The race for Penguins Cup playoff positioning is heating up! Here’s what you need to know going into week 15 of the PIHL season.
NOTES: All first-round home games are subject to ice availability, and in the event of a neutral-site game the team that is the ‘higher seed’ is considered the home team. In AA, if two teams are tied for fifth in either division, they will play a tiebreaker game at a neutral site and the ‘home team’ will be decided by coin flip prior to the game.
x- earned playoff berth
y- clinched home ice in first round
AAA – 9 teams
All teams qualify.
No. 8 & 9 play a play-in game at a neutral site.
Current Matchups:
(Cathedral Prep vs. Canon-McMillan) @ Peters Township
Seneca Valley @ North Allegheny
Central Catholic @ Bethel Park
Butler @ Mt. Lebanon
Scenarios:
Peters Township and North Allegheny each clinched a first-round home playoff game.
Bethel Park clinches a playoff berth with a win or a Cathedral Prep loss.
Mt. Lebanon clinches a playoff berth with a win.
This Week:
MONDAY:
Bethel Park 4, Seneca Valley 1 at Baierl Ice Complex
North Allegheny 5, Canon-McMillan 2 at Baierl Ice Complex
Peters Township 6, Butler 0 at Frozen Pond Arena
THURSDAY:
Mt. Lebanon @ Cathedral Prep, 8:30 Mercyhurst Ice Center
Canon-McMillan @ Bethel Park, 9:00 Spencer Family YMCA
AA – 14 teams
Northwest
Southeast
4/5 seeds play opposite conference play-in games in to the quarter-final at a neutral site. A tie for 5th requires a play-in game between the tied schools.
Current Matchups
(NW5 Quaker Valley @ SE4 Franklin Regional) @ NW 1 Pine Richland
SE3 Hempfield @ NW2 Mars
(SE5 Baldwin @ NW4 Moon) @ SE 1 Greater Latrobe
NW3 Hampton @ SE2 Upper St. Clair
Scenarios:
Pine-Richland clinched a playoff berth and a first-round home game.
Mars clinched a playoff berth. The Fighting Planets clinch a first-round home game with a win OR an overtime loss AND/OR losses by both Hampton and Moon.
Upper St. Clair clinches a playoff berth with a Penn-Trafford loss in any format.
Hampton clinches a playoff berth with a win or overtime loss OR a loss by Armstrong.
Moon clinches a playoff berth with a win and a loss by Armstrong OR an overtime loss and losses by Armstrong and Shaler.
This Week:
MONDAY:
Baldwin 4, Plum 1 at Ice Castle Arena
Pine-Richland 9, Franklin Regional 1 at Center Ice Arena
Greater Latrobe 2, Upper St. Clair 1 at Kirk S. Nevin Arena
THURSDAY:
Quaker Valley @ Armstrong, 7:00 Belmont Complex
Penn-Trafford @ Hempfield, 7:15 Kirk S. Nevin Arena
Shaler @ Mars, 9:10 Baierl Ice Complex
A – 22 teams
NORTH
Top eight teams in the North qualify.
Beaver and Blackhawk split the season series in regulation. The tiebreaker will be total wins, and if they are still tied, then the lesser of total penalty minutes wins the tiebreaker. Beaver currently holds the tiebreaker at 124-126 penalty minutes.
EAST
Top two teams qualify automatically.
*Bishop McCort is ineligible for the postseason.
SOUTH
Top two teams qualify automatically.
**Wheeling Park and Wheeling Catholic are ineligible for the postseason.
Current Matchups:
The single-A postseason is a bit complex. The North will remain its own division and be ranked 1-8 as per the points standings. The South and East will be combined, with the top two teams in each of the divisions guaranteed a spot in the postseason. The final four teams will be the teams with the highest point totals in the South and East regardless of division. Those eight teams will then be ranked 1-8 based off of the point totals. All tiebreakers will be consistent with the PIHL rules
The first round will see the two ‘divisions’ play each other. The top four teams will face the bottom four teams of the opposite division in the format of 1v8, 2v7, 3v7 and 4v5.
Scenarios:
Montour and West Allegheny clinched a playoff berth and a first-round home game.
Meadville, South Park, Thomas Jefferson, Indiana, North Hills, Norwin, South Fayette, Westmont Hilltop and Chartiers Valley clinched playoff berths.
This Week:
MONDAY:
South Fayette 3, Chartiers Valley 1 at Mt. Lebanon Ice Center
Montour 17, Sewickley Academy 1, at RMU ISC
Meadville 12, Beaver 1 at Meadville Area Recreation Complex
North Hills 3, West Allegheny 2 at RMU ISC
TUESDAY:
Wheeling Catholic 6, Kiski Area 3 at Wesbanco Arena
Indiana 7, Westmont Hilltop 5 at 1st Summit Arena at the CCWM
Bishop McCort 7, Norwin 1 at Center Ice Arena
THURSDAY:
South Park @ Wheeling Park, 6:30 Wesbanco Arena
Fox Chapel @ Blackhawk, 6:45 Brady’s Run
Deer Lakes @ Freeport, 9:00 Belmont Complex
Kiski Area @ Greensburg-Salem, 9:15 Kirk S. Nevin Arena
Division-2 – 11 teams
Top eight teams qualify.
Current Matchups:
Trinity @ Burrell
Morgantown @ Ringgold
Central Valley @ Neshannock
Carrick @ Connellsville
Scenarios:
Burrell clinched a playoff berth. The Bucs clinch a first-round home game with a win.
Connellsville and Neshannock clinched playoff berths.
Ringgold clinched a playoff berth. The Rams clinch a first-round home game with a regulation loss by Carrick.
Carrick clinches a playoff berth with a win.
This Week:
MONDAY:
Ringgold 13, McDowell 1 at Rostraver Ice Garden
Neshannock 2, Morgantown 1 at Hess Ice Rink
Burrell 10, Bishop Canevin 2 at Pittsburgh Ice Arena
TUESDAY:
Trinity 4, Knoch 0 at Printscape Arena at Southpointe
THURSDAY:
Carrick @ Morgantown, 7:30 Morgantown Ice Arena
Connellsville @ Bishop Canevin, 8:00 Ice Castle Arena
