The Southern Stampede locked up home advantage for next month's finals series with two wins against the West Auckland Admirals in Queenstown at the weekend.
An 11-4 trouncing on Friday night was followed by a much closer 5-2 win on Saturday. The Stampede has now won 13 of its 14 games in the national ice hockey league this season.
Its opponent in the best of three finals series will be three time defending champions the Canterbury Red Devils, who had a bye this weekend.
The Dunedin Thunder needed to win at least one of its games against the Botany Swarm in Auckland at the weekend to keep its slim chances of making the finals alive, but lost both games.
Botany, which was last before the weekend, leapfrogged the Admirals and Thunder into third place with its 6-3 and 9-1 wins against the Thunder.
The Stampede, which last won the national league in 2006, will play its last two regular season games against the Thunder in Dunedin this weekend.
It will enjoy a bye next weekend before hosting the first match of the finals against the Red Devils on August 16.
Game two of the finals series will be in Christchurch on August 22 and if a decider is needed, it will be played in Queenstown the following day.
