Victory Cup Race Rages

[Devise 4,475]

As the trade deadline begins to loom near, and a few teams have made trades with the hope of some shake up, we remain locked in one of the tightest races for the Victory Cup in recent memory. Hell it may be ever, I can't in my old man brain recall the last time not just conference races, but that the spot for the top league in points was this wide open.

 

Realistically seven teams are all in the hunt for the leagues top spot that the Calgary Wranglers currently hold with 60 points. The Seattle Bears who after a rocky start have returned to their normal winning ways are clawing at the bit 1 point behind with 59 points. The other two top NA contenders in Vancouver and DC are tied only 3 points back of the league lead with 57 points. While Europe has been slightly less strong than the NA the top 3 teams in Europe are also not that fair behind either as Riga and Prague are tied with 55 points and Moscow not far behind with 54. That is a 6 point spread that separates the top team in the league with the 7th team. Remember...only 8 teams make the playoffs.

 

We've said as parity increases expect standings to be more NHL like but it's crazy that unless there is a miracle we only have one serious playoff race going on this season. Malmo currently sits 4th in Europe with 42 points, Helsinki in 5th with 41. Otherwise both New York and Toronto sit out of the playoff race by a healthy 11 points. While either could go on a surge and spike up the standings in NA, the more likely scenario is going to be a wild 7 team battle between a constant shifting of the top playoff contenders this season. The fact that the Victory Cup has seven likely candidates also means we could be in for a wild playoffs where realistically we could see any sort of match up in the Continental Cup Finals. As for the Victory Cup winner, it's highly probable that will wind up to whatever team has the most favorable schedule, but even then there are no safe bets. It's been a season of upsets and momentum swings so your guess is as good as mine as to who claims the top spot this season.