With just nine games left in the regular season, the Jacksonville Icemen are eyeing their first chance at making back-to-back playoff appearances. Sitting in third place in the Southern Division, the Icemen find themselves with an opportunity to pick up some late-season points amongst contending divisional opponents in April and make a renewed run for the Kelly Cup.
Playoff Picture
Holding a 37-22-3-1 record, the Icemen have 78 points in third place in the ECHL’s Southern Division. Ahead of them sit the Greenville Swamp Rabbits (36-20-7-1) in first place with 80 points and the South Carolina Stingrays (37-21-4-1) with 79 points in second place. Trailing just behind the Icemen in fourth place are the Florida Everblades (34-20-4-4) with 76 points. A mere four points are all that separates playoff contention from postseason vacation in the South.
Of the nine remaining games the Icemen have to close out the season, four of them see the Icemen competing against the rival Orlando Solar Bears, who currently sit in the South Division’s 6th spot with 68 points. Although Orlando finds themselves just outside of the current playoff picture, the Icemen have, potentially, a lot to lose if they cannot find a way to close out the season with a strong finish against Orlando. Of the ten previous games this season, each team has five wins and five losses at the hands of the other. For the Icemen, only one of those wins has come in regulation. Four of those five wins occurred in overtime. With only eight points separating the third-place Icemen from the sixth-place Solar Bears, and eight points left up for grabs in the last few contests, Jacksonville’s playoff push could be dramatically different if they lack consistency against an Orlando team they have struggled to figure out.
Two games against Florida and Atlanta, respectively, plus one more visit to South Carolina rounds out the remainder of the schedule for the Icemen. The Florida Everblades are another team the Icemen have seen a lot of this year, with the games on April 5th and 12th being the eleventh and twelfth matchups between the two teams. The Icemen have split the season series thus far, with both teams having five wins and five losses. Three of those wins for the Icemen came in regulation, contrasting with the often overtime decided games versus Orlando. The Everblades would currently be the fourth team in at 76 points, but with four points on the line against the Icemen, Jacksonville again risks losing their playoff position with any late-season missteps.
Atlanta is a team the Icemen have fared better against this season. Meeting the Gladiators for the sixth and final seventh matchup of the year, the Icemen have won three of the previous five outings. The Gladiators currently sit in 5th in the South Division with 71 points. The South Carolina Stingrays, the current second-place team in the division, hosts the Icemen on April 15th in the tenth and final bout this season. The Stingrays have a single-point lead over the Icemen in the standings and have been an opponent that the Icemen have also had success over. The two points the Icemen could pick up from splitting a season series with the Stingrays 6-4 could decide where both teams land in the postseason.
Play To Win
There is a lot to gain and a lot to lose in a wide-open Southern Division if you are the Jacksonville Icemen. The Icemen are no strangers to the remaining foes on their schedule, seeing both decisive victories and just-missed losses from each team they are set to take on. With 18 points left on the board in a race that could be decided with as few as two, the Icemen ultimately control their destiny. Wins in April provide security to their playoff picture, while losses add to the frenetic pace of a barn-burning points race to the end. It is up to the Icemen to either play their way in or out.
