Interesting Last Day Of Regular Season Sims In The VHLE Ahead

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The "Avoid The Wildcard" Race

 

While Stockholm currently hold second place in the VHLE, whether they can keep hold of that position will be more dependent on how the teams below them than their own performances. While Stockholm do hold a two and four point advantage over Geneva and Oslo respectively, both of the teams immediately below Stockholm have a two game advantage which would allow them to close and surpass the deficit and both Geneva and Oslo are guaranteed to finish the season with a win in the primary tiebreaker of wins, which means that even if Stockholm do beat Geneva in their final game of the season, they cannot guarantee that they will finish in the top three in the standings and subsequently avoid the Wildcard round unless Geneva and Oslo falter in their last three games. 

 

The Playoff Fight

Istanbul are potentially regretting starting the season without a goalie for the first eighteen games given the current situation they find themselves in, needing to win both of their final games of the season against strong competition (Geneva and Cologne) to give themselves any shot at the playoffs, while also hoping that Oslo will defeat Vasteras in regulation (which will bring Vasteras and Istanbul level on points, but Istanbul will overtake Vasteras based on total wins). Interestingly, both of these teams have fared far better against the league-leading Cologne Express than either the Vikings or the Rush as while those two teams only combine for three victories over 22 games against the Express (Geneva 2, Stockholm 1), Istanbul have beaten Cologne four times and Vasteras six times.