Unlike its football counterpart, revamped hockey divisions met with open arms
Regis Jesuit is the defending champion in ice hockey, and a revamped regular-season alignment has been a welcome change for the sport. More competitive league play should enhance an expanded 24-team playoff bracket. The regular season ends Feb. 18.
File photo by Ray Chen
In the fall, plenty of grumbling surrounded the realignment of Class 5A football. The new hockey realignment has been met with much less consternation.
This season, high school hockey has shifted to a tiered four-league format after previously having only two: The Peak League and the ultra-dominant Foothills.
"I believe the tiered divisions have really created a competitive balance throughout the entire classification,"
Dakota Ridge (Littleton) coach Alec Hines said. "We are seeing real parity in almost every game and not a lot of blowouts like we have seen in years past."
This season, the Highlands and Pinnacle leagues have been added, and teams were placed in leagues based on their RPI over the previous two seasons. That is, the top eight teams were placed into one league (the Foothills), the next eight into another division (the Peak) and on down. New squads
Fort Collins and
Crested Butte each were placed into one of the lower divisions. Slight modifications were made to balance travel and geography.
The realignment also will be accompanied by a shift in the postseason format, in which 24 teams qualify and the top eight receive byes. Previously, it was a straight-up 16-team bracket. So far the new system has drawn rave reviews.
"All the coaches I have talked to love the new divisions and say it was long overdue," said Hines, whose Eagles are ranked No. 9 in the latest CHSAANow.com poll. "We all agree this was the right direction for our league and in doing so has made the league better for the student athletes."
The Foothills League has produced the past five champions and runners-up, and had been purely dominant over that span. In last season's preset bracket, the Foothills went 7-1 against Peak foes in the first round, outscoring them 53-8 in the process (only the Peak's top seed,
Mountain Vista (Highlands Ranch), won). According to the Colorado High School Activities Association, 63 regular-season games (21.1 percent) were decided by eight goals or more.
The tiered divisions will foster competitive balance in many ways, including the chance for previously lower-level Foothills teams to play against more evenly matched competition.
One shining example in the new format is newcomer Fort Collins (11-1), but the Lambkins aren't only excelling because of the tiered divisions. They have gone a perfect 8-0 in the Pinnacle League, but they have also knocked off perennial powers Monarch (4-2 on Dec. 10) and Ralston Valley (5-2 on Jan. 7) in nonleague action. They have climbed to No. 4 in the rankings despite a recent loss to Mountain Vista.
"Most of these kids have played together in their younger years, but going into the season I don't think anyone really knew what to expect," Fort Collins coach Rhett Gordon said.
Expectations have risen after the two keynote victories. And it's not as if
Monarch (Louisville) and
Ralston Valley (Arvada) have fallen back to the pack this season. Each is in the top 10, Monarch at No. 3 and Ralston Valley at No. 7.
"Going into those games we knew it would be a very good measuring stick for our hockey team," said Anderson, a longtime professional hockey player, including a stint with the Colorado Eagles of the ECHL. "Going forward we're looking to continue to play well going into the playoffs."
While the power continues to reside in the Foothills League, hockey is competitive again for many of the mid- and lower-tier teams. And with teams like Fort Collins in the mix, there's no guarantee the Foothills will produce a sixth straight champion.
