Does anyone know the format of the Suburban League playoffs this year....I am curious to see when Rock-North might meet up with Pennsbury in the playoffs...should be a great playoff match-up and will be good for the league itself...preview game tonight at Warwick.

The 3 favs for the playoffs should be Rock-N, Pennsbury and North Penn...but Rock-South, Pennridge or Souderton could surprise.

It's good to have Neshaminy and Pennsbury in the league....it'll make for a better playoff this year.

I don't know the format, but it was decided that Neshaminy and Pennsbury WILL NOT be in the SHSHL playoffs. They are still considered LBCSHL team and will play in the Lower Bucks Playoffs.

Are you sure?....I don't understand this...why wouldnt they be....LBCSHL should have no bearing on this...they are in the suburban standings and played suburban schedule all season.

So they should play in TWO different league playoffs?

why not? don't u think the Suburban League would want them to. do u think they shouldnt be? and why?

Anyway, I was told from someone who attended a SHSHL meeting that this was all worked out back in October or November and that both teams were told they would be included in the playoffs if they made them. If what u say is true, what changed their minds?

Maybe someone from the SHSHL could respond and shed some light on this subject. It makes no sense to me that the best team in the league could potentially be barred from the playoffs. How does that really crown a champ? I would think Rock-N or N Penn wouldnt want to win that way. Get out the ol'asterick then.

Matt, don't u think it would also make the Suburban League look bad if they kept one of the top teams from competing for a championship?

I don't know, maybe it's me, but it makes me think someone is alittle scared in the Suburban....first they can and now they can't.

There was mis-communication from the begining.

I don't think that they are being "barred", I think it is a mutual agreement that they should play for ONE league championship, not two.

Pennsbury and Neshaminy are still official members of the LBCSHL, not the SHSHL. They are playing a heavy "crossover schedule" with the SHSHL but are not official members.

Next year will probably be different.

quote:

Pennsbury and Neshaminy....are not official members.

It is my understanding that both orgs vote on all SHSHL issues at the meetings. Only official members have a vote.

And from reliable sources there is no mutual agreement. These teams still think they're eligible.

Matt, please take no offense, but maybe your not the best person(although close)to respond and hopefully we can get someone from the League to add to the topic.

But in your personal opinion, don't u think they should be. If not, why?

I take no offense....I wasn't in on any of the meetings, I just speak frequently to some people that are there.....I could be wrong.

My personal belief is that they should be eligible for ONE league playoff. Which league that is, I have no preference, but it should be one league in my opinion. (What happens when there is a scheduling conflict between the Lower Bucks and SHSHL playoffs....does Pennsbury have to forfiet one of the games)

Haverford High plays a large portion of their games against ICSHL opponents, Central league or otherwise, but they don't compete in the ICSHL playoffs........

Couldn't agree with you more. Some very disturbing occurrences this year - but obviously nobody really cares. Reminds me of a child's sandbox.

Some old stuff happening in local hockey to ruin it.

So what? Pennsbury wont be in Suburban playoffs this year despit the fact they are in first/second?

This is what Matt is being told. Still do not understand why. But maybe dumpandchase hit the nail on the head after researching his comment.

I spoke to Jim Gannon of Pennsbury last night and he was under the assumption that Pennsbury would be in the SHSHL playoffs, but he wasn't 100% positive on that.

I will try to get some answers.

I don't understand why they wouldn't be included anyone familiar with why the 2 teams are moving to the SHSHL understands it's for the playoffs not the regular season. As public schools they wanted to be on equal footing in competing for a league shampionship. So why change leagues if they are not in the playoffs.

As for conflicts in scheduling the Lower Bucks playoffs will be over or almost over before the SHSHL playoffs even begin.

I spoke to SHSHL President Kenny Haas and he said that, “we would love to have Pennsbury play in our playoffs.”

However, there was some miscommunication. When Pennsbury said they wanted to play in the league, It was thought they were going to play a full schedule and playoffs - and enter the Flyers Cup as a SHSHL rep. Things got confusing at the December FC meeting when Lower Bucks officials stated that Pennsbury and Neshaminy were full league members of the LBCSHL and competing in their playoffs.

My investigation revealed, SHSHL members began to complain, thinking that something shady was going on between Kenny and Jim Gannon. Kenny explained to the SHSHL members that circumstances had changed. He spoke with Jim and they (Pennsbury) were taking much heat for all the stuff that has been going on. So they didn't want to pull the trigger this year.

At the November SHSHL meeting, Gannon attempted to explain to the members their good intentions. After that meeting Kenny thought everything would be fine. However, playoffs were not discussed at that November meeting. When Kenny learned of the playoff issue at the December FC meeting, he spoke with league members and all thought it was simply not a good idea for Pennsbury to play in two playoffs.

Therefore, Kenny explained to me that he gave John (Bria) and Gannon the option of which playoffs they would like to take part in. They concluded it would cause problems to play in both and elected to complete with the LB teams. SHSHL members have been advised and there does not seem to be any other issues with Pennsbury in the league.

“SHSHL teams love Pennsbury in our league. It is a great idea and good for High School hockey. Hopefully next season we can work out these kinks and move in the direction of Suburban One.” Haas said. When speaking with CR North Head Coach Eric Tye, “being able to play Pennsbury twice a season is great for our program. You could feel the excitement in the air for both of our games”.

I speak to Kenny frequently and I assure you that it is his intention to move High School hockey in the direction of the Suburban One. The Principal of CB West is now the President of Suburban One. He a big supporter of High School hockey and CBW. His intent is to move Ice Hockey in that direction. And having Pennsbury and Neshaminy in the SHSHL will complete the Suburban One for ice hockey.

Haas stated that “we will continue to move in that direction next year; however there are some long standing, and respected traditions that we need to amicably work through. We simply did not discuss how to resolve those types of issues this year. We will continue to work with Bud and Bob to make this work next year”.