The Prince Albert Mintos played their last game of the regular season on Monday night, but will have to wait until Sunday night before they find out where they seed for the first round of the SMU18AAAHL playoffs.
Their fate is in the hands of the Saskatoon Contacts, who wrap up their regular season schedule on Sunday against the Saskatoon Blazers. Prince Albert is currently one point ahead of the Contacts with 53 points, and occupying the fifth seed.
Here’s the different scenarios could play out for the Mintos after Sunday’s game:
Any type of win for the Contacts (regulation, overtime, or shootout) means they will clinch the fifth seed, and P.A. will finish as the sixth seed.
An overtime loss for the Contacts will pull them even with the Mintos. However, the Contacts won the regular season series between the two teams, so Saskatoon would finish in fifth, and Prince Albert sixth.
If the Contacts lose in regulation, the Mintos will finish as the fifth seed, and Saskatoon will be the sixth.
Whoever finishes as the five seed will begin their playoffs on the road in Regina against the Pat Canadians.
Prince Albert has been evenly matched with the Pat C’s in their four meetings this season. They lost their first two meetings of the season by 5-3 and 3-1 finals, but bounced back in their final two games, beating Regina by 2-1 and 3-2 decision, both of which came in overtime.
The Blazers won’t be giving the Contacts an easy game on Sunday, as they’re fighting for the second seed in the standings. With a game in hand on the second place Wildcats, the Blazers are just two points behind Warman for second place.
The way the rest of the season unfolds for the Wildcats and Blazers will be something that the Mintos will be keeping an eye on. If the Contacts beat the Blazers on Sunday, Prince Albert will play one of those teams in the first round.
Statistically this season, the Mintos might want to face the Blazers in the first round out of those two teams. Their 2-2-0-0 record against Saskatoon compared to a 1-3-0-0 record against Warman is indicative of that.
Three out of Prince Albert’s four contests against the Blazers this season have ended in blowouts. A 5-1 loss, 6-1 win, and 9-4 loss were the scores in those games. Their most recent meeting on Jan. 23 was a 3-2 win for the Mintos at the Art Hauser Centre.
Prince Albert won their first meeting of the year against the Wildcats by a 5-3 score, but have gone 0-3-0-0 against Warman since. 4-0, 3-2, and 5-2 losses in their final three meetings of the year would make Warman a scary team to play in the first round.
The final game of the regular season is on March 5, in a meeting between the Pat Canadians and Wildcats. The first round of the playoffs is scheduled to start on March 11.
@kyle_kosowan•sports@paherald.sk.ca
