Western Pennsylvania’s best high school hockey teams to battle this week
By Larry Snyder
Teams from 150 high schools compete as varsity ice hockey teams in Pennsylvania, but unlike every other high school sport in the Keystone State, hockey is not run under the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association umbrella.
It should be noted that Pennsylvania boys high school hockey is sanctioned by USA Hockey. The varsity-level programs are overseen by the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins and the Philadelphia Flyers organizations through the Penguins Cup and the Flyers Cup tournaments.
The Pennsylvania High School Ice Hockey Championships are awarded through a state tournament. The tournament pits the champions from the Penguins Cup and the Flyers Cup with the winners receiving the Class AAA, Class AA, or Class A Pennsylvania Cup.
This year the 2013 Pennsylvania High School Hockey Championships will be held on Saturday, March 23, 2013 at the Ice Works in Aston, Pa. The Class A game will go first at 11 a.m., to be followed by the Class AA game at 1:30 a.m. and then the Class AAA game is set to go at 4 p.m.
The Penguins Cup Frozen Four at the three class levels of boys high school hockey is set for this week. The games will take place in the Robert Morris University Island Sports Center at Neville, Island, PA, and will be broadcast on MSAsports.net
The PIHL Class A Semifinals are set for Monday, March 11:
The #2 Mars Fighting Planets (18-3-1) will face the #4 Westmont-Hilltop Hilltoppers (15-7-1) at 6 PM
The #1 Quaker Valley Quakers (23-0-0) will take on the #6 Kittanning Wildcats (14-8-1) at 8 PM.
The PIHL Class AA Semifinals are set for Tuesday, March 12:
The #1 Bishop Canevin Crusaders (17-1-2) will play the #4 Pine-Richland Rams (15-4-1) at 7 PM.
The #2 Latrobe Wildcats (17-3-0) will take on the #3 Chartiers Valley Colts (16-4-1) at 9 PM.
The PIHL Class AAA Semifinals are set for Wednesday, March 13:
The #1 Peters Township Indians (18-4-0) will do battle with the #5 State College Little Lions (16-7-0) at 5:45 PM.
The #2 Bethel Park Black Hawks (17-5-0) will go up against the #3 North Allegheny Tigers (16-4-2) at 7:45 PM.
The PIHL Penguins Cup Championships will be held at Consol Energy Center on Wednesday, March 20.
The Class A Championship will go first at 5 p.m., then the Class AA Championship will be played at 7. The evening concludes with the Class AAA Championship getting under way at 9. The games will be televised by tape delay on ROOT Sports Pittsburgh.