The final weekend of the regular season in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) season begins on Friday.
Seven of the eight teams in the Turnbull Cup playoffs have been confirmed. The Winkler Flyers are the East Division champions and will have home-ice advantage for the entirety of their playoff run. The Dauphin Kings are West Division champions and will open the big dance at Credit Union Place next weekend.
The East Division playoff picture is all confirmed. Winkler will play Niverville while Steinbach will battle Portage.
In the West Division, the Neepawa Titans will play the Northern Manitoba Blizzard. The Dauphin Kings will play either Virden Oil Capitals or Waywayseecappo Wolverines, with that race concluding this weekend.
Who Will It Be?
The Wolverines have two games left. They're one point behind the Oil Capitals for the fourth and final playoff spot ahead of a game on Friday against the Winnipeg Blues at the Arena Complex. If the Wolverines are to win that game, they'll get to 51 points, one up on Virden. The Wolverines visit Dauphin on Saturday to end their season against the Kings.
Virden has just one game left, on Saturday in Neepawa against the Titans.
If the Wolverines only secure two points this weekend and the Oil Capitals win on Saturday, Virden will get the final spot.
If Waywayseecappo wins on Friday paired with a loss in any form by Virden on Saturday, the Wolverines would get the final spot. If Waywayseecappo finishes with 51 points and Virden loses in overtime or a shootout on Saturday, they will also finish with 51 points. A tiebreaker will be required.
Tiebreaker:
- Most Wins against each other - season series split at three wins apiece.
- Most Regulation Wins against each other - season series split at three wins apiece, all games won in regulation.
- Most Wins overall - (this will be confirmed after Saturday)
- Greatest positive Goal Differential in games versus each other - Waywayseecappo leads, 16-15.
Therefore, if Wayway and Virden both finish with the same amount of points and wins overall, the Wolverines would win the tiebreaker. Their 1-0 victory in their most recent meeting was enough to push them over the top.
Some drama down the stretch entering the Turnbull Cup playoffs? You bet there is and hockey fans are in for a treat.
