Macon Mayhem looking forward to rest as playoffs await
Playoff hockey awaits the Macon Mayhem on the strength of their 4-1 victory over Columbus on Friday. But first, the team gets to catch its breath before the President's Cup playoffs begin.
Macon has a much lower-stress week after the win at Columbus, which clinched a position in the postseason. A loss to the Cottonmouths would have meant the Mayhem would have to rely on Columbus to lose two of its final four games of the season.
Instead, Macon, the first team in the SPHL to have wrapped up its regular season, gets the sit back and relax while the rest of the league has games Thursday through Saturday of this week. From there, it'll be on to the first round of the playoffs. Macon's opponent in the best-of-three series is still yet to be determined, with the exact date also yet to be scheduled.
"It's great taking matters into our hands. We knew it was a must-win if we wanted to keep it in our own hands and not depend on what Columbus does," Macon goalie Garrett Bartus said. "We stepped up and got it done, it's a good thing."
The victory over Columbus carried common threads that have enabled to Mayhem to get into position for the postseason -- the scoring talents of Shawn Skelly and the play of Bartus. Skelly, who scored a goal against Columbus, is tied for second in the league in scoring with 62 points. Bartus leads the SPHL with a .929 save percentage.
The Mayhem are currently seventh in the standings, one point ahead of Louisiana. If the Ice Gators go winless in their single game Thursday against Mississippi and two against Knoxville on Friday and Saturday, Macon will go to the playoffs as the seventh seed and play the SPHL's second-place team. That playoff spot is still very much up for grabs, with second through fifth place being separated by two points.
One win by Louisiana will drop Macon to the eighth spot and a first-round matchup against first-place Peoria. The Mayhem are winless against the Rivermen this season. Peoria won't have the luxury of home ice advantage in the playoffs, being forced to play at another arena due to a scheduling conflict at its home arena, the Peoria Civic Center. Instead, the Rivermen will play home playoff games at the Owens Center, a public rink that seats approximately 950, according to the Peoria Journal.
Regardless of Macon's postseason opponent, the plan is to zero in on postseason preparations later this week after the players enjoy some down time.
"It's been a long season; we've been battling here for the past two months. It's seemed like every game that we've been playing the past month-and-a-half to two months is like a playoff game," Macon head coach Kevin Kerr said. "We're giving our guys four days off and let them get away and get away from the game for a little bit, recharge the batteries, have fun and get away and be with friends and family and come back and be ready for the playoffs."
For a number of the Mayhem players, that will include hitting the links.
"A lot of guys on the team golf; it's kind of one of our pastimes," Bartus said. "We plan on going the next few days here. It'll be nice to kind of get away from the rink."
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This story was originally published April 3, 2016 at 4:08 PM with the headline "Macon Mayhem looking forward to rest as playoffs await ."