Last week at the Northwest Hockey Conference Spring Meeting, consensus was reached on restructuring the league. A Red Division of 7 teams and a White Division also of 7 teams was determined to be the best solution for increasing the quality of hockey in the conference overall. Athletic Directors approved the change.
The new Red Division is made up of the 4 teams from last season (Findlay, Northview, St. Francis, and St. John’s), Bowling Green (returning after a season without a program), and 2 new teams, after playing in the White Division for many years: Anthony Wayne and Perrysburg.
The new White Division consists of the 4 remaining teams (Clay, Maumee, Southview, Whitmer) and the 3 club/USA Hockey teams (Fremont, Lake, Springfield), who competed in the Blue Division by themselves last season.
All of the JV teams will compete in a 3rd Division, with Perrysburg JV joining 5 other teams for the 2019-20 season.
| Red Division Anthony Wayne Bowling Green Findlay Northview Perrysburg St. Francis St. John’s | White Division Clay Fremont Lake Maumee Southview Springfield Whitmer | JV Division Anthony Wayne JV Findlay JV Northview JV Perrysburg JV St. Francis JV St. John’s JV |
“As a conference, we are trying to grow high school hockey in NW Ohio. We think this structure provides an opportunity for more teams to compete against four of the best teams in Ohio. It also provides for more competitive balance in the White Division. I want to thank the teams from the Red Division who have embraced this change and made adjustments to their schedules in an effort to grow the game in our area.” — Markus Rasmus, NHC Commissioner
“St Francis approves the proposal. We look forward to working with the NHC and the other members of the conference in building Northwest Ohio hockey.” — Justin Edgell, Athletic Director, St. Francis de Sales School
“The Bowling Green Bobcat hockey team is extremely grateful and excited to be back in the conference we helped establish over 40 years ago. The objective in establishing the league was to upgrade the caliber of high school hockey in Northwest Ohio. BG is proud that we are a part in making Northwest Ohio high school hockey stronger.” — Jamie Ruffner, hockey coach, Bowling Green High School
“The Anthony Wayne hockey program is honored and excited to be a member of the new NHC Red Division. This is a huge step in establishing a stronger, deeper pool of high school teams and talent in Northwest Ohio. Our players, parents, and staff have worked extremely hard to build a program that can be competitive at the highest level in the state. We look forward to the challenges of playing the elites of our area regularly and hope to continue to elevate high school hockey in Northwest Ohio.” — Steve Boehme, hockey coach, Anthony Wayne High School
“This area of the state, this conference specifically, has had a great impact on Ohio HS hockey history. Perrysburg is working and training to compete with the very best of the best in Northwest Ohio. Playing in the new Red Division is the next step. We are excited about the challenge ahead and the seasons to come.” — Kevin Fisher, hockey coach, Perrysburg High School
“As part of the new White Division, Springfield will be able to play more games against teams that we were competitive with last season. This is another step in our journey to return Springfield to varsity hockey status.” — Butch Leon, Springfield club hockey coach
Each team will play the other teams in its division twice, with total points (2 for a win, 1 for a tie) earned in the 12 games (10 in JV) used to determine regular season champions. The exception, for the 2019-20 season only, is in the Red Division, where some past Red Division teams have already committed to a full non-conference schedule and do not have 12 games remaining for the expanded Red Division schedule. With an unbalanced schedule, special rules will be developed for league standings.
The league schedule will be announced in June.
For questions about the restructuring and plans for the 2019-20 season, contact Markus Rasmus, NHC commissioner, at rasmus@nhchockey.com.
Do you want to invite an NHC team to your tournament or play an NHC team in non-conference games, but are not sure which team? Contact Keith Instone, NHC director of information, at instone@nhchockey.com. He will help you connect with NHC teams that fit your schedule.
