Maryland Scholastic Hockey League Explained

Maryland Student Hockey League
Abbreviation:MSHL
Website:http://www.mshl.org/

League information

The Maryland Student Hockey League is an association of over 50 school-based teams located in Maryland and the District of Columbia. It is a registered 501(c)3 corporation and a member of the Potomac Valley Amateur Hockey Association which is the local governing body of USA Hockey, the National Governing Body of amateur ice hockey in the United States. The sanctioned varsity teams are divided into sections used by every sport under MSHL. The League sponsors Varsity and Junior Varsity competition of all skill levels and sexes. While not affiliated with the Maryland Public Secondary School Athletic Association, the MSHL follows many of the MPSSAA's rules and regulations as possible, given the constraints imposed by the various schools and school systems. The sanctioned teams compete from the beginning of November until the end of February with the maximum number of games.

Playoff format

The MSHL State playoffs consists of 16 teams. Each conference is allocated a set number of teams in the tournament as follows:

Montgomery Hockey Conference (1st division only) – 4 teams,

Eastern Conference – 4 teams,

Howard County Scholastic Hockey Association – 3 teams,

Monocacy Valley Hockey League – 3 teams,

Southern Conference – 2 teams,

Each conference determines which teams are their entrants and in what order they are seeded within the conference.Teams are then entered into pods:

Pod 1: Montgomery #1, Eastern #1, Howard #1, MVHL #1, Southern #1,

Pod 2: Montgomery #2, Eastern #2, Howard #2, MVHL #2, Southern #2,

Pod 3: Montgomery #3, Eastern #3, Howard #3, MVHL #3,

Pod 4: Montgomery #4, Eastern #4.

Seeds within a pod are determined by a blind draw. Teams in Pod 1 are seeded 1 to 5, Pod 2 - 6 to 10, Pod 3 - 11 to 14 and Pod 4 - seeds 15 and 16.Teams will then be entered in the bracket and the only adjustments permitted for the 1st round are that teams from the same conference will not face each other in round 1.Other than the instance(s) described above, there is no reseeding of the tournament before each round.Dates for the 2018 State playoffs are as follows:

Round 1 - February 12–16, 2018 at various rinks,

Quarterfinals - February 20 at Laurel,

Semifinals - February 22 at Laurel,

Finals - February 26 at Laurel.

MSHL Teams

SchoolNicknameStatusConferencePlayoff finals appearancesChampionshipsNotes
Arundel Wildcats Pure Eastern
Atholton Raiders Pure Howard 2011-2012
Bel Air Bobcats Pure Eastern Established as an expansion from Fallston prior to the start of the 2017–2018 season
Bethesda - Chevy Chase Barons Pure Montgomery Division 1
Blake / Poolesville (C) Griffins Co-op Montgomery Division 2
Bowie (I) Bulldogs Pure Independent
Broadneck Bruins Pure Eastern
Carroll County (C) Bears Co-op Monocacy Valley
Chessie (C) Chessie Co-op Eastern
Damascus/G-burg/C-burg (C) Hornets Co-op Montgomery Division 2
DC Stars (C) Stars Co-op Montgomery Division 2 Made up of various schools in DC that don't have their own hockey team.
Dulaney (C) Lions Co-op Eastern Established in 2008 and open to students from all Baltimore County and City of Baltimore public schools as well as private schools from the same area without their own hockey teams.
Easton Warriors Pure Eastern 2012-2013
Eleanor Roosevelt (C) Raiders Co-op Southern
Ellicott - Long Reach / Centennial (C) Thunderbirds Co-op Howard
Fallston (C) Tigers Co-op Eastern
Frederick County (C) FCHC - Kings Co-op Monocacy Valley 2008-2009*** Linganore
Glenelg Gladiators Pure Howard 2009-2010
Howard Lions Pure Howard
Huntingtown Hurricanes Pure Southern 2011-2012
Kent Island Buccaneers Pure Eastern
La Plata Panthers Pure Southern
Leonardtown Raiders Pure Southern 2006–2007, 2013-2014
Marriotts Ridge Mustangs Pure Howard 2014–2015, 2016-2017
Middletown Valley (C) Knights Co-op Monocacy Valley
Montgomery Blair (C) Blazers Co-op Montgomery Division 1
Mt. Hebron Vikings Pure Howard
Northern Patriots Pure Southern
Oakdale Bears Pure Monocacy Valley 2017-2018, 2021-20222023-2024
Patuxent (C) Panthers Co-op Southern
Queen Anne's County Lions Pure Eastern
Quince Orchard Cougars Pure Montgomery Division 1
Reservoir Gators Pure Howard
Richard Montgomery Rockets Pure Montgomery Division 2
River Hill Hawks Pure Howard
Rockville / Magruder (C) Rams Co-op Montgomery Division 2 Rockville, Magruder, Heights School, McLean School, St. Andrews Episcopal School, and Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School
Severna Park Spockey Pure Eastern 2005-2006
Sherwood Warriors Pure Montgomery Division 2 2003-2004**
South River Seahawks Pure Eastern 2006-2007
St. Mary's Ryken II Knights Pure Southern
Charles County (C) Cougars Co-op Southern
Urbana Hawks Pure Monocacy Valley 2010-2011
Walkersville/ Frederick/ St. Johns (C) Lions Co-op Monocacy Valley
Walt Whitman Vikings Pure Montgomery Division 1 2009-2010, 2010-20112011-2012 2011-2012
Walter Johnson Wildcats Pure Montgomery Division 1 2004-2005, 2022-2023
Washington County (C) Northstars Co-op Monocacy Valley
WHO - WLK / HAM / OAK (C) Wolves Co-op Howard 2007-2008* Wilde Lake, Hammond, and Oakland Mills
Winston Churchill Bulldogs Pure Montgomery Division 1 2004-2005, 2022-2023 2005–2006, 2010–2011, 2012–2013, 2014–2015, 2015–2016, 2016–2017, 2017–2018, 2018-2019, 2019-2020, 2021-2022
Woodrow Wilson Tigers Pure Montgomery Division 2 Offshoot of the DC Stars; 2017-2018 first season
Wootton Patriots Pure Montgomery Division 1 2018-2019 2007–2008, 2008–2009, 2013-2014
Non MSHL Boys Varsity Team http://mshl.org/player_roster.php?team_id=19856&schedule_id=319798&league_id=1308Pure Independent
Non-MSHL Varsity Boys Team 2 http://mshl.org/player_roster.php?team_id=540451&schedule_id=319798&league_id=1308Pure Independent

References