Following is the 2018-19 play-off structure and date guidelines.
The League Executive shall coordinate the League Playoff Tournament Schedule in coordination with the Host Site.
For the League Championship Playoffs, the Division Governor is responsible for coordinating all play-off schedules with the respective teams, and in the case of any conflicts, the Division Governor may arbitrate, unconditionally.
General
Tie Breaker: In the event teams are tied for play-off position as of the final standings, the procedure for establishing seeding will be based on the following:
If two teams are tied:
1st - best record head to head games
2nd - most wins
3rd - highest goal average* in head to head games.
4th - highest goal average* in total regular season games.
5th - the team with the least number of penalty minutes in the regular season.
6th - the team that scored the first goal in the last head to head meeting of the teams.
*Goal Average is defined as:
Total number of goals divided by total number of goals for + against.
Example: For 10 goals Against 4 goals
Percentage = 10/10+4 = 10/14 = .714
If three teams are tied:
1st - the team with the most wins would gain the highest position, the second most teams the next position, and so on.
2nd - if teams are still tied after the 1st tiebreaker, then the team with the highest goal average would obtain the highest position.
3rd - if all three percentages are different for the three teams that are tied, then the first, second and third place is decided with the highest percentage gaining 1st place, and the lowest percentage gaining 3rd place. The tie breaking procedure will not go back to two teams.
4th - if two or more teams are still tied after tiebreakers 1, 2 and 3, then the fewest penalty minutes during the regular season would decide the placement.
5th - if three teams remain tied, a coin toss shall determine the position. All 3 teams shall toss a coin, and the first one that tosses the odd coin is first. To determine second spot, the team that scored first in the last head to head game between the tied teams during the regular season shall be in second position.
Round Robin Conference Tournament
The Host Sites for the 2019 Conference Tournaments are:
Pee Wee North - West Central (Sylvan Lake) Tigers
Pee Wee South - Taber Golden Suns
Bantam North - Olds Grizzlys
Bantam South - Wheatland Warriors
Midget North - Central Alberta (Lacombe) Selects
Midget South - Okotoks Oilers
The first stage of the play offs shall be a round robin Conference Tournament. These will include all teams in the Conference (North and South) and will be hosted in one site on: Pee Wee and Midget March 7-10; Bantam Feb. 28- March 3 (This is due to Hockey Alberta setting Bantam provincials a week prior to Pee Wee and Midget). The North and South Tournament winners shall advance to the League Championship Play Offs.
NOTE: Cranbrook is eligible to participate in the Conference Tournament, but should they win the Conference Tournament, the runner-up would be the South representative in the League Championship Finals.
In round robin play, tie games shall end at the end of regulation time. Each team shall receive 1 point in the Standings.
In the semi-final and finals, the following overtime protocols apply:
Overtime Rules: Overtime is sudden death - the first team to score wins. If game ends in tie, a 5-minute break will be given, and the game will resume with 10 minutes on the game clock.
If still tied after the initial 10-minute overtime period, the ice will be flooded and the second overtime period of 20 minutes will then commence.
This process will continue until a winner is decided.
In the event there are ties for spots at the end of the round robin play, the tiebreakers are as follows:
If two teams are tied:
1st - best record head to head games in round robin.
2nd - most wins in round robin.
3rd - highest goal average* in head to head games in round robin.
4th - highest goal average* in total round robin games.
5th - the team with the least number of penalty minutes in the round robin.
6th - the team that scored the first goal in the last head to head meeting of the teams (in round robin or if not applicable then in regular season play).
*Goal Average is defined as:
Total number of goals divided by total number of goals for + against.
Example: For 10 goals Against 4 goals
Percentage = 10/10+4 = 10/14 = .714
If three or more teams are tied:
1st - the team with the most wins in the round robin would gain the highest position, the second most teams the next position, and so on.
2nd - if 3 teams are still tied after the 1st tiebreaker, then the team with the highest goal average in the round robin would obtain the highest position.
if all three teams remain tied, then the tiebreaker shall be determined by ranking the teams based on total penalty minutes in the round robin.
If all three teams remain tied, then the next tie breaker is a coin toss. All 3 teams shall toss a coin, and the first one that tosses the odd coin is first. To determine second spot, the procedures for “if two teams are tied” shall be used to determine the positions.
if at any time, after the application of the goal average tiebreaker two teams remain tied, then the procedures for “if two teams are tied” will be imposed to determine the results.
3rd - if all three percentages are different for the three teams that are tied, then the first, second and third place is decided with the highest percentage gaining 1st place, and the lowest percentage gaining 3rd place. The tie breaking procedure will not go back to two teams.
League Championship Playoffs
Pee Wee and Midget will be on March 14-17, Bantam March 7-10, and shall be a Best of Three series, with the team with the highest winning percentage in the regular season being the home team. The same tie breaker system as described for the final regular season standings rankings above will be utilized in the event teams are tied for home ice. Game 1 shall be at the higher seed, game 2 at the lower seed, with game 3 if required at the higher seed. Regular season rules apply, excepting that each game will be played until a winner is determined.
Overtime Rules: Overtime is sudden death - the first team to score wins. If game ends in tie, a 5-minute break will be given, and the game will resume with 10 minutes on the game clock.
If still tied after the initial 10-minute overtime period, the ice will be flooded and the second overtime period of 20 minutes will then commence.
This process will continue until a winner is decided.
No play-off game shall have a start time later than 8:30 p.m.
Governors will establish a draft schedule for the play-off games, and provide this to team managers in order for them to obtain ice times. The governor will be responsible for the review and approval of the play-off schedule, and will notify the league statistician of the schedule for posting to the SCAHL website.
Post Season Summary 2018
Conference Round Robin Play Off Tournaments - Pee Wee and Midget March 7-10; Bantam February 28 - March 3.
League Championship - Pee Wee and Midget March 14-17; Bantam March 7-10 - Best of 3 play off between North and South Tournament Winners. It will be a 1-1-1 playoff format, with the team with the most points in the regular season being the home team.
League Champion advances to Alberta AA Provincial Championships.
For Pee Wee AA and Midget AA Divisions, the dates are March 28 - 31, representative must be determined by March 18.
In Bantam AA, the dates are March 21-24. Representatives to Provincials must be determined by March 10.
This will be a 5 team Tournament, including the League Champions for the SCAHL, Hockey Calgary, Hockey Edmonton and the Northern Alberta Hockey League and a Host site team.