Three ECHA games remain, and the Temple University Ice Hockey Club is battling with the Lehigh Mountain Hawks and Villanova Icecats for the final two playoff spots.
The simplest path for Temple to make the playoffs is for the Owls to go 3-0-0 with Lehigh goes 1-3-0 in its remaining four games.
Below are the current ECHA standings. A regulation win equals three points, an overtime or shootout win equals two, an overtime or shootout loss equals one, and a regulation loss equals zero.
1. Navy – 12gp, 10-1-1, 31pts
2. Drexel – 11gp, 10-1-0, 30pts
3. WPU – 14gp, 9-4-1, 27pts
4. WCU – 10gp, 8-2-0, 24pts
5. Lehigh – 12gp, 6-6-0, 17pts
6. Villanova – 10gp, 4-6-0, 12pts
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7. Temple – 13gp, 4-9-0, 11pts
8. Berks – 13gp, 2-11-0, 6pts
9. Towson – 12gp, 1-10-1, 4pts
The Temple Owls can gain a maximum of nine points in their three final games, which would currently put them in fifth-place ahead of Lehigh and Villanova.
Below are each of the three teams’ remaining games.
Temple
@ Berks 2/1
@ Lehigh 2/14
Vs. Lehigh 2/15
Villanova
Vs. Navy 2/1
Vs. Towson 2/2
@ Drexel 2/8
Vs. Berks 2/14
Vs. WCU 2/15
@ WCU 2/21
Lehigh
@ Drexel 2/1
@ Navy 2/9
Vs. Temple 2/14
@ Temple 2/15
Elimination Numbers: What are they?
An elimination number is an easy way of explaining playoff chances and/or catching up to a specific team in the standings. It’s the number of points a team would have to lose in addition to what the club in the last playoff spot (or the team you are trying to surpass in a specific spot in the standings) would have to gain to eliminate the team.
For example, if Team A has two games left and 11 points, while Team B has two games left and 15 points, Team A’s elimination number would be two points (if Team B held the tiebreaker) or three points (if Team A held the tiebreaker). This is because Team A couldn’t end at anymore than 17 points, and Team B just needs two or three points to assure itself of that position in the standings.
The Lehigh Challenge
There are numerous scenarios where Temple makes the playoffs, but most of them come down to the final two games against Lehigh.
If the Owls surpass Lehigh in the standings, they make the playoffs. Penn State Berks and Towson cannot surpass Lehigh, and even if Villanova ended the season with more points than the Owls, Lehigh would be the seventh-place team and eliminated.
Temple’s elimination number to Lehigh is four points. The tiebreaker, which is head-to-head points, would be in Temple’s favor because the only way the Owls surpass the Mountain Hawks is if they win both games against Lehigh. This means that any points that the Owls fail to gain in addition to any points Lehigh gains will subtract from the elimination number.
If the Owls win all three games in regulation, and Lehigh goes, at best, 1-3-0, Temple will make the playoffs with 20 points, tied with Lehigh but ahead due to the tiebreaker. At that point, the Owls’ elimination number would be at one, but since Lehigh would not play anymore games, it would not matter.
The only scenario where Temple leaps over Lehigh while going 2-1-0 is if the Owls beat the Mountain Hawks twice and lose to Berks.
There is no scenario where the Owls jump over Lehigh if they lose once in regulation or overtime the final two games.
This all means that the easiest paths for Temple to make the playoffs is for the Owls to go 3-0-0 or 2-1-0 (losing to Berks) while Lehigh goes 1-3-0 or 0-4-0.
Villanova Wild Cards
While the Lehigh scenario presents the clearest path for Temple to make the playoffs, Villanova’s three in-hand games gives another, albeit currently more chaotic, opportunity.
If the Owls’ Lehigh elimination number drops from four points to the dreaded zero, the only way Temple will make the playoffs is by surpassing Villanova. Even if the Owls won all three remaining games in regulation, Lehigh could still gain at least four points from its Drexel and Navy matchups, clinching a playoff spot for the Mountain Hawks.
Since Temple and Villanova both won once against each other, the first tiebreaker needs a tiebreaker. Temple’s Villanova elimination number is eight (if Villanova holds the second tiebreaker) or nine (if Temple holds the second tiebreaker).
Temple going 3-0-0 would mean the Icecats could, at best, gain seven or eight points over their last six games. Each point dropped by the Owls subtracts a point from the elimination number. If the Owls went 0-2-1, gaining one point, and Villanova went 0-6, depending on the second tiebreaker, Temple could still make the playoffs. Obviously, this is unlikely but mathematically possible.
Clinching situations against Villanova will vary wildly depending on its results in its next three games against Navy, Towson and Drexel. Until then, it will be hard to gain a clear outlook on playoff situations where the Radnor-based team is involved.
If the Owls lose each of their remaining three games in regulation, they will miss the playoffs for the first time since coming back to the top division of the ACHA.
What about Berks and Towson?
The only two teams below the Owls are Penn State Berks and Towson. Berks can reach 15 points, while Towson can reach 16 points.
Both teams’ records won’t matter if the Owls go 2-1-0, as the Cherry and Ice would have reached 17 points.
Going 1-2-0 would mean Berks and Towson need to win out to overtake both Villanova and Temple, but Villanova would also have to fail to win more than once for them to make the playoffs. Their only hopes to make the playoffs is to win out and hope for catastrophic failures from the Owls and Villanova.
Doesn’t Temple have more than three games remaining?
The Owls do have more than three games left this season, but only the games against ECHA opponents count towards the playoffs. There are six total games, with three of them against Virginia Tech (2/7) and Liberty (2/8-9). Those games will not count towards anything except for national rankings, statistics, and overall records.
The TUICE Network will broadcast four remaining games, including three from the Virginia road trip and the season finale against Lehigh.
About the Temple University Ice Hockey Club
The Temple University Ice Hockey Club was founded in 1940 and has played in the top division of the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA), the top league for club hockey in the United States, since 2015. Temple plays in the Eastern Collegiate Hockey Association (ECHA) alongside geographical rivals in Villanova and Drexel. The Temple Owls play at The Igloo at Mt. Laurel at 3033 Fostertown Road, Mt. Laurel, NJ. They have made the playoffs in four-straight ECHA seasons.
You can watch Owls games live on the TUICE Network at TempleIceHockey.com or the Temple University Ice Hockey Club YouTube Channel.