March 09, 2006:  The Prudential Northeast Sled Hockey League Dryden Cup Championship could come down to whichever of the New York, Pennsylvania, and Maine teams ends up the season with the most points or perhaps even the fewest penalties. It is conceivable that all three teams could end up the season with records of 5 wins, 1 loss, and 2 ties. This would happen if Maine beats New York and Connecticut, and Pennsylvania defeats New Hampshire and ties New York.

Assuming this happens, the next level of tie-breaker would be the best head-to-head record. With Maine having won 1 and tied 1 against NY, NY having won 1 and tied 1 against PA, and PA winning 1 and tying 1 against Maine, the head-to-head tie-beaker becomes moot. The championship would have to be decided on points.

Going in to the last Game Day of the season on March 19, New York has accumulated 25 points, PA has 19, and Maine has 20. If Maine's and Pennsylvania's games with Connecticut and New Hampshire go as they have in the past and both teams pick up 5 points (which is far from certain given the improvement in the CT and NH teams,) then ME and PA would stand at 25 and 24 points, respectively. If Maine then beats NY and accumulates only 4 points from the win, they would sit with 29 points and NY at 26. Then in the NY vs. PA game, if PA wins 2 periods and ties NY, PA would receive 3 points and sit at 27 points and NY at 28. If however, NY won 2 periods but still ended up tied, they would get 3 points and sit at 29 points too.

This would mean that after 3 tie-breakers Maine and New York would still be tied and the 4th level of tie-breaker, penalty minutes would kick in. After the February 19 Game Day Maine has been penalized for 4 minutes and New York for 14.

A similar situation develops if NY beats Maine and loses to PA. Both NY and PA would have records of 6-1-1 with both teams winning and losing once to each other in their head-to-head match-ups. If NY were to accumulate anything less than 5 points in a win over Maine which would secure them 30 points, they leave the door open for PA to win the championship on points (or penalty minutes if both teams end up with 29 points.) PA could increase their point total to 29 with 5 point wins over both NH and NY.  In that case PA has accumulated 2 penalty minutes to New York's 14.      

No doubt it's complicated. On any given day with the top 3 teams being so well-matched competitively, any team can win or lose. And with them playing each other for the Dryden Cup on March 19 expect plenty of action.  No matter how the teams place, the end of the season games will prove to be some of the most exciting and competitive games this year as these 3 teams go all out for the top 3 places.

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