From Indiana Univ. M2 Hockey Media
By Sam Weixler
CINCINNATI, Ohio- The lengthy regular season has come to an exciting close, and the top eight teams in the Tri-State Collegiate Hockey League are headed to the Cincinnati SportsPlus Center to duke it out for the 2022 TSCHL Playoffs!
TSCHL Commissioner Tim Driscoll, at the helm since 2018, said “I’m so excited for the tournament to begin. This weekend is going to be crazy, and the teams this year are very talented. It should be a fantastic event.”
The tournament begins on Friday, February 18th, when all the qualifiers will play their first round games (see bottom for full schedule). The competing teams will be Miami, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio State, Bowling Green State, Kentucky, and Louisville. The two clubs not invited to this year’s dance, Xavier and Dayton, both managed just one win against TSCHL opponents, thus placing them in the cellar of their respective divisions within the league.
This is the first end-of-season tournament since Ohio State took home the cup in 2020, and this year the Miami RedHawks have the opportunity to be the first club to win the season double (regular season and playoff championship) since the now-departed Toledo Rockets.
In the 2013-14 season, the Rockets cruised to the top of the league table and finished with only a single loss, followed by easy victories against Pittsburgh (11-5) and Ohio University (6-2) to secure the season double. Since Toledo’s 2014 run, the league’s regular season champion has lost in the playoff championship game every single tournament (MIA in ‘20 and ‘18, CIN in ‘19 and ‘17, OHIO ‘16, and DAY ‘15).
The pennant is the third for Miami in their four seasons as a part of ‘The T’ (not counting last year’s canceled season due to Covid-19). The most recent tournament banner for the Hawks came at the end of the 2018-19 campaign, when they topped the Bearcats of Cincinnati-now an independent club- in an overtime thriller. This is also the first time in league history that any TSCHL team made their way through the entire season without suffering a single loss to league adversaries.
Defending-champion Ohio State took down Miami in the 2020 final, and this year will have to go through Kentucky, and either BGSU or frequent foe Miami once again, just to make it to the championship game. This season, the Buckeyes finished two points out of first place in the North Division behind their arch rivals, the “School from up north” Michigan Wolverines.
As announced by the TSCHL social media accounts (@TSCHockeyLeague), the tournament will be broadcast live by the Indiana University Hockey media team on their Youtube channel “Hockey at Indiana University” which is free for all viewers (see link below). The Indiana Hockey media crew is led by IU Hockey Director of Media & Broadcasting Sam Weixler, alongside Assistant Director Garrett Drake, Media Specialist & Analyst Kelsey Dennehy, and Gameday Technical Assistant Ben Stannard. All attend the Indiana University Media School.
The live broadcast links will be shared on Twitter and Instagram by the league profiles, and each team will post the link online as well for parents, family, and fans. It should be noted that only the games on the “USA” Rink will be streamed, due to the lack of media accommodations and internet on the “CANADA” Rink at the far end of the building. Check twitter for live tweets during the two games not being streamed.
2022 TSCHL PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE
*All games to take place at the Cincinnati SportsPlus Center in Evandale, Ohio*
FIRST ROUND- Friday, Feb 18th
(G1) Miami vs. BGSU (2:30 PM- USA Rink)
(G2) Ohio State vs. Kentucky (2:45 PM- CAN Rink)
(G3) Michigan vs. Louisville (7:15 PM- USA Rink)
(G4) Indiana vs. Ohio University (9:15 PM- CAN Rink)
SEMI-FINALS- Saturday, Feb 19th
(G5) G1 Winner vs. G2 Winner (3 PM- USA Rink)
(G6) G3 Winner vs. G4 Winner (6 PM- USA Rink)
CHAMPIONSHIP- Sunday, Feb 20th
G5 Winner vs. G6 Winner (Noon- USA Rink)
(Originally published at https://www.hockeyiu.com/articles/2022-tristate-collegiate-hockey-league-playoffs-what-you-need-to-know-kzosot0t)
