CCHL 2017-18 Playoff field set! First round starts tomorrow!

The 2017-18 CCHL Regular Season is over! Congrats to the 12 teams that have earned the right to continue their seasons in our playoffs.

Let's take a closer look at our upcoming playoffs:

CANOSA CONFERENCE:

Conference Champion (Regular Season) 

Siberia Icecats - 117 points

1st round bye teams: 

Siberia #1 seed
Georgetown #2 seed

First round matchups:

Minnesota #6 seed @ Hamilton #3 seed
Springfield #5 seed @ Rejkjavik #4 seed

CORFIELD CONFERENCE:

CANOSA CONFERENCE:

Conference Champion (Regular Season) 

Calgary Chinook - 141 points

1st round bye teams: 

Calgary #1 seed
Fort Erie #2 seed

First round matchups:

Portland #6 seed @ Wisborg #3 seed
Niagara Falls #5 seed @ Halifax #4 seed

Random thoughts: There's just NO WAY to NOT view the Calgary Chinook as the prohibitive favorites this playoff year.

Most points, wins, goals for, fewest goals allowed, best power play, best penalty killing, fewest pims, league's leading scorer in Crosby, etc...

But, stuff happens - that's why we play the games...

If CGY can stay healthy, it's probably theirs to lose. But, should the Chinook fall, it's wide open as to who fills the void this year.

GOOD LUCK to all the playoff teams! 

Minnesota Norsemen Get ready for CCHL Playoffs!

[SAINT PAUL . MN]

While the Twin Cities are abuzz with the Super Bowl this weekend, the Minnesota Norsemen are in St. Paul, quietly preparing for the CCHL Playoffs and somehow out of the limelight in what would normally be unrelenting media coverage in the State of Hockey.

“We love the passion in this state for hockey,” said Captain, Charlie Coyle. “But in all honesty, this is nice to focus completely on the task at hand and have these extra couple of days to rest up and prep for either the Tigers or Puffin.” Too be fair, with the New England Patriots in town and vying for their sixth title, and second in as many years. The Weymouth, MA native, Coyle is probably not completely focused on hockey. 

The Norsemen even in the playoffs is somewhat of a surprise to many. Even so for the team’s management that envisioned a rebuild that would keep the team’s focus on building back up into contention. “I’d say we’re ahead of where we would’ve seen ourselves in the timeline of events,” said General Manager, Blake Wendt. “We were a dead last team in the rankings at this time last season. To say we would be in the playoffs a year later? I wouldn’t have said that with much confidence. Not because of our personnel, but because we are so young and developing and still in that process of our overall development. Full credit to our coaching staff and players for not accepting that path, and pushing for more.”

There was some major turnover in the roster from that 2016-17 squad that finished 22ndin a 22-team league with a 15-60-7 record. Only Coyle, Anders Lee, Jonas Brodin, Antti Raanta and in lesser roles, Nick Bjugstad and Mike Reilly were on last year’s team. Longtime coach Craig Hartsburg, who was hired by Wendt when he took over the team in 2007 in Thunder Bay, moved into a player development role. Mike Yeo was promoted from the Duluth Leifs and name head coach of the Norsemen in the summer.

Management was active in the offseason and took some swings on free agents. Some of those were costly misses, but the intent was there. Mostly though, the rookies that stepped up have been a major infusion into the success of this season. Jake Guentzel (who was shipped out and re-acquired) and Anthony Mantha have floated up and down the line-up. Guentzel nearly hit 20 goals and finished the regular season with 19, 26 assists for 45 points. Mantha played in 53 games, scored 14 and had 17 assists for 31 points and was a very respectable +16. But even more impressive has been a pair of rookie blueliners that have solidified themselves on the top pairing this season. Ivan Provorov (5-24-29 +13) and Brandon Carlo (3-18-21 +7) played in all 82 games and have not only been extremely impressive but garnered the trust of their coach enough to line up opposite of the other team’s best. “We fought it for a while to not pair up two rookies,” said Yeo. “Ivan played a lot with Vatanen to start and Brandon with Brodin. Then Sami was traded and we started playing McQuaid up more with Brodin and it was inevitable that Provorov and Carlo would end up together. We paired them up top, and they sort of forced our hand into keeping them there and together.”

As impressive as Provorov and Carlo have been, the future will continue to get brighter next season with Charlie McAvoy set to make the team. “We’re excited about what has been accomplished this season and to battle again in the playoffs,” said Wendt. “But we’re probably more amped up for what we will have next season and beyond. McAvoy should fit in perfectly with this group. He’s been dominating this season in Duluth, and we look forward to that translating to the CCHL with ease.”

