2017 AYHL Playoffs Preview
Release Date : 03/04/2017
WEST CHESTER, PA – The Atlantic Youth Hockey League’s 2017 Playoffs are set to begin Friday morning at the Ice Line Quad Rinks and Oaks Center Ice facilities in West Chester and Oaks, Pennsylvania. Champions are to be crowned in 11 divisions (Squirt Minor through 18U National Premier/Elite).
WHAT: The 2017 Atlantic Youth Hockey League Playoffs
WHEN: March 4-6, 2017
WHERE: Ice Line Quad Rinks (West Chester, Pa.) and Oaks Center Ice (Oaks, Pa.)
BROADCAST COVERAGE: MyHockeyTV.com will stream all games. Play-by-play will be available for all semifinal and final round games.
PHOTOS: Carmo Photography will be on hand shooting action shots and championship-winning team photos. Please see the photography table at Ice Line Quad Rinks for ordering information.
APP: iTEAMZ has again partnered with the AYHL to provide an app (on both iTunes and Google Play) to provide scheduling and score information. The app is currently available in both stores and an update will be sent to current users.
SOCIAL MEDIA: Share photos, thoughts, messages using the hashtag #AYHLPlayoffs
Squirt Minor
QUALIFYING TEAMS: Red Division (Long Island Gulls, Mercer Chiefs, Valley Forge Minutemen), Blue Division (Connecticut Oilers, Virtua Hockey, Long Island Royals)
FORMAT: Each team will play round-robin games against each of the three teams in the opposite division. The top four teams advance to the semifinals. The winners of the two semifinal games will advance to the championship game.
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME INFO: Monday, Mar. 6, 2017 at 9:15 a.m.
WORTH NOTING:
-Two Mercer Chiefs players (Joseph Argentina and Ethan Coots) sat atop the division lead in scoring.
-The Long Island Gulls finished the regular season with a 29-1-0 record, only falling to Valley Forge, 2-0, on Dec. 18.
-Valley Forge goaltender Ryan Cameron led all goalies in GAA with a 1.67 over 29 games played. He also led all netminders in save percentage (90.2%).
RANKINGS:
-Gulls: 3
-Mercer: 9
-Valley Forge: 22
-Connecticut: 26
-Virtua: 29
-Royals: 54
Squirt Major
QUALIFYING TEAMS: Gold Division (New Jersey Colonials, Long Island Royals, New Jersey Junior Titans), Silver Division (New York Saints, Philadelphia Junior Flyers, Virtua Hockey)
FORMAT: Each team will play round-robin games against each of the three teams in the opposite division. The top four teams advance to the semifinals. The winners of the two semifinal games will advance to the championship game.
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME INFO: Monday, Mar. 6, 2017 at 10:00 a.m.
WORTH NOTING:
-New Jersey Colonials sit atop the league and district standings at 23-2-5.
-Thomas Zocco (Colonials) finished atop the scoring race with 95 points. The high-scoring forward led the division in goals, while New Jersey Junior Titans forward Derek Fiore matched Zocco’s assist totals.
-Colonials goalie Lukas Bergman topped all division keepers with a 1.65 goals against average.
-Ethan Ramonetti (Royals) led all goaltenders in save percentage (90.2).
RANKINGS:
-Colonials: 6
-Royals: 13
-Titans: 18
-Saints: 15
-Jr. Flyers: 24
-Virtua: 12
Pee Wee Minor
QUALIFYING TEAMS: Red Division (Philadelphia Little Flyers, New Jersey Colonials, Long Island Royals), Blue Division (Long Island Gulls, New Jersey Devils Youth, North Jersey Avalanche)
FORMAT: Each team will play round-robin games against each of the three teams in the opposite division. The top four teams advance to the semifinals. The winners of the two semifinal games will advance to the championship game.
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME INFO: Monday, Mar. 6, 2017 at 10:45 a.m.
WORTH NOTING:
-The Philadelphia Little Flyers finished a perfect 28-0.
-The New Jersey Colonials finished as the number two team in the country, with a record of 24-3-1.
-The New Jersey Devils Youth captured the American crown with a record of 16-6-4.
-Philadelphia forward Chris Pelosi led all players with 91 points in 28 games played. He finished 21 points ahead of Chase Pirtle.
