The biggest storyline of the season is the ridiculous situation of the Great Lakes Division. The way it is looking right now, it is more than likely that the fourth team in the Eastern Conference will miss the playoffs because of the lack of balance between that division and the other Eastern Conference division. If they weren't directly competing and playing against each other so often, these teams might be the four highest teams in the SHL.

To make this storyline even more tragic, the team that's on pace to miss the playoffs in the Great Lakes division is the defending champions of the Chicago Syndicate. The team, which definitely didn't get worse over the offseason, is currently at 48 points in 38 games, while Buffalo is in front of them at 53 points in 40 games. The gap could be closed and Chicago could pass the Stampede, but Buffalo missing the playoffs wouldn't make any sense either.