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December 13, 2024
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MYHSAL Hockey Playoff Preview

This is a continuation of last week’s article, updating the MYHSAL hockey and basketball leagues as they wind toward the postseason. The following is current as of Tuesday, and by the time that you read this, all postseason placement will have been determined.

Varsity Hockey

Five teams will make the postseason from each conference with the fourth and fifth seeds crossing over to meet their opposites (East 4 vs. West 5, West 4 vs. East 5) and the winner taking over the respective fourth seed’s spot in the traditional playoff bracket.

All five playoff teams have been decided in the Western Conference and their playoff positions have become more interesting after Ramaz defeated SAR last week. The loss was part of a week that saw Frisch (13-1, 26 points) clinch the division with SAR (10-4, 20 points) claiming the West #2 spot. The race for third place will be decided as early as Wednesday night. As of print-time, Ramaz (9-4-1, 19 points) held the spot but, with no games left, are at the mercy of Kushner (9-4, 18 points) and TABC (8-4-1, 17 points) in their final contests and could find themselves slipping down to fifth before all is said and done.

Kushner has the advantage for the third seed, only needing a victory over MTA (2/5) to stay out of the play-in game. A loss would open the door for TABC who would then need only a victory over Flatbush (2/6) to claim the spot. A Kushner win, however, would mean that a TABC win would give the Storm fourth place and host a play-in game against the East fifth seed. A TABC loss or tie would give that honor to Ramaz.

Varsity Hockey East

In the East, DRS (12-0-1, 25 points), has already locked up the #1 seed and will host the winner of the West #4/ East #5 contest in the quarterfinals. Behind them, Rambam (8-4-1, 17 points), HAFTR (7-5-1, 15 points), North Shore (6-6-1, 13 points) and Flatbush (5-7, 10 points) have already clinched playoff berths with Rambam and HAFTR guaranteed to either finish second or third. Rambam has the advantage as a result of HAFTR’s loss to DRS on Sunday and will earn the #2 seed should they get any points in their remaining game with winless SSLI (2/5). In the event that Rambam slips up, HAFTR will have the opportunity to tie Rambam with a win against North Shore (2/6), and holds the strength of schedule tiebreaker over the Ravens.

The fourth and fifth seeds will come down to North Shore and Flatbush. The Falcons made things interesting last week, defeating North Shore to clinch the final playoff berth and keep the fight for fourth place open, however, they will need wins in both of their remaining games (vs. HANC 2/4, vs. TABC 2/6) and a North Shore loss to HAFTR in order to jump the Stars into fourth place.

JV Hockey

The junior varsity playoff format will see the top four teams in each division earning playoff spots and crossing over in a traditional Olympic tournament format.

The West concluded on Monday night and all seeds were determined at print-time. The East still had games remaining.

Going on the road in the first round will be West #3 Frisch, who will travel to East #2 YDE, and West #4 MTA, who will have a date with East champion DRS.

SAR and TABC had their seedings determined this past Monday night when Frisch defeated TABC, giving the Sting the West crown, while TABC dropped to the #2 spot. Their playoff opponents were decided after print-time with two contests in Brooklyn, as HANC (4-4-1, 9 points) traveled to Flatbush (4-5, 8 points) and Rambam (3-4-1-1, 8 points) went on the road to YDE.

The winner of the HANC-Flatbush contest, should there be one, will be the third seed, with the loser awaiting Rambam’s result. A Rambam win would then grant the Ravens the final spot, with a Rambam loss giving the spot to the HANC-Flatbush loser.

The scenarios get interesting if HANC-Flatbush goes to overtime. If HANC wins in overtime, HANC will grab the third seed while Flatbush will earn the #4 seed, due to tiebreak. If the teams tie, HANC will have 10 points and earn the third seed, with Flatbush at nine awaiting Rambam, where only a win would give the Ravens the fourth seed.

If, however, Flatbush wins in overtime, Flatbush and HANC will be tied at 10 points, with the possibility of Rambam also gaining 10. Should Rambam win, all three teams would tie with 10 points. Flatbush would earn the third seed by virtue of the three-way head to head tiebreaker. As to HANC and Rambam, they would be tied in points, wins and head to head and would need to resort to strength of schedule to determine the fourth seed, which would give the spot to the Ravens.


Elliot Weiselberg is the voice of the Yeshiva League Championships, formerly the host of the Court Report on the Nachum Segal Network, currently the editor of the JM in the AM Sports Update for Nachum Segal airing on Tuesdays around 7:20 a.m. and a regular contributor to the Yeshiva League Pass account on Instagram.

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