RANKINGS:
-Little Flyers: 1
-Colonials: 2
-Royals: 9
-Gulls: 37
-Devils Youth: 33
-Avalanche: 38
Pee Wee Major
QUALIFYING TEAMS: Gold Division (Connecticut Oilers, Team Maryland, Valley Forge Minutemen), Silver Division (Long Island Gulls, North Jersey Avalanche, Philadelphia Junior Flyers)
FORMAT: Each team will play round-robin games against each of the three teams in the opposite division. The top four teams advance to the semifinals. The winners of the two semifinal games will advance to the championship game.
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME INFO: Monday, Mar. 6, 2017 at 9:30 a.m.
WORTH NOTING:
-The Connecticut Oilers finished atop the standings by two points.
-Valley Forge earned first place in the Atlantic District.
-New Jersey Junior Titans forward Christian Kocsis led the division in points with 59. The top scorer among playoff teams is Team Maryland’s Micah Berger.
-Team Maryland claimed two of the top five scorers in the division.
-Connecticut’s Gavin Moffatt led the division in save percentage (94.6%) and goals against average (1.05).
-The division did not have an American component.
RANKINGS:
-Oilers: 12
-Maryland: 18
-Valley Forge: 20
-Gulls: 31
-Avalanche: 27
-Jr. Flyers: 48
Bantam Minor
QUALIFYING TEAMS: Red Division (New Jersey Colonials, Virtua Hockey, Long Island Gulls), Blue Division (Team Maryland, Philadelphia Little Flyers, Washington Little Capitals)
FORMAT: Each team will play round-robin games against each of the three teams in the opposite division. The top four teams advance to the semifinals. The winners of the two semifinal games will advance to the championship game.
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME INFO: Monday, Mar. 6, 2017 at 11:15 a.m.
WORTH NOTING:
-The New Jersey Colonials placed first in the AYHL regular season and in the Atlantic District standings, only falling to Virtua Hockey in their season opener.
-Washington’s playoff team is the first for the program in the 2017 playoffs. The Little Capitals finished fifth in the National division.
-The Philadelphia Little Flyers won the American division to reach the AYHL Playoffs.
-Long Island Gulls forward Jeremy Wilmer led the division in points with 73.
RANKINGS:
-Colonials: 5
-Virtua: 7
-Gulls: 16
-Maryland: 19
-Little Flyers: 78
-Little Capitals: 31
Bantam Major
QUALIFYING TEAMS: Gold Division (New Jersey Colonials, New Jersey Devils Youth, North Jersey Avalanche), Silver Division (Washington Little Capitals, Team Maryland, Mercer Chiefs)
FORMAT: Each team will play round-robin games against each of the three teams in the opposite division. The top four teams advance to the semifinals. The winners of the two semifinal games will advance to the championship game.
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME INFO: Monday, Mar. 6, 2017 at 12:15 p.m.
WORTH NOTING:
-The New Jersey Colonials finished a perfect 22-0 in the regular season and 15-0 in the Atlantic District.
-Ties in both the National and American divisions were broken with the Mercer Chiefs and Team Maryland advancing out of the tiebreakers.
-The Colonials committed three players during the regular season and the Devils Youth committed one.
-Alexandros Gaffney led the division in points with 60.
-The Colonials possessed the top two netminders in the division with Gustave Bylin and Colline Berke, who finished one-two in goals against average.
-North Jersey’s Edward Bailotti led the ‘02s in save percentage (90.9%).
RANKINGS:
-Colonials: 4
-Devils Youth: 18
-Avalanche: 24
-Capitals: 42
-Maryland: 64
-Mercer: 41
15-Pure
QUALIFYING TEAMS: North Jersey Avalanche, Long Island Gulls, Philadelphia Junior Flyers, Washington Little Capitals
FORMAT: The teams will play one single-elimination game with the winners advancing to the championship.
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME INFO: Sunday, Mar. 5, 2017 at 3:00 p.m.
WORTH NOTING:
-The Avalanche won the regular season title with a 23-4-1 record, which was also tops in the Atlantic District.
-Of the team’s four losses, two have come at the hands of playoff teams.
-The New Jersey Devils Youth captured the American crown with a record of 16-6-4.
-Ty Franchi and Christopher Branch alternated the top two spots in the goaltending statistics. Branch led the division in goals against average and Franchi in save percentage.
