With a round to go Jeff's squad is only 4 points out of the last spot.  Their opponent, Bart, has played themselves out of contention today, so their last chance for glory is to play the role of spoiler.  The 8th place squad, Ballantyne, plays Molson, but Molson has little left to play for, since Thurston has all but clinched first overall.  Still, I'd rather be in Jeff's team's position (down 4 playing an unknown 4-bagger instead of up 4 playing the class of the field.)  If they win 18-12, they're in if Molson beats Ballantyne.  If they win 21-9, they're guaranteed at worst a tie for 8th, no matter what anyone else does.  It's nice to be in control of your own destiny when the last match rolls around.

I hope the results are posted promptly.

They did it.  While they set themselves up for heartbreak by only winning 20-10, it would have taken a minor miracle for that to not have been enough (Ballantyne beating Molson and Chevalier tying L'Ecuyer exactly.)  It's a good thing they didn't rely on Molson beating Ballantyne, because Ballantyne stepped up and won that match 16-14. Clutch. 

L'Ecuyer's team faded in the stretch.  They knew they needed a win to clinch a playoff spot and that any loss left them vulnerable (they were tied for 5/6 with their final opponent, so whichever team won would clinch a spot, while the loser could easily be overtaken by Jeff's squad for 8th place.)  They got BLITZED.  Ouch.  Jeff's squad could have lost 23-7 and still squeaked in, as it turned out.

Thanks to [edit: Susie and] Dan Korbel for posting the results.  CBF updates continue to be ridiculously slow in making an appearance.

Thurston 407
Molson 376
Bowman 362
Chevalier 351
Nowlan 351
Todd 340
Frukacz 340
Ballantyne 340

Jeff and company play our friends from Ottawa, the Bowmans, and their squad, tomorrow in the quarterfinals.  They clash regularly in IMP League matches at the Ottawa Bridge Centre and it should be a good one.  I hope that the luck is evenly distributed and may the team that plays best win.