Dan Feenstra of the Hawks surpassed the 30 minute mark in penalties in his game against the Cattle Barons this past Friday. This means that Dan is suspended from playing in the game this week (March 1). He will be allowed to play again in the first game of the playoffs.

The early game saw the Omegas be the first team to clinch a playoff spot with a 10-3 victory over the Stars. Curt Moesker scored twice for the Stars. Freddie VanReenen & Zach VanReenen each had three points for the Omegas. Lance Ross scored a hat-trick and added an assist, but we'll give the Player of the Game honours to Mark Zylstra, who had two goals and four assists in the game.

The Hawks won their third game in a row by beating the Cattle Barons 6-3 in the middle game. This was another example of a game that was much closer than the score would indicate. Both teams were treating this game as a crucial game in their hopes of getting into the playoffs. An empty net goal by the Hawks sealed the victory. Rob Nutma gets the nod for the Player of the Game. He scored two important goals for the Hawks when the game was still at a pivotal point.

The IceDogs joined the Omegas in clinching a playoff of their own by squeaking out a 6-5 win over the Flyers. Late in the second period it looked like it was already a done deal with the IceDogs holding a 5-0 lead. Que the comeback. In the last minute of the second period, the Flyers were finally able to break the goose-egg. It didn't look like a threat to the IceDogs' victory at the time, but it was all Flyers in the third period. Four more consecutive goals by the Flyers in the third period got the IceDogs nervous, but Joe DeBoer was able to score in the last two minutes of the game. This goal stood as the game-winner for the IceDogs. Joe is the Player of the Game with his late-game heroics.

With the Flyers' loss, the Hawks have also clinched a playoff position.
The final playoff position will come down to the very last game of the regular season between the Cattle Barons & Flyers. It all comes down to whoever wins the game is in the playoffs.
The Cattle Barons currently sit one point ahead of the Flyers (22-21), so a tie would mean that the Cattle Barons would still be in the playoffs. An overtime win for the Flyers would put them into the playoffs because they would have more wins than the Cattle Barons.

It is still totally up in the air as to what the playoff seeds will be. There is still a ton of different possibilities depending on the outcome of next week's games. All I can say is that it will come right down to the final minute of the final game!

Most of the night was pretty calm when it came to penalties last Friday night, but there was one incident between the Stars & IceDogs that resulted in some suspensions. Here is a breakdown of the suspensions:

Chris Simard of the Stars was given three minors. This was the third time this season that Chris has received three minors in a game, so he has been suspended for two games.
Chris was also handed a "10 minute" misconduct. This was the first "10 minute" misconduct that Chris received this season, so he was not suspended any games for this.
Chris accumulated 22 minutes in penalties in this one incident. (3minors = 9 minutes) plus his "10 minute" misconduct is counted as 13 minutes in running time.
These 22 minutes pushed Chris over the 30 minute mark in penalties, so he will serve an addition game suspension for passing the 30 minute mark.
These 22 minutes also pushed Chris over the 40 minute mark in penalties, so he will also serve an additional two games suspension for passing the 40 minute mark in penalties.
In summary, Chris is suspended from the last two games of this season, plus he will be suspended from playing in the first three games next season.

Mike Kaldeway of the IceDogs was also given three minors in the game. This was the first time this season that Mike has received three minor penalties in a game, so he will not be suspended for this.
Mike was also handed a major penalty for fighting, so he is suspended two games for this.

The early game saw the Hawks beat the Flyers 4-1. This was a much closer game than the score shows. Mike Ward was stellar in net for the Hawks and is one of the co-winners of the Player of the Game. The other co-winner is Doug Boelens, who scored two goals and an assist for the Hawks.

The middle game between the Cattle Barons & the Omegas was another very close game that had a "play-off game" type of feel to it. The Omegas took the win with a 3-1 victory. Pete Lindhout is the Player of the Game. He made some key saves in net for the Omegas, including an unreal glove save in the last few minutes of the game when the Cattle Barons were pouring it on to tie the game up. The Omegas sealed the win after a late empty net goal.

The IceDogs have sure had the Stars' number all year. They took it to them again in the late game, coming away with a 10-3 victory. Cam DeBoer & Jordan DeBoer both had four points for the IceDogs, but we'll give the nod for co-winners of the Player of the Game to Brett DeBoer & Matt Tamminga, who each scored a hat-trick in the win.

With only two games to go in the regular season, only a single point separates the top five teams in the standings. It seems that you can go into a game tied for first and leave the arena out of a playoff spot. You can also start the night off out of a playoff spot and leave the arena tied for first. UNBELIEVABLE!

Chad VanReenen & Ian VanReenen, both of the Omegas, each surpassed the 30 minute mark in penalties and are suspended for one game.