Thursday, March 9, 2017

Playoff Chase

How The Chase Stands Prior to the weekend.

MH  (5 games in 9 days)
Edmonton x2
Red Deer
Lethbridge x2

Regina (6 games in 9 days) 
Moose Jaw x 2
Saskatoon
Swift Current
Brandon x2

Lethbridge (5 games in 9  days) 
Calgary x2
Kootenay
MH x2








Lethbridge
Tigers are too close to Lethbridge to say they will get a first round matchup against Brandon. Lethbridge is something like 23-4-2-1 since the Christmas break. Based on that record and their remaining schedule it will be unlikely if the playoff race has been decided before their season ending head to head matchup.

 The good thing is that the Tigers are in control of their destiny. The Tigers hold the first Tiebreaker(totals wins) so Lethbridge needs an extra point to overtake them.

Regina
The Tigers recent loss to MJ put a dent in their sails in their bid for 1st in the league. Regina has a 5 point lead with 1 game in hand. Right now it looks unlikely the Tigers will overtake them.. Regina does have a couple tough games against MJ this weekend so we will see what the weekend brings.

Regina had been outscoring opponents at a torrid pace of just over 5 goals scored a game for most of the season. They had a very intense 2nd half of the schedule. They recently completed a stretch of 15 games in 24 days.  They've lost a young 17yr old Jake Leschyshyn injured indefinitely earlier in february.

 As a result their scoring dipped from 5 goals a game to about 3.67 goals a game in their last 18.
I feel that their schedule and having players banged up is a big factor in their scoring decrease, but perhaps their young 17yr old was also big piece of the depth on their team.


Calgary/Red Deer/Saskatoon
Their was a big game on Wednesday where Saskatoon defeated Calgary 6-2. It gives Saskatoon a 3 point lead for the last wildcard spot.  However Calgary is also just as close to capturing the 3rd spot in the Central division, because they are only 4 points back of Red Deer, and those 2 teams still meet once next Wednesday.

That matchup has playoff implications for either Medicine Hat or Lethbridge; whoever, ends up as the 2nd seed.


TigerTurf's Potential Playoff Matchups
Tigers Vs Brandon  (70%ish Chance)   (status quo)
Tigers Vs Calgary   (4%ish)  (Calgary pulls ahead of red deer and the Tigers loose to Leth)
Tigers Vs Saskatoon (2%ish) (Tigers beat Regina or Saskatoon beats Brandon)
Tigers Vs Red Deer (24%ish Chance) ( Leth pulls ahead of MH)

This Weekend
This weekend the Tigers play Edmonton Twice. The Oil Kings have already been eliminated from the playoffs. However I would suspect the Tigers would want to hammer them hard seeing as the Oil Kings were the ones that eliminated the Tigers last Season in the TieBreaker Game.

Lethbridge plays Calgary twice. Calgary has a 1-2 record against lethbridge this season and the Hitman are fighting for their playoff lives.




6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Any word on Chyzowski? Man that hit looked bad.

Anonymous said...

Was sad that no one stepped up and laid a beating on the guy who hit Chyzowski. What a cowardly hit.

Anonymous said...

Schinder is brutal (though it sounds like his teamates aren't help8ng from the sounds as I'm listening to on the radio)

TigerTurf said...

The guy who hit Chyzowski received a 1 game suspension.

Also it is not for certain yet that the Tigers will play Brandon. Brandon lost to swift last night, and they have has 3 games left against Moose Jaw, and twice against Regina, that is tough competition.

Calgary is 4 points back and plays Red Deer, and twice against Kootenay.
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All these teams play Wednesday night. A calgary win and Brandon loss would make things very interesting. The opposite would guarantee the Tigers a Brandon match-up.
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Turns out the last 2 Tiger games could be a Round 2 playoff preview, but otherwise mean nothing for the regular season.

longtimefan said...

Calgary needs to win all their games and Brandon must lose all theirs for the Hitmen to finish ahead. Brandon holds the tie breaker if they end up even.

Anonymous said...

Playoff ticket pickup dates announced.
From Tigers website:

SEASON TICKET HOLDERS AND WHEELCHAIR PATRONS CAN BEGIN TO PICK-UP THEIR FIRST ROUND PLAYOFF TICKETS STARTING MONDAY MARCH 20TH AT 9:00AM – 6:00PM, ENDING WEDNESDAY MARCH 22ND.
PUBLIC SALES WILL COMMENCE THURSDAY MARCH 23RD STARTING AT 9:00AM!

No mention on price per ticket at all. Will keep an eye on the site to see if they update the post with a price.