Playoff Notebook: Day 1

WEST CHESTER, Penn. — The entire season has led to this. The AYHL playoffs are off to an electric start, as the best young hockey teams in the conference competed to keep their championship hopes alive, and gave us some truly unforgettable games in the process. 

15 Only Division 

The first seed Avalanche picked up right where they left off from their undefeated regular season, as they coasted to a 7-0 win against the fourth seed Philadelphia Jr. Flyers. Meanwhile, the WB/Scranton Jr. Knights outdueled the Valley Forge Minutemen in a spectacular shootout. These two teams were neck-in-neck throughout the regular season, and that was reflected in the back-and-forth nature of this contest. After the Knights put them in a 2-0 hole early, the Minutemen responded with four goals in the second period alone, which included a hattrick from Luke Murphy. The Knights took the lead right back with three goals of their own. It was a lead they’d never relinquish as they managed yet another two-goal period in the third. The Minutemen mustered up yet another goal late in the contest, but it wasn’t enough to keep up with the scorching hot Knights, who ultimately triumphed, 7-5. With that, the Knights punched their ticket to face the Avalanche in the championship finals tomorrow morning. 

16U Premier Division 

The top teams lived up to the hype in the 16U Premier division, as the first and second seed each recorded impressive victories. The second seed Philadelphia Jr. Flyers a well-balanced attack, scoring five goals with five different players. Meanwhile, the first place Avalanche torched the Philadelphia Little Flyer to take an early 3-0 lead and never looked back. The Flyers managed to score late in the last two periods, but the Avalanche added one more third period goal to slam the door shut and clinch a spot in the championship game. These two teams, separated by just one win during the regular season, are sure to give us a classic in the finals tomorrow afternoon.

 18U Elite Division

We saw one of the most shocking results of the weekend when the first seed Long Island Royals were stunned and eliminated from the tournament by the fourth seed Philadelphia Little Flyers. They Flyers were propelled by Colin Helkowski’s scorching first period, where he scored two goals to give them a quick 2-0 lead. The favored Royals were able to battle back and tie the game heading into the third period, but the Flyers opened the final frame with two goals to make the score 4-2. The Royals’ Steven Grgas was able to score his second goal of the game with two minutes remaining, but the Flyers’ one goal lead would hold from there. Just like that, the fourth seed had done the impossible, and have a date with the second seed Washington Little Capitals in the finals. The Caps, for their part, looked very impressive against the third seed New Jersey Jr. Titans. They scored once in each period and shut their opponents out en route to a 3-0 victory.