Here We Go!

By Jim den Hollander

Midwesthockey.info

The 2016 hockey post season is in full swing as the National Hockey League has joined the party.

That leaves just the American Hockey League to make its fashionably late entrance to the party next week.

Junior Wrap/Playoffs

In junior hockey, Tier 3 leagues have already wrapped up play for the 2015-16 season. Congratulations to Bill Zaniboni and the Dells Ducks who wrapped up a second straight league title with its first in the USPHL. After a third place showing in the USPHL Midwest Western Conference, the Ducks were extended to the three game limit in playoff series against both Illiana Blackbirds and Chicago Cougars, before rolling on to the Boston area where it won all five games it played to claim in the USP3HL National Championship.

Also, Todd Sanden and the North Iowa Bulls wrapped up its second NA3HL Championship in three years, beginning with two game sweeps against the Rochester Ice Hawks and La Crosse Freeze to capture the Central Division title. It then finished with a 2-1 record in pool play at the Silver Cup played near Chicago with wins against both the Great Falls Americans and Yellowstone Quake and a narrow defeat at the hands of the Point Mallard Ducks.

The Bulls went on to the semi-finals where it defeated the Twin City Steel and on to the championship game where a win against the Metro Jets had them hoisting the Silver Cup.

Meanwhile, the three Canadian leagues that have Midwest American teams involved have all moved on with those respective teams on the sidelines.

In the Tier 2 Superior International Junior Hockey League, the Minnesota Iron Rangers finished fourth of five teams with a 21-31-2-2 record for 46 points and moved into the playoffs with home ice advantage against the fifth ranked (12-37-3-4 — 31 points) English River Miners.

After opening the series with a 3-2 win at Ear Falls, ON, the Iron Rangers took a stranglehold on the series with a 5-1 win on home ice. The Miners though, stayed alive with a 7-3 win in Minnesota and evened everything up with a 6-4 win back in northwestern Ontario before finishing off the upset with a game five win in Minnesota 3-1.

That series has now advanced to the championship stage with top finishing and defending champion Fort Frances waiting to play either Dryden or Thunder Bay (Dryden leads best of seven semi-final 3-2)

In the Northern Ontario, the former NAHL Soo Eagles returned to play in the Canadian league this season, finishing with a 22-30-0-2 record for 46 points, good enough for fourth place in the six-team Western Conference. After opening with a 2-0 sweep against the fifth place Espanola Express, the Eagles moved into the Western Conference semi-finals against cross border rival Soo Thunderbirds. The T-Birds finished its 54-game season with a 47-6-1-0 record for 95 points — tops in the league and the Thunderbirds dispatched the Eagles in four straight games and have since claimed the Western Conference championship in five games against the Elliot Lake Wildcats, moving into the league championship against the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners. Both teams will advance to the Dudley Hewitt Cup for the Ontario Championship.

The Ontario Hockey League, one of three Canadian Major Junior hockey leagues, includes the Saginaw Spirit and expansion Flint Firebirds out of Michigan, The Firebirds wrapped up a tumultuous opening season in the ‘O’ with a 20-42-4-2 record, ranked ninth overall in the 10-team Western Conference, 14 points up on the last place Guelph Storm but 10 behind the Spirit who claimed the eighth and final playoff spot in the conference with a 24-36-5-3 record.

As a reward, the Spirit took on the only other American entry, the 52-15-1-0 Erie Otters who dispatched the Spirit in four straight games and have since moved into the Western Semi-Finals where it leads the Soo Greyhounds 2-1 in its Best of Seven Series (as of Tuesday, April 12).

Then there are two leagues — The Tier 1 United States Hockey League and Tier 2 North American Hockey League that both just wrapped up league play this past weekend and will no head into the post season.

Here is a quick recap of the regular season and playoff preview for both.

USHL

The most excitement during the home stretch of this season came in the Western Conference where all eight teams were in the hunt until the final couple of weeks and the final playoff spot went to defending Clark Cup champion Sioux Falls Stampede who earned the spot based on math after tying Fargo on points. The Stampede will move on to play first place Tri-City in a Best of Five Western Conference Semi-final beginning Thursday Night at the Viaero Center. The other Western Conference semi will see second place Lincoln Stars beginning on home ice at the Ice Box against third ranked Waterloo Blackhawks starting Friday night.

On the east side, the Cedar Rapids Roughriders, winners of the Anderson Cup as regular season champs, will play the fourth place Bloomington Thunder in the post season for the first time in just its second season, beginning Friday at Cedar Rapids Ice Arena. Meanwhile the second place Green Bay Gamblers will start against the third place Dubuque Fighting Saints Sunday afternoon at the Resch Center in Green Bay

NAHL

Two of the league’s four divisions are located primarily in the Midwest while Topeka Roadrunners are the lone Midwest based entry in the South Division.

