Scott Radley: Hamilton, Dundas to face off for spot in Allan Cup final
The Hamilton Steelers and Dundas Real McCoys have played each other seven times already this season.
Game No. 8 will be the one that really counts.
The two local teams will face off Friday night in Dundas at 7:30 p.m. for a berth in the Allan Cup final.
The game was set up as a result of Dundas taking the unbeaten Clarenville Caribous to overtime on Thursday night in the final game of the round robin before finally losing 5-4. A goal by Christopher Campoli with 3:32 remaining in regulation time pushed it to the extra frame.
That Campoli goal changed a whole lot in the way the rest of the tournament will be played out.
Had he not scored and Dundas had lost in regulation time, the McCoys, Steelers and the Innisfail Eagles from Alberta would've ended up in a three-way tie for second with only two playoff spots available. Under Hockey Canada's somewhat complicated three-way tiebreaking system, Innisfail would've finished second, Dundas would've come third and Hamilton would've been eliminated.
However, getting to overtime on Friday earned the McCoys a point and gave them second-place.
That left Hamilton and Innisfail tied for the final spot. The two-team tiebreaker is head-to-head result. That meant the Steelers' 6-5 win on Thursday - on a goal with 33 seconds remaining - was the difference.
If the gap to get into the semifinal was tight, the difference between the two local teams is equally small.
The McCoys have won four of the seven matchups between the two this season but Hamilton claimed the Ontario championship against their city rival earlier this month. In the Ontario senior league playoffs, Hamilton scored two fewer total goals but surrendered two more total goals.
Whoever wins faces the Caribous on Saturday at 3:30. The team from Newfoundland beat Hamilton 4-3 in the round robin opener and Dundas 5-4 in the round robin finale.
Among the best news for the tournament, perhaps, is that Friday night's game and the championship contest aren't competing for attention with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Scott Radley is a Hamilton-based columnist at The Spectator. Reach him via email: sradley@thespec.com