Wow, hot stuff on rankings... Should we throw in school ratings too?.. I personally see both parts of argument - it is something to look at for the lack of anything else - as it's still based on some math - but at the same time the sample is relatively small + it's just kids sport. On NHL level - President Trophy is a regular season winner which is worth something (say, in European football/soccer it's only regular season, no play-offs) and play-off is a different beast. Still, one can't say that some shitty team wins regular season - 82 games, not happening. Bets of 7 series - different ball game.
Meanwhile, during last week Kings 2 (predicted to start losing) posted another upset - now they beat Heat (who became cold all of a sudden) - which allowed them to remain in a play-off spot. They have 3 games vs 3 very good teams now in a row - so we'll see how that goes.
Goldrush 1 came out of the woods with consecutive decisive victories over GR 2 and Ducks 2 - and now they (with arguably toughest schedule of all) have a claim for a play-off spot.
I think - 2 spots are open. As Wave 1, Kings 1, Mariners, Flyers, Heat (unless they continue to fall of the cliff) will qualify. GR 2 should qualify as well as all games they have left are against much weaker opponents (Kings 2 - question mark)
So 2 spots are left - and contenders for those now are in no particular order - Gulls 1, Kings 2 (maybe), GR 1, and maybe Ducks 2. I do not count Bears as they now enter "real" schedule. And teams that already have 5 losses probably should start preparing for the next season as well.
On a Wave 1 team - they definitely belong to AA level - I heard it was parents/coaches decision not to play there (as someone said here - "not to repeat mistake").
Now - if they just wanted a banner for winning the division and/or feel they are developing playing Saints and Reigns of the world (as they also have light schedule - playing not too many games vs other top teams) - that's on them. Be it...[size=78%] [/size]
