This past weekend the Johnnies were given a bye week, so there are no games to report on. Therefore, I thought I would use this week’s blog to give you a better understanding of the current MIAC standings and an explanation of the three-point system used in the MIAC as well as the tie-breaking procedures used.
The current MIAC standings are shown below.
Each MIAC game has 3points up for grabs. A team gets 3 points for a win in regulation or overtime. A team gets 2 points for a shootout win, and 1 point for a shootout loss. Finally, a team gets 0 points for a regulation or overtime loss. If games go into a shootout, those games are considered ties for national statistics and rankings. The shootouts are only used for MIAC points and standings.
The league often finishes very close and last year was the first time the league has not had two teams tied for in the last 10 years. This is part of the reason why the league chose to go to a three-point system. It was to try and eliminate the need to use tie-breaking procedures like the ones listed below. The tie-breakers fall in the following order in case of a tie between two teams in the standings at the end of the season.
1. Head-to-head winning percentage amongst tied teams.
2. The number of wins (not including shootout wins) earned during that season’s conference play.
3. Winning percentage amongst all tied teams, beginning in rank order.
4. Total goal differential with those tied (not including shootout goals).
5. Goal differential for total conference season (not including shootout goals).
6. Number of overtime losses.
It’s not ideal to go into these tie breakers, but they are often necessary in the MIAC. The MIAC is once again in the middle of a very tight race for the top five teams that make the MIAC playoffs. SJU could finish anywhere from first to seventh in the standings with 4 games remaining. For either of those extremes to happen, there would have to be a lot that fell into place. Augsburg is having a great season and finds themselves at the top of the standing with 31 points. With that said, their remaining 4 games are against St. Thomas (2nd) and St. Johns (3rd). There is still a possibility that SJU and UST could leapfrog the Auggies. There is also a chance that SJU could finish in first place and win the MIAC. For this to happen, Augsburg can only get 2 points on the weekend against the Tommies and then we would have to sweep them in the final series. At the same time, St. Thomas would only be able to get 2 points from their final series against St. Olaf. Like I said, there is a lot that would have to happen in order for us to win the MIAC, but it all starts with us winning our final four games and not worrying about the other teams.
On the other side of the perspective, making the top five and getting into the playoffs, there are five remaining teams that can catch us and pass us in the standings. Bethel is out with only 3 points, but the rest of the teams are still in the picture. If we get one win this weekend, it would also not allow St. Mary’s or Hamline to catch us in the standings. So with that win, there would only be two remaining teams that could catch us and those would be Gustavus and St. Olaf. If those two teams would lose any of their remaining 4 games, they would not be able to catch us either. Like I mentioned earlier, everything starts with us winning this Friday and moving on from there. We control our own fate in regards to the playoffs, but need some things to fall into place to win the MIAC.
I am pretty sure that I just confused all of the readers even further, but I hope that I also cleared a few things up. SJU has four remaining regular-season games. This weekend we are in Winona to play Saint Mary’s in a two-game series (Friday/7pm and Saturday/2pm). The following weekend we will be playing Augsburg with a game at Augsburg on Friday at 7pm and a home game at the National Hockey Center on Saturday night at 7pm (Senior Night).
Thanks again for following Johnnie Hockey and for all of your continued support! With this explanation, you see why we need you as fans to come support our boys every step of these final fours games. Believe me your cheering in the stands and presence means a lot to our guys. Have a great weekend and I hope to see you at one of our final four games! If you can’t make it, visit gojohnnies.com to listen to the games live and cheer from home.
