Northview Clinches 10th Northwest Hockey Conference Title
NHC teams have a week to prepare for Sylvania Regional
The chase for the Red Division was decided over the weekend after St. Francis played both Northview and St. John’s.
The weekend started off against the Wildcats and the Knights. Northview opened up the scoring with 2 goals in the 1st, while St. Francis responded with 2 of their own in the 2nd period. With 8:40 left in regulation, Riley Ames scored the game winning goal for Northview as they took the 3-2 win. With the win, Northview guaranteed itself at least a tie for first place with a win in their last game. They also eliminated St. Francis from title contention.
St. John’s played Findlay on Friday night in what was now a must win game for the Titans after the Northview result. However, no one was able to light the lamp during regulation despite 66 shots on goal by both teams combined (38-28 in favor of SJJ). The game went into overtime and still no one was able to score. The game ended 0-0, only the 2nd tie of the season so far.
St. John’s tie meant that with a win by Northview, they would win the Red Division outright. Northview’s other game of the weekend was against last placed Anthony Wayne. Northview took control early in the game, scoring 3 in the first. The Wildcats did not back down scoring, 2 more in each of the following periods, winning 7-0.
Northview won their 10th league championship, and their first since 2019-20.
The other big game of the weekend was between St. Francis and St. John’s. St. Francis scored 3 goals before St. John’s was able to get on the board with what would be their only tally of the evening. The Knights added another goal and beat their rival 4-1 to win the regular season series.
Perrysburg played Anthony Wayne on Friday night. Perrysburg took control of the game and didn’t look back, winning 7-1.
Perrysburg also played Findlay on Saturday. No goals were scored in the 1st, but Perrysbrug took a 2-1 lead after the 2nd and continued to take control. They scored 2 more goals compared to 1 by Findlay, winning by a score of 4-2.
The final Red Division game of the weekend was between Bowling Green and Anthony Wayne. The Bobcats took a 2-0 lead before the Generals tied it up at 2 halfway through the 2nd. Bowling Green, however, scored 1 more in the 2nd and added on another one in the 3rd to win 4-2.
In White Division play, Lake almost filled out the entire scoring column of the scoresheet, scoring 13 goals against Southview in a 13-4 win. Lake had 2 hat tricks, one by Clay Soltis, and one by Bailey Coe.
Whitmer played the Blue Devils where Whitmer scored 7 goals, but the Blue Devils were not able to get a goal as Whitmer won 7-0.
In non-league play, Clay faced Troy at home but was not able to get the win in a close game as the Trojans won 4-3. Clay also played North Olmstead but was, once again, not able to get a win as North Olmstead won 7-3.
St. Francis played the only non-league game for the Red Division against Olentangy Liberty. It was a tight game, but Liberty got the 4-2 win.
LOOKING AHEAD
NORTHVIEW (19-8-3, 10-1-1 RED DIVISION, CHAMPS)
SYLVANIA REGIONAL SEED: 1ST
2/11 - St. Edward “Gold”
2/12 - Meadville [PA]
Northview only lost 1 game throughout league play and clinched the championship after winning their last 2 games. The Wildcats are 4th in the state, and they face the 5th seed in Ohio and 51st seed in Pennsylvania. St. Edward’s previously beat Northview 4-1 and 3-1 as the Wildcats look for revenge. Northview got the 1st seed in the Sylvania Regional of the OHSAA Playoffs, claiming a bye for the 1st round and are to play the winner of Southview/Whitmer. The Wildcats are looking to keep the train rolling all the way to a state championship.
ST. FRANCIS (15-13-1, 9-3-0 RED DIVISION, 2ND)
SYLVANIA REGIONAL SEED: 2ND
Hoosier Tournament (South Bend)
2/11 - Culver “A” [IN]
2/12 - McDowell [PA]
2/12 - Erie Cathedral [PA]
St. Francis plays some high talent teams this weekend at the University of Notre Dame. The Knights were able to get the win against the Titans over the weekend to maintain at least the 2nd seed in the NHC. All of the hard work by the Knights also brought them to be the 2nd seed in the Sylvania Regional and got the 2nd out of 2 byes. They are scheduled to play the winner of Anthony Wayne and Clay.
ST. JOHN’S (15-12-3, 7-2-2 RED DIVISION, 3RD)
SYLVANIA REGIONAL SEED: 3RD
2/10 - St. Edward “Gold”
2/11 - Anthony Wayne (LEAGUE)
2/12 - Lenawee United [MI]
St. John’s suffered a loss against St. Francis over the weekend and now the best they can do in the standings is a tie for 2nd place to their rival and the only team that they lost to. St. John’s has 1 last league game against last placed Anthony Wayne and need a win to tie for 2nd. Also this weekend, the Titans take on the 5th best team in Ohio, and the 103rd best team in Michigan. St. John’s is the 3rd seed in the Sylvania District and plays Perrysburg.
PERRYSBURG (16-13-1, 5-6-0 RED DIVISION, CLINCHED 4TH)
SYLVANIA REGIONAL SEED: 4TH
2/10 - Bowling Green (LEAGUE)
2/11 - Lake
Perrysburg plays their final league game against Bowling Green this weekend. They cannot move up or down in the standings, so they are stuck in 4th place. The Yellow Jackets also play White Division champs Lake in a battle of Red vs White Division. Perrysburg had an up and down season and settled for right in the middle of the Red Division. The Yellow Jackets earned the 4 seed in the Sylvania Regional and plays St. John’s.
