High School. [15 games, weekend of February 24-25-26, Chiller North rink, Columbus]

The top 12 ranked Ohio high school teams (per My Hockey Rankings published Feb 8, 2023) qualify for the Buckeye Cup Tournament, hosted this year by the Ohio Scholastic Hockey League (Columbus) on February 24-25-26, 2023, with the champion advancing to the USA Hockey High School National Championship in Plymouth, Minnesota March 23 to 27, 2023.

18U.

Team Ohio (Premier) 18U AA won the pre-post bracket in October.  No full-year 18U team registered for the tournament, so Team Ohio advances to the USA Hockey Youth Tier II 18U National Championship in Maple Grove (Minneapolis), Minnesota March 30 to April 3, 2023.

16U.  [4 games, weekend of March 10-11-12, Chiller rinks, Columbus]

Team Ohio (Premier) 16U AA won the pre-post bracket in October 2022.  There are 3 full-year teams registered:  Cincinnati Swords 16U AA; Sylvania North Stars (Full) 16U AA and SISU Thunderbirds 16U AA,  which will play a round robin playoff (3 games total), hosted by the Columbus Chill Youth Hockey Association, the weekend of March 10-11-12 2023, to determine the full-year bracket winner.  The full-year bracket winner will play the pre-post bracket winner Team Ohio in a one-game playoff on Monday, March 13, with the champion advancing to the USA Hockey Youth Tier II 16U National Championship in Amherst, New York March 30 to April 3, 2023.

14U.  [13 games, weekend of March 10-11-12, Chiller rinks, Columbus]

There is no pre-post bracket at 14U.  There will be an 8-team full-year tournament, hosted by the Columbus Chill Youth Hockey Association on March 10-11-12, 2023, with the champion advancing to the USA Hockey Youth Tier II 14U National Championship in Denver, Colorado March 30 to April 3, 2023. The 8 teams are:

1. Sylvania North Stars (#1) 08 AA
2. Columbus EDP Spiders AA
3. Columbus Blue Jackets 08 AA
4. Toledo Cherokee 08 AA
5. Cincinnati Swords (Andreae) 08 AA
6. Columbus Capitals 08 AA
7. Cleveland Sharks (#401) AA
8. Gilmour Gladiators (#402) AA

lb/tjo.rev3.(2-5-23)

2022-23 Ohio Youth Tier II State Tournament (18U, 16U, 14U)

(Posted August 25, 2022)

1. Deadline to apply to play in the tournament for pre-post teams is Thursday September 15, 2022. [Note the application form states the deadline is September 21, but the form is wrong]. We take a maximum of 6 teams, so if we have 6 or more teams that have timely applied, then any team applying late will be ineligible.

2. Deadline to apply to play in the tournament for full year teams is December 31, 2022.

3. Because Ohio is a Federation state, and many of our players play during the winter for their high school team, Ohio has developed a two-pronged tournament. The so-called pre-post teams play in a tournament in late October to declare a pre-post tournament champion, then those teams dissolve so their players can play for their high school. Full year teams play in a tournament in early March to declare a full year champion. Immediately after the full year team tournament, the pre-post champion plays the full year champion in a one-game playoff, with the winner going to the USA Hockey National Tournament.

4. The USA Hockey National Tournaments occur March 30-April 3, 2023 in the following locales:

a. 18U – Maple Grove, Minnesota

b. 16U – Amherst, New York

c. 14U – Denver, Colorado

5. The pre-post tournament is in Sylvania, Ohio the weekend of October 21-22-23, 2022.

6. The full year tournament is also in Sylvania and will be played the weekend of March 10-11-12, 2023.

7. The championship game between the pre-post champion and the full year champion will be played in Sylvania either Monday, March 13 or Tuesday, March 14, 2023.

8. The application to play in the tournament must be postmarked by Thursday, September 15 and accompanied by a check for $1,200 made out to Mid Am Hockey. Any application received without a check will not be considered filed until a check is physically received.

9. We will accept 2, 3, 4 or 6 teams in the tournament.

10. We will not accept 5 teams in the tournament. If we have 5 teams that have timely filed an application, we will attempt to recruit a 6th team, but if we are unsuccessful, then the excluded team will be refunded its money. The excluded team will be the lowest ranked team in the My Hockey Rankings published Wednesday, September 14, except that the home team program is guaranteed a spot in the tournament. 11. If we have more than 6 teams apply before the deadline, then we will look to the My Hockey Rankings published Wednesday, September 14 and take the top 6 ranked teams.

12. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the home team program is guaranteed a spot in the tournament.

13. There will be a mandatory coaches meeting Tuesday, October 18th at 7:00 PM via Zoom. Failure of a team to have a representative at the meeting will cause the head coach to be suspended from his team’s first game.

14. If there are 2, 3 or 4 teams in the tournament, then the game schedule will be a round-robin with each team playing every other team in the tournament with the champion being determined by points (i.e. no championship game). We do not accept 5 teams. If there are 6 teams in the tournament, then there will be a 3-game seeded preliminary round with the top 2 teams by points advancing to the championship game. A seeded tournament is where the top ranked team plays the easiest schedule with each seeded team playing a progressively harder schedule.

15. The 18U & 16U games are 17-minute periods and the 14U games are 16 minutes. All games are officiated using the 4-official system. 16. The tournament will be governed by the USA Hockey National Tournament Guidebook

Gui Bradshaw
gui5603@yahoo.com

Ed Gingher
edgingher@gmail.com

Jim Smith
cshlsecretary@yahoo.com