Josh Sanderson and the Toronto Rock (6-10) will meet the Rochester Knighthawks (14-2) at Blue Cross Arena on Friday evening to open the 2007 Champion's Cup Playoffs.
PLAYOFFS OPEN THIS WEEKEND
Top-seeded Knighthawks host Rock on Friday evening
04/18/2007
After an exciting finale to the regular season, the matchups for next weekend's Divisional Semifinal games are set. Colorado will host San Jose (Saturday, 4/21) and Calgary will host Arizona (Saturday, 4/21) in the West, while Rochester will host Toronto (Friday, 4/20) and Buffalo will host Minnesota (Sunday, 4/22) in the East.Despite a three-game losing streak to finish the season, the Rock clinched the final remaining playoff spot as a result of two Philadelphia losses this weekend. Toronto, Philadelphia and Chicago each finished the season with identical 6-10 records, and each split the season series, 1-1, with both their East rivals. As a result, Toronto wins the tiebreaker based off of Divisional record. The Rock finished with a 5-7 record against East opponents, while Chicago finished 5-8 and Philadelphia finished 4-8.
The Rock will meet the top seeded Rochester Knighthawks at Blue Cross Arena on Friday evening at 8:05 PM EST. The Knighthawks are currently on a 12-game winning streak.
Buffalo will host the Minnesota Swarm on Sunday at HSBC Arena. The Swarm defeated Philadelphia and Arizona this weekend to wrap up the #3 seed in the East. Faceoff is slated for 2:00 PM EST.
In the West, Calgary beat Arizona and Edmonton in consecutive nights to go from being on the playoff-bubble to the #2 seed. Calgary, Arizona and San Jose all finish with 9-7 records, but the Roughnecks victory over Arizona on Friday swayed the tiebreakers their way. Calgary will host Arizona next Saturday at Pengrowth Saddledome. Faceoff is set for 7:30 PM MST.
Colorado clinched the West Division title with a split against San Jose this weekend. The Mammoth will meet the Stealth for a third consecutive game. The two teams will battle on Saturday evening at Pepsi Center. Faceoff is at 7:00 PM MST.
The following are the first round match-ups and overall seedings for the 2007 Champion's Cup Playoffs.
EAST DIVISION
#4 Toronto Rock (6-10) at #1 Rochester Knighthawks (14-2)
Blue Cross Arena - Friday, April 20th, 8:05 PM EST
#3 Minnesota Swarm (9-7) at #2 Buffalo Bandits (10-6)
HSBC Arena - Sunday, April 22nd, 2:00 PM EST
WEST DIVISION
#4 San Jose Stealth (9-7) at #1 Colorado Mammoth (12-4)
Pepsi Center - Saturday, April 21st, 7:00 PM MST
#3 Arizona Sting (9-7) at #2 Calgary Roughnecks (9-7)
Pengrowth Saddledome - Saturday, April 21st, 7:30 PM MST
OVERALL SEEDINGS
1 Rochester Knighthawks (14-2)
2 Colorado Mammoth (12-4)
3 Buffalo Bandits (10-6)
4 Calgary Roughnecks (9-7)
5 Minnesota Swarm (9-7)
6 Arizona Sting (9-7)
7 San Jose Stealth (9-7)
8 Toronto Rock (6-10)
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