FINDLAY (15-12-1, 3-6-1 RED DIVISION, 5TH)
SYLVANIA REGIONAL SEED: 5TH
2/10 - Anthony Wayne (LEAGUE)
2/11 - Bowling Green (LEAGUE)
Findlay has their final 2 league games this weekend. 2 wins this weekend will award the Trojans the 5 seed for this season. They face both teams that are below them in the standings. The Trojans also previously beat both teams 5-3 and 6-1 respectively. Findlay started out really hot this season, before things started to fizzle come league play. But, Findlay will be the 5th seed in the Sylvania Regional, playing Bowling Green.
BOWLING GREEN (13-15-4, 2-8-0 RED DIVISION, 6TH)
SYLVANIA REGIONAL SEED: 6TH
2/10 - Perrysburg (LEAGUE)
2/11 - Findlay (LEAGUE)
Bowling Green can only move up 1 spot in the standings to finish off the season. The Bobcats did not beat any of these teams earlier in the season, but they hope to make it close to finish in 5th in the NHC Red Division. The Bobcats were only able to beat Anthony Wayne this season in league play but they look to change that this weekend. The Bobcats got the 6th seed in the Sylvania Regional and will play Findlay.
ANTHONY WAYNE (9-21-1, 0-10-0 RED DIVISION, 7TH)
SYLVANIA REGIONAL SEED: 7TH
2/10 - Findlay (LEAGUE)
2/11 - St. John’s (LEAGUE)
Anthony Wayne had a difficult season and was not able to get a league win at all throughout the course of this season. However, Anthony Wayne can finish in 6th if they win both of their games and Bowling Green loses both of theirs and they will tie for 6th. It does look unlikely however as they play 2 teams in 5th and 3rd respectively. The Generals look to make an upset for their final games of the regular season and look forward to the State Playoffs. The Generals earned the 7th seed for the Sylvania Regional, and will play Clay.
WHITE DIVISION
Over the course of last weekend, Lake clinched the White Division title from Clay. Lake will look to go undefeated in league play however with a win against Whitmer this weekend. Lake will also play Perrysburg in a cross-divisional NHC showdown. Clay will play the Blue Devils as the Blue Devils look for their first win in league play this weekend. The Blue Devils will get another chance this weekend against Southview. Whitmer and Clay have the honors of the final league play game this season and Clay finishes out the regular season with a game against Normandy.
WHAT MIGHT AN NHC TOURNAMENT LOOK LIKE?
The NHC has never had a tournament, instead declaring the league champion based on regular season standings. The NHC currently has 12 teams that would be perfect for a bracket-style playoff. As of this week, every league is doing their playoff in preparation for the OHSAA playoffs, but not the NHC. But there are many ways that they could do this, here are a couple that I think would work.
The Everyone Joins In Scenario
This scenario is pretty self-explanatory and is like the OHSAA playoffs, everyone joins in. There would be 4 byes since there are 12 teams in the league. The top 3 teams in the Red Division would get byes as well as the winner of the White Division.
W3 (Southview)/W4 (Whitmer) vs R1 (Northview)
W2 (Clay)/W5 (Blue Devils) vs R3 (St. John’s)
R4 (Perrysburg)/R7 (Anthony Wayne) vs R2 (St. Francis)
R5 (Findlay)/R6(Bowling Green) vs W1 (Lake)
There is also another way to do this:
R4 (Perrysburg)/W5 (Blue Devils) vs R1 (Northview)
W2 (Clay)/R7 (Anthony Wayne) vs R3 (St. John’s)
R5 (Findlay)/W4 (Whitmer) vs R2 (St. Francis)
W3 (Southview)/R6 (Bowling Green) vs W1 (Lake)
Red vs White Scenario
This one is also pretty self-explanatory. Both the Red and White Divisions have their own playoffs and then the winner of each plays in the final.
R4 (Perrysburg)/R5 (Findlay) vs R1 (Northview)
R3 (St. John’s)/R6 (Bowling Green) vs R2 (St. Francis)/R7 (Anthony Wayne)
vs
W4 (Whitmer)/W5 (Blue Devils) vs W1 (Lake)
W2 (Clay) vs W3 (Southview)
However these scenarios above might be unfair to some teams due to the large skill gap between the Red and White Division. (Lowest Red Division team ranking, Anthony Wayne: 31st (84.08); Top White Division Team Ranking, Clay: 50th (79.77). Also Lake (Club): 83.36). So the ones below will be a bit more realistic in terms of playoff style.
CHC Scenario
I call this the CHC scenario due to the way that they do their playoffs. For the Capital Hockey Conference they have the top 5/6 teams in the Red (Top) Division make the playoffs, and then the top 3/6 teams from the White (Middle) Division. But in this case, it would be all of the Red Division, and then 1 from the White Division.
R1 (Northview) vs W1 (Lake)
R4 (Perrysburg) vs R5 (Findlay)
R3 (St. John’s) vs R6 (Bowling Green)
R2 (St. Francis) vs R7 (Anthony Wayne)
There is also a way that you could do this where the top team in the Red Division plays the 7 seed, and the top team in the White Division plays the Red 3 seed.
R1 (Northview) vs R7 (Anthony Wayne)
R4 (Perrysburg) vs R5 (Findlay)
R3 (St. John’s) vs W1 (Lake)
R2 (St. Francis) vs R6 (Bowling Green)
Red and White Have Their Own Scenario
Probably the most likely scenario would be if both divisions have their own playoff and do not coordinate.
R4 (Perrysburg)/R5 (Findlay) vs R1 (Northview)
R3 (St. John’s)/R6 (Bowling Green) vs R2 (St. Francis)/R7 (Anthony Wayne)
W4 (Whitmer)/W5 (Blue Devils) vs W1 (Lake)
W2 (Clay) vs W3 (Southview)
--- Braeden Sample (@SticksAndStats) for Ohio Hockey Digest
