Wednesday games

Few notes on last night's games and what they meant to the playoff races...

 - pretty much a nightmare scenario for the Red Deer Rebels as three of the four teams they could still catch all won. Only Regina lost. Red Deer is now 10 points back of the last playoff spot and they only have six games to play. Red Deer's playoff chances now amount to having to run their table while hoping either Regina or Saskatoon get only 1 more point at most, or that Brandon gets only 2 pts at most. The fat lady is now waiting in the wings.

 - Kootenay's win over Medicine Hat clinched a postseason berth for the Ice. It also moved them to within three points of the idle Hitmen for 4th place and home ice advantage in the first round.

 - Edmonton's OT win over Moose Jaw extended the Oil Kings' lead over the Warriors to 7 points in the race for first place in the conference. This was kind of a must win for the Warriors so losing ground, even if it was only one point, is a tough one. They need to make up 8 points (since they trail the tiebreaker) with only 5 games remaining. After the fat lady sings for the Rebels' season tomorrow night, she can come serenade the Warriors into the #2 seed.

 - in a funny twist, that Edmonton/Moose Jaw game also resulted in both teams clinching their respective divisions. Edmonton's win, coupled with Medicine Hat's loss, gives the Oil Kings their first ever Central division title. Ditto for the Warriors' loser point coupled with Regina's loss giving the Warriors the Eastern division crown.

 - in the West, the Bartschi-less Winterhawks lost to the Blazers while the Americans beat the Giants in OT. These two results served to bunch up the three teams at the top of the standings even further (only 2 pts separating the three teams now), and also resulted in Portland dropping from the #1 seed down to #3, changing places with the Americans.

 - the bottom four teams (who are scrapping for two playoff spots) also all played each other, with Prince George beating Seattle and Everett beating Victoria. This also bunches these four teams closer together now, with only 5 pts separating the four teams.