Standings are tightening up
League parity signals a good finish
Back in the first week of September, 12 teams went into the 201213 Central Canada Hockey League season with the grandest of visions that come spring, perhaps they would be hoisting the Bogart Cup as playoff champions.
A lot has happened over the past five months and the teams that have given up on that dream for at least one more season are very much in the minority.
With just six weeks left in the regular season, what has been fun up to this point is only going to get better.
The races that currently exist in the league and the parity that has reared its head, ugly or otherwise, are something that haven’t been seen for quite some time, and the timing couldn’t be better.
The league drew some additional attention this season with the NHL lockout and it has certainly taken advantage of the opportunity it has been given to try to maintain that attention now that the NHL is back at Scotiabank Place and 29 other arenas across North America.
Take the importance of the fight for first overall and the home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs that goes with it. Just ask the Nepean Raiders, who won Game 7 of last year’s final on the familiar ice of the Yzerman Arena at the Nepean Sportsplex.
The Smiths Falls Bears were the league darlings for much of the season, but any kind of letdown will see a team slip in the standings fairly quickly. The Bears have fallen to sixth spot, but are only a modest winning streak from climbing to the top once again.
That top spot currently belongs to the Ottawa Junior Senators, but their 68 points are only two better than the Carleton Place Canadians and the top seven teams are separated by just eight points.
The Cornwall Colts, just three points back of the Canadians, lead a pack of five teams separated by just three points. Suffice it to say, predicting possible playoff matchups at this point would only be slightly easier than getting the 6/49 numbers plus the bonus.
The Cumberland Grads, Gloucester Rangers and Kemptville 73’s are the only teams that are looking toward next season already, while the Kanata Stallions and Hawkesbury Hawks have a big fight in front of them just to get the opportunity to take on the league’s best in the opening round.
The Hawks trail the Stallions by a single point in the battle for eighth — neither team will catch the pack ahead of them — but the Hawks do have two games in hand. They play each other just once more during the regular season and that’s tonight at the Kanata Recreation Complex.
With the playoffs just around the corner the only thing for certain is uncertainty.
ONE GOOD STREAK DESERVES ANOTHER
The Brockville Braves had an eight-game winning streak stopped last Wednesday with a 3-2 loss to the Nepean Raiders. They’ve since started a new streak and are winners of their past two games, giving them 10 wins in their past 11 outings.
COPY CAT CANADIANS
The Carleton Place Canadians thought the Braves were having so much fun on their recent streak, they decided to go on an eight-game run of their own. Their last loss was an 8-5 setback on Jan. 6, to the Braves.
OFF TO SCHOOL NOW
Ryan Collins of the Ottawa Junior Senators has committed to the University of Massachusetts Lowell River Hawks for the 2014-15 season. Collins is from Newton, about 30 minutes from Lowell, and has 58 points in 49 games with the Junior Sens.