Starting at the top is the Midwest Division which includes the two Alaska-based teams. The Fairbanks Ice Dogs established a new league record with its 101 point (49-8-3) total. Last year the Janesville Jets became the first league team to hit a three-digit point total with 100 and this season the Jets finished second to the Ice Dogs with 77 points (35-18-7), finishing just one point ahead of the defending Robertson Cup Champion Minnesota Wilderness with 76 (34-18-8) and the final playoff spot was secured by the Coulee Region Chill on the penultimate day of the season with a 67 point (33-26-1) total, just three better than fifth place Springfield (29-25-6 — 64 points) who would have qualified for post season play with that record in any of the other three divisions. Sixth place Kenai River (4-51-5) was never a playoff threat this season.

The Midwest Division playoffs will start Friday for all four teams — the Wilderness paying a visit to Janesville while the Chill makes the long trek to Alaska.

The Central Division was won by the Bismarck Bobcats (37-19-4 — 78 points) with a slim two point edge on the Minotauros (35-19-6 — 76 points) while defending conference champion Austin Bruins (29-27-4 — 62 points) finished third and the final playoff spot was secured on the final weekend by the Brookings Blizzard (25-29-6 — 56 points). The close division battle saw Minnesota Magicians (24-28-8 — 56 points) missing out on the post season despite tying the Blizzard on points and the Aberdeen Wings (22-27-11 — 55 points) finished last, but just a point out of fourth.

Both of the Central Division series will also begin on Friday, Bismarck hosting the Blizzard from Brookings while Minot entertains Austin.

In the South, Topeka, always among the division leaders, finished third with a record of 34-24-2 for 70 points, a distant 17 points behind the Lone Star Brahmas who will carry home ice advantage through their Division semi-final. First place went to Wichita Falls Wildcats which will host fourth place Odessa Jackalopes while Amarillo Bulls and and Corpus Christi Stingrays both finished out of the playoffs.

In the newly formed four-team East Division, the Aston Rebels took the division title by a mere two points and will take on the fourth place Wilkes Barre/Scranton Knights in the opening round while second place New Jersey Titans battle third place Johnstown Tomahawks.

All of the NAHL series will be Best of Five sets.

Pro Wrap/Playoffs

Further preview type articles are coming, but for Midwest fans, there are three primary opening round series to watch including as four of five Midwest-based teams reached the post season.

The most interesting for Midwest fans might be the St. Louis Blues who finished second in the Central Division ( 49-24-9 — 107 points),  just two points  behind the Dallas Stars, taking on the third place, defending Stanley Cup Champion Chicago BlackHawks (47-26-9 — 103 points). The Hawks have been the team to beat in this division for some time, but the Blues are coming in hot, winning eight of its final 10 games, including a 2-1 overtime edge against the Hawks in the second last game of the regular season. This one promises to be a long tough affair. Both teams have some key players hoping to return from injuries and the Hawks will miss defenseman Duncan Keith for the opener.

Jim’s Prediction — Hawks in six games.

The other Central Division team from the Midwest — the Minnesota Wild (38-33-11 — 87 points) once again used a post All-Star Game surge to reach the post season as a Wild Card entry, but they draw a tough assignment facing the surging Dallas Stars (50-23-9 — 109 points ). Both teams have question marks beside the names of key players as Tyler Seguin sat out the final couple weeks of the season for the Stars while both Thomas Vanek and Zach Parise will likely miss at least the opening games of this series. The Stars finished 22 points ahead of the Wild in the regular season, but if the Wild can capture one of the first two in the Lone Star State things could get interesting. Dallas may not have the same level of playoff experience as the Stars, but the team does have a Stanley Cup champion in goal and that could be the difference.

Jim’s Prediction — Stars in six games 

The other West conference first round series do not involve Midwest based teams but should be interesting with the Nashville Predators shifting to from the Central to the Pacific for a tough first round set against the Anaheim Ducks who sat last overall in the league at Christmas time and turned things around enough to win its division. The other first round battle will be an all-California duel between the LA Kings and the San Jose Sharks.

In the East, the lone Midwest based qualifier is the Detroit Red Wings (41-30-11 — 91 points), who backed into the post season despite coming up short in what seemed to be a must win finale at MSG against the New York Rangers. The Columbus Blue Jackets (34-40-8 — 76 points) missed the post season for a second straight season despite an early season coaching change that put John Tortorella behind the bench. The team has some promising young stars but it might not be surprising to see some major changes in the off season.

The Red Wings actually finished third in the Atlantic Division and will meet Tampa Bay Lightning in the opening round for a second straight season. Last year the Lightning bounced back from a 3-2 deficit to capture the first round series in seven games and then used that momentum to move on to the Stanley Cup Championship series.

The Lightning is of course missing its key figure as Steve Stamkos is done ofr the season and has maybe already played his last game as a member of the Lightning. There are several other players just back from injuries on the Tampa side while the Red Wings — normally injury prone, are as strong as they have been in seasons healthwise.

