An Article From The Fort Macfie Today's Harry Doyle
FORT MACFIE, ED -- The closest regular season finishes in league history made for one exciting final week of regular season play in Week 23. Five teams finished within one point of the sixth and final playoff spot. Fort Macfie had one of their most exciting weeks in franchise history. Heading into action against the Assassins the Gangbang sat in eighth place. Despite falling 4-3 to the Assassins at the OK Corral Center, it was just enough for the Gangbang to snatch up the sixth and final playoff spot. They tied the Natives with 156 points but because of having more wins ended up ahead of the Natives and in sixth spot. Fort Macfie joins the Grrrowl and Slammers as the only organizations in the SHL to make the playoffs in every year of their existence. Fort Mac is 3 for 3 and the Scott City and Brantown are both 6 for 6.
Even though they were mathematically eliminated last week, it was still tough for the Marktown Petes to miss the playoffs for the third straight year. To add to the insult, it is the second year in a row the Petes have finished dead last. They were able to tie the Roughousers on the final weekend of the regular season by a score of 3-3. RumpyVill went into the final week in fifth spot and came out of it in fifth spot with the tie. The streak ends RumpyVill�s three season slump of missing the playoffs as this will be their first playoff appearance since the 2003-2004 campaign.
The Natives experienced heartbreak on the weekend. They were able to upset the fourth place Slammers 3-2 on the road at the Brantown Communiplex. Sidney Crosby led the charge for the Natives expecting to break into the playoffs like they did in their expansion season of 2005-2006 where they finished in fifth and eventually lost out in the first round to the Grrrowl. Unfortunately that was not the case this time around, the Natives finished with 156 points enough to be tied for sixth spot. According to the SHL tie-breaker the team with more wins is officially higher in the standings. Sadly for the Natives they were not the team with more wins and missed the playoffs by a hair.
Make it five years in a row and the largest playoff drought in SHL history for the Olchowyville Leafs. Yes, the Leafs were eliminated last week but at the end of Week 23 it was still disappointing for the Leafs to realize they have missed the playoffs for the fifth straight year and still have not had a playoff appearance in franchise history. The Leafs did play the role of spoiler however. They defeated the defending Copenhagen Cup Champions, Dionland Twisters 3-2 at the Spectrum. On the other hand for the first time in six years the Dionland Twisters will miss the playoffs. They have made the playoffs in their previous five seasons claiming two champions. However there will be a new Copenhagen Cup Champion in 2009. The Twisters were one of three teams to finish with 155 points and miss the playoffs by a point. Twister GM Dion Berg did not want to cooperate with an interview for this article.
Scott City made history on the final night of regular season play when they defeated the Falcons 4-1. The win extended the Grrrowl�s undefeated streak to 16 games, passing the old SHL record set by the 2005-2006 Gilmore Gold Jackets of 15. The Jackets went onto win the Copenhagen Cup during that streak. The loss knocked the Falcons out of sixth place down to eighth place making it the second straight season the Falcons have missed the playoffs after never missing the playoffs in their previous four seasons. The Falcons finished with 155 points, just like the Twisters were one point away from a playoff berth.
The lack of experience in the management team in Markerville ultimately showed in the final week of the season. The Six Guns were defeated 4-1 by the third place Bergland Iceholes. With a little bit more direction over the course of the season, the one point difference of missing the playoffs could have been easily corrected and the Six Guns could have been in the Copenhagen Cup playoff picture in their expansion season. Perhaps minds were on other things in the Six Guns organization as their GM was recovering from a liver transplant at the University of Scott City Hospital. The Six Guns finished the season with 155 points, one point out of the playoffs along side the Twisters and Falcons but because of their win-loss record finished in tenth spot. |
