Hockey's playoff format earns a first star, says Eric Rueb

There was plenty of criticism from the hockey world when the RIIL switched to the Frozen Four format for its boys and girls hockey championships.

But after two years, it might have been the best change the league has ever made.

Prior to the change, the hockey playoffs had become stale. Sure, the championship series was terrific, but the semifinals lacked any sort of magic and outcomes — which are always supposed to be in doubt — became increasingly more predictable.

The college format has changed all of that. In a three-game series, an underdog doesn’t stand much of a chance. In a one-game, winner-takes-all format, a hot goalie and some puck luck can be enough to get a title.

Last year No. 4 Warwick nearly took out eventual state champ Hendricken. On the girls side, No. 4 South County nearly did the same to top-seeded La Salle, which ended up losing to No. 2 SCMB.

This year, there were plenty of upsets. We saw No. 4 Burrillville beat top-seeded Prout and No. 2 Hendricken outlast No. 3 La Salle in a thriller. The Broncos left it all on the ice for two periods before the Hawks prevailed.

More: Hendricken boys hockey skates to state championship three-peat with perfect third period

More: Portsmouth closes redemption arc, skates to first boys hockey title in 14 years

Division II’s semifinals were crazier. No. 5 Portsmouth got hot at the right time, beating one-loss Ponaganset and then taking down No. 3 Blackstone Valley, which upset No. 2 Nariho to earn its spot.

Prior to Portsmouth, the last team not seeded in the top three to make a final was the 2009-10 La Salle team that was seeded sixth. The last No. 4 seed to win a title was Lincoln, which beat No. 3 Moses Brown to win the Division II-Large championship. The last team seeded outside the top four to win a championship was No. 6 Moses Brown beating No. 2 Burrillville in 2003-04.

The girls were a little chalky this year, but No. 3 La Salle winning in the final minutes of its semifinal over No. 2 South County was thrilling to watch. The excitement and drama provided by No. 1 SCMB’s comeback win over the Rams in the title game is also something a three-game series couldn’t provide.

More: 'They found that extra gear': How SCMB won its second straight girls hockey title in OT

Still, the format isn’t quite perfect. The gap between the semifinals and finals is far too long. The RIIL books around sites and while Schneider Arena is the best place to hold these games, the league cannot have semifinals one weekend and not play the final until the next weekend. Schedule the semifinal and finals with a day between and it will create more excitement for the sport. If it comes at the cost of a premier arena, so be it.

Now that said, kudos to the RIIL for taking a risk, making a drastic change and hitting it out of the park (I don’t know any hockey analogies to use there). Hopefully the format is here for the long run.

RIIL's scheduling near-perfect

This winter was the best the RIIL’s done in terms of scheduling, something that really matters when you’re trying to draw interest in big games.

Indoor track and gymnastics shared the first Championship Saturday. It wasn’t bad but for two sports that don’t get a lot of regular-season coverage, it would have been better to move one to Sunday so they’d both get a singular spotlight.

Wrestling had its own day, which is exactly what a niche sport with a rabid fanbase deserves. The Journal sent three reporters to the state meet, which nobody could remember ever happening before.

Boys and Girls Swim were the only state championship events taking place on March 2. Yes, there were semifinal basketball games and New England wrestling, but swim got its chance to shine.

Division hoops tournaments going off Monday-Wednesday worked and allowed each division to have its day when normally the lower divisions become afterthoughts.

State basketball and hockey finals going off on the same day wasn’t terrific for the season’s two biggest sports — it’d be like scheduling soccer finals the same day as the Super Bowl — but that seemed to be more about arena availability than anything else.

If the RIIL can remain cognizant of avoiding multiple championships being played on the same days, it’s going to do wonders for all the sports. The non-traditional sports need time to shine and this winter, they got it. Hopefully, it can continue.

Teamwork, making the dream work

This felt like the most in-depth coverage we’ve had of winter high school sports since I’ve been at The Journal and while scheduling played a role, the real answer isn’t hard to see.

We did it as a team.

Bill Corey is an incredible boss who makes the puzzle come together when I’m just throwing a million pieces at him all at the same time.

Our desk guys, Mark Castonguay, Steve Cummings and Bobby McGarry do so much behind the scenes it’s incredible. Our photogs, Kris Craig and David DelPoio, are there to document games in ways I can’t because they actually have talent for taking pictures while I’m just an idiot with good equipment.

I call Bill Koch the GOAT because, in the RI sports journalism world, he is. He embraces high schools with the same vigor of college hoops. There’s no one in the business today that can match his institutional knowledge of high school sports and it's why I love reading stories like his brilliant piece on Mount St. Charles’ last game.

Jake Rousseau is our rookie, but he fit right in. He’s not afraid to work, not afraid to try new things and is constantly asking all the right questions in order to be better. Jake’s just starting his journey in his business, but he’s off to a great start and I can’t wait to see him evolve.

I receive a lot of credit because I’m the most visible of the staff — Koch avoids the spotlight, but I’m going to make Jake embrace it soon. I’m overwhelmed at times when people thank me for my work or tell me how great coverage is, but make no mistake about it — I’m able to do what I do for one reason.

My teammates.

Like any team, we can be better. We’ll learn from our mistakes this winter and try to apply those changes to the spring in order to be the best we can be.

And I, for one, can’t wait to get started.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Upsets highlighted this year's RIIL hockey playoffs