Playoff Time

[Hockeyfan9]

Who wins the Blue Jacket Cup, The Swohshl tournament, and the Baron Cup?

Predictions

[ToledoSJ]

Eds, iggy, shaker, u school, St john's Jesuit, and sylvania northview all have shots. I highly doubt another team outside of these wins this state tourney.

[slewfoot]

My picks for tournament winners:

Columbus - Jerome
SWOHSHL - Centerville
Baron - St Ig.

Watch for both Jerome and Centerville to have early exits from District Tourney, however. Liberty will likely move on from Columbus District. (Moeller is my darkhorse pick).

St. Igs wins State without breaking a sweat... ( Shaker will give them the most trouble though).

[Hockeyfan9]

Jerome is a very good team but i can see them getting ousted early in the tournament. Liberty has been struggling of late but i think if they have a good running in the CBJ cup than that could boost their confidence for state. I think Coffman will surprise some people along with Orange. Moeller goes as their goaltending and 1st line go which is a bit concerning considering most top teams in the state have 3 solid lines. They have had injuries to a few players so it will be interesting to see how they play full strength

[Hockeyfan9]

Baron: Igs
Columbus: Jerome
Swohshl: Springboro

[TimtheEnchanter]

Baron Cup: St. Ignatius - who could imagine anyone else
Blue Jacket Cup: Jerome (on the strength of goaltending)
SWOHSHL: Springboro (Centerville doesn't have a chance - suspect goaltending, one in jail, one broken collarbone, etc.)

[CatAlum]

Those who pick Ignatius to cruise probably are unaware that they are currently without two of their best three players (Geither, McQuinn are out). McQuinn is done for the season; Geither is expected back by the time the playoffs begin. Anyhoo, Ignatius may be favored, but I don't think they're going to steamroll US, Shaker or Ed's.

[slewfoot]

minor upset in columbus tourney last night.
Upper Arlington over Dublin Coffman in OT.

[slewfoot]

Tourney champs:
Columbus - Jerome
Swhhshl - Springboro
Baron - Iggy

Anyone know about Toledo?

[ToledoSJ]

St john's Jesuit, sylvania northview, and St Francis all have good shots in Toledo. NV is the favorite.

[ToledoSJ]

Where can I find the state brackets?

[Bennies'01]

Where can I find the state brackets?

Here are the Northeast Ohio brackets:

http://shutout.com/tournament.asp?trn=61

http://shutout.com/tournament.asp?trn=62

[CatAlum]

I noticed that there are several teams in NEO that don't play in the Greater Cleveland High School Hockey League but are in the OHSAA tournament. Gilmour, Westlake, Avon...any others?

[FormerWildcat]

Where can I find the state brackets?
http://brackets.ohsaa.org/icehockey/boys/tournament12/index.html

With Dublin Jerome winning the Blue Jackets Cup, you have to believe they're the favorite to win the Columbus district.

[Bennies'01]

I noticed that there are several teams in NEO that don't play in the Greater Cleveland High School Hockey League but are in the OHSAA tournament. Gilmour, Westlake, Avon...any others?

I think that's it. Avon and Westlake will likely be petitioning to get into the GCHSHL in the next year or two.

[ToledoSJ]

Anyone else feel bad for these teams that get beat 10-0 in the first round. Why don't they have a tournament for all of these teams that have no business playing against the big boys. Would the tournament really suffer that much if it cut out some of those teams. Start the tournament in the district semi's, instead of sectional finals. There are 0 upsets of competitive teams vs. bottom dwellers in that first round... They can have a tournament of maybe 24 teams and find their own winner. It wouldn't be as embarassing as getting mercied in the 2nd period by a big D1 school.

[CatAlum]

Anyone else feel bad for these teams that get beat 10-0 in the first round. Why don't they have a tournament for all of these teams that have no business playing against the big boys. Would the tournament really suffer that much if it cut out some of those teams. Start the tournament in the district semi's, instead of sectional finals. There are 0 upsets of competitive teams vs. bottom dwellers in that first round... They can have a tournament of maybe 24 teams and find their own winner. It wouldn't be as embarassing as getting mercied in the 2nd period by a big D1 school.

It's an OHSAA sanctioned sport. They have rules about how many divisions there are based on the number of schools playing the sport. The number of schools supports only one division.

[slewfoot]

Plus I kind of like the set up. Sort of like Indiana basketball champ a' la Hoosiers. There are some second round upsets too. If it weren't for Ignatious this year, I would say the State Chapionship is wide open....

[Bennies'01]

It's an OHSAA sanctioned sport. They have rules about how many divisions there are based on the number of schools playing the sport. The number of schools supports only one division.

And beyond that, there would still be uncompetitive early round games in a two division format because schools like University School and Gilmour Academy, among other powerhouses, would likely be in the small schools division.

