The National Ringette League playoffs are the knockout match, round robin, and tournament for determining the champion for National Ringette League (NRL).
The National Ringette League (NRL) playoffs began during the league's second season which was the 2005-06 season. In 2008, the NRL playoffs replaced the national championships for the Under-19 years and Open divisions at the Canadian Ringette Championships and have been conducted in this manner since.
The 2010–11 season introduced the new "NRL Championship Tournament" replacing the Championship qualifying rounds and takes place in just one city with the intention of allowing the league to create a media event and to hold attention. The top 10 teams in the league's regular season participate in the championship tournament crowning the team champion of the league. Starting in the 2011–12 season, 8 teams played a full round robin known as the "Elite Eight" to determine the champion.
Format
The current format consists of three parts: Knockout match, Elite Eight, and Tournament. Knockout Stage: the best-of-three match to determine which of the three Eastern conference teams and which one of the Western conference teams advance to the Elite Eight. Elite Eight: the eight-team round robin matches. Each team plays seven games one time. These games began being held in one city starting in the 2011-12 season. Championship Tournament: the semifinal and final. Second and third place teams in Elite Eight go to the semifinal, and the winner goes against the top team in Elite Eight.
History
SeasonDevelopment2005-06 NRL playoffs began during the league's second season2008The NRL playoffs replaced the national championships for the Under-19 years and Open divisions at the Canadian Ringette Championships and have been conducted in this manner ever since. 2010-11The playoffs were held in just one city.2011-12The "Elite Eight" (a round-robin tournament) and the new "Championship Tournament" started. The NRL Championship Tournament replaced the Championship qualifying rounds.2015-16The number of teams in the Western conference became 4, and the Knockout stage consisted of five Eastern conference teams and three Western conference teams. 2016-17The number of Western Conference teams became 5, but the number of teams advancing to the Elite Eight remained the same.2025-2026The number of Western Conference teams was 7 and the number of Eastern Conference Teams was 7.
Final results
Year ChampionResult Runner-up 2011 Edmonton WAM! 4-2 Cambridge Turbos 2012 LMRL Thunder 7-2 Montréal Mission 2013 Calgary RATH 6-5 Prairie Fire 2014 Ottawa Ice 7-4 Cambridge Turbos 2015 Cambridge Turbos 6-2 Richmond Hill Lighting 2016 Cambridge Turbos 5-3 Gloucester Devils 2017 Cambridge Turbos 6-5 Atlantic Attack 2018 Atlantic Attack 5-3 Edmonton WAM! 2019 Calgary RATH 5-3 Atlantic Attack 2022 Calgary RATH - Edmonton WAM!
Records
All records are from 2011 playoffs. Stats updated as of end of 2018 playoffs.
Playoffs appearance
TeamAppearanceKnockout stageElite EightThe number in parentheses means the team clinched this round directly as a seed.Ten teams participated in Elite Eight in 2011 playoffs.SemifinalFinal Atlantic Attack 7 4 5(3) 0 2(2) BC ThunderInclude one season as LMRL Thunder 4 2 2(2) 1 1(0) Edmonton Black Gold Rush 2 2 2(0) 0 0(0) Bourassa Royal 4 4 0(0) 0 0(0) Calgary RATH 8 0 8(8) 2 1(0) Cambridge Turbos 8 2 8(6) 5 5(2) Edmonton WAM! 6 1 6(5) 3 2(1) Gatineau Fusion 5 5 1(0) 0 0(0) Gloucester Devils 7 7 5(0) 1 1(1) Lac St. Louis Adrenaline 2 2 0(0) 0 0(0) Manitoba Intact 2 2 1(0) 0 0(0) Manitoba JetsDefunct team 1 0 1(1) 0 0(0) Montréal Mission 8 3 7(5) 0 1(1) Ottawa Ice 8 8 6(0) 3 1(0) Prairie Fire 3 0 3(3) 0 1(1) Quebec City CyclonesInactive team 3 3 1(0) 0 0(0) Richmond Hill Lighting 8 8 7(0) 1 1(0) 5 5 0(0) 0 0(0) Waterloo Wildfire 6 6 3(0) 1 0(0) Whitby Wild 1 1 0(0) 0 0(0)
Team records
The overtime loss(es) will be counted as OTL in team records but not in final game records.
TeamGPWLOTLSL Atlantic Attack 46 20 25 1 0 BC Thunder 22 11 9 2 0 Black Gold Rush 20 5 15 0 0 Bourassa Royal 10 2 7 0 1 Calgary RATH 61 32 27 2 0 Cambridge Turbos 72 53 16 3 0 Edmonton WAM! 50 32 16 2 0 Gatineau Fusion 9 1 8 0 0 Gloucester Devils 62 28 31 3 0 Lac St.Louis Adrenaline 5 1 4 0 0 Manitoba Intact 11 4 6 1 0 Manitoba Jets 7 0 6 0 1 Montréal Mission 57 28 27 2 0 Ottawa Ice 63 37 26 0 0 Prairie Fire 15 9 5 1 0 Quebec City Cyclones 13 4 9 0 0 Richmond Hill Lighting 69 39 28 1 1 Rive Sud Revolution 11 1 10 0 0 Waterloo Wildfire 39 15 23 1 0
Final game record
TeamGPWLThis includes overtime loss(es).%Most recent appearancesMost recent titles Calgary RATH 2 2019 Atlantic Attack 2 1 1 .500 2018 2018 BC ThunderAs LMRL Thunder 1 1 0 1.000 2012 2012 Cambridge Turbos 5 3 2 .600 2017 2017 Calgary RATH 1 1 0 1.000 2013 2013 Edmonton WAM! 2 1 1 .500 2018 2011 Gloucester Devils 1 0 1 .000 2016 Never Montréal Mission 1 0 1 .000 2012 Never Ottawa Ice 1 1 0 1.000 2014 2014 Prairie Fire 1 0 1 .000 2013 Never Richmond Hill Lighting 1 0 1 .000 2015 Never
Notes and references