Final week not for weak of heart

BRAMPTON, Ont. – The final week of the Ontario Hockey League’s regular season threatens not to be for the faint-hearted, especially in the hotly contested Eastern Conference.rr”I’ve never seen anything quite like this,” Battalion coach Stan Butler said Monday of the late-season logjam. Butler’s charges have a won-lost-tied record of 32-24-9, including two overtime losses, for 75 points.rrThe Battalion, second in the Central Division and third in the conference with three games left to play before the schedule ends next Sunday night, can finish anywhere from first to sixth in the 10-team eastern half of the league.rrThe Troops aren’t alone.rrThe Mississauga IceDogs lead the division and conference with 79 points and have three games to play, while the Peterborough Petes, with 78 points and two games left, have clinched first place in the East Division. Because division winners are seeded 1-2 regardless of points, the Petes can’t be worse than the second seed in the conference.rrPeterborough still hopes to finish first, while the IceDogs could drop as low as fourth given the competition from the Battalion, Barrie Colts and Sudbury Wolves in the Central.rrBarrie, the Ottawa 67’s and Sudbury all have 73 points. Barrie, with three games left, can finish anywhere from first to sixth, while Ottawa and Sudbury both have two games to play and can land anywhere from third to sixth.rrThen there are the Belleville Bulls, Toronto St. Michael’s Majors and Kingston Frontenacs, three teams vying for the last two conference playoff berths. All of them can finish anywhere from seventh to ninth and out of the postseason.rrBelleville, which lost 5-4 to the host Battalion on Sunday, has 66 points and three games to play, while Toronto has 65 points and two games left. Apart from the Oshawa Generals, already eliminated from playoff contention, the Frontenacs are in the direst straits, with 61 points and three games left.rrAs The Kingston Whig-Standard noted of its local entry, which visits Toronto on Thursday night, “all the Frontenacs have to do is beat a team that wears a shamrock on its sleeve on St. Patrick’s Day.”rrThe OHL schedule saw interconference play end March 6, meaning games in the last two weeks feature opponents in the same conference, with four-point swings the rule.rrThe Battalion’s remaining schedule, which features the other three highest-ranked teams in the conference, cuts both ways. Win and the Troops can advance their aspirations. Lose and their fate fills in fast. The Battalion visits Barrie on Thursday night and Mississauga on Friday night before hosting Peterborough on Sunday.rrOn the season, the Troops are 1-3-1 against the Colts, 0-2-0 at the Barrie Molson Centre. The Battalion is 3-4-0 against Mississauga, 1-2-0 at the Hershey Centre. The Troops are 1-2-0, including one overtime loss, against Peterborough, having won the lone home game.rrIn addition to facing the Battalion, Mississauga is at Barrie on Saturday night and hosts Sudbury on Sunday night. After entertaining the Battalion and Mississauga, Barrie travels to Toronto on Sunday.rrPeterborough visits Ottawa on Friday night before its Sunday date at the Brampton Centre. After hosting the Petes, the 67’s receive Kingston on Sunday.rrSudbury hosts Belleville on Friday night before heading to Mississauga for the final night of the schedule.rrCompared with the plentiful possibilities on the eastern side, the situation is much more settled in the Western Conference.rrThe London Knights, runaway first-place finishers in the Midwest Division, the West Division champion Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and the Owen Sound Attack have nailed down the top three seeds respectively, while the Saginaw Spirit and Sarnia Sting are out of the playoffs. The other clubs are jockeying for precise positioning but are assured of postseason participation.r