The Final 10: VHLE's Battle for Playoff Seeding with 10 Games Left

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5 teams vying for 4 spots in the VHLE playoffs as the season winds down will create high drama over the next week.

 

Each team in the E has 10 games left, and here is the playoff picture as it currently stands:

 

1) Vasteras Iron Eagles     37-19-6     80 pts     +27 GD    4-4-2 Last 10

2) Bratislava Watchmen   35-23-4     74 pts     +13 GD    5-2-3 Last 10

3) Rome Gladiators          33-21-8      74 pts     +17 GD    3-4-3 Last 10

4) Cologne Express         34-25-3      71 pts     +21 GD    7-2-1 Last 10

5) Stockholm Vikings      30-27-5      65 pts     -18 GD    7-2-1 Last 10

6) Oslo Storm                  17-39-6       40 pts     -60 GD    4-6-0 Last 10

 

If the goal of contraction heading into the season was parity, it has definitely paid off. Last season saw 3 teams with a goal differential of +80 or better as teams beat up on the bottom feeders. That isn't the case this season, as all 4 teams in playoff spots are separated by just +14 in the goal differential department, with the highest being Vasteras' +27.

 

Here's a look at what each team hunting for a playoff spot has remaining on the schedule:

 

Vasteras - 3 against STO (2 Home, 1 Away), 3 against ROM (2 H, 1 A), 2 against BRA (0 H, 2 A), 1 against COL (1 H, 0 A), 1 against OSL (0 H, 1 A)

Bratislava - 4 against COL (1 H, 3 A), 2 against VAS (2 H, 0 A), 2 against OSL (0 H, 2 A), 2 against STO (1 H, 1 A)

Rome - 4 against OSL (3 H, 1 A), 3 against VAS (1 H, 2 A), 2 against COL (1 H, 1 A), 1 against STO (1 H, 0 A)

Cologne - 4 against BRA (3 H, 1 A), 2 against ROM (1 H, 1 A), 2 against STO (0 H, 2 A), 1 against VAS (0 H, 1 A), 1 against OSL (1 H, 0 A)

Stockholm - 3 against VAS (1 H, 2 A), 2 against BRA (1 H, 1 A), 2 against COL (2 H, 0 A), 2 against OSL (1 H, 1 A), 1 against ROM (0 H, 1 A)

 

For Vasteras, it's simple. Pick up a combination of 15 points won by them and lost by Bratislava/Rome and the regular season title is theirs.

 

The biggest set of games left is likely the 3 head to head games between Vasteras and Rome, as they could be the difference between Rome catching Vasteras for first place and battling for second. Rome also needs to take care of their 4 games against Oslo (3 of which are at Home), while the Storm look to play spoiler for the remainder of the season.

 

Bratislava has 2 Home games remaining against Vasteras, and will need to win both of those in regulation to have a chance at catching the Iron Eagles for first. No head to head games between Bratislava and Rome means that both teams will be scoreboard watching to see how the other does on a nightly basis. 

 

Cologne has 4 huge games left with Bratislava, as well as 2 with Rome with the chance to catch both and claim Home ice in the first round of the playoffs.

 

Stockholm has 2 Home games left against Cologne to try and track them down for the last playoff spot in the VHLE. They're currently 6 points back, so they'll also need to take care of business in the other games to have a shot at the playoffs this season. Unfortunately for Stockholm, while they've heated up in the last 10 games, so has Cologne. Narrowing the gap has been difficult.

 

However the next 5 days go, this is going to be a fun race to the finish.