After last night's play the Canes and the Otters find themselves tied for 1st place with 82 points each. If it was over now the Otters would take 1st place by virtue of more wins, 41/40. However 1 very crucial game remains, Aurora VS Huntsville tomorrow afternoon in Aurora. The Canes play the Villanova Knights tonight at York and there should be no surprises there, so the Canes will definitely end up with 84 pts. On the other hand the Otters will have to beat the Tigers to remain tied with the Canes and clinch 1st place with more wins, 42/41.
Let's look at a few Scenarios.
SCENARIO 1:
Canes beat Knights
Tigers beat Otters
Canes 84 pts
Otters 82 pts
Canes finish in 1st place
SCENARIO 2:
Canes beat Knights
Otters beat Tigers
Canes 84 pts - 41 wins
Otters 84 pts - 42 wins
Otters finish in 1st place
SCENARIO 3:
Knights beat Canes (blue moon in the sky)
Tigers beat Otters or Otters beat Tigers
Canes 82 pts
Otters 82 or 84 pts
Otters finish in 1st place by virtue of wins or pts
On the other side of the coin, who do the contending teams want to play in the 2nd round. Are the coaches looking ahead and will they play out the last game with this in mind? For example who would the Tigers want to meet in the 2nd round (provided they get past Orangeville) the Otters or the Canes? On the season the Tigers managed only 1 win against the Canes, although every game could have gone either way. With the Otters the Tigers are 2/3 with the 6th game tomorrow afternoon. In my opinion the Cats would rather play the Canes than the Otters, based on the past playoff history between the two teams. In order for the Tigers to play the Canes in the 2nd round, the Canes would have to end up in 2nd place come Monday. Therefore the Tigers may have their destiny in their own hands when they play tomorrow by losing to the Otters. I have never known Coach Dupont to play any other way but to win, but then again I don't think that the Tigers have ever been in this position before. Big question in everbody's mind is, who will Dupont start in goal, Barton, Beirnes or Newton, that may give us a hint as to what road the Tabbies are taking? Also, will Jeff Vanderlugt, Jordan Watts or Ben Heaphy see the ice?
At the other end who do the Otters and the Canes want to meet in the 2nd round, the Tigers, the Terriers or the Spirit, again assuming that Orangeville is eliminated. I think both the Canes and the Otters would rather meet the winner of the Terrier/Spirit series than tangle with the Tigers. Therefore a 1st place finish becomes very important to both. So if the Tigers do in fact rather play the Canes in the 2nd round then it follows that the Tigers hold Trump when the final cards are dealt tomorrow afternoon in Aurora. Will the Cats hit the ice "ROARING" or will they come out "PURRING" and play the "Trump Card"??
We will all know shortly, definitely worth a trip to the Old Barn in Aurora tomorrow afternoon to watch a "Hollywood" ending.
Game time is 2.30 pm.
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