Grab the edge of your seats

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CHL Central Hockey League

Grab the edge of your seats

by Mike Wallin
March 10, 2003 - Central Hockey League (CHL)




The final week of the regular season promises to be memorable in the Central Hockey League ‚¬â„¢s Northern Conference. Five teams are fighting for their playoff lives, with just Indianapolis having clinched a post season invitation. Oklahoma City, Amarillo, Memphis, Tulsa and Bossier-Shreveport will battle through this Sunday to determine the three playoff births.

Indianapolis, 85 points, has captured the Northeast Division title, but still needs one point in the standings or an Oklahoma City loss to capture the top spot in the Northern Conference. Entering the final week, Oklahoma City has 77 points, Amarillo and Memphis have 74 points while Tulsa and Bossier-Shreveport trail with 73 points.

Tuesday night the fun begins as Memphis travels to Oklahoma City, Tulsa hosts Indy while Amarillo plays at home against Wichita. It all may come down to the final day of the season on Sunday when Tulsa plays in Oklahoma City, Memphis hosts the Ice, El Paso visits Amarillo and Bossier-Shreveport travels to Corpus Christi.

The Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs face the biggest challenge as they play just three games this week. Bossier is 5-4-1 in their last ten games and have the fewest wins of the playoff fighting teams with 32. The Mudbugs host Amarillo on Friday, Laredo on Saturday and visit Corpus Christi this Sunday. In all liklihood, Bossier will need to win all three games to make the post season.

Tulsa will play three games at home, Tuesday versus Indianapolis, Friday against Oklahoma City and Saturday against Amarillo. The Oilers are 20-8-1 at home this season and have won 7 of their last 10 on home ice. Tulsa is just 5-5 in their last 10 games overall. A ‚¬Å“Sooner Showdown ‚¬Â takes place in Oklahoma City on Sunday in what may be the biggest game of the season for both teams.

Memphis visits Oklahoma City on Tuesday before returning home for the final three games. Friday night the defending champions host New Mexico, Saturday Austin visits and on Sunday the Ice are in town. The RiverKings have been very successful at home going 22-6-1 while posting just a 13-15-3 road record. Memphis is 6-3-1 over their last 10 games.

Amarillo will play twice at home, Tuesday versus Wichita and Sunday against El Paso. Sandwiched in between, the Gorillas travel to Bossier-Shreveport on Friday and Tulsa on Saturday. Amarillo is 5-4-1 in their last 10 games. With 36 wins on the season, the Gorillas could conceivably clinch a playoff spot with just two more victories. The first playoff tie-breaker is most wins, Amarillo currently has one more victory than Memphis, two more than Tulsa and four more than Bossier-Shreveport. The Gorillas win total equals Oklahoma City, however the Blazers have three more points.

Oklahoma City finishes the week by playing three games at home and once on the road. The Blazers entertain Memphis on Tuesday, El Paso on Saturday and Tulsa on Sunday. Oklahoma City is 6-2-2 in their last 10 games and has enjoyed a 20-7-2 record at the new Ford Center. The Blazers lone road contest takes place on Friday in Tulsa where Oklahoma City is 1-3 on the year. Oklahoma clinches a playoff spot with six more points in the standings.

Central Hockey League fans will definitely want to check out the action this week, just make sure you grab the edge of your seats, it ‚¬â„¢s going to be memorable!

The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central.



Central Hockey League Stories from March 10, 2003


The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


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