JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. – The race for the ECHL’s American Conference South Division playoff positions has developed into a two team race for the fourth and final playoff spot between the Gwinnett Gladiators and the Mississippi Sea Wolves. As the season moves into the final stages, Florida has locked up a playoff spot, South Carolina has almost clinched a spot, Charlotte is solidly in third place and still has a shot at catching the Stingrays. While nothing is certain with all teams having 10 or fewer games to play, South Carolina and Charlotte would have to completely collapse to miss out on post season play. Interestingly, the demise of the Augusta Lynx required the ECHL to move away from determining the standings by points to using winning percentage to compute the standings in the South Division. This was required as the change in team schedules caused by the Lynx folding which left Gwinnett with a 72 game schedule, while the rest of the division teams play 71 games. (Note: In order to compute the winning percentage, take the number of games a team has played, and multiply that by 2, the maximum points a team can earn in one game. Next, take that number and divide it into the total number of points a team has actually earned. This will give you the win percentage.) Since points earned in ties are included in the total points earned, you do not have to make any adjustments for ties etc. to order arrive at the winning percentage. The tiebreaker for the South Division if two teams tie will be: 1. Points, head-to-head; 2. Wins, head-to-head; 3. Goal Differential, head-to-head; 4. Coin Toss. The impact of this methodology is reflected in the division standings (as of March 16 2009), Gwinnett (60 points) leads Mississippi (61) in the race for the divisions last playoff spot. Florida Everblades – The Everblades lead the American Conference, and the entire ECHL in total points and have accordingly built a commanding lead within the South division. They are the only team in the American Conference so far to clinch a spot in the playoffs, and have led the South Division for almost the entire season. This will be the 11th straight year that Everblades’ fans have been able to watch post season play. Florida has nine games remaining on their schedule. While Florida has not been as dominant over the past month or so as they were earlier this season, they have posted a record of 6-3-1-0 over their last ten games, and have scored 232 goals, good for second place in goals scored in the ECHL. They also rank third best in the league for fewest goals allowed by giving up 166 goals. Their offense is led by forward Kevin Baker who leads the ECHL in scoring with 89 points, and in goals scored with 49. He also set a single season points record for Florida in their Sunday loss at Gwinnett. Meanwhile rookie goaltender David Leggio, with a gaudy record of 22-7-2-0, ranks second in the league with a goals against average of 2.35. The balance between the Everblades’ offense and defense is reflected by their possessing the fourth best power play in the ECHL (.209 percent) and ranking second on the penalty kill (.871). Florida is also among the league leaders in attendance with an average attendance of 5,617 per game. South Carolina Stingrays – The Stingrays, are 7-1-2 in the last 10 games, and with one more win can clinch their 15th playoff appearance in the teams 16 years of existence. They continue to hold onto second place despite what has been an extremely challenging year. The challenge has come through success and adversity. Under adversity, the team currently has top goal scorer rookie Michael Dubuc, with 35 goals, along with defensemen Sasha Pokoluk and veteran Nate Kiser, who is a league leader among defensemen in plus minus ratings, on the injured reserve list with no clear date for their expected returns. Meanwhile under success, top defensemen Zach Takir, Johann Kroll, Brad Farynuk along with forward Trent Campbell, are on loan to different AHL teams. Also, the tandem in goal consisting of Michael Neuvirth, who is splitting his time between the Washington Capitals and the Hershey Bears. and Bobby Goepfert is gone. Goepfert left for Europe shortly after an AHL promotion. Head Coach and General Manager Jared Bednar has been active in securing goaltending help by trading for Jonathan Boutin and more recently adding James Reimer on loan from Toronto. Both are top flight young goalies and have given the Stingrays the kind of stability they were lacking in goal since Neuvirth and Goepfert left. Until he suffered a slight groin pull, Jonathan Boutin played in 17 games in a row and posted a record of 10-5-0-1. The Stingrays have the third ranked power play in the ECHL at .217 percent while posting a respectable penalty killing average of .833, ninth best in the league. Bednar also recently added two excellent defensemen who have stepped in to help anchor the blue line corps in Patrick Wellar and Lyon Messier. The average attendance at the North Charleston Coliseum stands at 4,905. Charlotte Checkers – The Checkers are drawing 5,187 fans on average, and after pushing South Carolina hard for second place for much of February and into early March, have faded a bit recently in the