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)
JV
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.
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