Battle of Alberta sweep. Stamps, Flames and Hitmen beat up on Edmonton

woohoo.
ok so it was a good weekend to be a Calgary sports fan, and another good one as a football fan, as the CFL season winds towards the playoffs. the Stampeders defeated the Eskimoes 30-7 on friday, clinching a playoff spot. the Stamps also won the season series 3-1, with the only loss coming late in a game in August. 2 more wins and first place is Calgary's. two teams stand in the way, the BC Lions (who can only finish first if they win out and calgary and Sask go 0-1-1) and the Sask Roughriders. the Stamps play the Lions (3 points back) then the Roughriders(tied) in the final game.
The Roughriders defeated the Lions in overtime 33-30, meaning the final game will decide who gets first, winner gets the division final.
the Eskimoes can no longer catch Calgary or Sask. they can still catch BC if they beat Toronto and BC loses to Calgary, then they beat BC in their final game. 4th place in the west may still crossover to the east. Edmonton is in 4th and tied with Winnipeg and Hamilton, but the crossover team needs to finish AHEAD of the 3rd place east team. Winnipeg plays Montreal and Hamilton plays Sask this week, before the two teams battle to decide 2nd place in the east.
Winnipeg has surprised me with their play the last few weeks, beating up Montreal on the weekend to keep pace with Hamilton. this team was showing nothing at midseason and has turned it around, being the first east division team to defeat the Montreal Allouettes. it will be interesting to see how it plays out. it is garaunteed to come down to the last game of the season to finalize playoff positions and home team advantage.
Go Stamps go

the Flames (7-2-1) have had great success within the division so far, going 5-0. A 5-2 win over Edmonton on saturday gave the Flames a 3-0 record so far, half way through the season series against the Oilers. the Flames played thier best game of the season and actually deserved this win. they have won 3 in a row and play Colorado on wednesday, who are at the top of the northwest division.
its early in the season however, so i wouldn't read too much into it, but it sure is nice to see a great start for the Flames, as they get depth scoring and adjust to Sutter's system. now if only Iggy and Jokinen would pick it up as well!

the Hitmen sit atop the central division in the WHL with another great start to the season, at 12-3. the Hitmen twice defeated the Edmonton Oil Kings in the past week, continuing a trend of Calgary dominance in October.

A good month for Calgary sports teams, the Calgary Dinos football team also won again on the weekend, defeating the Regina Rams, moving to 6-1 and clinching a home playoff game.

GO FLAMES, STAMPS, HITMEN AND DINOS

PS CFL tiebreaker rules for those interested
Tie break rules:
When two or more member Clubs are tied in the final Division standings at the
conclusion of the regular season schedule, preferential ranking for playoff purposes
shall be determined on the basis of the following priorities and shall be awarded to
the club that:
a) has won the greater number of games played against all member Clubs of the
League or,
b) has won the greater number of games played against the other tied Club(s)
or,
c) has scored the higher net aggregate of points (i.e. points scored for less points
scored against) in games played against the other tied Club(s) or,
d) has scored the higher net quotient of points (i.e. points scored for divided by
points scored against) in games played against the other tied Clubs(s) or,
e) has won the greater number of games (or percentage of games) played against
all member Clubs of the Division or,
f) has scored the higher net aggregate of points in games played against all
member Clubs of the Division or,
g) has scored the higher net quotient of points in games played against all member
Clubs of the Division or,
h) has scored the higher net aggregate of points in games played against all
member Clubs of the League or,
i) has scored the higher net quotient of points in games played against all member
Clubs of the League or,
j) has won a coin toss against the other tied club.


a,b,c are all tied. Net Quotient (wierd Tie break) also a tie if the Stamps win the final game by 1 point
e) would go to Calgary with the better record against the West because they lost to Winnipeg and Hamilton as opposed to Quality Western opponents.

the Stampeders need only win by 1 point to take the tie breaker, which is points vs the division. the Riders need a tie or a win. this is assuming both teams are tied after next weeks games. if the Stamps are ahead the Riders need to win the final game, a tie won't do it. if the Riders are ahead, the Stamps still need a win.
this game is for first place, the winner gets first. the loser gets second or third, depending on the results of next weeks games. if BC loses to Calgary, they can't catch sask or calgary. so a Calgary win locks up home playoff games for sask and calgary. Sask can lock up a home playoff game for themselves with a win over Hamilton.