[cjb56]

I think that's it. Avon and Westlake will likely be petitioning to get into the GCHSHL in the next year or two.

This is Avon's first year as a varsity program, and first year to compete in the OHSAA playoffs. They beat Parma 6-0 tonight, and their "reward" is to face Ed's on Saturday. I expect they will apply to join with the other Cleveland area teams ASAP.

[Bennies'01]

This is Avon's first year as a varsity program, and first year to compete in the OHSAA playoffs. They beat Parma 6-0 tonight, and their "reward" is to face Ed's on Saturday. I expect they will apply to join with the other Cleveland area teams ASAP.

What do you mean? They're towards the bottom of the totem poll, so even when they do join the GCHSHL, they're still almost certainly going to be looking at first or second round playoff matchups with schools like Eds, Iggy, Padua, Shaker, etc.

[cjb56]

What do you mean? They're towards the bottom of the totem poll, so even when they do join the GCHSHL, they're still almost certainly going to be looking at first or second round playoff matchups with schools like Eds, Iggy, Padua, Shaker, etc.

I mean that I'm sure they had fun whooping up on Parma, but now they face a state power...and the fun time on the ice, and the season, is over.

[Bennies'01]

I mean that I'm sure they had fun whooping up on Parma, but now they face a state power...and the fun time on the ice, and the season, is over.

Gotcha.

[arizonawildcat]

Ignatius opens up its state tourney run with a 7-0 win over Padua, raising its record for the year to 37-0. Ignatius will next face the winner of Amherst-Rocky River.

[CatAlum]

Anyone have a take on why Padua, the #7 seed @ Brooklyn, chose to take on Ignatius in the first round? They played the Cats 4 times this year, lost 5-1, 8-0, 7-0 and 10-2. They could have put themselves in a number of other places and gotten in a game or two before they took on a seeded team. Why the #1 seed?

And I get the argument that you're going to have to play the best teams sooner or later, but why the #1 seed right out of the box? Were they thinking maybe Geither wouldn't be back yet?

Did the coach have a condo on the beach reserved for next week?

[ToledoSJ]

Anyone have a take on why Padua, the #7 seed @ Brooklyn, chose to take on Ignatius in the first round? They played the Cats 4 times this year, lost 5-1, 8-0, 7-0 and 10-2. They could have put themselves in a number of other places and gotten in a game or two before they took on a seeded team. Why the #1 seed?

And I get the argument that you're going to have to play the best teams sooner or later, but why the #1 seed right out of the box? Were they thinking maybe Geither wouldn't be back yet?

Did the coach have a condo on the beach reserved for next week?

They want to make sure they lose to the best team in Ohio High school hockey history, instead of blowing a game before Iggy?

[CatAlum]

They want to make sure they lose to the best team in Ohio High school hockey history, instead of blowing a game before Iggy?

There may actually be truth to this.

I have heard from a couple of hockey people who have theorized that Padua's coach was concerned they might lose a game to a team from a lesser league (Red South- e.g., Rocky River, Walsh, Hudson), thereby jeopardizing Padua's spot in the Red North.

[Bennies'01]

There may actually be truth to this.

I have heard from a couple of hockey people who have theorized that Padua's coach was concerned they might lose a game to a team from a lesser league (Red South- e.g., Rocky River, Walsh, Hudson), thereby jeopardizing Padua's spot in the Red North.

Padua's already lost several games to non-Red North schools from the Cleveland area. If the GCHSHL is consistent, there shouldn't be a question as to whether or not the Bruins are in the Red North next year--they absolutely should not be based on their division record. Only once in the past five or six years has the team with the worst record in the Red North remained in the division the following year, and quite frankly I'm not sure that Padua has the whining power that Eds had in 2010.

But never has a loss in the OHSAA tournament specifically cost a school a spot in the Red North. (Although in fairness, I am hearing rumblings that there could be a fairly significant realignment of the divisions next year in which case all bets are off and it is possible that Padua's entire resume could be used to judge where to place it--but if the realignment happens, Padua still wouldn't be in the new Red North because it won't still have seven teams).

[CatAlum]

But never has a loss in the OHSAA tournament specifically cost a school a spot in the Red North.

Well, do you have an opinion as to why Padua would have picked this game? It really doesn't make any sense from a competitive standpoint.

[Bennies'01]

Well, do you have an opinion as to why Padua would have picked this game? It really doesn't make any sense from a competitive standpoint.

No clue at all. Perhaps they thought they could spring another upset, even though that thought would have been ridiculous.

[arizonawildcat]

Behind four goals by Aboud (sp), Ignatius tops Rocky River 7-3. The Cats' 39th win ties the school record for most consecutive wins by any Ignatius team. The Cats now face on Saturday the winner of the Ed's-Shaker game tomorrow. The district final on Saturday, in my admittedly prejudiced view, will be the real state championship game.

