AT&T Metroplex HS Hockey League Playoff Races

The AT&T Metroplex HS Hockey League Regular Season will be wrapping up the regular season tonight with still plenty to play for throughout the League. The Silver Tier South Division Title between Midlothian & Keller ISD should be one of the most exciting races as Keller ISD holds their fate in their hands while Midlothian has a chance to take over thanks to a tie-breaker.

During the 2 head-to-head matchups this season, Midlothian took over both the games late as back in October, Midlothian was able to off a 3rd period Keller ISD Surge when Brent Jones scored in the final minute after Keller ISD made it 3-2 with just under 3 minutes left. Back in Februrary when the Division Leaders met again, it was Joseph Dancy & Brent Jones teaming up to score at the beginning and near the end of the periods along with Daniel Deweerd to turn a 1-1 game into a 4-1 victory.

For Midlothian to win the South Division Title, they need a win over FM Marcus while Denton County needs to beat Keller ISD in regulation for the scenario to happen. Anything else and Keller ISD would clinch the South Division Title tonight.

It will be interesting to see how Denton County comes out tonight after seeing both GCISD & Mansfield ISD losing in regularization to keep their slim Playoff Hopes alive only to lose to Flower Mound in OT after coming back from 3-0 down late in the 2nd period to force OT, only to lose 4-3 where they were under 30 seconds from at least forcing a shootout.

Expect it to be all or nothing for Denton County as they would like to end the season on a high with no playoff hopes and looking to pull off a major upset to end the season, or it could be that they so devastated from last week's loss that they have nothing left for this week.

For the 4th & Final Playoff Spot in the South Division, Mansfield ISD holds the advantage as they play Southlake Carroll where a win or OT Loss would get them into the playoffs. GCISD has been falling in recent weeks as Grapevine/Colleyville has lost 4 of their last 5 games where after being in the South Division Playoff Picture for nearly the entire season has them now looking for Southlake Carroll looking to knockoff Mansfield ISD tonight as GCISD holds the Tie-Breaker as they have beaten Mansfield ISD both times they have played this season.

Back in October, both teams played in what was the highest scoring game of the season where a combined 24 goals were scored in that game where Blake Gober, Ryan Macho (4G), Trey McMillian (3G 2A) & Blake Gober (3G 1A) each had hat tricks for GCISD. Despite the loss, Mansfield ISD responded well where Spencer Erickson had an 8 Point Night (5G 3A) & Bryce Claxton had a 6 point night (2G 4A). One of the most dramitic parts of that game saw Claxton & Erickson team up on two goals in 23 seconds to get the game within one before Gober scored an unassisted goal in the final seconds to secure the 13-11 win in a game where they needed every goal scored that night.

Unfortuantley in recent weeks for GCISD, losses in 4 of their last 5 games have seen them lose 4th Place to Mansfield and now need Southlake Carroll's Help to beat Mansfield in Regulation. If they can do that, then a GCISD Regulation Win over Flower Mound would clinch the league's final playoff spot where the winner will play the North Division Champion Plano East Panthers in the Silver Tier Quarterfinals next week.

Elsewhere in the league will have a battle for the 2nd of the Gold Tier QF Round Byes as Plano West will not only look to finally fight off Dallas Jesuit who sits in 3rd but are still in position to overtake Arlington ISD for the #1 Seed in the Gold Tier Playoffs. AISD can put any fears of being taken over to bed with a win over last place Coppell tonight, if Plano West can win and Arlington ISD losses, then the Wolves will take over the #1 Spot.

The Wolves also have a tie-breaker as well after beating Arlington ISD three-out-of-four games this season where the Wolves need a victory and have Arlington ISD lose to Coppell in Overtime tonight where both teams would finish the regular season with 29 points during the regular season.

For Highland Park, Prosper & McKinney ISD, it's a battle for seeding as three teams are separated by just a point to determine 2-4 in the North Division. Unfortunately, it will be a tough matchup as they will all get caught up in the Keller ISD, Midlothian & Southlake Carroll trio that has dominated the Silver Tier all year long and will be looked as favorites when the Silver Tier Playoffs begin on March 7th.

Highland Park has kind of been stuck in a rut over the last few weeks as they barely beat teams like Frisco ISD & Bishop Lynch who are both eliminated from playoff contention and even got beat by Garland ISD who has the area's worst record (Gold or Silver Tier) this season.

Only 2 games throughout the area tonight have nothing on the line for tonight. Those are Garland ISD VS. Frisco ISD over in McKinney and Bishop Lynch VS. Richardson/Rockwall in Farmers Branch with teams that are either out of the playoffs or hve teams witht heir playoff seed already locked in. The rest of the games have teams that are either looking to get in or at least looking to improve their seeding situation when the playoffs begin next week.

For the HS Gold Tier Champions, they will advance and repersent Texas at the USA Hockey HS National Championship in Salt Lake City from March 21-25. While the Top Silver Tier Teams will join the top HS Teams from Houston & Austin at the State HS Silver Tier Championship from March 23-25 in a location yet TBD.

Here's a look at tonight's Schedule for the AT&T Metroplex HS Hockey League Regular Season Finale.