But for now, it’s all preparation for a continuation of the season, hopefully, sneak up on some teams, and continue to build upon a strong foundation and be a consistent, relentless force for years to come.

Miners trade skates for sleds...

Miners trade skates for sleds??

CANADIAN PRESS (Sudbury, ON)

"They're going to slow us all down!"

That was the reaction from one of the players of the Sudbury Northern Sliders sled hockey team when he found out that he'd be sharing the ice with some of their hometowns Sudbury Miners this past weekend.

One of the most underrated aspects of hockey is the way it brings people together, be it to play, watch, or simply talk about the game. Sled hockey does just the same, and in their continued effort to be part of the community, some of the Miners brightest stars tried their hand at a different brand of hockey.

The attendees which included star defenseman Aaron Ekblad, forward Vincent Trocheck, and young gun Timo Meier were among the dozen or so players who took part in the sled hockey game with the Sliders sled hockey team. The whole thing was being treated as just another practice for the Sliders, but when Ekblad and Co. stepped out onto the ice, it definitely took the team by surprise.

What was incredible to see was the respect the CCHL players have for the sled hockey players, including winger Marcus Foligno saying he just wished the stick was just a little longer so he could hook or trip another player.  It’s proof what great athletes the entire Sliders team is, and how incredibly talented they are on their equipment.  Trocheck even admits he knew he had to change up his style on the sled if he had any chance of even taking part in the game. It's an interesting look at how these players view an alternative to their professional game.

Many of the Slider players were just thrilled to have the opportunity to play with and against some of the Miner players, and you can see the respect each CCHLer has for just how these talented players show their dedication to the sport they all love.

 As Aaron Ekblad pointed out after the practice, “Just seeing the poise and the character and the mental strength, they’re really an inspiration for all of us. So, I think, their passion for hockey is something we all share, no matter what our situation or where we come from.”

Canosa Conference Update!

THE CANOSA CONFERENCE:

There is one day left of play that will involve all the teams in the Canosa Conference. The six playoff teams are known. The final order of these six teams is not known yet.

1) We don't know who will finish in first place, second place, third or fourth place.

2) After losing tonight against the Puffin, SPR is locked in as the #5th seed.

3) Minnesota will be the #6 seed.

4) SIB & GEO are tied and will both have first-round byes. If they finish the season tied, GEO will be the #1 seed based on winning the season series against the Icecats. GEO went 5-1-0 against Siberia in 17-18.

5) On Wednesday night, Hamilton will play Georgetown. HAM controls its own destiny and if they beat the Millers, the Tigers will be the #3 seed.

6) If HAM ends up in a tie with Reykjavik, HAM will be the #3 seed based on the season series, where HAM beat REK 5-1-0.

7) If GEO beats HAM AND REK beats SIB, REK will be the #3 seed...

CURRENT STANDINGS: (All teams have 1 game to go...)

CANOSA     W   L   T PTS 
  ------------- --  --  -- ---  -- 
Icecats*        55  21   5 115 
Millers*        55  21   5 115 

Tigers*         52  25   4 108 
Puffin*         52  26   3 107 
Isotopes*      50  27   4 104 
Norsemen*   38  37   7  83 

Portland in a jam now...BUT....

The Portland Owls are in an interesting situation.

Going into this evening's game against the Seattle Reign, the Owls held a two-point lead over the Ottawa Barracudas in the Corfield Conference.

Tonight, Portland played Seattle, a team with 12 fewer points than the Owls. Also, a team that played Portland well this regular season and entered tonight's game holding a 3-2 edge in 17-18.

After the Reign, POR has two really tough matchups in the Fort Erie Falcons (110 pts.) and then CGY (137 pts.)

Portland really wanted 2 points tonight so that OTT couldn't catch them.

Final score?

POR-3
SEA-4

Portland has 2 games left against FOR & CGY. Two games that the Owls will be expected to lose. Ottawa has just one game left, against the league-worst Dayton Musicmen. If OTT wins against the Musicmen, OTT will have 33 wins. If POR loses both games remaining, they will finish with 70 pts. , the same OTT will wind up with IF they beat DAY on Wednesday night.

Can POR beat either FOR or CGY?

Oh yes, yes they can.

POR won the season series against BOTH the Falcons (3-2-0) and the Chinook (3-2-0).

Stay tuned!

