MYHockey News
Weekend Preview for Feb. 7-10: NE Pack Playoffs, MFHL Showdown & BCEHL Showcase
Hockey’s February Frenzy is upon us.
For youth hockey teams all over North America, the next several weeks will be the culmination of a journey that for some began as far back as late August. Postseason play is underway or getting started in some leagues, while for others the regular season is winding down as teams jockey for playoff spots or higher postseason seeds.
During the next month to six weeks, league champions will be crowned, and teams will compete for state, district, regional and provincial championships. Tier 1 and Tier 2 USA Hockey National Championship berths will be earned as will spots in the Esso Cup and Telus Cup Canadian U18 club national championships.
It’s the craziest and most exciting time of the year for North American hockey players. The push for the playoffs officially has begun, and we’re here for it.
While it’s impossible for our small staff to cover all the wonderful hockey chaos that takes place in North America this time of year, we will do our best to keep everyone updated to the best of our ability. Some of the playdowns and playoff formats truly are marathons, so we will provide more insight on those as the fields are narrowed and there is more clarity. In the meantime, we will begin tracking the progress of teams around the continent as their journeys start to wind down and they progress down the homestretch of the 2024-25 season.
This week, one of the top USA Boys Tier 1 leagues is holding its postseason tournament as six nationally recognized youth organizations gather for the Northeast Pack Hockey League Playoffs. Top 20 programs at the 14U, 15O, 16U and 18U levels will be competing for NE Pack championships Feb. 7-9 in Utica New York.
North of the border, regular-season play in the Manitoba Female Hockey League concludes with the regular-season title and top playoff seed still up for grabs and other teams still battling for postseason home-ice advantage.
Also in Western Canada from Feb. 7-10, the British Columbia Elite Hockey League (BCEHL) is holding the inaugural Super Showcase in Burnaby, B.C., for its Girls U18 and Boys U18, U17 and U15 AAA teams at Scotia Barn. This late-season showcase brings together teams of different genders and ages to compete in a total of 44 games. Many of these contests could affect playoff seeding as the BCEHL regular season nears its conclusion.
How would you like to be the 10th-ranked team in the nation, but the No. 5 seed in your league playoffs? Well, that about sums up the Northeast Pack, and that is exactly the situation in the league’s 16U division.
That division of the NE Pack features five teams all ranked among the nation’s top 10, according to the MHR Week 20 USA Boys Tier 1 rankings, which means that the 10th-ranked Bishop Kearney Selects are the tournament’s lowest seed. The 16U playoffs also include the second-ranked New Jersey Rockets, third-ranked Long Island Gulls, fourth-ranked Pittsburgh Penguins Elite and eighth-ranked Mount St. Charles Academy.
The story is similar for all age levels in the Northeast Pack, which is holding league playoffs Friday, Feb. 7, through Sunday, Feb. 9, at the Utica University Nexus Center in New York. Champions will be crowned for the 14U, 15O, 16U and 18U age groups.
The 14U division includes four top 18 teams, with all six teams ranked among the top 30. All six 15O participants are ranked among the top 20, and the 18U playoffs feature three top 10 teams and five that are among the top 21.
The Northeast Pack Hockey League is comprised of six youth hockey organizations from the Northeast region of the United States. The league was formed in 2019 and includes six prominent organizations that share a vision for player-focused development and are consistently ranked among the top programs in the nation in most age groups. All member organizations have been successful advancing players to the highest levels of junior and college hockey, with a number of their players moving on to the professional ranks.
The NE Pack holds six showcase-style weekend events throughout the season, culminating with the playoffs Feb. 7-9 in Utica, N.Y.
All NE Pack playoff games should be available for live and on-demand viewing on LiveBarn.
