DANKOCHIK’S DRAFTINGS: A post-season cut short too early

And just like that, the Mantioba Junior Hockey League season has ended for me.

Within 10 minutes, both the Niverville Nighthawks and Steinbach Pistons fell in game six of their respective first round series. Over the past few years, I’ve gotten used to my hockey season lasting until early May.

This year, both MJHL teams in our coverage area were eliminated before the calendar turned to April.

A big reason for both teams early exit is the MJHL’s playoff format. By staying in division in the first round of the playoffs, the Pistons, owners of the league’s second-best regular season record, had to play the third-seeded Portage Terriers.

The Nighthawks, who finished with more points than every team but one in the West Division, had to play the absolute juggernaut Winkler Flyers, who have dominated the league so far this year as they seek back-to-back championships.

While in my opinion this set-up is flawed, I don’t see any easy fix for the MJHL. If a league is unwilling to play a balanced schedule, then play-off qualification has to come down to your seeding within your own division. Niverville and Steinbach went a combined 22-0 against the two East Division Winnipeg teams, which inevitably inflates their end of season record.

My proposed solution would be to make the first round entirely cross-over, where the top seed in the West Division plays the fourth seed in the East, much like the World Junior Hockey Championships or other international events.

It would be tough to see that change get made with travel, especially if the first round remains a best-of-seven series. Even that wouldn’t be a perfect fix, as there could be unfair matchups in that system as well.

It would take a complete restructuring of the playoff format and MJHL schedule to fix the “problem” of unfair first-round match-ups, with the league moving to a completely balanced schedule and a pure top-eight format. I’d personally love to see that change, but it would also come alongside increased travel costs or a vast reduction in total games played.

There’s no easy solution, and when only eight teams make the playoffs, great teams will have to play each other early anyways.

Even if Steinbach had an easier first-round match-up, they would have more than likely played Portage in the second round. Those extra games matter, but with only an eight-team bracket, there isn’t much difference to “better” seeding. You’ve got to play a top four team in the second round, and if you’re not the top seed, you’re facing off against someone great.

The current format basically guarantees divisional rivals to face off in the first round, which has it’s own benefits, and not just travel costs.

If you have a preferred change to the MJHL post-season or regular season schedule, I’d love to hear about it. Feel free to email me at sports@thecarillon.com.