The Bruins did not come through for Jaguar Mite #2 Friday night, but if the Jaguars take care of business on Sunday, Feb. 12, and Wednesday, Feb. 15, they can still benefit from a bye in the first round of the Northern Illinois Hockey League Playoffs.
What the Jaguars cannot do, however, is finish the regular season atop the White Tier of the Mite Silver B Division in NIHL. That honor goes to the Chicago Bulldogs, who clinched the first-place finish with a 2-0 victory over the Bruins Friday evening.
The Bulldogs completed regular-season play with 20 points. The Jaguars, who gave up a point in the standings to the Bulldogs when they allowed the Bulldogs to salvage a tie in the closing seconds of their Jan. 28 game, will complete the year with 19 points if they sweep their final two games. That point total will be good enough for second place and a first-round bye in the playoffs.
Conversely, if the Chicago Jets (who defeated the Midwest Maniax 3-1 today) are able to defeat the Jaguars when they meet Sunday morning at Johnny's Ice House West, the Jets will finish in second place and keep the Jaguars in third ... and force them into a first-round NIHL playoff game against the sixth-seeded Sabres. A Jets' win would give them a final point total identical to the Bulldogs' 20 points, but the Bulldogs have gotten the better of the Jets in their head-to-head competitions.
No matter the outcome of Sunday's game, it is highly likely the Jaguars and Jets will meet at 4:40 p.m. Saturday, March 3, at Rocket Ice Arena in the second-round of the playoffs, when the second-seeded team will meet the winner of the first-round game between the third-seeded team and the Sabres. The Sabres went 0-11-1 on the season.
The winner of that March 3 game will play the winner of the game between the Bulldogs and the winner of the first-round game between the Maniax and the Bruins, who are still battling to determine which will claim the fourth seed. That game, at 12:40 p.m. Sunday, March 4, at Rocket Ice, will determine which White Tier team advances to the Wolves Cup final against the Red Tier winner.
The championship will be at 9 a.m. Sunday, March 11, at Inwood.
The loser of the 12:40 p.m. Sunday game will battle the loser of the Red Tier semi-final in the consolation game at the Ice House in Crystal Lake at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 10.
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