VHLM -- How the playoffs are shaping up with 7/8 games left in the season

[hockeyis66 143]

 

With the VHLM season winding down and teams having either 7 or 8 games left in their respective seasons, lets take a look at how the playoff races are shaping up as we come into the last sims of the season.

 

1ST OVERALL SEED –

 

Philadelphia: they are firmly set as the #1 seed overall in the league as they have a 9 point lead over second place Houston.  It will be interesting to see how they finish the season up since we see teams with big point leads coast at the end of the regular season and then come out flat in the playoffs versus a team that has been fighting for their playoff lives.

 

2nd / 3rd SEEDS -

 

Houston, San Diego: Houston has 95 points and 7 games left while San Diego has 91 points and 8 games left.  Both teams have pretty easy schedules to finish the season with Houston having a slight advantage since the top team they play is Mexico City while San Diego has both Philadelphia and Mississauga on their schedule.  The two teams do not play each other the rest of the season.  Also on the line could be home ice advantage in the semifinals of the playoffs if the seedings hold and these two teams play each.  If a series goes to game 7, having that game at home is a huge plus.

 

4th / 5th SEEDS - 

 

Mexico City, Mississauga: These 2 teams will be playing in the first round against each other and just 4 points seperate them as Mexico City has 75 points and Mississauga has 71.  Both teams have 8 games left in their seasons.  Mexico City finishes their season with 4 straight games against Halifax while playing Philly and Houston once each.  Oddly enough, Mississauga plays Halifax twice in addition to playing San Diego and Philly twice as well too.  Halifax, who is chasing both of these teams as well, could have a direct say in who gets home ice advantage or could potentially fall to the 6th seed if Halifax wins these games against these teams

 

6th / 7th / 8th SEEDS -

 

Here is where things get a little crazy with 5 teams battling for 3 spots with Halifax having the upper hand currently in points and total wins:

 

Halifax, Ottawa, Miami:: Halifax sits in 6th with 62 points, Ottawa is 7th with 56 and Miami is 8th with 54 points.  Halifax has played 65 games while the other two teams have played 64.  Halifax has a heavy dose of Mexico City on their schedule as they play the Kings 4 times in the final 7 games while playing Mississauga twice in their next two games and Ottawa once.  Ottawa plays the two best teams in each conference twice, Houston and Philadelphia, along with Saskatoon twice and then both San Diego and Halifax once.  Miami has Houston, San Diego and Saskatoon twice while getting Mississauga and Las Vegas once each.  Halifax has the easier schedule since they avoid the top 3 teams in the league (Philly, Houston and San Diego) while the other two teams basically play them 4 or 5 times each.  Halifax also has a huge tiebreaker advantage with the amount of wins they have in total compared to the other teams that are trying to catch them.  

 

Las Vegas, Saskatoon: Las Vegas sits in 9th with 52 points and 7 games left while Saskatoon is 10th has 49 points and 8 games to play.  They do have one game against each other in the next set of sims which if Saskatoon looses, it could make it real tough for them to have to climb over two teams to grab that 8th and final playoff spot.  Vegas does play Miami once but will also face San Diego twice and Philly once with both games against San Diego coming at the end of their regular season.  Saskatoon will face Miami and Ottawa twice which means they have 5 out of their 8 games against teams directly ahead of them in the standings, but then also have Houston twice as well too.

 

In the final handful of games in the VHLM season, while only Philly probably is the only team so far with their true seeding set in stone, there is still a lot to be figured out.  There are some key head to head matchups among the teams still fighting for similar seedings and while the better teams in the league have already clinched a playoff spot, they will still have a direct say in who makes the playoffs since they end up playing the teams fighting for those final 2 or 3 spots.

Edited July 18, 2023 by hockeyis66

[AJW 2,156]

@hockeyis66 This article is great! Wanted to let you know in the VHLM our playoff format is in order of league overall standings. So currently Philly is 1, Houston 2, San Diego 3, Mexico 4, Mississauga 5, etc. 

 

Either way keep up the work  Love reading great VHLM content

[hockeyis66 143]

13 minutes ago, AJW said:

@hockeyis66 This article is great! Wanted to let you know in the VHLM our playoff format is in order of league overall standings. So currently Philly is 1, Houston 2, San Diego 3, Mexico 4, Mississauga 5, etc. 

 

Either way keep up the work  Love reading great VHLM content

thanks for letting me know and i can rearrange the article pretty easily to accomodate overall standings v conference