The Winston-Salem Wolves have held the number one playoff seed since defeating the DC Heat at home on April 14, but keeping that seed ranking certainly hasn’t been a cake walk.

Following the win over the Heat, the Wolves travelled to Fayetteville to face a team that had been on a six game winning streak and only one game out of the top seed – additionally, the Wolves had dropped their earlier game to Fayetteville and losing again would mean the Wolves would fall behind if the seeding came down to a tiebreaker. The Wolves managed to eke out the win on the road and hold onto that top seed – for now.

After falling to the Wolves, the DC Heat continued to win, as did the Petersburg Cavaliers, both of whom now only have two losses each; the Heat are 11-2 on the season, with a 9-2 conference record, and Petersburg is 9-2 overall with a 7-2 conference record. This means that despite only a few games remaining in the regular season, the playoff seeding isn’t set, and the Wolves need to remain focused.

The Wolves only have one regular season game on the schedule, June 1 at Petersburg, while the Cavaliers have two games left before the playoffs. On May 25, they will face the NC Capitals before returning home to host the Wolves. Meanwhile, the DC Heat have wrapped up their regular season and can only wait to see if the Wolves drop their final game. A Wolves win clinches the number one seed, but a loss would push DC into the number one spot – DC defeated Petersburg earlier in the season and holds the tiebreaker if both Petersburg and DC finish with the same record.

Of course, playoff seeding is only one factor that matters in the postseason, as the Wolves are well aware. Last season the Wolves grabbed the number one playoff seed only to lose in the first round of the playoffs, a sting that the current team is well aware of. The team is focused on not only returning to the playoffs, which they’ve now clinched, but also making a serious run at the ECBL title.