Somewhat Heat related:
The Texas Stars have become the first team in the AHL to clinch a playoff spot. The Grand Rapid Griffins look to be the next team as they only need 2 points to clinch a spot.
Abbotsford is currently 13 points back of Texas with 14 games left. We are still 10 points ahead of Charlotte and OKC. OKC has run into some injury issues as two of their top forwards (Arcobello and Horak) are out with injuries and it looks like both could potentially be longer term. They also just recently lost Brossoit to Edmonton due to the Fasth injury and the Oilers have other injury issues that might involve call-ups. The Oilers want to leave top players in OKC but with Arcobello and Horak out, they might not have a choice but to start taking guys like Ford, Stretch and Miller. It doesn't appear like OKC will be able to mount much of a comeback with a depleted roster. Charlotte has a relatively healthy team, but streaky and while they might come close, I don't think they will catch us.
Realistically, it looks like we will be somewhere between 4-6 going into the playoffs. We want to stay away from 7th or 8th as it's almost a lock that Texas and Grand Rapids will stay in 1st and 2nd.
Our "magic number" to guarantee a playoff spot is 13. We need to win 7 of the next 14 games, or get at least one point in the next 13 of 14 games to clinch a playoff spot. Seems fairly doable.
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