AMHERST – It looks as though the Amherst CIBC Wood Gundy Ramblers will be facing the Yarmouth Mariners in the first round of the Maritime Junior Hockey League playoffs.
Confusion over the tiebreaker led Ramblers’ coach Jim Bottomley to tell the Amherst Daily News that the division crown had yet to be determined, but the league’s website has already reported the Truro Bearcats have clinched first place.
“I spoke to (Yarmouth coach) Laurie Barron about it this morning and he told me the tiebreaker is record against each other,” Bottomley said Thursday morning. “That means we’re going to play Yarmouth.”
Bottomley said the series will likely start in Yarmouth next Saturday and return to Amherst for Game 2, possibly, on Tuesday, March 19.
Truro will face the winner of the mini-series between the fourth-place Weeks Crushers and fifth-place Bridgewater Lumberjacks. The mini-series begins Monday in New Glasgow.
The league’s constitution says the tie-breaker after wins is who has more wins in head-to-head play. Truro has five wins against Yarmouth.
However, the league also says it follows the NHL rules for a tie-breaker. The NHL changed its rule in 2010 to have the first tie-breaker to be wins in regulation and overtime, not including the shootout.
The MHL did not adopt the rule.
