Hedgehog’s Power Rankings – Week Seventeen (Rd 1. Playoff Edition)
Introduction
There’s lots of action in the first round of the playoffs this season. The Eastern Conference pretty much goes according to script: all top ranked teams advance to the second round with a close Salty Dogs-Husker Maniacs game plus the comeback Hashishim win raising a few eyebrows. But if you want entertainment value it’s the Western Conference that has it, in spades. With the dust clear, the Vindicators are the only top 4 team not upset. There’s the dominating performance by the Icemen, the OT thriller between the Hillbillies and the Thunder plus the mother of all upsets: Saskatchewan Beavers defeat the Saskatchewan Sasquatches.
The Rankings for this week reflect both the last three games of the regular season and the first round of the playoffs – so if you’re team is a little lower or higher than expected that how the numbers came out to be. There will be no indicator for last week’s ranking position and change of movement from here on it as I think it’s superfluous. All records indicated in parenthesis are regular season win-loss records.
Round One Playoff Power Rankings
The Great Eight
1.-y – Queen City Black Cats – (14-2)
-The Black Cats rise up to the #1 spot vacated by the Saskatchewan Sasquatches. The way the calcs are being handled for the playoffs (by including the results from the regular season) has them over the Spartans as the Black Cat’s last four games had better opponents than the Spartans; I personally think the Spartans should be up here instead. The Black Cats utterly outplayed the Canadiens in a 69-17 blowout which featured only one scoreless drive and two kickoffs returns recovered by the Black Cat offense. They have the Husker Manaics in the next round, a team they beat four weeks ago in Week 15. In that game, the Black Cats went 24-6 as they were able to run the ball effectively and absorb the Husker pass attack.
2.-y – Sudbury Spartans – (14-2)
-The Spartans give it to the Red Deer Blue Elk 34-14. Punching it up their gut, the Spartans left the middle and right side of the Red Deer Blue Elk D-line in tatters. They have the Hashishim next week, a team that pounded the ball on the ground for wins in the regular season. While controlling the line is critical in this game the Spartans will edge out the Hashishim with their passing game. They’re #1 in pass yards gain in the Eastern Conference this regular season.
3.-y – Vancouver Vindicators – (14-2)
-At the start of the season, who believed – other than the Vindicators themselves – that they’d be the only top 4 seeded team remaining in the playoffs? The run game and the pass D win it for the Vindicators in their 24-17 point win vs. the Warriors. They have a toss-up next week versus the challenging Calgary Thunder. In the regular season the Vindicators held the line with the #2 defense in total yards given and need to call on that unit again against the very proficient Thunder.
4. – Halifax Hashishim – (13-3)
-The Halifax Hashishim avenged their 17-30 regular season loss to the CM Air Force by squeaking through 22-20 in a comeback win. Looks like the Hashishim shifted gears in the middle of third quarter as it became their game from that moment forwards (four good drives plus an INT converted for an FG). Another big roadblock to their championship dreams comes next week in the form of the Sudbury Spartans. The two teams are good on both sides of the rush but will the pass D become the Hashishim’s Achilles’ Heel next week? The Assassins have the 8th worst pass D in pass yards given up for the entire league this regular season.
5. –Nebraska Husker Maniacs – (13-3)
-The Husker Maniacs get the win versus the St. John’s Salty Dogs. The offense should be given the game ball here as they managed to cover up blunders in their special teams. Their defense fared well against the Salty Dogs – they forced FGs on 3 of 4 trips inside their red-zone. And they stopped the Salty Dogs run. That’s a good sign coming in next week as they faced the Black Cats – who posted 369 run yards in the first round albeit against a terrible Canadiens team.
6.-y – Manitoba Icemen – (11-5)
-The Icemen just stopped the Vikings cold in that 17-6 win of theirs. This team shutdown the Viking’s class-A running game and beat them on the pass (including 2 INTs). And they allowed no visits to the end zone. They have, surprisingly, that other team from Saskatchewan next week and the Icemen’s result here is a good sign: they stopped the #1 rush game in their division this regular season and now face the #3 rushing team in the Western Conference. The bad news is that in the last meeting between the Beavers, the Beavers won 49-21.
