funded by the Canadian government. Your tax dollars at work, folks.....those north of the border anyway.
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