League information The Maryland Student Hockey League is an association of over 50 school-based teams located in Maryland and the District of Columbia. It is a registered 501(c)3 corporation and a member of the Potomac Valley Amateur Hockey Association which is the local governing body of USA Hockey, the National Governing Body of amateur ice hockey in the United States. The sanctioned varsity teams are divided into sections used by every sport under MSHL. The League sponsors Varsity and Junior Varsity competition of all skill levels and sexes. While not affiliated with the Maryland Public Secondary School Athletic Association, the MSHL follows many of the MPSSAA's rules and regulations as possible, given the constraints imposed by the various schools and school systems. The sanctioned teams compete from the beginning of November until the end of February with the maximum number of games.
Playoff format The MSHL State playoffs consists of 16 teams. Each conference is allocated a set number of teams in the tournament as follows:
Montgomery Hockey Conference (1st division only) – 4 teams, Eastern Conference – 4 teams, Howard County Scholastic Hockey Association – 3 teams, Monocacy Valley Hockey League – 3 teams, Southern Conference – 2 teams,
Each conference determines which teams are their entrants and in what order they are seeded within the conference. Teams are then entered into pods: Pod 1: Montgomery #1, Eastern #1, Howard #1, MVHL #1, Southern #1, Pod 2: Montgomery #2, Eastern #2, Howard #2, MVHL #2, Southern #2, Pod 3: Montgomery #3, Eastern #3, Howard #3, MVHL #3, Pod 4: Montgomery #4, Eastern #4.
Seeds within a pod are determined by a blind draw. Teams in Pod 1 are seeded 1 to 5, Pod 2 - 6 to 10, Pod 3 - 11 to 14 and Pod 4 - seeds 15 and 16. Teams will then be entered in the bracket and the only adjustments permitted for the 1st round are that teams from the same conference will not face each other in round 1. Other than the instance(s) described above, there is no reseeding of the tournament before each round. Dates for the 2018 State playoffs are as follows: Round 1 - February 12–16, 2018 at various rinks, Quarterfinals - February 20 at Laurel, Semifinals - February 22 at Laurel, Finals - February 26 at Laurel.
MSHL Teams SchoolNicknameStatusConferencePlayoff finals appearancesChampionshipsNotes Arundel Wildcats Co-op Eastern Atholton Raiders Pure Howard 2011-2012 Bel Air Bobcats Pure Eastern Established as an expansion from Fallston prior to the start of the 2017–2018 season Bethesda - Chevy Chase Barons Pure Montgomery Division 1 Blake / Poolesville (C) Griffins Co-op Montgomery Division 2 Bowie (I) Bulldogs Pure Independent Broadneck Bruins Pure Eastern Carroll County (C) Bears Co-op Monocacy Valley Chessie (C) Chessie Co-op Eastern Damascus/Gaithersburg/Clarksburg (C) Hornets Co-op Montgomery Division 2 DC Stars (C) Stars Co-op Montgomery Division 2 Made up of various schools in DC that don't have their own hockey team. Dulaney (C) Lions Co-op Eastern Established in 2008 and open to students from all Baltimore County and City of Baltimore public schools as well as private schools from the same area without their own hockey teams. Easton Warriors Pure Eastern 2012-2013 Eleanor Roosevelt (C) Raiders Co-op Southern Long Reach / Centennial (C) Thunderbirds Co-op Howard Fallston (C) Tigers Co-op Eastern Frederick County (C) FCHC - Kings Co-op Monocacy Valley 2008-2009*** Linganore Glenelg Gladiators Pure Howard 2009-2010 Howard Lions Pure Howard Huntingtown Hurricanes Pure Southern 2011-2012 Kent Island Buccaneers Pure Eastern La Plata Panthers Pure Southern Leonardtown Raiders Pure Southern 2006–2007, 2013-2014 Marriotts Ridge Mustangs Pure Howard 2014–2015, 2016-2017 Middletown Valley (C) Knights Co-op Monocacy Valley Montgomery Blair (C) Blazers Co-op Montgomery Division 1 Mt. Hebron Vikings Pure Howard Northern Patriots Pure Southern Oakdale Bears Pure Monocacy Valley 2017-2018, 2021-20222023-2024, 2024-2025, 2025-2026 Patuxent (C) Panthers Co-op Southern Queen Anne's County Lions Pure Eastern Quince Orchard Cougars Pure Montgomery Division 1 Reservoir Gators Pure Howard Richard Montgomery Rockets Pure Montgomery Division 2 River Hill Hawks Pure Howard Rockville / Magruder (C) Rams Co-op Montgomery Division 2 Rockville, Magruder, Heights School, McLean School, St. Andrews Episcopal School, and Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School Severna Park Spockey Pure Eastern 2005-2006 Sherwood Warriors Pure Montgomery Division 2 2003-2004** South River Seahawks Pure Eastern 2006-2007 St. Mary's Ryken II Knights Pure Southern Charles County (C) Cougars Co-op Southern Urbana Hawks Pure Monocacy Valley 2010-2011, 2025-2026 Walkersville/ Frederick/ St. Johns (C) Lions Co-op Monocacy Valley Walt Whitman Vikings Pure Montgomery Division 1 2009-2010, 2010-2011 2011-2012 2011-2012 Walter Johnson Wildcats Pure Montgomery Division 1 2004-2005, 2022-2023 Washington County (C) Northstars Co-op Monocacy Valley WL / HAM / OM (C) Wolves Co-op Howard 2007-2008* Wilde Lake, Hammond, and Oakland Mills Winston Churchill Bulldogs Pure Montgomery Division 1 2004-2005, 2022-2023 2005–2006, 2010–2011, 2012–2013, 2014–2015, 2015–2016, 2016–2017, 2017–2018, 2018-2019, 2019-2020, 2021-2022 Woodrow Wilson Tigers Pure Montgomery Division 2 Offshoot of the DC Stars; 2017-2018 first season Wootton Patriots Pure Montgomery Division 1 2018-2019 2007–2008, 2008–2009, 2013-2014 Non MSHL Boys Varsity Team Pure Independent Non-MSHL Varsity Boys Team 2 Pure Independent
References Maryland Scholastic Hockey League Website