7. – Calgary Thunder – (12-4)
-The winner of the OT thriller is the Calgary Thunder. Their game against the Hillbillies had just about everything in it: five lead changes, back-to-back drives leading to pass INTs, INTs leading to drives converted to touchdowns, a special teams blunder, a punt return taken to a TD, lost fumbles, a late-stage 4th quarter drive, two overtime periods, and a loooong game winning FG. Add in the kitchen sink, it was there also. You have to credit the heartiness of the Calgary D here. Twice the Hillbillies intercepted the Thunder’s QB in OT and the defense held up – especially in that goal-line D midway through the 5th as the Hillbillies went on fourth down. Next up will be the Vindicators, a team they lost to by a mere 3 points in the regular season.
8. – Saskatchewan Beavers – (12-4)
-Last but definitely not the least here is the Beavers. They made the improbable…possible in quite possibly Canada A6’s greatest upset in its short history. It was a game of different playstyles as the Beavers took it on the ground and the Sasquatches threw it in the air; the Beaver's run getting the clear edge here. The Beavers must be feeling high and it shows on the forums with accusations of cockiness from others; they’ll have a chance to show the last win was not a one-off against the Icemen next week – a team they did beat by a margin of 27.
The Lower Eight
9. – Saskatchewan Sasquatches – (16-0)
10. –Hillsburgh Hillbillies – (13-3)
11. – St. John’s Salty Dogs – (12-4)
12. – Vinland Vikings – (12-4)
13. – Cheyenne Mountain Air Force – (12-4)
14. – Red Deer Blue Elk – (10-6)
15. – Montreal Canadiens – (10-6)
16. – Winnipeg Warriors – (9-7)
The Rest of the League
17. – Iqaluit Arctic Wolves – (8-8)
18. – Cold Lake Wolverines – (7-9)
19. – Revelsoke Revolution – (7-9)
20. – Flint Tropics – (7-9)
21. – In San Jose Pimpin Ain’t Easy – (6-10)
22. – Calgary Wrestlers – (6-10)
23. –Destruction Bay Dragons – (5-11)
24. – Saskatoon Guerrillaz – (5-11)
25. –Portsmouth Cavaliers – (4-11)
26. – Toronto Smoke – (3-13)
27. – Quebec Boreal – (3-13)
28. –Barkmere Bulldawgs – (2-14)
29. –Kelowna Outlaws – (2-14)
30. – Bloodweiser Bugle All Stars – (1-15)
31. –Castlegar Crusaders – (0-14)
32. – Peterborough Preachers – (0-14)
-y – Has Home-Field Advantage
Introduction
There’s lots of action in the first round of the playoffs this season. The Eastern Conference pretty much goes according to script: all top ranked teams advance to the second round with a close Salty Dogs-Husker Maniacs game plus the comeback Hashishim win raising a few eyebrows. But if you want entertainment value it’s the Western Conference that has it, in spades. With the dust clear, the Vindicators are the only top 4 team not upset. There’s the dominating performance by the Icemen, the OT thriller between the Hillbillies and the Thunder plus the mother of all upsets: Saskatchewan Beavers defeat the Saskatchewan Sasquatches.
The Rankings for this week reflect both the last three games of the regular season and the first round of the playoffs – so if you’re team is a little lower or higher than expected that how the numbers came out to be. There will be no indicator for last week’s ranking position and change of movement from here on it as I think it’s superfluous. All records indicated in parenthesis are regular season win-loss records.
Round One Playoff Power Rankings
The Great Eight
1.-y – Queen City Black Cats – (14-2)
-The Black Cats rise up to the #1 spot vacated by the Saskatchewan Sasquatches. The way the calcs are being handled for the playoffs (by including the results from the regular season) has them over the Spartans as the Black Cat’s last four games had better opponents than the Spartans; I personally think the Spartans should be up here instead. The Black Cats utterly outplayed the Canadiens in a 69-17 blowout which featured only one scoreless drive and two kickoffs returns recovered by the Black Cat offense. They have the Husker Manaics in the next round, a team they beat four weeks ago in Week 15. In that game, the Black Cats went 24-6 as they were able to run the ball effectively and absorb the Husker pass attack.
2.-y – Sudbury Spartans – (14-2)
-The Spartans give it to the Red Deer Blue Elk 34-14. Punching it up their gut, the Spartans left the middle and right side of the Red Deer Blue Elk D-line in tatters. They have the Hashishim next week, a team that pounded the ball on the ground for wins in the regular season. While controlling the line is critical in this game the Spartans will edge out the Hashishim with their passing game. They’re #1 in pass yards gain in the Eastern Conference this regular season.
