The early rounds of the OHSAA District tournaments can be a little anti-climactic with the wide variance in talent among the teams from top to bottom but, with 50 teams eliminated from the competition the intensity level – especially in those mid-bracket match-ups – starts to rachet up this week.

Twenty-eight of the 78 teams that started the tournament were still alive as of Monday, February 18.  The 10-team Sylvania Bracket is already down to the four semifinalists while mid-week quarterfinal games in the other three brackets will get us down to 16 teams (4x4) across the state by the weekend with district semis being played Friday through Sunday.

Despite the many lopsided scores in the opening days of district action there were some gems in the early rounds. 

Here is a sampling:

In the Brooklyn District, Olmsted Falls from the GCHSHL White Division toppled a pair of Red Division teams in Benedictine (3-1) and Strongsville (5-4).

The Bulldogs’ White South division rivals Amherst Steel knocked out Great Lakes Hockey League squad Padua Franciscan, 2-0, thanks to Brady Grove’s 19-save shutout. 

GCHSHL Red North foes Hudson and Cleveland Heights clashed in an 8/9 seed battle with the Explorers winning, 3-1.

Overtime was needed to settle a first-round battle between a pair of Red North teams with Chagrin Falls edging Orange, 4-3.

There was another overtime game down in Columbus between Dublin Coffman and Thomas Worthington, won by the Rocks, 4-3.

Twenty-four hours after winning their first-round game, the Perrysburg Yellow Jackets were right back on the ice against Sylvania’s #3 seed, Findlay, and gave the Trojans all they could handle before succumbing, 3-1.

Still a handful of close games (and not one true “upset”) along the way of eliminating the first 50 teams in the tournament?  The lower seeded team won nine times in the first 50 games but in only one case was the differential in the seeding between the two teams more than three spots – that was #10 Olmsted Falls’ 5-4 win over #5 Strongsville in the Brooklyn District.  The Bulldogs and Mustangs played in the regular season with the Mustangs winning 10-9 so, again, these would appear to be two evenly-matched teams and not much of an upset.

Steele is a GCHSHL White Division team and Padua is a member of the GLHL, but compare Steele’s record (32-2 and Baron Cup II champs) to Padua’s 3-26 and you have to wonder if that’s really a surprising outcome.  Steele was even seeded higher.

And consider the fate that awaited some of the lower-seeded teams that advanced.  Chagrin Falls lost their next game 10-0 to University School, Elder was blown out 15-0 by Dublin Jerome, and Gahanna Lincoln was dominated by Moeller, 10-0.

Fifty games played over eight days and so far only one team that won their first game against a higher-seeded team did not go out in the next round – that was Olmsted Falls. 

Basically, there were some closely-matched first round games that were just a matter of determining who would be the fodder for top-seeded teams in the next round.

This 78-team format, with a single division and every team qualifying, seems like a lot of games – many of them blowouts that are not good for either team – to be played with very little return on the investment of time (and money).

A strong majority (83%) of respondents to a poll last spring on Ohio Hockey Digest voiced support of the OHSAA going to a two- or three-division format.

This off-season, Ohio Hockey Digest is going to delve into the question of wether or not the OHSAA hockey tournament under its current format is the best for everybody. 

With programs at such wildly varying competitive levels does it make sense for all 78 teams to all qualify for the state playoffs? 

Should the field be split into two divisions? Three?

More on that later but, for now, the field has been whittled down to the most competitive teams in the state and the tournament begins in earnest this week.

Enjoy the games!

--- Scott Harrington for Ohio Hockey Digest