With only one week left in the season, its time to look at who needs what to happen to earn a chance to play for the championship. Eight teams from each classification will make the playoffs. North Allegheny will attempt to defend their Class-3A Penguins Cup championship from 2019 after the 2020 finals were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Pine-Richland, reigning Class-2A champions, will look to unseat North Allegheny in their second season in Class-3A, after their first chance was cut short just before last year’s semifinals. Similarly, Montour will look to win the Class-2A Penguins Cup after becoming Class-1A champions in 2019. Ringgold tried to repeat their 2019 championship last season, but COVID-19 stopped them before Carrick had a chance to. Look for those two to clash in this year’s postseason.
Tiebreakers for all playoff races are as follows:
- Highest points percentage between teams involved in the tie (head-to-head)
- Regular season wins
- Least penalty minutes
- Coin flip
CLASS-3A
All playoff spots have been clinched in Class-3A.
Canon-McMillan and Peters Township hold the top two seeds. Peters Township can clinch the No. 1 seed with a win and a Canon-McMillan loss in any fashion or an overtime loss and a Canon-McMillan regulation loss.
Pine-Richland is locked into the No. 3 seed.
North Allegheny’s final game against Mt. Lebanon was postponed Thursday. It is unknown whether the game will be played. If the game is not played, North Allegheny would clinch the No. 4 seed by virtue of a higher points percentage (68.42 percent) than Seneca Valley (68.42 vs. 67.5 with a Seneca Valley win over Canon-McMillan). If the game is played, North Allegheny can clinch the No. 4 seed with a win or a loss and a Seneca Valley loss. Seneca Valley can clinch the No. 4 seed with a win and a North Allegheny regulation loss.
If the North Allegheny-Mt. Lebanon game is rescheduled, Mt. Lebanon can clinch the No. 6 seed with a win and an Upper St. Clair loss. Upper St. Clair can clinch the No. 6 seed with a win and a Mt. Lebanon loss. If the game is not rescheduled, Upper St. Clair can clinch the No. 6 seed with a win. Upper St. Clair has six fewer penalty minutes than Mt. Lebanon, 160 to 166. If both clubs finish with identical point and win totals, penalty minutes would be the tiebreaker since the clubs split their two regular season meetings.
REMAINING GAMES:
Canon-McMillan @ Seneca Valley, Monday, Mar. 29, 7 p.m. Baierl Ice Complex
Peters Township @ Upper St. Clair, Monday, Mar. 29, 7 p.m. Ice Castle Arena
CURRENT PLAYOFF MATCHUPS:
No. 1 Canon-McMillan vs. No. 8 Bethel Park
No. 4 North Allegheny vs. No. 5 Seneca Valley
No. 2 Peters Township vs. No. 7 Mt. Lebanon
No. 3 Pine-Richland vs. No. 6 Upper St. Clair
CLASS-2A
Montour, Baldwin, Armstrong, and Hempfield have clinched the Northwest, Southwest, Northeast, and Southeast divisions, respectively.
Baldwin will be the No. 1 seed by virtue of the highest points percentage of the four division champions at 94.44 percent. Montour and Hempfield are tied at 66.67 percent, however Montour has three games left to play. The Spartans need at least two wins and an overtime loss to earn the No. 2 seed. Hempfield owns the head-to-head tiebreaker by virtue of their 10-1 win over Montour on Feb. 22. Armstrong will be seeded No. 4.
The next four seeds will be the best four non-division champions by points percentage. Thomas Jefferson is locked into the No. 5 seed.
Currently, Franklin Regional and Greater Latrobe would earn the No. 6 and No. 7 seeds, each having a points percentage of 61.76 percent. Each club has one game left to play. West Allegheny would earn the No. 8 seed at 59.38 percent.
The Indians have two games left to play. A win and a Penn-Trafford loss would clinch Franklin Regional, Latrobe, and West Allegheny the last three playoff spots. Latrobe would earn the No. 6 seed by virtue of wins over Both West Allegheny and Franklin Regional. West Allegheny currently holds a 27-minute penalty minute advantage, and would earn the No. 7 seed.
