Beyond the Scoresheet

Realignment and possible state tourney change

May 21, 2007 on 2:36 pm | In breaking news | 1 Comment

It may be the hockey offseason, but there has been plenty of logistical movement in preparation for next season. The NJIHL was forced into drastic realignment due to the Shore Conference’s withdrawal, and Morris County is realigning as well. Perhaps most significantly, njhockey.org has learned that the public state tournament could be divided under a proposal recommended by the state tournament committee. The proposal still needs approval from at least two more committees. Get ready for some changes …

Proposed public tournament change
I have it on good authority that the state tournament committee has recommended splitting the public state tournament into large- and small-school divisions. Under the plan, which still needs approval at several more levels, the largest 50 percent of schools qualifying for the state tournament would compete in one bracket and the smallest 50 percent would compete in another. I do not know if the winners would meet for the overall public championship. I will continue to report on this as I hear more details.

Analysis: This should come as no surprise, given that hockey has been moving in this direction since eliminating the overall championship game three years ago. I am not sure where I stand on this. It goes away from an overall champion, so I dislike it in that regard, and I don’t know that enrollment is a reliable indicator of success. But it does level the proverbial playing field and should allow for some exciting postseason runs we might not have seen otherwise. It could also make the league/county cups that much more important, because those are when teams are grouped competitively.

The schools that stand to benefit the most, I think, are schools from regional leagues (MCSSIHL, NBIAL, CVC). Many of these have solid hockey programs and limited enrollment and could dominate the small-school field. The top seeds in Division II (to borrow a Texas term) this year would have been: 1. Northern Highlands; 2. Chatham; 3. Ramapo; 4. Glen Rock; 5. Mendham; 6. Hopewell Valley; 7. Kinnelon; 8. Princeton; 9. Pequannock; 10. Jefferson

Also note that the difference between Division I and Division II will generally be very small – last year the split would have been between Point Pleasant (1,027) and WWPN (1,018) – and adds a significant layer of intrigue and speculation to the final weeks of the season. Texas 5A football is split up this way, and there is always talk of a team being “pushed” to Division I because a small school snuck into the last playoff spot.
The inclusion of Point Pleasant in that previous answer brings up another point to consider – how to handle co-op schools. To arrive at PPB’s 1,027, I doubled the listed enrollment of both participating schools, and I assume that is how the NJSIAA will handle things.
I also wonder how at-large bids factor in and if enrollment will become a consideration when at-large bids are decided (i.e. if the committee includes three schools with small enrollment, borderline schools like Northern Highlands and Wall could get bumped to Division I). The possibilities for speculation are endless.
Anyway, it’s still just a recommendation and has some hurdles to climb.

Realignment

Morris County
Mennen Division – 6 teams, 16 games (2 vs. division, 1 vs. Halvorsen), 5 teams qualify for Mennen Cup playoffs
Halvorsen Division – 6 teams, 16 games (2 vs. division, 1 vs. Halvorsen), 5 teams qualify for Halvorsen Cup playoffs
Haas/Charette Division – 8 teams, 14 games (2 vs. division), 6 teams qualify for Haas Cup playoffs

MCSSIHL (confirmed)

Mennen	Halvorsen	Haas/Charette
Chatham	Jefferson	Madison
Morris Knolls	Kinnelon	Montville
Morristown-Beard	Mendham	Morris Hills
Mountain Lakes	Morristown	Mount Olive
Pingry	Pequannock	Park Regional
Randolph	West Morris Central	Parsippany
		Parsippany Hills
		Roxbury

NJIHL (reported)

Northern Red	Northern White	Northern Blue
Clifton	Bayonne	DePaul Catholic
Glen Rock	Lakeland	Dumont
Paramus Catholic	Montclair	Hackensack
Ridgewood	Nutley	Hackettstown
St. Joseph Montvale	Paramus	High Point
Tenafly	Sparta	Hudson Catholic
Vernon	Wayne Valley	Newton
	West Milford	Passaic Valley
		River Dell
Central Red	Central White	Central Blue
Bridgewater-Raritan	Cranford	Bernards
Gloucester Catholic	Dayton	Edison
Hillsborough	Hunterdon Central	Governor Livingston
MKA	Johnson	Livingston
Montgomery	Old Bridge	Millburn
Ridge	Paul VI	St. Joseph Hammonton
St. Joseph Metuchen	Summit	Scotch Plains-Fanwood
Verona	Watchung Hills	South Brunswick
West Essex	Westfield	J.P. Stevens
		West Orange

Shore (unconfirmed): This is what I am hearing the Shore Conference will likely be aligned. I do not currently know how scheduling will work.

Shore A North	Shore A South
Middletown North	Brick Memorial
Middletown South	Brick Township
Red Bank Catholic	Monsignor Donovan
St. John Vianney	Toms River East
Wall	Toms River North
Shore B North	Shore B South
Red Bank Regional	Jackson Memorial
Rumson-Fair Haven	Manasquan
St. Rose	Point Pleasant
Toms River South	Southern Regional