ECHL: Mountain Division Push to the Kelly Cup Playoffs

Less than a week left in the ECHL’s regular season and the South Division isn’t the only one with a close playoff push, it’s also the Mountain Division. In that division, the Kansas City Mavericks have won the ECHL Brabham Cup, thus also winning the division with 110 points currently. Also clinched the playoffs are the Idaho Steelheads, who have 96 points; the rest of the Mountain Division is tight as four teams are battling for two playoff spots. Those four teams are the Tulsa Oilers, who are in third; Allen Americans, who are in fourth; the Utah Grizzlies are in fifth, and the Wichita Thunder, who are in 6th. Those four teams are separated by four points with two or three games left. Here is a breakdown of the Mountain Division Standings for the teams in the race and their remaining schedule.

1. Mavericks: 70 GP, 53-11-4-2; 112 points; Kansas City will host Cincinnati tonight, and then they will end the regular season in Iowa on Saturday the 13th.
2. Steelheads: 70 GP, 46-20-2-2; 96 points; Idaho will host their fierce rival, the Utah Grizzlies, on Friday and Saturday night
3. Oilers: 69 GP, 29-31-8-1; 67 points; Tulsa will have a very crucial three-game series against the Allen Americans on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
4. Americans: 69 GP, 31-34-3-1; 66 points. As mentioned above, Allen will host Tulsa for a critical three-game-series that will have huge playoff implications
5. Grizzlies: 70 GP, 31-35-4-0; 66 points. Also mentioned above, Utah will travel six hours to Boise to play the Steelheads on Friday and Saturday Night
6. Thunder: 69 GP, 27-33-8-1; 63 points; Wichita will travel to South Dakota to face off against the Rush on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday

Let’s now take a look at the above standings. As big as Utah vs. Idaho will be, many fans will have their eyes peeled on the Tulsa vs. Allen Series, as that will very likely determine one of the two remaining playoff spots in the Mountain Division. Wichita is still in the race by a hair, needing four points, and the Tulsa vs. Allen series will be swept by one team, along with Utah getting swept by Idaho.

For Utah, they need at least two points, however that will require the Tulsa vs Allen series being swept by one team. If Utah is able to get three points that will put them at 69 points, if Allen wins two of the three then we will be going into tiebreak scenarios, however if Tulsa wins two of the three, this scenario will sneak Utah into the playoffs. If Utah is able to steal both games in Idaho, that will give them 70 points, however still needing help in the Tulsa vs Allen series. However there is still a way that both Tulsa and Allen gets the final playoff spots, even if that series is a sweep. The losing team will need Utah to lose both games vs Idaho in regulation, as well as the Thunder getting less than four points.

Once again, we take a look at the playoff tiebreakers, as those might be coming into play in this division as well. If two or more teams tie, these tiebreakers will take place in the following order:

1. Regulation Wins
2. Regulation+ OT Wins
3. Goal Differential

This truly has been a very fun year in the ECHL, and it comes down to the final two or three games for teams battling for the final playoff spots. Stay tuned as we will be watching the race to the playoffs all week long.