Playoff races
 

The Valley Jr. Warriors made the most out of their showcase games in Philadelphia, clinching the fourth and final seed in the EHL North Division. After dropping their first game against the Express Hockey Club, the Warriors beat the hosting Little Flyers by a score of 9-4 as Sean Hoffman recorded two goals and two assists. 

Then on Monday, needing just a point in the standings to stay in fourth place above the Vermont Lumberjacks, they took the Connecticut RoughRiders beyond regulation in a 5-4 shootout loss. Reid Malatesta and Wake Purdy each had a goal and an assist in a back-and-forth affair, helping the Warriors punch a ticket to the EHL postseason.

“I think the guys handled it wonderfully. I had a nervous morning, but I believe in these guys and they believe in each other,” said Warriors head coach Ryan McGrath. “We’ve become battle tested and it’s like we’ve been in the playoffs for a month now.”

In a stacked East Division, the Express walked away with the number one seed, taking two out three games. On Saturday, they shut out the Valley Jr. Warriors 3-0 as Gavin Simopoulos recorded a goal and two assists. Then on Monday, they closed out their regular season with a 3-1 win over Philadelphia Hockey Club.

Meanwhile, the Boston Jr. Rangers won two games by a score of 5-2, finishing one point ahead of the East Coast Wizards for second place in the East. Bradley McMains scored three goals in the showcase, including two in their win over New York Apple Core and one more in a victory over the Pennsylvania Huntsmen.

In the EHLP, the New Jersey 87’s won all four of their games to leap-frog over the Pennsylvania Huntsmen for the number one seed in the Mid-Atlantic Division. On Saturday, the team knocked down the New England Wolves 7-6 in overtime on a game-winning goal from Ivan Borisov, then beat the Seahawks Hockey Club 3-2. They followed that up with a 5-4 win over the Valley Jr. Warriors on Sunday and a 2-1 victory against the Boston Jr. Rangers on Monday.

While the Huntsmen finished one point above the 87’s, New Jersey had only played 41 games this season as a contest against the Connecticut Chiefs a month ago was canceled. Since the 87’s finished with a higher points percentage than the Huntsmen (.756 to .750), they got the number one seed in the division. 

Late-game heroics
 

If playoff stakes didn’t make the showcase games exciting already, a number of them featured last-minute comebacks and overtime thrillers. 

Both Wolves teams had a flair for the dramatic in the Aston showcase. While the EHLP team lost 7-6 in overtime to the 87’s on Saturday, they erased a 5-1 deficit in the second half. The 87’s scored to make it 6-5, but the Wolves came back again when Zach Spicuzza tied it up with 45 seconds left in regulation, giving the Wolves a much-earned point in the standings.

On Sunday, the Wolves’ EHL team knocked down Apple Core 3-2, and AJ Lackas scored the game-winning goal with seven seconds left in regulation. On a defensive zone faceoff, the Wolves won it back to Nick Theodos, who rimmed the puck around the boards and sprang Lackas on an odd-man rush where he buried his 21st goal of the season. It stood as the game-winner as the Wolves completed the showcase sweep.

“We just wrote up a play, Theodos rims it around and it worked perfectly right to the execution,” Lackas said after the game. “We just got together, we played well and everyone was just playing their role. It was a great game all-around.”

The Connecticut Chiefs’ EHLP team won a wild game on Saturday against the New Hampshire Avalanche. With the game tied 1-1, Avs forward Alex Penning scored the go-ahead goal with 12 seconds left in regulation. Right off the faceoff, the Chiefs took it down the ice and a rebound popped right to Timothee Quinon, who buried his third goal of the year and tied it at two.

In overtime, the Avs decided to pull the goalie for a 4-on-3 advantage, but it backfired as Chiefs forward Pavel Bouska flung a 170-foot shot down the ice for the game-winning goal.

Potential Providence Previews
 

With a bunch of top EHL and EHLP teams facing each other, the Aston showcase had a lot of matchups that could potentially take place later this month at the Frozen Finals. 

On the EHL side, the very first game of the showcase featured the East Coast Wizards and New Jersey Bears, as the Bears won 4-3. New Jersey jumped to a 4-0 lead, though the Wizards had a commendable comeback effort with three goals throughout the second half. Carson Frye held off the Wizards’ attack just enough, making 32 saves on 35 shots.

The New Hampshire Avalanche had a pair of wins against the league’s top teams. They blanked the Express on Sunday with a 1-0 victory; Nick Maronna scored the game’s only goal while Sam Boos notched a 22-save shutout. On Monday they defeated the regular-season champions in the Railers by a score of 4-2. AJ Guzzardi, Jake Hines, Mason Strum and Brennan Pecararo were the goal scorers as the Avs snapped the Railers’ nine-game winning streak.

Speaking of ending a winning streak for the Railers, the Wolves’ EHLP team did that on Sunday with a 5-4 victory. Zach Spicuzza had a goal and three assists for the Wolves as they snapped the Railers’ 13-game heater.

The Express’ Premier team went a perfect 4-0 in Aston, with their most notable win coming against the Huntsmen in overtime. Charlie DiMartino, who finished first in the EHLP this season with 86 points (44g, 42a), notched the game-winning goal.

The Jr. Warriors’ made their case as the best fourth-place team in the Premier Division, earning a 3-1 win against the Avalanche on Sunday and a 9-1 victory over the Adirondack Jr. Thunder on Monday. Anthony Rosa and Andrew Beausang scored two goals each as the Warriors ended their showcase on a high note.

Now for the postseason
 

With the conclusion of the 2023-2024 regular season, the EHL postseason and road to Providence starts now. In the EHL, three play-in games will take place this week for the Central, East and South Divisions. The winner of each game will be the number four seed for the first divisional round.

For the EHLP, the Boston and Mid-Atlantic Divisions will have play-in rounds with a #3 vs. #6 matchup and #4 vs. #5 series. Unlike the EHL, these play-in rounds will be a best-of-three series. The winners of each round will be re-seeded to go up against the number one and two seeds for the first divisional round. Here are the matchups:

EHL
 

South: Philadelphia Hockey Club at Philadelphia Little Flyers – Thursday March 7 (7:45pm)

East: Seahawks Hockey Club at Boston Jr. Terriers – Friday March 8 (12:00pm)

Central: Connecticut Chiefs at HC Rhode Island – Friday March 8 (4:00pm)

EHLP
 

Mid-Atlantic Division

#3 New Jersey Renegades vs. #6 Connecticut Chiefs

#4 Philadelphia Little Flyers vs. #5 Union Jr. Thunder

Boston Division

#3 Express Hockey Club vs. #6 Bridgewater Bandits

#4 Valley Jr. Warriors vs. #5 Seahawks Hockey Club