TOP SPOTS OUT OF REACH; RANGERS HOPE TO HANG ONTO THIRD

GLANBROOK (Feb. 27) — The Glanbrook Rangers’ playoff picture got considerably clearer — in one respect at least — in the aftermath of the team’s 1-1 tie with the Dundas Blues on Thursday and a flurry of weekend matchups involving their South Bloomfield Division competitors.  Let’s delve into the current situation and see where things could possibly go.

First, the Rangers can’t finish as division champ or runner-up.  Those hopes were crushed last Friday when the Blues beat the Grimsby Peach Kings 3-2 which, for the time being, has those two teams locked in first with 39 points apiece.  The Rangers, in third, have 36 points and with only one game remaining, can’t catch up.  As a matter of curiosity, the Peach Kings have two games left (one against Glanbrook on Friday, Mar. 4, one against Port Dover on Sunday, Mar. 6), while the Blues close out their campaign on Thursday, Mar. 3 against Hagersville).

That means third is as good as it gets for the Rangers.  But, as hall-of-fame pitcher Satchel Paige once said, “never look back, someone might be gaining on you.”  In the Rangers’ case, that would be the aforementioned Port Dover Sailors, who are in fourth place with 34 points.

So, let’s engage in a little game theory:

• Glanbrook’s best finish would be a win over Grimsby, giving them 38 points and a 16-8-4-2 record.
• Should Port Dover also win their final two games (against Niagara on Mar. 3 and Grimsby on Mar. 6) they too would have 38 points from a 17-9-4-0 mark, vaulting them into third, since the first tiebreaker is wins.
• A Glanbrook win and any Port Dover loss would cinch third spot for the Rangers.
• A Rangers’ loss against a Sailors’ split would leave both teams with 36 points and an equal number of wins (16).   The next tiebreaker is head-to-head record and, in that regard, it’s advantage Sailors, who finished with a 3-2 tally against the Rangers.
• Other more remote possibilities involve ties or overtime losses.  Should Glanbrook tie or lose in OT against Grimsby, they would end with 37 points, forcing Port Dover to earn at least three of four points in their final matches to finish likewise and take it to the tiebreakers.

When all is said and done that brings us to potential playoff opponents and a whole new set of variables.  Since the Bloomfield is a seven-team division, one team will earn a bye into the second round.  The pass will offered to the first-place finishing team.  If they turn it down, the offer will be made to the second place team.