Go! ‘Necks! Go!

What a night. Not only was this a key night for the Calgary Roughnecks but it was pretty much a key night for all the teams playing. This was the last chance for more than one team in both the east and west divisions. In the end, the West Division playoff spots have been filled and all but one East Division playoff spot has been determined.

First, the east — because we save the best for last. After last nights performance, we now have the Buffalo Bandits, Toronto Rock and Minnesota Swarm clinching playoff berth’s. The Rochester Knighthawks and Philedelphia Wings will be playing tonight for all the marbles and one of those teams will be going back to their day jobs on Monday and not returning until next season. Of course, with the best record in the league right now, Buffalo has clinched the East Division title and home field advantage for the first round of playoffs.

And now the West Division. What a mess. The Portland Lumberjax — one of this years expansion teams — is currently sitting atop the division. The Colorado Mammoth and Calgary Roughnecks, in the middle of a home and home series, are dead even in second place and the final playoff spot has been awarded to the Arizona Sting after their victory over the San Jose Stealth. After an uphill battle, the inaugural season for the Edmonton Rush ended last night after losing to the Lumberjax.

So what are our chances or options for getting a home game next week? Well, if the Roughnecks beat Colorado and the red hot Swarm beat Portland, that would put the Roughnecks in a first place tie with Portland. Since we beat Portland in our encounter this year we have the edge and will win the Division title. On the other hand, if both Portland and Calgary win we’ll end up second place overall but still have home field advantage.

In the end it all comes down to winning at home — which is exactly what all the home teams did Friday night. Rumor has it the lower bowl of the Saddledome is completely sold out for Saturday’s game. Should that be the case it’s pretty much a guarantee that the second bowl will be pretty darn full as well and there is going to be a rockin’ and rowdy crowd cheering on the Roughnecks. Let’s bring it home for the boys and cheer them on to victory!

Go! ‘Necks! Go!