With just two weeks remaining in the National Lacrosse League regular season, several playoff scenarios are still in play.
Two playoff spots are still up for grabs and both division championships have yet to be decided. One of the teams still fighting for a playoff spot is the Washington Stealth, who at 4-10 currently have the worst record in the NLL. The Stealth, Edmonton Rush and Buffalo Bandits are the three teams fighting for the two spots.
The league’s website announced all of the current playoff scenarios earlier this week along with other pertinent playoff information and it is as follows:
East Division
PHILADELPHIA WINGS (7-7): Have clinched a playoff berth. Clinches East with two wins OR one win AND one Toronto loss AND one Rochester loss.
TORONTO ROCK (7-7): Have clinched a playoff berth. Clinches East with two wins AND one Philadelphia loss. Can also clinch East with one win AND two Philadelphia losses OR with one win AND two Rochester wins.
ROCHESTER KNIGHTHAWKS (6-8): Have clinched a playoff berth. Clinches East with two wins AND two Toronto losses.
BUFFALO BANDITS (5-9): Clinches a playoff berth with a win over Rochester this Saturday AND a Washington loss to Toronto this Friday. Can also clinch a playoff berth with a win over Rochester on Saturday AND a Rochester loss to Philadelphia on April 28. Can also clinch a playoff berth with a win against Washington on April 28. Clinches the East Division with two wins AND two Toronto losses AND two Philadelphia losses.
West Division
COLORADO MAMMOTH (11-3): Have clinched a playoff berth. Clinches West Division and top overall seed in playoffs with two wins OR one win AND a Calgary loss to Edmonton this Saturday night.
CALGARY ROUGHNECKS (11-4): Have clinched a playoff berth. Clinches West Division and top overall seed in playoffs with a win over Edmonton AND one Colorado loss.
MINNESOTA SWARM (7-7): Have clinched a playoff berth.
EDMONTON RUSH (5-8): Clinches a playoff berth with one win in any of their three remaining games OR with a Buffalo loss to Rochester on Saturday OR with one Washington loss in its final two games.
WASHINGTON STEALTH (4-10): Clinches a playoff berth with two wins AND a Rochester win over Philadelphia on April 28. Clinches a playoff berth with two wins AND three Edmonton losses.Clinches a playoff berth with a Buffalo loss to Rochester this Saturday AND a Washington win against Buffalo on April 28.
The West Division regular-season winner (Colorado or Calgary) will have a better record than the East Division winner, so the West winner will be the No. 1 overall seed, and would have home-field advantage throughout the Playoffs and Championship Game. The East Division winner is automatically the No. 2 overall seed, and would have home-field for all playoff games with the exception of facing the No. 1 overall seed (West Division regular-season title winner) in the Championship Game.
The key dates for the remainder of the season and the league rules that are applied for tiebreakers are listed below.
About the 2012 National Lacrosse League Playoffs
The 2012 NLL Playoffs will begin on the weekend of May 4-6 and take place over three consecutive weekends. Eight teams will advance to the playoffs. All playoff games are single-elimination, and hosted by the higher-seeded team.
The four Divisional Semifinal games will open the playoffs. The winners advance to the Eastern and Western Divisional Finals on the weekend of May 11-13. Those winners advance to the 2012 NLL Championship Game, to be played on the weekend of May 18-20.
The 2012 Championship Game, the East and West Division Finals and one game from the Divisional Semifinals will be televised live exclusively on CBS Sports Network.
Playoffs Calendar
April 28: Final Day of Regular Season
Weekend of May 4-6: Divisional Semifinals
West No. 4 at West No. 1, West No. 3 at West No. 2
East No. 4 at East No. 1, East No. 3 at East No. 2
Weekend of May 11-13: Divisional Finals
East No. 1 – No. 4 winner vs. East No. 2 – No. 3 winner, higher seed hosts
West No. 1 – No. 4 winner vs. West No. 2 – No. 3 winner, higher seed hosts
Weekend of May 18-20: NLL Championship Game
East vs. West, hosted by higher overall seed
Divisional Tiebreakers
The following is the tiebreaking procedure for clubs having identical won-lost records at the conclusion of the regular season within their division, to determine the order of finish and seeding within the division. Ties within a division are broken first.
a) Head-to-head record during the regular season (best won-lost percentage in games between tied clubs)
b) Win-loss percentage against divisional opponents
c) Win-loss record against common opponents played an equal number of times during the regular season.
d) Goals for/goals (most net points) against in head-to-head match-ups.
e) Per-game goal differential (goals for minus goals against, divided by games played) within Division
f) Total goals for/goals (most net points) against for the regular season.
g) Coin toss.
Only one club advances to the playoffs in any tie-breaking step. Remaining tied clubs revert to the first step of the tiebreakers. The winning team is removed and the tie-breaking procedure is re-applied to the remaining teams.
Overall Seeding Tiebreakers
The following is the tie-breaking procedure for clubs having identical won-lost records at the conclusion of the regular season to determine the Overall Order of Finish and Overall Playoff Seeding:
a) Head-to-head record during the regular season(best won-lost percentage in games between tied clubs)
b) Win-loss record against common opponents played an equal number of games during the regular season.
c) Goals for/goals (most net points) against in head-to-head match-ups.
d) Total goals for/goals against (most net points) for the regular season.
e) Coin toss.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
