Update on Bears Playoff Chase

Eastern Conference Standings

Rank	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	SL	Points
1	Manchester Monarchs	72	45	19	2	6	98
2	Springfield Falcons	71	44	21	1	5	94
3	Binghamton Senators	70	41	23	1	5	88
4	St. John's IceCaps	70	42	22	2	4	90
5	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins	71	40	23	3	5	88
6	Providence Bruins	71	38	23	2	8	86
7	Albany Devils	71	35	23	5	8	83
8	Hershey Bears	70	37	25	4	4	82
9	Norfolk Admirals	70	36	25	2	7	81
10	Worcester Sharks	71	34	31	4	2	74
11	Hartford Wolf Pack	71	33	31	1	6	73
12	Syracuse Crunch	70	29	30	4	7	69
13	Bridgeport Sound Tigers	71	27	36	2	6	62
14	Adirondack Phantoms	70	27	36	1	6	61
15	Portland Pirates	70	24	35	3	8	59

Remaining Bears Games

Date	Home or Away?	Opponent	Time of Game
Fri 4/11	Away	Binghamton Senators	7:05
Sat 4/12	Away	Springfield Falcons	7:00
Sun 4/13	Home	Binghamton Senators	7:00
Wed 4/16	Away	Norfolk Admirals	7:15
Fri 4/18	Away	Norfolk Admirals	7:30
Sat 4/19	Home	Adirondack Phantoms	7:00

Analysis

At the current moment, the Manchester Monarchs and the Springfield Falcons are the only two teams to have clinched anything. Manchester has clinched a playoff spot, and Springfield has clinched their division. Syracuse, Bridgeport, Adirondack, and Portland have all been eliminated from playoff contention.

Looking at where the Bears stand, it's quite the interesting situation. It's good for them to be in that 8th spot finally, but they only have it by a point. With how Norfolk can play, they have to keep up their current pace. Also, you have to look that the Bears, if they make the playoffs, have a chance of getting a better seed than 8th. They have a game in hand on Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Providence, and Albany. If those teams would struggle in these last games, Hershey could possibly get to a better seed.

The remaining schedule for the Bears leads them to almost control their own destiny. They have two games against the leader of their division, the Binghamton Senators. Between those games is a matchup against the 2nd place team in the conference, the Springfield Falcons. Those three games are some of the toughest the Bears could have all season. The pressure is immense, let alone the fact that those are two good teams.

The pressure gets even more immense, as they then play two games against the team right behind them in 9th, the Norfolk Admirals. Depending on how the three games before go for the Bears, this could be the fight for the final playoff spot. Even if it's not a fight between Hershey and Norfolk, it could change the outcome of the fight between one of those teams and possibly Albany.

The final game is a home game against one of the weakest teams in the conference, the Adirondack Phantoms. It's the last game for the Bears' rival before they move to Allentown to become the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Depending on the previous games, Adirondack could be a spoiler for the Bears in their playoff hopes, and the games between these two teams always turn into a battleground.

In my opinion, if the Bears can keep the pace they've been going at, they can make the playoffs. I think they could get to the 7th seed, due to Albany being so close in the points, but I'm not sure if Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Providence will struggle enough for the Bears to take their spots. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton could even take the division, depending on how Binghamton plays. Here's how I think the standings will play out:

Rank	Team
1	Manchester Monarchs
2	Springfield Falcons
3	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
4	St. John's IceCaps
5	Binghamton Senators
6	Providence Bruins
7	Hershey Bears
8	Norfolk Admirals
9	Albany Devils
10	Worcester Sharks
11	Hartford Wolf Pack
12	Syracuse Crunch
13	Adirondack Phantoms
14	Bridgeport Sound Tigers
15	Portland Pirates

What do you think? Do you think the Bears will make the playoffs?