Acronyms of New Jersey Hockey
When I first got really involved in New Jersey high school hockey in 1996, there were 64 teams throughout the state. Now, in 2005, there are 117.
There
are four leagues in the state: the New Jersey Interscholastic Hockey League
(NJIHL); the Morris County Secondary Schools Ice Hockey League (MCSSIHL); the
Colonial Valley Conference (CVC); and the North Bergen Interscholastic Athletic
Conference (NBIAL). In addition, the Shore Conference and Skyland Conference also
crown champions from among their member teams.
This
is the state’s biggest league, containing more than 60 percent of the state’s
teams. The league had statewide divisions based on skill level until 20001,
when the league was realigned by including geography as a factor. There have
been several realignments since, with teams changing conferences and divisions,
but 2005-’06 might be the most practical alignment yet seen.
The
Gordon Conference is the state’s elite division, currently composed of nine
Catholic schools after the lone public representative, Brick Township, dropped
out. Each Gordon Conference school earns an automatic bid to the NJSIAA
tournament, and prospective teams must apply for admission. The division has
seen four teams enter and three teams leave, ranging from 8-10 teams in size.
The
remaining teams are aligned geographically, with Northern, Central, and
Southern Conferences. Within each conference, teams are grouped in 6-8 team
divisions based on skill level (highest to lowest: Red, White, and Blue
Divisions.) Each team plays the other teams in its division twice, one home and
once away, for a league schedule ranging from 10-14 games. Division champions
often move up to the next division the following year.
Each
division has a postseason tournament involving six teams. The most prestigious
is the Gordon Cup, won by Delbarton in 2005 in its first year in the NJIHL after
more than 20 years in its county league.
This league plays almost exclusively at Mennen Arena in Morris Township, and includes every Morris County team except Delbarton, plus local school Pingry. As recently as 1995-’96, there were 12 teams in the league in three divisions competing for one postseason cup. By 2002-’03, there were 20 teams in four divisions competing for two cups.
In
order of skill level, the divisions are: Mennen, Halvorsen, Haas, Charette
(formed 2002-’03.) The Mennen and Halvorsen Divisions compete against each
other in the regular season and in the postseason for the Mennen Cup. All five
Mennen Division teams make the Mennen Cup playoffs, along with three Halvorsen
teams. The Haas and Charette Divisions compete against each other in the
regular season and in the postseason for the Haas Cup. All five Haas Division
teams make the Haas Cup playoffs, along with three teams from the Charette.
Teams
play division opponents twice and opponents from the other division once.
Delbarton
dominated the league after joining in 1980, winning 17 consecutive division
championships and winning or sharing 19 of 21 Mennen Cups from 1984-2004.
Delbarton joined the Gordon Conference in 2004.
While
Morristown-Beard has been the most consistent team, making the playoffs for
every Mennen Cup, Randolph and Morris Knolls are the other schools with Mennen
Cup titles since ’84. Morris Knolls edged Morristown-Beard 1-0 in an epic
championship game in 2005.
As
in the NJIHL, division champions can move up a division for the following
season.
This league is located in Mercer County, playing at Mercer County Rink and IceLand, and includes 11 hockey teams. For the 2003-’04 season, the league was realigned into three divisions (Colonial, Valley, Patriot) based on skill level.
The skill alignment sees its first change in 2005-’06, with Princeton and Steinert replacing the West Windsor/Plainsboros in the Colonial Division, along with Hopewell Valley and Notre Dame. The Valley Division now includes both WWPs, Hightstown, and newly promoted Ewing. Lawrence drops to the Patriot Division alongside Nottingham and Hamilton. Each team will play division opponents twice and non-division opponents once.
Notre
Dame, as the only private school, has been one of the league’s dominant teams,
and Hopewell Valley and Hightstown have been the most consistent public
schools. West Windsor/Plainsboro has been split into two schools, North and
South, since 2000-’01.
10 teams, 2 championships, organized by enrollment
This
all-sports conference is in its first season as an exclusive hockey entity,
with 10 teams playing a full double round-robin schedule for 18 league games.
There will be two five-team postseason championships, one for Division I (five
largest schools) and one for Division II (five smallest schools). Ramapo, Fair
Lawn, Old Tappan, Wayne Hills, and Demarest are the Division I competitors.
Pascack Valley, Indian Hills, Ramsey, Mahwah, and Northern Highlands are the
Division II participants.
Ramapo
was in the highest division, skill-wise, before realignment in 2004-05, but the
league is fairly evenly matched.
The
New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association is the governing body for
the state athletics and runs the postseason state tournament. There was a
single state tournament for ice hockey until 1995, when the teams were split
into public and private brackets, with the winners meeting for the state
championship. In 2005, the NJSIAA voted to permanently cancel the public/private
championship game.
The
state tournaments are for teams with a winning percentage of .500 or better as
of the mid-February cutoff date, all teams from the Gordon Conference and any
at-large selections. (The at-large bids are available to schools within four
games of a .500 record and are limited to two private and three public
schools). The teams are seeded for single-elimination tournaments.
Games
are held at the home of the higher seed until the quarterfinals, which are held
at predetermined sites Mennen Arena and South Mountain Arena. The semifinals
and championship games are played at Continental Airlines Arena.
The New Jersey Independent Schools Athletic Association is a body of private schools that sponsors the Prep B Tournament, which includes Lawrenceville, Princeton Day, Hun, and Pennington, none of which are NJSIAA members. Pingry, Morristown-Beard, and Montclair-Kimberley also traditionally compete in the Prep B tournament.