5 Days left in the regular season, a look at the playoff possibilities in the Corfield Conference....

With five days left in the 2017-18 CCHL Regular Season, we're going to take a look at the two conferences, the standings in each and how the first round playoff matchups are shaping up.


THE CORFIELD CONFERENCE:

CURRENT STANDINGS:


  CORFIELD   W   L   T PTS   GAMES LEFT
  ------------- --  --  -- ---  --  --
Chinook*        66  10   3 135             3 
Falcons*        51  21   7 109              3

Donuts*         48  24   8 104              2
Hamm'heads* 39  28  12  90             3
Thunder*       38  38   3  79               3
Owls             32  41   6  70                3  @SEA, @FOR, CGY

Barracudas      32  44   4  68             2  PAR, DAY

As you can see, the Corfield Conference is far more decided than the Canosa Conference is.

Calgary is locked into the 1st seed
Fort Erie is locked into the 2nd seed
Wisborg is locked as the 3rd seed
Halifax is locked as the 4th seed
Niagara Falls is set as the 5th seed

Only the 6th and final seed is up for grabs as both Portland and Ottawa could snag it. The Owls currently lead OTT by 2 pts. and have a game in hand. The most points OTT can finish with is 72, so POR controls its own destiny. Key is the opponents each faces. POR plays two strong teams in FOR and CGY after a game with SEA. I see them finishing up 1-2-0 in their last 3 games to finish with 72 points.

Ottawa plays PAR and DAY, two teams they should be able to defeat, which would give them, yup - 72 points to tie POR. So we go to the 1st tiebreakers (Most wins). POR would have 33 wins on the year, OTT would have 34 and make the playoffs while the Owls would go home.

All the drama the next five days will focus on Portland and Ottawa to figure out the final playoff team. Opening round will see CGY/FOR with byes. #3 - WIS hosting either OTT/POR as the 6th seed, while #4 seed Halifax will host the #5 seed Niagara Falls Thunder.

5 Days left in the regular season, a look at the playoff possibilities in the Canosa Conference....

With five days left in the 2017-18 CCHL Regular Season, we're going to take a look at the two conferences, the standings in each and how the first round playoff matchups are shaping up.


THE CANOSA CONFERENCE:

CURRENT STANDINGS:


 CANOSA    W   L   T PTS   GAMES LEFT
  ------------- --  --  -- ---  -- 
Icecats*        54  21   5 113                2    ISL, REK
Millers*        53  21   5 111                3    @LAS, SUD, HAM

Tigers*         50  25   4 104                3     SUD, @ISL, @GEO
Puffin*         50  26   3 103                3     VIC, @SPR, @SIB
Isotopes*      49  26   4 102                3     MIN, REK, @LAS

Norsemen*   38  35   7   83                2      @SPR, @LAS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The first thing to look at is the top two seeds in the Canosa, which will be SIB and GEO, with the order, still to be determined. SIB is currently in 1st, but GEO has a game in hand. They do not play each other.

If both teams win all of their remaining games, they will finish in a tie with each having 117 pts., In the case of a tie, the first tiebreaker is the most number of wins and they would still be tied after applying the first tiebreaker. The next tiebreaker is best season series record. The Millers dominated the Icecats 5-1-0 this season. If they finish tied, GEO will be the #1 seed. For Siberia to claim the #1 seed, they need to win outright.

Now the hard part, lol...

It is a three-way battle royal for the 3, 4, and 5 seeds in the Canosa Conference. Minnesota will be the 6th seed for sure. Each of the teams, Hamilton, Reykjavik, and Springfield, have three games left.

HAM plays SUD and ISL - two games they should win - and GEO a game let's say they lose. HAM winds up with 108 pts. 

REK plays VIC, SPR and SIB - Let's put them down for a win against VIC, a tie against SPR (season series between REK/SPR is 3-2-0 in favor of REK, so too close to call). Let's put them down for a loss to SIB. REK winds up with 107 pts.

SPR plays MIN, REK & LAS. Let's put them down for wins against MIN & LAS and a tie against HAM. SPR would finish with 107 pts. 

If all that happens, HAM would be the #3 seed, based on the season series record of 3-2-1 in favor of the Puffin, REK would claim the #4 seed and SPR would be the 5th seed.

The first round would see GEO & SIB enjoying their bye, and we'd see #3 - HAM hosting #6 - MIN and #4-REK hosting #5-SPR. 

Fun stuff, too close to call, so keep an eye on these games over the weekend!