The race for Penguins Cup and Division-2 playoff positioning is heating up! Here’s what you need to know going into week 18 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. Any ties that are broken by the tiebreaker for penalty minutes (PIM’s) will not be declared until the team with the lesser amount finishes their season.
x- earned playoff berth
y- clinched home ice in first round
z- clinched best record in regular season
*- clinched playoff seed
AAA – 9 teams
All teams qualify.
No. 8 & 9 play a play-in game at a neutral site.
Tiebreakers
Clinched tiebreakers in BOLD
Current Matchups:
(Cathedral Prep vs. Canon-McMillan) @ Peters Township
Butler @ North Allegheny
Seneca Valley @ Bethel Park
Central Catholic @ Mt. Lebanon
Scenarios/Series:
Peters Township, Bethel Park, North Allegheny and Mt. Lebanon clinched the top four seeds.
This Week:
MONDAY:
North Allegheny 2, Seneca Valley 1 at Baierl Ice Complex
TUESDAY:
Cathedral Prep 7, Canon-McMillan 3 at Printscape Arena at Southpointe
Central Catholic 5, Butler 2 at Alpha Ice Complex
THURSDAY:
Mt. Lebanon @ 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 Upper St. Clair
NW3 Hampton @ SE2 Latrobe
Scenarios:
Pine-Richland clinched the No. 1 seed in the Northwest and the best record in AA.
Upper St. Clair, Mars and Greater Latrobe clinched a playoff berth and a first-round home game.
Hempfield, Franklin Regional and Moon clinched playoff berths.
Hampton clinches the No. 3 seed in the Northwest with a regulation win over Moon
Quaker Valley clinches a playoff berth with a win or an overtime loss.
Baldwin clinched the No. 5 seed and will play the No. 4 seed in the Northwest the week of Feb. 25.
This Week:
MONDAY:
Pine-Richland 4, Mars 3 at Baierl Ice Complex
Penn-Trafford 4, Greater Latrobe 3 at Center Ice Arena
Franklin-Regional 3, Hempfield 2, OT at Kirk S. Nevin Arena
Baldwin 6, Upper St. Clair 3 at Ice Castle Arena
Hampton 10, Plum 1 at Pittsburgh Ice Arena
TUESDAY:
Armstrong 3, Shaler 1 at Alpha Ice Complex
THURSDAY:
Quaker Valley @ Baldwin, 6:40 Ice Castle Arena
Hampton @ Moon, 9:10 Baierl Ice Complex
A – 22 teams
NORTH
Top eight teams in the North qualify.
Sewickley Academy and Fox Chapel each won one game in regulation in the regular season, and are tied in wins. Third tiebreaker is less penalty minutes, or PIM’s. Currently, Sewickley Academy has 230 PIM’s, Fox Chapel 152. Fox Chapel sits in the No. 5 seed.
SOUTH/EAST
*/**Bishop McCort, Wheeling Park and Wheeling Catholic are ineligible for the postseason.
Tiebreakers:
Norwin currently holds the head-to-head tiebreaker with Westmont Hilltop, with the final game to be played on Feb. 21.
Current Matchups:
N1 Montour vs SE8 Greensburg Salem
N2 West Allegheny vs SE7 Chartiers Valley
N3 Meadville vs SE6 Westmont Hilltop
N4 North Hills vs SE5 Norwin
SE1 South Fayette vs N8 Blackhawk
SE2 Thomas-Jefferson vs N7 Freeport
SE3 Indiana vs N6 Sewickley Academy
SE4 South Park vs N5 Fox Chapel
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. There will be no re-seeding.
Scenarios:
Montour clinches the top seed in the North
South Fayette, Meadville, Thomas-Jefferson, North Hills, Indiana, South Park and West Allegheny clinched a playoff berth and a first-round home game.
Norwin, Westmont Hilltop, Freeport, Sewickley Academy, Fox Chapel, Greensburg Salem and Chartiers Valley clinched playoff berths.
This Week:
MONDAY:
South Fayette 4, Wheeling Park 0 at Mt. Lebanon Ice Center
Meadville 5, Sewickley Academy 4 at RMU ISC
West Allegheny 11, Fox Chapel 1 at Baierl Ice Complex
Indiana 5, Norwin 1 at Center Ice Arena
Montour 10, Deer Lakes 2 at Frozen Pond Arena
Thomas-Jefferson 7, Chartiers Valley 5, at Mt. Lebanon Ice Center
North Hills 7, Blackhawk 4 at RMU ISC
TUESDAY:
Kiski Area @ Bishop McCort, CANCELLED
THURSDAY:
Norwin @ Wheeling Park, 6:15 Rostraver Ice Garden
South Park @ Wheeling Catholic, 6:30 Wesbanco Arena
Westmont Hilltop @ Greensburg Salem, 8:35 Kirk S. Nevin Arena
Freeport @ Beaver, 8:45 Brady’s Run Park Ice Arena
Division-2 – 11 teams
Top eight teams qualify. Ringgold swept Connellsville in the regular season and sits in the No. 2 seed.
Current Matchups:
Trinity @ Burrell
Morgantown @ Ringgold
Central Valley @ Connellsville
Carrick @ Neshannock
Scenarios:
Burrell clinched a playoff berth, a first-round home game and home team privileges throughout the D2 postseason.
Ringgold, Connellsville and Neshannock clinched a playoff berth and a first-round home game.
Carrick and Central Valley clinched playoff berths.
Morgantown clinches a playoff berth with a win or an overtime loss.
This Week:
MONDAY:
Neshannock 9, Knoch 4 at Hess Ice Rink
TUESDAY:
Connellsville 6, Burrell 1 at Ice Mine
McDowell 4, Trinity 3 at Mercyhurst Ice Center
THURSDAY:
Carrick @ Central Valley, 6:45 Brady’s Run Park Ice Arena
Ringgold @ Morgantown, 7:30 Morgantown Ice Arena
Neshannock @ Bishop Canevin, 8:40 Ice Castle Arena