race for second place. The Checkers have gone 4-4-0-2 in their last ten games and after creeping within one point of second place in late February, have lost three straight to South Carolina although two losses were in shoot outs. The Checkers have shown the ability to beat both Florida and South Carolina. For example, the Checkers have a 7-5 winning record against the EverBlades this season, and after losing five straight against the Stingrays earlier this year, roared back at one point to even the series. The Checkers have a fairly anemic power play (.149) but have the ECHL’s third best penalty kill at .864. Charlotte has scored 188 goals and have allowed the same number. Goaltender Jeff Jakaitis has recorded five shutouts this year and is capable of outstanding goaltending. Mike Bayrack, who was injured in his last game when he attempted a check and fell heavily into the boards, is the team’s leading scorer with 58 points, including 20 goals. Additionally, the Checkers have been busy solidifying their roster for the playoffs. The Checkers Head Coach and GM Derek Wilkinson recently dealt defenseman Brian Deeth, along with rookie forwards P.J. Corsi and David Rutherford, to the Phoenix Roadrunners. In return he picked up defenseman Steve Ward and future considerations. Ward skated in this year’s ECHL All-Star Game as a member of the Reading Royals and has spent time in the AHL this season. Meanwhile Lee Falardeau has returned to the lineup from injury and has already added punch to the lineup scoring two goals Saturday night against Gwinnett. Lastly, the team signed two newcomers forward Matt Schepke and goaltender Parker Van Buskirk. Schepke, who played three seasons with Michigan State University. Van Buskirk, spent four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). Gwinnett Gladiators – Gwinnett has posted a 5-5-0 record over their last ten games and with 11 games left on their schedule, is locked in a death match with Mississippi for the fourth and final playoff spot. While third place is still mathematically possible, it looks as though fourth place is more likely. Four of their last 11 games come against North Division foes as they travel to Cincinnati and Dayton for two games in each city. The Gladiators have no remaining games with Mississippi, but play Florida and Charlotte twice, and South Carolina three times. All of their remaining games except for the three against South Carolina are on the road so they must not only win, but do so on the road. Their record on the road this year is 9-17-0-2 so this may be a major hurdle for them to overcome. Overall, this has been an off year for the Gladiators having given up 208 goals while scoring 185. Only five teams in the ECHL have scored fewer goals this year. While they have struggled on the ice, the Gladiators continue to be among the ECHL attendance leaders averaging 5,504 fans per game. Historically, Gwinnett has had a very formidable power play over the years. In fact, their strength on the power play has been a Gladiator hallmark. However, so far this season they have been only able to muster a power play percentage of .149 percent, and rank in the bottom third of the league. Conversely, they rank in the top half of the league on the penalty kill with an average of .828 percent. Veteran forward Jordan Fox leads the Gladiators with 58 points including 24 goals. Recent signing’s include defenseman Brandon Gentile who joined the Gladiators from Michigan State University after a four year college career. Mississippi Sea Wolves – The Sea Wolves have allowed 227 goals and scored 188 while posting a record of 5-4-0-1 over their last ten games. They have eight games remaining and unfortunately for the Sea Wolves all are on the road. Given a road record of 8-16-2-1 they may have a very tough road to the playoffs. Mississippi will play South Carolina four more times, Charlotte twice, and closeout the regular season with two games against Florida. The Sea Wolves have drawn an average of 3,156 in attendance. Most recently the Sea Wolves drew back-to-back crowds of over 7,000 in a two game split with Florida. The team ranks in the bottom five in both power play effectiveness (.138) and in penalty killing (.805). Some bright spots this year have been rookie forwards Ryan Cruthers and Alexandre Parent. Cruthers leads the team in scoring with 62 points including 28 goals. Parent has contributed 45 points including 17 goals. The Sea Wolves have made several recent roster moves to help with their playoff run. First they acquired goaltender John Murray from the Ontario Reign in exchange for future considerations. Murray appeared in 24 games with Ontario posting a 13-8-3 record with two shutouts, a 2.81 goals-against average, and a .917 save percentage. The 21 year-old Murray also appeared in the 2009 ECHL All-Star Game. He will team up with Ryan Munce, who has been in goal for 47 games posting a record of 23-19-3-1 and a .916 save percentage. The Sea Wolves also acquired left winger Evan Kotsopoulos from Utah. Kotsopoulos, appeared in 50 games in 2008-09 with Utah, scoring 14 goals and 23 assists, while accruing 158 penalty minutes. Contact the author at Phil.Brand@prohockeynews.com
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