NAHL Weekend Preview
It’s the final weekend of the regular season for the East and South Divisions as the Robertson Cup Play-in Series begin next week while the Central and Midwest Divisions have two more weekends of action.
The NAHL is up to 243 NCAA commitments as the regular season nears it’s completion.
Here’s what you need to know heading into the weekend…
The Central Division will have a crazy finish. After last night’s win, St. Cloud moved into a three way tie for third place in the Central Division. The Bruins and Wings do have a slight advantage with one less game played but the two teams will go head to head against one another which could make some room for the Norsemen. If either team can get a sweep in that series and with some help from North Iowa, the Bruins or Wings could clinch a playoff spot. At the top of the division, Minot needs just one victory over Bismarck to claim the regular season division title. Every game means something in the Central.
In the East Division, only the Generals and Rebels could claim the final playoff position. Northeast currently sits in the drivers seat with a two point cushion and while Philadelphia does have a game in hand, they would currently own the tiebreaker with a couple more wins than the Rebels. Both teams will finish their seasons at home as the Generals will host the Jr. Americans while the Rebels will be hosting Danbury on Friday and Saturday and then the Nordiques come to town on Sunday. If Northeast and Philadelphia finish tied in points AND wins, the Rebels would win the next tiebreaker with a 3-1 record in head to head meetings.
In the Midwest Division, the Minnesota Wilderness suffered a crushing blow last night as they blew a 3-0 lead to the Springfield Jr. Blues as they eventually fell 5-4 in regulation. Minnesota sits one point back of the Chippewa Steel with now just one game in hand. They still in theory have the smoother path to the postseason as their remaining three games are all against the Jr. Blues while Chippewa all have to go up against division leading Wisconsin and third place Janesville. There’s drama at the top of the division as Anchorage holds their division title destiny in its hands. The Wolverines are two points back of the Windigo but have three games in hand. A clean sweep of their remaining games would give them their first Midwest Division regular season championship.
Finally in the South… there is very little drama. Lone Star is the division champion and league champion for the regular season. All of the playoff positions have been filled, the only thing really in play this weekend is a bye past the play-in series. Shreveport and El Paso will go head to head separated by two points. If the Mudbugs can win tonight, they will clinch the second seed in the South and avoid the play-in series. A Rhinos sweep will put them in the two seed and force Shreveport to play Oklahoma next week.
Watch all the action on NAHLTV
