Parity in the Western Lacrosse Association is going to put a big damper on at least three senior A clubs this year.
With the final week of the regular season soon to unfold, the possible final scenarios for all seven teams are too many to mention. Suffice to say that all but the New Westminster Salmonbellies and Victoria Shamrocks are fighting for their playoff lives.
Even the Langley Thunder, which currently enjoys third place with 16 points to date, is not out of the woods just yet.
In fact, with two games left against the suddenly recharged Coquitlam Adanacs, the Thunders playoff prospects don't seem like such a sure thing.
What is even less sure is the final placement of the Burnaby Lakers.
The senior Lakers finished at the bottom of the table tied with Langley last year, both with 6-12 records.
The Lakers could end the regular season with close to those same numbers despite showing a lot more promise and competitiveness this summer.
That's the irony of this most interesting of WLA seasons.
With just 13 points to date and two games left to play, it is extremely doubtful that a win Friday night at home against the Maple Ridge Burrards will be enough to secure a berth for the Lakers into the ensuing playoff round.
That means that Burnaby will have to pull off what two week's ago would have seemed the near-impossible - beating the league-leading Salmonbellies.
Suddenly, after a 9-8 victory over the nationally No. 1 'Bellies at home a week earlier, and coupled with the Adanacs' decisive win over New West last week, a series win over the 24-time Mann Cup champs doesn't seem so challenging - or does it?
With just a three-point lead on the second-place Shamrocks, New Westminster cannot afford to give up any more points to Victoria, which finishes up its schedule with back-to-back games on the Island against Nanaimo.
Stay tuned.
The first piece to the puzzle will unfold on Wednesday when the Adanacs visit the Langley Civic Centre.
Burnaby then moves into Queen's Park Arena on Thursday for its biggest test of the season. The following night, the Lakers will play host to the Burrards in a must-win contest.
The suspense could drag out to Sunday, when the Salmonbellies and Burrards end the WLA season in Maple Ridge.