Gold Tier

Coppell VS. Arlington ISD  7:00 PM @ Euless Stars Center

Dallas Jesuit VS. Plano Senior  7:00 PM @ McKinney Stars Center

Allen VS. Plano West  8:45 PM @ McKinney Stars Center

Silver Tier

Keller ISD VS. Denton County  6:30 PM @ Farmers Branch Stars Center

McKinney ISD VS. Highland Park  7:15 PM @ McKinney Stars Center

Southlake Carroll VS. Mansfield ISD  7:30 PM @ Euless Stars Center

Prosper VS. Plano East  8:15 PM @ Farmers Branch Stars Center

GCISD VS. Flower Mound  8:45 PM @ Euless Stars Center

Garland ISD VS. Frisco ISD 9:00 PM @ McKinney Stars Center

Bishop Lynch VS. Richardson/Rockwall  9:00 PM @ Farmers Branch Stars Center

FM Marcus VS. Midlothian  9:15 PM @ Euless Stars Center

AT&T Metroplex HS Hockey League Playoff Format & Dates

The Dates & Format for this year's AT&T Metroplex HS Hockey League Playoffs have been revelled which will be starting this year on March 5th for the Gold Tier Teams while the Silver Tier Playoffs will begin on March 7. With just 22 teams overall this season in the league (6 in the Gold Tier, 16 in the Silver Tier), the playoffs are going to come fast & furious this season overall. In addition to the league playoffs, the Gold Tier Champion will advance to the USA Hockey HS National Championships which will be from March 21-25 in Salt Lake City, Utah this season.

Here's the Full Varsity Playoff Schedule

While the Top Silver Tier Teams will advance to the Silver Tier State Champions against the Top Teams from the Houston & Austin Area which will take place from March 23-25 in a location that is still yet TBD.

The format for both Tiers will be as follows this season.

Gold Tier: With just 6 teams in the leagues Top Tier this season, all 6 teams will be in the playoffs with the #1 & #2 Seeds gaining Quarterfinal Byes while the #3 VS. #6 & #4 VS. #5 Teams will be starting out in the Quarterfinals. The Semifinals will have the #1 Seed taking on the Lowest Seeded QF Winner, while the #2 Seed will play the Highest Seeded QF Winner that next night. Both the Quarterfinals & Semifinals will be a Single Game. Then once the Gold Tier Championship Series is all set it will be a Best of 3 Series to determine the league champion & who will represent Texas in Salt Lake City at the USA Hockey HS National Championship in Late March.

Gold Tier Playoff Dates

3/5: Quarterfinals

3/6: Semifinals

3/8: Gold Tier Final Game 1

3/9: Gold Tier Final Game 2

3/11: Gold Tier Final Game 3 (If Needed)

If the playoffs started today, here's a look at what the Playoff Matchups would look like right now.

#1 Arlington ISD & #2 Plano West would have 1st Round Byes

#3 Dallas Jesuilt VS. #6 Coppell

#4 Allen VS. #5 Plano Senior

The Parity in the Gold Tier has been very tight with the exception of Coppell who's sitting way back in last place with just 9 PTS (4-11-1) in 16 games so far this season. So basically everyone else could find themselves anywhere from the #1 to #5 Seeds when the regular season wraps up on March 1. A 3 way tie is currently atop the top of the Gold Tier between Arlington ISD (10-5-1), Plano West (9-4-3) & Dallas Jesuit (9-4-3) with 21 points each.

Just behind them are Allen & Plano Senior (Both 8-6-2) with 18 points, but are very much in the race for the 2 Quarterfinal Round Byes when the playoffs early March. With just 6 games left in the regular season, it's going to be a wild wild finish to the regular season in the Gold Tier.

Silver Tier: The Silver Tier Playoffs will have the top 4 teams in both the North & South Divisions where they will start in a cross over (#1N VS. #4S, #2N VS. #3S etc.). With the winners will play each other in the Semifinals and on to the Finals. Each Round will be a single elimination format for all 3 rounds. The winners will advance to the State Silver Tier Tournament against the Top Teams from the Interscholastic Hockey League (ISHL) and the Austin Area Champion as well.

Silver Tier Playoff Dates

3/7: Quarterfinals

3/8: Semifinals

3/11: Silver Tier Championship

If the Playoffs started today, here's a look at what the Quarterfinal Round Matchups would look like.

#1N Plano East VS. #4S GCISD

#2N Highland Park VS. #3S Midlothian

#1S Keller ISD VS. #4N Prosper

#2S Southlake Carroll VS. #3N McKinney ISD

The South Division Top Seed is most likely going to come down to a 3 team race between Keller ISD (14-2-0), Southlake Carroll (12-2-2) & Midlothian (12-4-0) who are just 4 points apart which separate the top 3 teams in the South. While GCISD (9-7-0) is currently holding down the 4th & final playoff spot at the moment, both Mansfield ISD (8-6-2) & Denton County (8-8-0) are hot on their tail as they look to chase them down over the final month of the regular season.

As for the two Flower Mound Teams, for the most part, they will battle for pride and most likely stay out of last Place in the South Division as they sit just 5 points back of both GCISD & Mansfield ISD. Their only hope of making the playoffs is that either GCISD, Mansfield ISD or Denton County collapse down the stretch and that either team can get red hot.

The North Division has Plano East (10-3-3) holding a 4 point lead over Highland Park as the Scots will be hoping that the Panthers falter some over the final 6 games to help improve their chances of getting the #1 Seed for the post season.

Elsewhere in the North Division, McKinney ISD & Prosper are fighting it out for the #3 Seed and looking to avoid top seeded Plano East in the Quarterfinals Round of the playoffs. However, Richardson/Rockwall (6-9-1) and is emerging as the top challenger to get into the top 4 to challenge both McKinney ISD & Prosper. Speaking of the race for 3rd & 4th, Richardson/Rockwall will be playing McKinney ISD this week as it will repserent a critical game in this Race where the gap at the end of the night could be anyway from 1 to 5 points.

A Richardson/Rockwall Win would really eat into that gap start making both McKinney ISD & Prosper beginning to sweat. While a McKinney ISD Win would put a big blow into Richardson/Rockwall's Playoff hopes this season.

While Bishop Lynch & Frisco ISD (both 5-11-0) & Garland ISD (3-12-1) are way back in this race and would most likely take a miracle for either one of them to get into this playoff race.