When I sat down to write the first playoff article, where all seeds were described and matchups announced, I noticed that this season was much more balanced than recently completed seasons. In particular, I saw that Green’s first place finish with 25 points would have placed them behind two teams last year. Then, looking at the other end of the standings, I noticed Yellow’s tenth place finish with 11 points would have placed them above two teams last year. While I appreciated the balance, I hadn’t considered that the championship game would feature those first and tenth place teams!
Opening the evening this Sunday, 3/24, at 5:00 will be a Championship rematch between Green and Yellow!
When Yellow started the season 2-1, they did not expect that this would be their last winning streak in the regular season. Grinding out the next 15 games to get 3 more wins and a tie, Yellow found themselves in 10th place with the toughest seeded path to advancing. They then put together 3 straight wins over #4 seed Silver, #5 seed Gold, and #1 seed Green to become the first ten seed to advance. In the semifinals they were rewarded with a match against the #2 team in the regular season, Neon, and won a marathon of a game 8-6 to advance to the championship.
Green stumbled out of the gate this season, losing their first two games, before winning their next five in route to a 12 win regular season. Edging out Neon for first place, Green was rewarded with the lowest seed combination of opponents in #6 Orange (tied), #7 Purple (won), and #10 Yellow (lost). Finishing this round with 3 points, tied with Silver, they advanced on the strength of their regular season finish. Against Red, Green found the offense that had been thus far missing in the playoffs, winning 7-2 while scoring more than their previous three weeks combined, and advancing to the championship.
Green beat Yellow in their first meeting back in October 5-2, then again in December 3-2, before Yellow’s 5-2 playoff win on March 10th. While Green is seeking the combination regular season and tournament championship, Yellow is looking to repeat as tourney champ and start the talk of a dynasty.
The finals, if tied at the end of 3 periods, there will be sudden death overtime periods until a winner emerges. Good luck to both teams!
Following this game will be a consolation rematch between Neon and Red. This, too, is a rematch from two weeks ago where Red evened the series at 1-1-1. Red also had a tough seed matchup to get to the semi finals, beating #3 seed Teal, #6 seed Orange, and #2 seed Neon to advance, before a tough loss to Green has them in the consolation game. Neon comfortably advanced after wins against #5 seed Gold, and #8 seed Black locked them in before the loss to #9 seed Red. Being on the wrong end of the marathon game with Yellow has Neon also in the consolation game. Congratulations to both teams on a great run, and good luck to both in this final game!