AMBHL Playoff Picture
The playoff picture is becoming a bit clearer with just 1 week remaining in the AMBHL regular season. The south match-ups are set while the North still has a lot up in the air in regards to standing.
Challenger South
Calgary Northstar Sabres vs. Calgary Royals
-Royals hold season series lead at 2-0-1 with 16 GF and 9GA.
Calgary Bronks vs. Calgary Bisons
-Home ice advantage is still up for grabs with the Bisons 2 points up on the Bronks and each team having 2 games remaining. The Bronks and Bisons will in fact play one another this coming Wednesday which will go a long way in deciding who gets home ice. Bronks also play on the weekend against MH. Bisons will play Lethbridge.
-Bronks lead season series 2-1-0 with 13GF and 5GA.
Ram South
All playoff teams have been decided as Red Deer Black was eliminated from any playoff chances over the weekend. Medicine Hat has locked up top spot and will play either RD White or Lethbridge in round 1. Airdrie looks like they'll hold down 2nd place as they have a 4 point lead over RD White. Still lots to be decided in spots 2, 3 and 4 though.
Charger North
Lloydminster has locked up top spot with an 11 point lead over second place Leduc. Leduc and Camrose will meet in the first round. Lloydminster is still waiting to see if they will play WCBHC host Spruce Grove or Fort Sask. Spruce Grove currently has a 4 point lead over Fort. Sask. due in large part to a 10-0 head to head win over Fort. Sask. over the weekend.
Camrose vs. Leduc
-Leduc holds a 1-0-2 advantage in the season series.
Nitro North
The top four teams are all in the top 6 in the AMBHL point standings. All spots are still up for grabs and things will likely not be clear until the final game is played next weekend.
Please refer to the February 13, 2012 newsletter for a complete preview of the AMBHL and BC PCAHA Flight 1 playoff match-ups.
16 comments:
Alberta does the playoffs right. Only change would be nice if they changed up the North vs South and had more of interlock and came up with a system where 3 or 4 teams dont get bounced in first round, but as a whole better than just a single game or round robin format.
Bronks will defeat the Bisons 2 straight! This is no contest. The Bronks are stronger in goal, defence and their forwards are bigger and faster. The Bisons will haveno answer for Whitby, Rassell and Elynuik... possibly the best line in the AMBHL. If you look at the the last 2 times these teams have met the Bronks have dominated. Looking past the Bisons I see a more of a challenge in the 2nd round from the Royals. However the Bronks showed in the last game where they dominated the Royals but had a few unlucky bounces,that they are deeper and and have more skill up front. The Bronks should defeat the Royals in 2 games maybe 3.
Humorous comments 12:48. Bisons and bronks will be a hell of a series. Quite confident for a 3rd place team. The Royals are 4-0 against Bronks this year. Its no secret Bronks have more high end scoring potential, but once again, they have lost 4 games to Royals....OUT OF 4. They need to start worrying about Merk and Shmyr before they see Royals. Then they need to see if they can beat Royals once, nevermind twice.
Agreed 6:50. I don't understand why Bisons are being underestimated? Bisons have the two top forwards in south Alberta, Merkley and Shmyr. Including linemate Keilan Olson who is 39th in scoring under his younger brother Kyle who is 31st. Bisons D men is not as bad as people think, and their goalies have been cutting down on their goals against average leading up to the playoffs. Bronks are also a strong team with good players but shouldn't be looking on to the 2nd round too quickly.
Watched bronks vs med hat & the line of white taupert hallas much more effective. Bronks are a solid defensive team .
Merkley and Shmyr have the ability to beat the Bronks on their own. That will be a good series, but to say the Bronks will beat the Royals 2 straight or even in 3 is laughable and shows how biased your opinion is.
I say bronks beat bisons in 3 games then lose to royals in 3 straight. Royals go on to play med hat and beat them 2 straight and play Ssac in ambhl league final
Wow, lots of confident talk pre-playoffs! The Bronks have talent but are flawed in so many areas, especially in the back end. They are not a good defensive team and their blueliners seem to have the green light to rush the puck at will which could be fatal against Merkley/Shmyr. The Bronks also play a very undisciplined game and take too many penalties. If they get into penalty trouble against the Bisons they cannot win. True the Bronks have outplayed the Bisons twice, the Bronks goaltending is likely better (but Morris has not had the lights out year people were expecting) and the Bronks might have more depth. That said you can't count out NM in a big game. Personally I think the Bisons win that series because the Bronks are just too flawed and inconsistent.
Let's get serious, the Bisons will beat the bronks easily. They have some nice players for sure but they are not in the class of Merk and shmyr. That's why the ranking are what they are. Bisons will dominate guaranteed.
Nice read 1258. That's the problem! Two players can't win! It takes a team effort. From that perspective, the Bisons will be out in 2. Take it from me! By the way, I'm not a Royals parent.
Interesting how 2:15 says the Bronks are not a good defensive team and yet they have the second lowest goals against (90)in the entire AMBHL. They also have 3 D with 19 plus points, so maybe having the green light to rush the puck works for them.....
Leth may up set med hat in 1st round, they have been ok of late
The Bronks are not in the least bit worried about the Bisons. They are no match physically and and the Bronks are better in every position. These games will not be close...no contest 2 staight...Rassell and Whitby will dominate. The Royals are deeper than the Bisons and the games may be closer but they do not have the firepower to take this one. The Royals may win a game however don't be surprised if the Bronks win this one 2 straight! The Royals were weak in both Med Hat and St Albert. A lot of their wins have been very close and they recently have had trouble with even weak teams like Okatoks. I give the advantage to Royals slightly in goal but the forwards and defence of the Bronks are far superior.
10:53 should be embarassed with his comments. Bronks and Bisons will be a good series. Both teams can come out on top. Bronks are deeper but only if they stay out of the box will they win..and that's if they can stop a very determined #4. Shoing no respect for both Bisons and Royals is funny to say the least. Anything can happen in he playoffs we all know that but if Royals play the Bronks it will also be a very competitive series. Even with a 25-2-3 record the Royals have been the underdog all year. They can play at least 3 solid lines unlike the Bronks, have very good D core deeper than Bronks (stop looking at points cause the top 3 Bronk's D man are playing every power play while Royals play everyone of them), goaltending is very good for both teams. Royals won the 5 games and dominated 75% of the play including the last game. Forget about lucky bounces in the last game as excluding the empty net goal 3 out of 4 goals were really good hockey plays and the last one was a scramble in front ofvthe net. Anyhow Royals respect those teams as any of them can win but it doesn't look like some Bronks fans respect anyone! Will knw more in 2 weeks. Good luck!
Having an issue trying to see where the depth on the Bronks is up front? They have absolutley nothing after their top 3 players. On the back end they have some skill, but their dmen don't like pressure at all and make the Bronks very beatable when the other team has a smart aggressive forecheck...Also their goaltending is average and no better then the Bisons and not even comparable to the Royals. I'll take Merkley and Shymr over the Bronks top 3 forwards any day. Either way it should be an interesting series, but think Merkley will rise to the occassion and prove why he's a top 5 bantam pick this year
There is an old saying in sports, you are what your record says you are. The Royals will easily come out of the south, they have proven themselves over 30 odd games as the class of the south. The Bisons and Bronks are similar teams, some upside but many flaws and inconsistencies. That series is a toss up but I will say in a short series talent usually wins. The Bronks simply do not have anyone to match merkley and he will dominate the series. The Bronks only win if Morris is outstanding and they stay out of the box.
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