REMAINING GAMES:
Monday, Mar. 29, 2021
Montour @ Plum, 6:30 p.m. Pittsburgh Ice Arena
Meadville @ Hampton, 8:20 p.m. Frozen Pond Arena
Franklin Regional @ Mars, 9 p.m. Baierl Ice Complex
Tuesday, Mar. 30, 2021
Greater Latrobe @ Hampton, 7 p.m. Alpha Ice Complex
South Fayette @ West Allegheny, 7:30 p.m. RMU Island Sports Center
Moon @ Montour, 8:20 RMU Island Sports Center
Mars @ Shaler, 9 p.m. Alpha Ice Complex
Thursday, Apr. 1, 2021
Penn-Trafford @ Shaler, 8:30 p.m. Alpha Ice Complex
Moon @ West Allegheny, 9 p.m. RMU island Sports Center
South Fayette @ Montour, 9:30 p.m. RMU Island Sports Center
CURRENT PLAYOFF MATCHUPS:
No. 1 Baldwin vs. No. 8 West Allegheny
No. 4 Armstrong vs. No. 5 Thomas Jefferson
No. 2 Hempfield vs. No. 7 Greater Latrobe
No. 3 Montour vs. No. 6 Franklin Regional
CLASS-1A
Indiana has clinched the Southeast division and the No. 1 seed with the league’s only undefeated record this season at 18-0. Chartiers Valley has clinched the Southwest division and the No. 3 seed. McDowell has clinched the Northwest division and the No. 4 seed.
Kiski can clinch the Northeast division and the No. 2 seed with a Freeport loss in any fashion. Freeport can clinch the division and the No. 2 seed with a win – but only if they take no penalties during the game. The Yellowjackets hold a slim advantage in penalty minutes, 138 to 140. A Freeport win and two penalty minutes would result in a coin flip to determine the division winner. The loser of the division would earn the No. 5 seed as the best non-division champion by points percentage.
North Hills, Greensburg Salem, and North Catholic are locked into the No. 6, No. 7, and No. 8 seeds, respectively.
REMAINING GAMES:
Monday, Mar. 29, 2021
Freeport @ Fox chapel, 6 p.m. Alpha Ice Complex
Wheeling Catholic @ South Park, 7:15 p.m. Rostraver Ice Garden
Tuesday, Mar. 30, 2021
Sewickley Academy @ Wheeling Catholic, 8 p.m. Rostraver Ice Garden
McDowell @ Beaver, 8:30 p.m. Brady’s Run Ice Arena
CURRENT PLAYOFF MATCHUPS:
No. 1 Indiana vs. No. 8 North Catholic
No. 4 Kiski vs. No. 5 Freeport
No. 2 Chartiers Valley vs. No. 7 Greensburg Salem
No. 3 McDowell vs. No. 6 North Hills
CLASS-B
Neshannock has clinched the No. 1 seed in the North division. Wilmington can clinch the No. 2 seed with a win and a Bishop Canevin loss. Bishop Canevin can clinch the No. 2 seed with a win and and a Wilmington regulation loss. Avonworth is locked into the No. 4 seed.
Ringgold and Carrick have clinched the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, respectively. Connellsville can clinch the No. 3 seed with a win.
Elizabeth Forward clinches the a playoff spot with a win and a Morgantown regulation loss. Morgantown clinches a playoff spot with a win and an overtime loss. The Mohawks clinch the No. 3 seed with two wins.
REMAINING GAMES:
Monday, Mar. 29, 2021
Elizabeth Forward @ Wilmington, 7 p.m. Hess Ice Rink
Morgantown @ Connellsville, 7:15 p.m. Ice Mine
Bishop Canevin @ Burrell, 8:30 p.m. Pittsburgh Ice Arena
Tuesday, Mar. 30, 2021
Morgantown @ Bishop Canevin, 7:30 p.m. Mt. Lebanon Ice Center
CURRENT PLAYOFF MATCHUPS:
No. 1N Neshannock vs. No. 4S Morgantown
No. 1S Ringgold vs. No. 4N Avonworth
No. 2N Wilmington vs. No. 3S Connellsville
No. 2S Carrick vs. No. 3N Bishop Canevin
