To make it perfectly clear right off the jump: None of the parties involved here have broken any rules or guidelines set up by the MIAA.
Everything has been within protocal.
However, over the past 24 hours, there’s been some confusion regarding the location of Wednesday’s Division 2 Quarterfinal hockey game between Newburyport and Woburn. And hopefully as a result of this occurance, moving forward to next year a slight tweak will be made to the statewide hockey tournament format.
So what’s going on?
Well, on Wednesday night, the No. 5 Clippers (18-4-1) will take on the No. 4 Tanners (14-5-1) with a spot in the Division 2 Final Four on the line. Puck drop will take place at 7:30 p.m. from the O’Brien Ice Rink in Woburn, which is where the Tanners play their home games during the regular season and where they’ve won their opening two playoff games.
Some did not think this was even a possibility.
There was a belief that Quarterfinal hockey games across all divisions were to take place at neutral sites, which is not technically the case. In the MIAA website, under the “Sports and Tournaments” drop-down box, you will find the “Tournament Format” link at the bottom. If you then enter into the “Ice Hockey” page, you can read the documentation that, under “Site Information” point No. 4, reads: “Round of 8 games will be played at regionally located pre-determined sites selected by the MIAA.”
So, again, not technically true “neutral-site” games.
In spirit: Sure.
By definition: No.
These pre-determined sites are selected prior to the start of the hockey season. Now, this is unlike the basketball state tournaments, where the higher seeds get to host through the Quarterfinal round. The reason for this is twofold and quite simple: 1. data has shown that hockey games are slightly more attended by fans, and 2. many local hockey rinks — like the Graf and Veterans Memorial — are not large enough or equipped to handle those game-day procedures, unlike most high school basketball courts.
Moving back to Newburyport vs. Woburn, though, the question becomes: Why the O’Brien Ice Rink?
For starters, obviously, the O’Brien Rink was designated as one of multiple pre-determined sites months prior. In the same MIAA Ice Hockey “Tournament Format” documentation, it states: “For the Round of 8 only, the higher seed will be permitted to recommend, to the Tournament Director, from the established pre-determined sites a location for the game. The Tournament Director will have final decision on all Round of 8 game locations.”
So, at the base level, it’s as simple as:
1. The O’Brien Ice Rink is a designated, pre-determined site.
2. Woburn, the higher seed, recommended Wednesday’s Quarterfinal game to be played there.
3. The Tournament Director — Scituate AD Scott Paine — decided to oblidge.
4. There’s nothing in the “Tournament Format” documentation that states that higher seeds can’t have Quarterfinal games at their home rink.
But now you get into morals/ethics.
A year ago, Newburyport boys hockey was the No. 6 seed in Division 2, and similarly advanced to the Quarterfinal round where it matched up against No. 3 Canton. The pre-determined site chosen for the game was the Gallo Ice Arena in Bourne — a 60-minute commute for Canton, while a 2-hour commute for Newburyport.
Which was perfectly fine.
Canton was the higher seed, after all, so it made sense to have the game at a pre-determined site closer to its community.
But this is a little different.
Speaking with Newburyport Athletic Director Kyle Hodsdson on Monday, the questions were raised to the MIAA to have the location of this year’s game moved. Even something as simple as the Stoneham Arena — another pre-determined site — which is only seven miles and 12 minutes away from the O’Brien Rink. In fact, No. 1 St. John’s Prep will play their Division 1 Quarterfinal game there on Thursday.
Woburn would still have the higher-seed advantage of only a 12-minute drive, while Newburyport would be on the road 35 minutes.
But, of course most importantly, it wouldn’t be at Woburn’s home rink.
“The MIAA is following their format,” said Hodsdon. “Nothing in there says that a higher seed can’t have the game at their home rink. But the MIAA talks about having a level playing field, and this isn’t exactly a level playing field. Having the game in Stoneham seemed like a good solution.”
The hope moving forward, maybe for next year, is that an adjustment will be made so that higher seeds would not be able to play Quarterfinal games at their home rink — should their home rink be a pre-determined site.
This “noise,” however, is not something the team needs to dwell on.
The Clippers are only a couple of steps away from a Division 2 title berth, and no matter what hand they get dealt, they’ll come ready to compete.
“Our boys are going to go in and play hard, they don’t care where they play,” said Hodsdon. “And hopefully this will create a change to the rules moving forward.”