Season structure of the PIHA
Encyclopedia
The Professional Inline Hockey Association (PIHA) season is divided into the regular season and the Founders Cup
playoffs. In the regular season, teams play 32 games which determine their standings. The three or four top-seeded teams in each division enter the playoff elimination tournament to determine the Founders Cup champion.
plays 32 regular season game, 16 games at home and 16 on the road.
Two points are awarded for a win (including in overtime or shootou), one point for a loss in overtime or shootout, and no points for a loss in regulation time.
At the end of the regular season, the top three teams in a division of four or less teams, and the top four teams in a division of five or more teams qualify for the Founders Cup playoffs. The teams are seeded one through three or four in each division. The teams that finish with the most points in each division are crowned the division champions, and are seeded one in the division playoffs. The next three or four teams with the best records in the division are seed two through three or four. In the event of a tie in points in the standings, ties are broken using the following tiebreaking procedures
:
The higher ranked team is the one with:
. The first two rounds are Best-of-three series to determine which team from each division will advance to the semifinal round dubbed the Conference Finals. The Conference Finals round are best-of-five series to determine which team from each conference will advance to the final round, dubbed the Founders Cup Finals. The winner of that Best-of-seven series becomes the PIHA and Founders Cup champion. The most recent Founders Cup playoffs were the 2009 Founders Cup playoffs
.
The first round of the playoffs, or Division Semifinals, consists of one or two matchups in each division, based on the seedings (either 1–4 and 2–3, or 2–3 and 1 gets a bye). In the second round, or Division Finals, the two remaining division teams play against each other. In the third round, the Conference Finals, the two Division Finals winners in each conference play each other, with the conference champions proceeding to the Founders Cup Finals.
For the first two rounds, the higher-seeded team has home-floor advantage. In the Conference Finals and Founders Cup Finals, the series are played at neutral sites.
Depending on the number of divisions in each conference, there may be a Conference Semifinals round added between the Division Finals and Conference Finals round, bringing the total number of round to five.
Founders Cup (PIHA)
The Founders Cup is the championship trophy of the Professional Inline Hockey Association , the major professional inline hockey league in the United States. It is similar to the National Hockey League's Stanley Cup...
playoffs. In the regular season, teams play 32 games which determine their standings. The three or four top-seeded teams in each division enter the playoff elimination tournament to determine the Founders Cup champion.
Regular season
Each team in the PIHAProfessional Inline Hockey Association
The Professional Inline Hockey Association, often abbreviated to the PIHA, is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates an elite inline hockey league of 16 franchised member clubs, all of which are located in the United States. Headquartered in Middletown, Pennsylvania, the PIHA...
plays 32 regular season game, 16 games at home and 16 on the road.
Two points are awarded for a win (including in overtime or shootou), one point for a loss in overtime or shootout, and no points for a loss in regulation time.
At the end of the regular season, the top three teams in a division of four or less teams, and the top four teams in a division of five or more teams qualify for the Founders Cup playoffs. The teams are seeded one through three or four in each division. The teams that finish with the most points in each division are crowned the division champions, and are seeded one in the division playoffs. The next three or four teams with the best records in the division are seed two through three or four. In the event of a tie in points in the standings, ties are broken using the following tiebreaking procedures
Tiebreaker
In games and sports, a tiebreaker or tiebreak is used to determine a winner from among players or teams that are tied at the end of a contest, or a set of contests.-In matches:In some situations, the tiebreaker may consist of another round of play...
:
The higher ranked team is the one with:
- The fewer number of games played. (Only used during the season, as all teams will have played 32 games once the season is over.)
- The greater number of games won.
- The greater number of points earned in games between the tied clubs.
- The greater differential between goals for and against for the entire regular season.
Founders Cup playoffs
The Founders Cup playoffs is an elimination tournament consisting of four rounds of elimination seriesPlayoff format
There are several different Playoff formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the single elimination, the best-of- series, the total points series, and the round-robin tournament.-Single elimination:A Single...
. The first two rounds are Best-of-three series to determine which team from each division will advance to the semifinal round dubbed the Conference Finals. The Conference Finals round are best-of-five series to determine which team from each conference will advance to the final round, dubbed the Founders Cup Finals. The winner of that Best-of-seven series becomes the PIHA and Founders Cup champion. The most recent Founders Cup playoffs were the 2009 Founders Cup playoffs
2009 Founders Cup playoffs
The 2009 Founders Cup Playoffs of the Professional Inline Hockey Association began on April 10, 2009, after the 2009 regular season. The fifteen teams that qualify, seven from the Eastern Conference and eight from the Western Conference , play best-of-3 series...
.
The first round of the playoffs, or Division Semifinals, consists of one or two matchups in each division, based on the seedings (either 1–4 and 2–3, or 2–3 and 1 gets a bye). In the second round, or Division Finals, the two remaining division teams play against each other. In the third round, the Conference Finals, the two Division Finals winners in each conference play each other, with the conference champions proceeding to the Founders Cup Finals.
For the first two rounds, the higher-seeded team has home-floor advantage. In the Conference Finals and Founders Cup Finals, the series are played at neutral sites.
Depending on the number of divisions in each conference, there may be a Conference Semifinals round added between the Division Finals and Conference Finals round, bringing the total number of round to five.
See also
- List of the most frequent PIHA playoff series
- Professional Inline Hockey Association rivalries
- List of PIHA franchise post-season appearance streaks
- List of PIHA franchise post-season droughts