[Bennies'01]

The district final on Saturday, in my admittedly prejudiced view, will be the real state championship game.

In most years if you said such a thing you'd be dead wrong, but this year, because of the relative weakness at the top of the Kent and Toledo districts, it's probably spot on.

[ToledoXC]

In most years if you said such a thing you'd be dead wrong, but this year, because of the relative weakness at the top of the Kent and Toledo districts, it's probably spot on.

You're probably right. Northview or St. Johns shouldn't bother to show up in Columbus.

[arizonawildcat]

No, Northview-St. Johns winner should go to Columbus just to enjoy the bye that they're going to have in the semifinal game. Notice how Bennies'01 didn't even bother to mention the Columbus district.

[CatAlum]

I think that Ignatius has now gotten beyond the point that their record is a burden. From this point forward, if they continue to win, they will play solid competition (Ed's or Shaker, Gilmour or US, Northview or TSJ) and a close loss to any of those teams is possible. They can't/won't look beyond the current opponent. They're the favorites but this is a sport where the better team doesn't always win...even when they play reasonably well. So, good luck to the Cats and forget about the record.

[Bennies'01]

You're probably right. Northview or St. Johns shouldn't bother to show up in Columbus.

You know what, I'm going to backtrack here a little bit. I had heard from a second-hand source that Northview had a terrible record against Red North teams, but upon not being lazy and doing my own research, it turns out that they did pretty well. I think they'd have a decent shot against Iggy and probably at least a slight favorite against anyone else.

As azcat points out, however, they will get a bye into the finals which should help them even further.

[CatAlum]

You know what, I'm going to backtrack here a little bit. I had heard from a second-hand source that Northview had a terrible record against Red North teams, but upon not being lazy and doing my own research, it turns out that they did pretty well. I think they'd have a decent shot against Iggy and probably at least a slight favorite against anyone else.

As azcat points out, however, they will get a bye into the finals which should help them even further.

Correction of some data I collected before (must have been asleep when I did it)...

Northview vs. Red North (3-0-2)

Padua 6-0
Lake 3-3
Ed's 3-2
US 0-0
US 6-0

TSJ v. Red North (3-2-1)

Padua 3-0
Padua 4-3
Lake 5-1
Lake 0-2
Ed's 2-3
US 1-1

Northview has two good wins (Ed's and US). TSJ does not have a win over one of the top Red North teams.

[arizonawildcat]

I think that Ignatius has now gotten beyond the point that their record is a burden. From this point forward, if they continue to win, they will play solid competition (Ed's or Shaker, Gilmour or US, Northview or TSJ) and a close loss to any of those teams is possible. They can't/won't look beyond the current opponent. They're the favorites but this is a sport where the better team doesn't always win...even when they play reasonably well. So, good luck to the Cats and forget about the record.

When the football playoffs begin, it is invariably brought up how difficult it is to defeat the same team twice in one season. Now in the hockey playoffs, Ignatius is faced with the situation whether it can defeat the same team four times in a season (either Ed's or Shaker, and then Gilmour) or three times in the case with University. Teams so familiar with Ignatius may well be more dangerous competition than a team like Northview who has yet to see them.

[arizonawildcat]

OK, let the fun begin: Ignatius vs. Ed's again!

[ToledoXC]

OK, let the fun begin: Ignatius vs. Ed's again!

Will this game be online?

[arizonawildcat]

Audio of the game will be carried on the Ignatius broadcasting network. Go to the Ignatius homepage and follow the prompts.

[ToledoSJ]

Sylvania Northview with the 2-1 victory over SJJ.

[Bennies'01]

Who won Columbus?

[MikeWilliams]

Eagles win!

[Hockeyfan9]

Olentangy Orange won the columbus district. Big upset over Dublin Jerome, but not ever close to as big as the Eds victory over Iggys

[FormerWildcat]

Olentangy Orange won the columbus district. Big upset over Dublin Jerome, but not ever close to as big as the Eds victory over Iggys
http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/sports/2012/03/03/hockey-district-final-olentangy-orange-dublin-jerome.html

[fballfan]

here is the audio link for Saturday's state semi-final game between St. Ed's and US.

http://www.ihigh.com/stedward/

[ToledoSJ]

The district final on Saturday, in my admittedly prejudiced view, will be the real state championship game.

LOL! Toledo and Cleveland have split in the past 6 years :p

[jlach22]

Absolutely TSJ. SFS, SJJ and NV have all had very good teams recently. But they are the only teams outside of Cleveland. You have to admit, it certainly has helped all 3 of them them having the "bye" in the 1st round of the frozen four.