3.-y – Vancouver Vindicators – (14-2)
-At the start of the season, who believed – other than the Vindicators themselves – that they’d be the only top 4 seeded team remaining in the playoffs? The run game and the pass D win it for the Vindicators in their 24-17 point win vs. the Warriors. They have a toss-up next week versus the challenging Calgary Thunder. In the regular season the Vindicators held the line with the #2 defense in total yards given and need to call on that unit again against the very proficient Thunder.
4. – Halifax Hashishim – (13-3)
-The Halifax Hashishim avenged their 17-30 regular season loss to the CM Air Force by squeaking through 22-20 in a comeback win. Looks like the Hashishim shifted gears in the middle of third quarter as it became their game from that moment forwards (four good drives plus an INT converted for an FG). Another big roadblock to their championship dreams comes next week in the form of the Sudbury Spartans. The two teams are good on both sides of the rush but will the pass D become the Hashishim’s Achilles’ Heel next week? The Assassins have the 8th worst pass D in pass yards given up for the entire league this regular season.
5. –Nebraska Husker Maniacs – (13-3)
-The Husker Maniacs get the win versus the St. John’s Salty Dogs. The offense should be given the game ball here as they managed to cover up blunders in their special teams. Their defense fared well against the Salty Dogs – they forced FGs on 3 of 4 trips inside their red-zone. And they stopped the Salty Dogs run. That’s a good sign coming in next week as they faced the Black Cats – who posted 369 run yards in the first round albeit against a terrible Canadiens team.
6.-y – Manitoba Icemen – (11-5)
-The Icemen just stopped the Vikings cold in that 17-6 win of theirs. This team shutdown the Viking’s class-A running game and beat them on the pass (including 2 INTs). And they allowed no visits to the end zone. They have, surprisingly, that other team from Saskatchewan next week and the Icemen’s result here is a good sign: they stopped the #1 rush game in their division this regular season and now face the #3 rushing team in the Western Conference. The bad news is that in the last meeting between the Beavers, the Beavers won 49-21.
7. – Calgary Thunder – (12-4)
-The winner of the OT thriller is the Calgary Thunder. Their game against the Hillbillies had just about everything in it: five lead changes, back-to-back drives leading to pass INTs, INTs leading to drives converted to touchdowns, a special teams blunder, a punt return taken to a TD, lost fumbles, a late-stage 4th quarter drive, two overtime periods, and a loooong game winning FG. Add in the kitchen sink, it was there also. You have to credit the heartiness of the Calgary D here. Twice the Hillbillies intercepted the Thunder’s QB in OT and the defense held up – especially in that goal-line D midway through the 5th as the Hillbillies went on fourth down. Next up will be the Vindicators, a team they lost to by a mere 3 points in the regular season.
8. – Saskatchewan Beavers – (12-4)
-Last but definitely not the least here is the Beavers. They made the improbable…possible in quite possibly Canada A6’s greatest upset in its short history. It was a game of different playstyles as the Beavers took it on the ground and the Sasquatches threw it in the air; the Beaver's run getting the clear edge here. The Beavers must be feeling high and it shows on the forums with accusations of cockiness from others; they’ll have a chance to show the last win was not a one-off against the Icemen next week – a team they did beat by a margin of 27.
The Lower Eight
9. – Saskatchewan Sasquatches – (16-0)
10. –Hillsburgh Hillbillies – (13-3)
11. – St. John’s Salty Dogs – (12-4)
12. – Vinland Vikings – (12-4)
13. – Cheyenne Mountain Air Force – (12-4)
14. – Red Deer Blue Elk – (10-6)
15. – Montreal Canadiens – (10-6)
16. – Winnipeg Warriors – (9-7)
The Rest of the League
17. – Iqaluit Arctic Wolves – (8-8)
18. – Cold Lake Wolverines – (7-9)
19. – Revelsoke Revolution – (7-9)
20. – Flint Tropics – (7-9)
21. – In San Jose Pimpin Ain’t Easy – (6-10)
22. – Calgary Wrestlers – (6-10)
23. –Destruction Bay Dragons – (5-11)
24. – Saskatoon Guerrillaz – (5-11)
25. –Portsmouth Cavaliers – (4-11)
26. – Toronto Smoke – (3-13)
27. – Quebec Boreal – (3-13)
28. –Barkmere Bulldawgs – (2-14)
29. –Kelowna Outlaws – (2-14)
30. – Bloodweiser Bugle All Stars – (1-15)
31. –Castlegar Crusaders – (0-14)
32. – Peterborough Preachers – (0-14)
-y – Has Home-Field Advantage
Last edited Sep 4, 2008 15:43:23