CLICK HERE for the Northeast Pack Playoff matchups
CLICK HERE for the Northeast Pack Playoffs complete schedule
Northeast Pack 14U Participating Teams
Playoff seed listed first; national rank in parentheses
#1 Bishop Kearney Selects (6)
#2 Mount St. Charles (3)
#3 Pittsburgh Penguins Elite (18)
#4 Mid-Fairfield Rangers (25)
#5 Long Island Gulls (14)
#6 New Jersey Rockets (29)
14U Semifinals
Feb. 8 at 2:30 & 2:45 p.m. – Utica University Nexus Center
14U Championship Game
Feb. 8 at 11:00 a.m. – Utica University Nexus Center
Northeast Pack 15O Participating Teams
Playoff seed listed first; national rank in parentheses
#1 Mount St. Charles (2)
#2 Pittsburgh Penguins Elite (8)
#3 Long Island Gulls (13)
#4 Mid-Fairfield Rangers (9)
#5 New Jersey Rockets (19)
#6 Bishop Kearney Selects (18)
15O Semifinals
Feb. 8 at 1:00 & 3:15 p.m. – Utica University Nexus Center
15O Championship Game
Feb. 9 at 1:00 p.m. – Utica University Nexus Center
Northeast Pack 16U Participating Teams
Playoff seed listed first; national rank in parentheses
#1 New Jersey Rockets (2)
#2 Long Island Gulls (3)
#3 Pittsburgh Penguins Elite (4)
#4 Mount St. Charles (8)
#5 Bishop Kearney Selects (10)
16U Semifinals
Feb. 8 at 7:00 & 7:15 p.m. – Utica University Nexus Center
16U Championship Game
Feb. 9 at 11:15 a.m. – Utica University Nexus Center
Northeast Pack 18U Participating Teams
Playoff seed listed first; national rank in parentheses
#1 New Jersey Rockets (7)
#2 Bishop Kearney Selects (6)
#3 Long Island Gulls (4)
#3 Pittsburgh Penguins Elite (21)
#5 Mount St. Charles (19)
18U Semifinals
Feb. 8 at 5:00 & 5:15 p.m. – Utica University Nexus Center
18U Championship Game
Feb. 9 at 1:15 p.m. – Utica University Nexus Center
MFHL U18 AAA Final Regular-Season Weekend
It’s down to the wire in the Manitoba Female Hockey League, with some teams playing three games on the final weekend of the regular season. Many of those contests are likely to have playoff implications.
The first-place Eastman Selects (25-5-0, 53 points) lead the second-place Winnipeg Avros (25-4-0, 52 points) by a single standings point, while just four points separate the fifth- and seventh-place teams. In addition, the ninth-place Central Plains Capitals (4-26-0, 12 points) are just one point behind the Interlake Lightning (5-26-0, 23 points) in the race for eighth.
Fourth-place Yellowhead (16-13-0, 33 points) is five points ahead of the fifth-place Brandon Wheat Kings (13-16-0, 38 points) with three games remaining for both teams. The Wheat Kings must win all three of their contests to have a shot at passing the Chiefs and earning home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. It is possible for the teams to end up tied in points. If that happens, we will explain how the tie would be proken in our Weekend Wrap.
Yellowhead doesn’t have an easy road, however, as the Chiefs play the second-place Avros and first-place Eastman on the road Saturday and Sunday. The Chiefs also host the third-place Winnipeg Ice, ranked 14th in Canada, Friday, so they would be considered the underdog in all three matchups. Yellowhead is No. 54 in our most recent Canadian U18 Girls Tier 1 rankings.
Meanwhile, Brandon plays at seventh-place Westman, Friday, at last-place Central Plains Saturday and home against the Ice Sunday. Things might get interesting in the race for fourth.
Whichever team finishes in eighth place will have home-ice advantage in a best-of-three play-in series the weekend of Feb. 14-16. In addition to the game against the Wheat Kings, the ninth-place Capitals host seventh-place Westman Sunday, while Interlake has just one game remaining, at home Saturday vs. the sixth-place Pembina Valley Hawks (13-17-0; 27 points).
The marquee matchup of the weekend takes place the night of Friday, Feb. 7, as first-place Eastman hosts the second-place Avros at Niverville Recreation Centre in a 10 p.m. EST start. This game should be available for viewing via LiveBarn.
Despite leading Winnipeg, Canada’s third-ranked team, in the MFHL standings, the Selects are ranked 10 spots behind the Avros in our Week 20 MHR Canada Girls U18 Tier 1 Rankings. Winnipeg is 42-7-4 overall and has outscored its opponents, 216-75. Eastman is 37-7-1 with a goal differential of 145-49. The teams have split their four meetings this season, but the Selects have won the last two games, 1-0 in overtime and 4-2, Dec. 15 and Jan. 10. Winnipeg has a slight overall scoring edge, 7-6, in the head-to-head matchups.
Eastman can take a huge step toward clinching the regular-season championship with a victory Friday as that would push the Selects three points in front of the Avros. They would have one remaining game to play, Sunday at home against Yellowhead, while Winnipeg still would have to play home vs. those same Chiefs Saturday and vs. Pembina Valley Sunday.
