ORLANDO, Fla. – One weekend remains in the Southern Professional Hockey League regular season and although the six teams that will play in the playoffs are known, exactly where they will finish in the standings is still in question. The questions about who will finish first and last were partially decided over the past weekend as Columbus fell to Louisiana twice, dooming the Cottonmouths to the sixth position while Mississippi is a mere two points away from clinching the number one seed. The other four spots look to be coming down to the final three days of the season. Nine points is the span between second-place Huntsville and fifth place Pensacola. Fayetteville and Knoxville sit in between in third and fourth place respectively but as we have seen in past years, anything goes in the SPHL this time of year. The final week started with a key game in Fayetteville. In that one, the suddenly hot Huntsville Havoc finished a two-game road trip with a big 4-2 win over the FireAntz. The Havoc victory gives them a glimmer of hope of catching the first place Surge for the top spot. At the moment, Mississippi has 72 points while Huntsville now sits at 69 points. It would take Mississippi losing its three remaining games – one against Columbus and two against Louisiana – while Huntsville was winning its final two games against Knoxville and Columbus for the Havoc to win the William Coffey trophy as regular season champion. While Huntsville was closing the gap on Mississippi, it was closing the door on Fayetteville for the second spot. Fayetteville needed to win out and for Huntsville to lose every game if the FireAntz were to move up. Instead, Fayetteville will finish no higher than third but still has some business left. The FireAntz currently hold a four point lead over Knoxville (63-59) for third place. It is an important spot because it is the final position that will guarantee home ice advantage for the first round, especially since the two teams will most likely meet each other again. Fayetteville needs just one point out of its final two games to clinch the spot. Those two contests are a home game Friday versus Columbus and a road game Saturday in Knoxville. The two-time defending champion Ice Bears are hoping that Fayetteville fails on Friday while they plan on beating Huntsville so that Saturday’s meeting with the FireAntz will decide it. Not to be left out, there is also a battle for fourth place. Knoxville is holding the upper hand there, one point ahead of Pensacola (59-58). Knoxville’s ace in the hole would appear to be that they have two games remaining while the Ice Flyers have just one left against the suddenly dangerous Louisiana IceGators on Thursday. Since Pensacola and Louisiana face off on Thursday, the Ice Bears will know before they take the ice on Friday where they stand. The Ice Flyers are guaranteed to finish no lower than fifth, thanks to their expansion rivals in Lafayette, Louisiana. The IceGators handled Columbus not once but twice in a home-and-home series, assuring Pensacola that the Cottonmouths would not be able to catch them. Based on the playoff format, if the post season started today, Mississippi would take on Columbus in a best-of-five series where the winner goes straight to the finals. In their previous seven meetings, the home team has won every game. As the number two seed, Huntsville would battle Pensacola in a best-of-three after splitting the eight regular season games. That would leave number three seed Fayetteville to take on number four Knoxville in a best-of-three rematch of last year’s seven game President’s Cup championship series. With one meeting to go this season, Knoxville holds a 6-5 lead with each team having won one game on the road. Of course, a lot can change in a week, especially when you’re talking about the SPHL. Let the fun begin. Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
