By Mike Gurnis
The Cup playoffs are set to get underway next week.
With that in mind, this next week will be critical in determining who will be seeded where. Below, I take a look at each of the four divisions to see who has clinched what seed, and what is still left to be figured out.
MENNEN DIVISION
— Randolph has clinched the top seed in the Mennen Cup.
— Chatham and Morristown-Beard have each clinched spots in the Mennen Cup. Chatham has a one-point edge (8-7) on Morristown-Beard for the second seed and each team has one game remaining. Chatham plays Randolph on Friday, and a win would clinch the second seed. Morristown-Beard faces Morristown on Monday, and would move into the second seed with a win and a Chatham loss to Randolph.
— Nobody has been eliminated yet. Morristown currently sits in last place with 2 points (0-4-1-1), trailing fourth-place Morris Knolls-Hills by two points (2-4). Morristown will face Morristown-Beard on Monday and Morris Knolls-Hills on Thursday. Morris Knolls-Hills, on the other hand has a game with Randolph Monday before the two meet Thursday. Morris Knolls-Hills clinches their spot with a win, tie, or OT loss and a Morristown loss on Monday. Morristown, however, needs to win both games and Morris Knolls-Hills needs to lose to Randolph Monday in order for the Colonials to qualify.
— If Morristown beats Morristown-Beard Monday and Morris Knolls-Hills loses to Randolph, Thursday’s game between Morristown and Morris Knolls-Hills essentially becomes a Mennen Cup play-in game.
HALVORSEN DIVISION
— The field for the Halvorsen Cup will be KJS United, Mendham, Bernards-Somerville-Middlesex, and Madison. Mount Olive-Hopatcong-Hackettstown has been eliminated.
— KJS United is in the driver’s seat for the top seed in the Halvorsen Cup. It has a three-point lead on Mendham and Bernards-Somerville-Middlesex, and still has three games to play. Mendham only has two left and BSM has one. A KJS win- against either Madison (Tuesday) or either of its two games against Mendham- clinches the top seed.
— Mendham could pass KJS for the top seed if it wins both remaining games against KJS, and KJS loses to Madison in regulation on Tuesday. BSM only has one game remaining, so there is no path for it to overtake KJS for the top seed.
— BSM can be the second seed if it defeats Mo-Ho-Ha on Wednesday, and if Mendham loses both of its final divisional games.
— Madison could move up to the third seed with a win over KJS United and a BSM loss to Mo-Ho-Ha. It could even go as high as second with a win, and if both BSM and Mendham lose out.
HAAS DIVISION
— The four-team field for the Haas Cup is set: West Morris, Gill St. Bernard’s, Montville, and Park Regional. Roxbury and Mountain Lakes-Boonton have been eliminated.
— West Morris has clinched the top seed. It holds a two-point lead over Gill St. Bernard’s, which only has one game remaining, and even if GSB were to win that, West Morris would prevail on the head-to-head tiebreaker (1-0-1).
— Gill St. Bernard’s is locked into the second seed.
— Montville will clinch the third seed with a win over Mountain Lakes-Boonton on Thursday. It holds a two-point lead on Park Regional, which has two games left, but if Montville wins that final game, Montville would prevail on the head-to-head tiebreaker after sweeping the season series.
— Park Regional needs to win both of its remaining games against Gill St. Bernard’s (Monday) and West Morris (Friday) and have Montville lose to Mountain Lakes in order to move into the third spot.
CHARETTE DIVISION
— The four-team field for the Charette Cup is set: Newton-Lenape Valley, High Point-Wallkill Valley-Kittatinny, Vernon, and Parsippany Regional. Morris Catholic-St. Elizabeth has been eliminated.
— Newton-Lenape Valley and High Point-Wallkill-Kittatinny are currently tied for first place in points with 10. The teams will meet on Tuesday at 9:20 p.m. at Skylands Ice World. NLV will clinch the top seed with a win. It is the final divisional game for High Point, while NLV still has a game with Vernon remaining on Saturday after this one.
— High Point, on the other hand, needs to win on Tuesday and hope for an NLV loss to Vernon in order to get the top seed.
— The highest Vernon can go is the second seed. It currently trails High Point and NLV by two points, with a game remaining against NLV. A point of any kind in that game clinches the third seed. Parsippany Regional and Vernon are currently tied for the third seed with eight points each, but Parsippany has already completed their league schedule. If Vernon loses in regulation to NLV, it will then come down to tiebreakers to determine who is three and who is four.
E-mail Mike Gurnis at michaelgurnis@gmail.com
Morris-Sussex Hockey Report 