League Playoffs and State Tournament Information

At the conclusion of the regular season, the Varsity and JV teams will compete in the Illinois West playoff and Illinois State High School Hockey Tournament.

Illinois West Playoff Information

Varsity

The Top 8 teams in the final regular season standings will complete for the West Cup. Teams 9-13 will compete for the McKeague Cup.

West Cup Playoff Format

Each Round is a Best-of-3 Format

Quarter Finals (starting 1/31/2026)

Semi-Finals (starting 2/9/2026)

Finals (starting 2/16/2026)

McKeague Cup Playoff Format

First Round is a 5 Team Round-Robin, where each team plays 4 games. Top 2 teams will advance to the McKeague Cup Finals. The finals are a Best-of-3 Series.

Round Robin (starting 1/30/2026)

Finals (starting 2/20/2026)

The Top 8 teams in the final regular season standings will compete for the West Cup. Teams 9-15 will compete for the McKeague Cup.

West Cup Playoff Format

Each Round is a Best-of-3 Format

Quarter Finals (starting 1/30/2026)

Semi Finals (starting 2/9/2026)

Finals (starting 2/16/2026)

McKeague Cup Format

First Round is a 7-team Round-Robin format. Top 4 teams will advance to a 1-game semi-final. Winners from the semi-final will advance to a 3-game final series.

Round-Robin (starting 1/30/2026)

Semi-Final (2/14/2026)

Final (starting 2/20/2026)

State Tournament Information

The High School State Championship is the pinnacle of Illinois high school hockey. Varsity and Junior Varsity teams from across the state compete for the chance to play in the finals and earn the title of State Champion.

State Tournament Format

All six divisions of the High School State Championships use a single-elimination format:

Varsity Red – pure teams
Varsity Combined – combined teams
JV Blue – pure teams
JV Combined – combined teams

Rankings and Seeding

Team rankings are announced in January, which then establishes the tournament bracket. Once the bracket is set, teams will schedule each game, with the higher-seeded team as the home team. Tournament games start as early as February 1.

Varsity Finals are played at the Allstate Arena on March 6, 2026.

JV Finals are played on March 13, 2026 at Rosemont Rink.