Playoff Primer: April 3

A daily look at the race to the 2011 Calder Cup Playoffs. The 2010-11 regular season ends on Sunday, April 10.

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Standings through games of Sat., Apr. 2:

ATLANTIC	GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	PTS	GF	GA	Pct		SOW	ROW	Max Pts	Max ROW	HR	AR
x-Portland	74	44	22	6	2	96	262	219	.649		7	37	108	43	2	4
x-Manchester	77	43	25	3	6	95	244	199	.617		1	42	101	45	1	2
Connecticut	76	38	30	2	6	84	207	210	.553		5	33	92	37	3	1
Worcester	76	35	29	4	8	82	204	234	.539		5	30	90	34	1	3
Providence	76	35	35	3	3	76	197	242	.500		7	28	84	32	3	1
Springfield	76	33	38	2	3	71	221	243	.467		6	27	79	31	2	2
Bridgeport	76	27	38	4	7	65	203	254	.428		4	23	73	27	3	1
EAST	GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	PTS	GF	GA	Pct		SOW	ROW	Max Pts	Max ROW	HR	AR
z-W-B/Scranton	76	55	20	0	1	111	247	174	.730		7	48	119	52	2	2
x-Hershey	77	45	24	3	5	98	250	205	.636		3	42	104	45	2	1
x-Charlotte	77	42	26	2	7	93	255	235	.604		5	37	99	40	3	0
Norfolk	75	37	24	8	6	88	246	213	.587		5	32	98	37	0	5
Binghamton	76	40	29	3	4	87	246	213	.572		1	39	95	43	2	2
Syracuse	76	32	37	3	4	71	200	236	.467		2	30	79	34	3	1
Albany	75	31	39	1	4	67	208	264	.447		5	26	77	31	2	3
Adirondack	75	28	37	4	6	66	182	238	.440		4	24	76	29	2	3
NORTH	GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	PTS	GF	GA	Pct		SOW	ROW	Max Pts	Max ROW	HR	AR
Hamilton	76	41	26	2	7	91	215	187	.599		6	35	99	39	0	4
Manitoba	77	42	28	1	6	91	213	199	.591		9	33	97	36	2	1
Lake Erie	76	41	27	3	5	90	210	196	.592		4	37	98	41	2	2
Abbotsford	75	36	29	4	6	82	178	201	.547		11	25	92	30	2	3
Toronto	76	35	30	1	10	81	212	208	.533		6	29	89	33	3	1
Grand Rapids	76	35	31	2	8	80	222	239	.526		5	30	88	34	1	3
Rochester	76	31	36	5	4	71	207	245	.467		5	26	79	30	2	2
WEST	GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	PTS	GF	GA	Pct		SOW	ROW	Max Pts	Max ROW	HR	AR
x-Milwaukee	75	42	19	6	8	98	212	181	.653		8	34	108	39	4	1
x-Houston	79	45	28	1	5	96	234	209	.608		10	35	98	36	1	0
Texas	75	40	25	4	6	90	207	197	.600		6	34	100	39	2	3
Oklahoma City	77	38	28	2	9	87	233	226	.565		5	33	93	36	0	3
Peoria	76	39	29	3	5	86	208	207	.566		6	33	94	37	3	1
Chicago	77	38	29	4	6	86	249	249	.558		6	32	92	35	2	1
San Antonio	76	39	30	4	3	85	220	229	.559		7	32	93	36	3	1
Rockford	75	33	33	4	5	75	194	234	.500		4	29	85	34	2	3

Today’s Games: Manitoba at Toronto – 1:00 PM EDT Portland at Connecticut – 3:00 PM EDT W-B/Scranton at Syracuse – 3:00 PM EDT Binghamton at Albany – 4:00 PM EDT Worcester at Providence – 4:05 PM EDT Peoria at Milwaukee – 5:00 PM CDT Rockford at Texas – 5:00 PM CDT Yesterday’s Results: Manitoba 2 at Hamilton 3 (SO) Lake Erie 2 at Toronto 0 Syracuse 0 at Adirondack 3 Charlotte 5 at Albany 3 Portland 2 at Manchester 5 Connecticut 2 at Springfield 6 Providence 4 at Worcester 1 Bridgeport 4 at Binghamton 3 Rochester 3 at W-B/Scranton 4 (OT) Hershey 5 at Norfolk 4 Houston 6 at Chicago 1 Peoria 2 at San Antonio 3 (OT) Texas 0 at Oklahoma City 2 Grand Rapids 0 at Abbotsford 1

x – clinched playoff berth y – clinched division title z – clinched regular-season title GP – games played W – wins (2 points) L – regulation losses (0 points) OTL – overtime losses (1 point) SOL – shootout losses (1 point) PTS – points GF – goals for GA – goals against Pct – points percentage SOW – shootout wins ROW – regulation/overtime wins Max Pts – maximum possible points Max ROW – maximum possible reg/OT wins HR – home games remaining AR – away games remaining

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Sunday’s Clinching Scenarios:

Binghamton clinches a playoff berth on Sunday with:
	(a) a win at Albany AND a Worcester loss (reg/OT/SO) at Providence, OR
	(b) a point at Albany AND a Worcester regulation loss at Providence
Manitoba clinches a playoff berth on Sunday with:
	(a) a point at Toronto
Milwaukee clinches the West Division title on Sunday with:
	(a) a win vs. Peoria AND a Texas loss (reg/OT/SO) vs. Rockford, OR
	(b) a point vs. Peoria AND a Texas regulation loss vs. Rockford

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Matchups if the Calder Cup Playoffs started today:

A1 A3		]
A2 E5		]
E1 E4		]
E2 E3		]
N1 W5		]
N2 N3		]
W1 W4		]
W2 W3		]
	Tiebreaker Notes: Hamilton would get N1 over Manitoba based on fewer games played (76-77) Peoria would get W5 over Chicago based on fewer games played (76-77)

 

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2011 Calder Cup Playoffs Qualification Rules:
In 2010-11, the AHL will have 16 teams participating in the postseason.

In each division, the fourth-place team will play the first-place team in the division semifinals, while the second-place team plays the third-place team.

There are two possible exceptions to the qualification rules in 2010-11: in each conference, if the fifth-place team in the eight-team division finishes with more points than the fourth-place team in the seven-team division, it would cross over and compete in the seven-team division’s playoffs.

(If the fifth-place team in the eight-team division produces more points than the third-place team in the seven-team division, then the team that finishes first in the seven-team division shall play the team that finishes third in the seven-team division.)

Division semifinal winners face off in the division finals. The winner of the East Division final plays the winner of the Atlantic Division final in the Eastern Conference final, while the winner of the North Division final plays the winner of the West Division final in the Western Conference final. Conference final winners meet in the Calder Cup Finals.

All series are in a best-of-seven format.

Following are the tiebreaking procedures used in the event of a tie in the standings following the completion of the regular season. (Prior to the end of the regular season, the team with fewer games played is ranked higher in the event of a tie in points.) When a tie among three or more teams is broken resulting in a two-team tie, the original tiebreaking method is used.

Between two teams:
a) wins (excluding shootouts)
b) points in season series between teams
c) goal differential
d) goals scored in season series between teams
e) intra-conference points percentage

Among three or more teams:
a) wins (excluding shootouts)
b) points percentage in combined season series
c) goal differential
d) goal differential in combined season series
e) intra-conference points percentage