How about those Metro Jets
Metro Jets are headed to the playoffs.
The comeback kids clinched the fourth-and-final playoff spot in the East Division of the North American 3 Hockey League with a 5-0 shutout of the visiting Toledo Cherokee on Saturday.
Metro and Toledo finished the 48-game regular season tied with 46 points apiece but the Jets get the playoff spot by virtue of having more wins.
The Jets won 22 regular-season games, two more than Toledo.
In what was a late-season collapse, Toledo lost its last six games, including the final two to Metro.
On the flip side, Metro won four of its last six games to overtake Toledo.
“Top to bottom, I feel like that was our best 60-minute effort of the year,” Metro coach Justin Quenneville said of Saturday’s playoff-clinching victory. “Like I tell the guys every day, we have to look at this season as a progressive chart moving upward and not only did they work hard, but they bought in, kept it simple and were rewarded for their decisions.”
Cooper McLean scored twice with an assist for the Jets, while Brad Hepler, Kyle Shreve and Cody Jones all tallied a goal and an assist in the win.
Jets goaltender Kam Limburg stopped all 16 shots between the pipes.
Metro will play the Flint Jr. Generals in the first round of the playoffs.
“Everyone starts at zeroes in the playoffs,” Quenneville said. “We’re excited about the opportunity to play Flint — you want to play against the best and you want to beat the best.”
Flint won all eight meetings this season against Metro in finishing atop the East Division standings with a record of 42-4-2, good for 86 points.
Flint’s 86 points is 40 more than Metro, which posted a record of 22-24-2 over the course of the 2013-2014 campaign.