ECHL announces revised South Division Playoff format
October 17, 2005 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release
PRINCETON, N.J. - The ECHL on Monday announced a revision in the 2006 Kelly Cup Playoffs format for the South Division which was approved in a vote of the Board of Governors.
The league was forced to revise the playoff format in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita which forced two members of the South Division, the Mississippi Sea Wolves and Texas Wildcatters, to suspend operations for 2005-06. The Sea Wolves and Wildcatters have both announced their plans to return for the 2006-07 season.
In the new format for the South Division, the top six teams based on regular-season point totals will advance to the postseason. In the best-of-three Division Quarterfinals, the third-place team will meet the sixth-place team and the fourth-place team will meet the fifth-place team with the winners reseeded according to regular-season point totals for the Division Semifinals. In the best-of-five Division Semifinals, the first-place team will meet the fourth-seeded team and the second-place team will meet the third-seeded team. In the best-of-five Division Finals, the winners will be reseeded according to regular-season points. The winner of the South Division Finals will advance to face the winner of the North Division in the best-of-seven American Conference Finals for the right to advance to the best-of-seven Kelly Cup Finals.
The conference and division alignments are:
American Conference (14 teams)
North Division (6 teams) - Dayton, Johnstown, Reading, Toledo, Trenton and Wheeling
South Division (8 teams) - Augusta, Charlotte, Columbia, Florida, Greenville, Gwinnett, Pensacola and South Carolina
National Conference (11 teams)
West Division (6 teams) - Alaska, Idaho, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Utah and Victoria
Pacific Division (5 teams) - Bakersfield, Fresno, Long Beach, San Diego and Stockton
The format for the North Division, the West Division and the Pacific Division remain the same as approved by the Board at its annual meeting in June.
In the North Division, the fourth-place and fifth-place finishers will meet in a best-of-three Division Quarterfinal, the winner advancing to the Division Semifinals against the division winner. The other Division Semifinal match-up will be between the second-place and third-place finishers. The Division Finals will be a best-of-five with the North Division winner advancing to meet the winner of the South Division in the best-of-seven American Conference Finals for the right to advance to the Kelly Cup Finals.
The playoff qualifiers in the National Conference will be the top four teams with the highest regular-season point total from the Pacific Division and the top four teams with the highest regular-season point total from the West Division. The Division Semifinals will be best-of-seven series with the first-place finishers meeting the fourth-place finishers and the second-place finishers meeting the third-place finishers. The winners of the Division Semifinals advance to the division finals which are also best-of-seven series. The Division Finals winners will meet in the best-of-seven National Conference Finals to advance to the Kelly Cup Finals.
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