The regular season is over and we have our playoff matchups.
Saskatchewan won the West crown and will face the Colorado Mammoth. San Diego, the second seed in the Seals’ expansion season, will host the Calgary Roughnecks.
In the East, it will be the Buffalo Bandits against the New England Black Wolves and the Georgia Swarm against the Toronto Rock.
Only one game in Week 20 ended up having playoff implications, as Saskatchewan bested Colorado 13-8 to lock up the top seed and end any chance of San Diego jumping ahead of the Rush.
The Mammoth outscored Saskatchewan 7-2 in the second half, but an 11-1 first-half hole was too much for Colorado to dig out from. Ryan Keenan and Matthew Dinsdale each had six points.
It was a nice bounce-back performance after the Rush’s 18-8 loss to Calgary last weekend.
“We quickly turned the page after last week’s performance,” Rush GM/head coach Derek Keenan said. “We still controlled our own ability to finish first and we earned it ourselves. Now we’re back here next Friday and that’s what we wanted.”
The San Diego result was mute, but Saskatchewan would have earned the first seed even if it lost after Buffalo beat down on the Seals, 18-7, in a meaningless game for the top-seeded Bandits.
“As soon as we leave this dressing room, we have to forget about what happened in the regular season and get back to the stuff that got us to where we are,” forward Dan Dawson said. “That’s the fundamentals. We were bad in every facet of the game tonight and it showed in the score.”
Shawn Evans had two goals and six assists after sitting out the week prior, while Dhane Smith had a goal and five assists to become the second Bandit all-time to put up four 100-point seasons. John Tavares is the only other Buffalo player to accomplish the feat.
Buffalo enters the postseason having beaten every team in the league at least once.
End of an Era
Rochester’s season-ending 14-12 loss to New England had no playoff implications, but that doesn’t mean the game was meaningless.
Saturday night’s action at Blue Cross Arena marked the final game in the history of K-Hawks 1.0 prior to the franchise’s move to Halifax this offseason. Rochester fans will still have a team next year in a Pegula-owned expansion franchise, but the players and coaches they’ve cheered for are moving on.
“It has been a rollercoaster ride. My kids have grown up here,” Rochester head coach Mike Hasen told KHawks.com. “Through it all, I have only ever wanted to be a Knighthawk.”
“I could not imagine playing for somebody else,” forward Cody Jamieson said. “I am thankful to have been here for as long as I have. We had a lot of good times.”
Ryan Benesch holds the distinction of being Rochester’s leading scorer in the final game with seven points.
Based on how the NLL handled the Philadelphia situation, it seems the history and banners will be following the rest of the team, much to the chagrin of the fans left behind (and me, if that matters). This Knighthawks franchise ends with five championships under its belt, including the impressive three-peat from 2012 to 2014.
Toronto Ties Georgia in Standings
Toronto defeated Vancouver 15-9 in the only other game of the weekend, pushing the Rock into a tie at 12-6 with Georgia. The Swarm kept the No. 2 seed and home-field advantage in the teams’ matchup thanks to the season series triumph.
Tom Schreiber notched nine points, while Rob Hellyer and Dan Craig each had five.
The Warriors concluded their first season downtown with a reported average attendance of 6,833, a strong improvement from the 3,507 the Stealth averaged in their final season at the Langley Events Centre.
Vancouver’s average ranked eighth, ahead of Georgia (6,698), Rochester (5,440) and New England (5,526).
First Round Preview
I’ll have a full preview of the first round of the playoffs later this week, but here’s a look at the upcoming schedule.
Colorado at Saskatchewan, Friday, 9:30 p.m. ET
New England at Buffalo, Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET
Toronto at Georgia, Monday, 7:30 p.m. ET
Calgary at San Diego, Monday, 10:30 p.m. ET