RANKINGS:
-Avalanche: 2
-Gulls: 12
-Jr. Flyers 21
-Capitals: 22
16U
QUALIFYING TEAMS: American Division (Philadelphia Little Flyers, Philadelphia Junior Flyers, New Jersey Colonials, Virtua Hockey), Premier and Elite Division (North Jersey Avalanche, New Jersey Junior Titans, Philadelphia Junior Flyers, Virtua Hockey, Elite AAA, Team Maryland)
FORMAT: The American teams will play a single-elimination game with the winners advancing to the championship game. Premier seeds three through five and the lone elite team will play a single-elimination game, with the winners advancing to face the North Jersey Avalanche and the New Jersey Junior Titans in the semifinals. The winners of the semifinals then advance to the championship final.
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME INFO: Sunday, Mar. 5, 2017 at 3:15 p.m. (American), Monday, Mar. 6, 2017 at 10:00 a.m. (Premier/Elite)
WORTH NOTING:
-The North Jersey Avalanche (Premier) finished the regular season with a perfect 23-0 record.
-The Philadelphia Little Flyers won the American division with a 28-2-1-1 record, finishing just one point ahead of the rival Junior Flyers.
-The 16U division led the AYHL in commitments.
-Team Maryland won the inaugural Elite division with a 15-7-1 record, finishing a point ahead of the Mercer Chiefs, who were the youngest team in the division.
-North Jersey’s Jukka Schotter led all goaltenders with a 0.80 goals against average and a 96.6 save percentage.
-On the offensive side, Ian Stasinski led all players with 71 points. Adam Robbins was the top premier scorer.
RANKINGS:
-Little Flyers (A): 85
-Jr. Flyers (A): 83
-Colonials (A): 118
-Viruta (A): 127
-Avalanche (P): 5
-Titans (P): 44
-Jr. Flyers (P): 50
-Virtua (P): 40
-Elite (P): 77
-Maryland (E): 60
18U
QUALIFYING TEAMS: American Division (North Jersey Avalanche, Team Maryland, Mercer Chiefs, Long Island Royals), National Premier/Elite Division (Valley Forge Minutemen, New Jersey Colonials, North Jersey Avalanche, Philadelphia Junior Flyers)
FORMAT: The four American teams will play a single elimination game with the winning teams advancing to the championship game. The National Elite and National Premier teams will conduct a championship game for each division only.
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME INFO: Sunday, Mar. 5, 2017 at 10:45 a.m. (American), Sunday, Mar. 5, 2017 at 12:45 p.m. (Elite), Sunday, Mar. 5, 2017 at 1:00 p.m. (Premier)
WORTH NOTING:
-The North Jersey Avalanche (P) were ranked number one in the country for more than half the season.
-The Avalanche finished a perfect 17-0 at premier and also won the American division at 18-7-1.
-The Valley Forge Minutemen led the division in goals for (111). Maryland’s (A) Devin Lowe led all skaters in points (41). Minutemen forward Casey Sottanella (Elite) led all Premier/Elite skaters in points (36).
-North Jersey’s Alexei Masanko allowed a mere four goals on 192 shots (0.50) to lead all goaltenders in goals against average by half-a-goal.
-The Premier final between North Jersey and Philadelphia will be a rematch of the 2016 championship final.
-The American division at 18 was a new addition to the league schedule this season. The top three teams were separated by four points.
RANKINGS:
-Avalanche (A): 114
-Maryland (A): 120
-Mercer (A): 122
-Royals (A): NR
-Valley Forge (E): 78
-Colonials (E): 63
-Avalanche (P): 1
-Jr. Flyers (P): 46
The Atlantic Youth Hockey League is the USA Hockey-sanctioned Tier I AAA youth hockey league of the Atlantic District. From Connecticut to Maryland, the AYHL’s membership is comprised of over 100 teams, representing four districts, and is spread across six playing divisions. The AYHL’s mission is to develop young players with competition, fun, and good sportsmanship, and move them on to the next phase of their hockey career. With a distinguished alumni list of players that spent a portion of their playing career in the AYHL, today’s players choose to play in the AYHL knowing that it is a proven stepping stone for those serious in their hockey pursuits.
For more information on the AYHL, log on to http://www.atlantichockey.org/ayhl.php or on Twitter @AYHL or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TheAYHL