So, Yellowhead, which will be trying to clinch the fourth playoff seed, also is going to have a large say in which team captures the regular-season title, and the Winnipeg Ice will have quite a bit to say about who finishes fourth.
CLICK HERE to see our Avros vs. Selects MHR matchup preview
CLICK HERE to see our Chiefs vs. Avros MHR matchup preview
CLICK HERE to see our Chiefs vs. Selects MHR matchup preview
CLICK HERE for the MFHL weekend schedule
CLCK HERE for the MFHL standings
The first-ever BCEHL AAA Super Showcase is being held Feb. 7-10 at Scotia Barn in Burnaby, B.C., as members of the BCEHL Female U18 AAA and Boys U18, U17 and U15 AAA leagues come together in one location to compete in 44 games.
Scotia Barn does have a LiveBarn feed, so all games should be available for viewing live and on-demand via webstream.
BCEHL Female U18 AAA Showcase
The BCEHL Female U18 AAA Showcase features five teams, including the Greater Vancouver Comets, who are ranked seventh in Canada and sixth in Western Canada in our latest MHR Girls U18 Tier 1 rankings. On the opening day of the showcase, the first-place Comets take on the second-place Northern Capitals, who will be looking to snap Greater Vancouver’s four-game winning streak. The Comets are 23-2-1-0 in league play, while the Capitals are 12-22-0-1.
The Thompson-Okanagan Lakers (10-11-2-3) are tied with the Capitals and will face the fourth-place Fraser Valley Rush (9-11-1-3), a BCEHL powerhouse the last few years, twice during the weekend. Fraser Valley has won three of the six meetings between the teams thus far. All four of those teams are ranked among the top 21 in Western Canada.
The U18 Female AAA showcase runs from Friday, Feb. 7, through Sunday, Feb. 9.
CLICK HERE for the BCEHL Female U18 AAA complete schedule
CLICK HERE for the BCEHL Female U18 AAA standings
BCEHL Boys U18 AAA Showcase
The BCEHL Boys U18 AAA division is comprised of eight teams, six that are ranked among the top 45 in Western Canada. While the Valley West Giants are the highest-ranked team in the league at No. 21, the Cariboo Cougars are in first place with a 20-6-3-1 record in league play. The 28th-ranked Cougars enter the weekend with a three-point lead in the standings over the No. 34 Okanagan Rockets, who are 19-10-2-1, and the Giants (20-9-0-1).
The U18 AAA event runs Saturday, Feb. 8, through Monday, Feb. 10.
CLICK HERE for the BCEHL Boys U18 AAA complete schedule
CLICK HERE for the BCEHL Boys U18 AAA standings
BCEHL Boys U17 AAA Showcase
The BCEHL Boys U17 AAA division features nine teams, six of those nine being ranked among Western Canada’s top 45. Leading the way at No. 11 are the Okanagan Rockets, who face the second place and No. 36 Vancouver North West Hawks during the showcase. The Rockets have won 10 of their last 11 games and are 28-4-0-0 in BCEHL play, while the Hawks are 20-9-2. It’s a big weekend for the Hawks, who also face the third-place and 29th-ranked Fraser Valley Thunderbirds. Fraser Valley, which trails North West by one point entering the weekend, has won three of its four meetings with the Hawks, with one game ending in a tie.
The U17 showcase runs Friday, Feb. 7, through Monday, Feb. 10
CLICK HERE for the BCEHL Boys U17 AAA complete schedule
CLICK HERE for the BCEHL Boys U17 AAA standings
BCEHL Boys U15 AAA Showcase
There are eight teams in the BCEHL Boys U15 AAA division, led by the first-place Okanagan Rockets (21-3-0-0 BCEHL), who are ranked 28th in Western Canada. The No. 47 Vancouver North West Hawks are the next highest-ranked BCEHL team, but they enter the weekend in fourth place at 12-11-1-0, two points behind the No. 56 Cariboo Cougars (12-9-2-1) and six behind the No. 59 Thompson Blazers (14-7-2-1).
The highlight of the U15 weekend pits the first-place Rockets, winners in 16 of their last 17 outings, against the second-place Blazers. Thompson, which has taken two of three from Okanagan already this season, also has an important matchup against the fourth-place Hawks. Third and sixth place are separated by just four points entering the showcase.
The U15 showcase runs Friday, Feb. 7, through Sunday, Feb. 9.
CLICK HERE for the BCEHL Boys U15 AAA complete schedule
CLICK HERE for the BCEHL Boys U15 AAA standings
