Much Remains in the Balance as Season Finale Draws Near

The Red Army is riding a three game win streak entering Sunday's season finale versus the Black Presidents. The Soviets are playing, arguably, their best hockey of the season. The shots that went wide during their four game losing streak are now going in. The saves they weren't getting, they now are. The passion that was lacking, is, well, you get the point. The fact of the matter is, after loitering around in the 8th and 9th seeds for a few weeks, the Soviets have surged up the standings and find themselves in the middle of a heated race for a first round bye. Can they do it? Well, they'll need more than just a win on Sunday to get it.

Currently, the Comrades are in possession of that highly coveted four spot. The Shockers however, have a game in hand, and sit just one point back of the Red Army. So, even if the Red Army were to win on Sunday, if the Shockers win their final two contests (they play the Strangers and Prestige Worldwide), it would be the Shockers enjoying a free pass into the second round. Of course, if the Shockers do win both their games, and the Red Army wins their game, it is still possible for the Comrades to sneak into the top four if the Puck Ewes blow it against Ron Mexico.

So yeah, the Shockers have to lose a game.

But what does this mean? Is a first round bye really necessary? Only in the Red Army's first season did they earn a first round bye. In fact, if you wanted to find an uplifting trend about the Red Army's championships, just look at the first opponent they faced in all three: the Cryptic Stench. That would appear to be the key to the Soviet's success. Well, not really. The real key is being hot and staying hot. Right now, they're hot. They've outscored opponents 22-1 in the last two games, and, of those 22 goals, only three were off the blade of Mark Hendricks. I believe Robin said it best when he exclaimed, "Holy secondary scoring, Batman!"

Sunday should prove to be a great test for the Red Army. Neal and Beege Hendricks returned south to Blacksburg, but Pete Collis and Tony Horton should return to the lineup (and it's rumored that #29 could be back for Sunday and the playoffs).

For now, it's all about playing the right way at the right time, and that's been something the Comrades did a lot of in 2010.