But faced with some must win games at the end of the season, the Red Wings came up short more often than not and only made the post season because the Bruins completely imploded. Of course, none of that means anything when the post season gets underway but I personally think this is the end of an era for the Red Wings.

Jim’s Prediction — Tampa Bay in 5

The other Atlantic Division semi will actually see the New York Islanders jumping over from the Metro Division to play the Florida Panthers while Metro semis have the league leading Washington Capitals against the Philadelphia Flyers while the New York Rangers will go to battle against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

More on each of these series will begin tomorrow with a more in depth preview of the Chicago-St. Louis and Detroit-Tampa Bay sets,.

AHL

All six of the American Hockey League teams are in the Midwest Division and the maximum four qualified for the post season in this always close division.

Teams still have a weekend remaining. The Milwaukee Admirals have clinched the division title and while the other three teams will be the Rockford Ice Hogs, Grand Rapids Griffins and Lake Erie Monsters, final positions for all three are still up in the air. The Chicago Wolves and Iowa Stars will see their respective seasons wrap up with the close of the regular season this weekend as will the Charlotte Checkers and Manitoba Moose.

More on the wrap up of the regular season and playoff matchups will follow for the AHL.

ECHL 

Six of 10 Midwest-based teams qualified for the ECHL post season including the top team in each Conference

In the East Conference, the Toledo Walleye, who last season finished within a quadruple overtime goal of playing in the championship series, have taken that momentum and built a solid campaign, entering the post season as the conference’s top entry with a 47-20-2-3 record and 99 points, but then needed them all as the South Carolina Stingrays (the team that eliminated the Walleye in that thrilling seven-game Conference championship series last year) finished just one point back with a record of 44-18-7-3.\

The Walleye will play host to the eighth place Reading Royals while the Stingrays may face a tough challenge from the conference’s other Midwest-based qualifier, the Kalamazoo Wings. The Wings were not near a playoff spot coming down the stretch but went on an amazing 9-0-1-0 run through its final 10 games to get in and jump up to seventh overall. Included in that stretch was a season ending set with the Walleye that saw the Wings pick up a huge three points. These teams did not play each other this season.

The other four Midwest qualifiers came from the West Conference including the Missouri Mavericks who have been nothing short of amazing through most of the season.

However, if the 52-15-3-2 Mavs had a dry spell it might have been at the end of the regular season. The Mavericks split its season finale with Idaho but a 3-1 win in the Saturday game snapped a rare four-game losing skid for the Mavericks who wrapped up the final 10 games with a pedestrian 5-5-0-0 record.

The team got some good news though on the eve of the post season as goaltender Josh Robinson was returned from loan to Stockton of the AHL. He has an awesome 28-2-0-1 record with a couple of shutouts, a 1.88 Goals Against Average and a .931 Save Percentage for the Mavericks this season.

The Mallards wrapped up the regular season with a split on home ice against the Cincinnati Cyclones and enter the post season with a solid 6-4 run. The Mavericks and Mallards met five times during the season, Missouri taking all five. However, all but one of the games were played in the Kansas City suburb.

The Mavericks finished the regular season with 109 — 20 better than second place Fort Wayne Komets (40-23-7-2) in the Western Conference and the Komets will headline the other all-Midwest series, against the Cincinnati Cyclones (36-27-5-4) who finished seventh in the conference.

Recent results show these two should have a dandy opening round though. They just happened to meet in two of the season’s final three games, the Komets winning both on home ice by a 3-2 margin in shootout. A couple of weeks earlier at Cincinnati teams needed extra time again, the Komets capturing a 4-3 win in overtime.

The Komets actually wrapped up the regular season with a 7-3 run through its final 10 games while the Cyclones wrapped up its season with three defeats and a 5-2-1-2 run through its final 10 games.

The Komets and Cyclones met seven times through the regular season with the Komets taking wins in six of them. However, all six of those wins were by a single goal and five of them were either in overtime or shootout.

Four of the six teams will begin their respective playoff sets on Friday while Missouri and the Mallards will kick things off on Saturday.

SPHL

The lone Midwest based team in the Southern Professional Hockey League — the Peoria Riverman easily wrapped up the overall regular season title with a record of 39-12-5 for 83 points — giving the Rivermen a comfortable 16-point margin over the second place Pensacola Ice Flyers (31-20-5).

The Rivermen finished 40 points higher than the Macon Mayhem, the team it will kick off the 2016 post season with, but the Rivermen squad is not about to get cocky after last season’s opening round saw the league’s top three regular season finishers all pushed to the sidelines.

The Rivermen played the Mayhem five times this season and won all five, including a 4-0 shutout (Jan. 21) and a lopsided 7-1 win (Feb. 4) in its most recent pair — both in Georgia.

The Rivermen and Macon will begin play in their Best of Three SPHL Quarterfinal tonight in Macon with game two back at Peoria Friday and, if needed, a third game at Peoria Saturday.