WEST DES MOINES, Iowa – The Midwest High School Hockey League’s Elite Eight Varsity teams will gather in West Des Moines, Friday, March 3, through Sunday, March 5, for the League’s season-ending Championship Weekend. This tournament is the League’s primetime, season-ending event that will award the League’s most prized trophy to the winner. Teams finishing in the top eight after the 32-game regular season qualify for the event. The tournament will once again be staged at the MidAmerican Energy Company RecPlex, the area’s newest state-of-the-art facility.

Varsity competition begins Friday with four single-elimination, quarterfinal games. The final four then square off Saturday in two semifinal matchups, with the winners advancing to the championship game, Sunday at 11:45 AM.

Varsity Tournament Bracket

The Kansas City Jets are the number-one seed after finishing on top of the Varsity standings with a record of 30 wins and 2 losses. Kansas City will be attempting to earn their fourth consecutive championship tournament title in a row. The Jets shut out the Des Moines Capitals 2-0, in last year’s championship game.

Top-eight seeds for this year’s tournament: 1. Kansas City Jets, 2. Des Moines Oak Leafs, 3. Omaha Jr. Lancers, 4. Sioux City Metros, 5. Lincoln Junior Stars, 6. Mason City Mohawks, 7. Dubuque Saints, 8. Des Moines Capitals.

Names of the 2022-2023 Midwest High School Hockey League All-Stars, All-League and Coach-of-the-Year have been released. The All-League Team consists of All-Star defensemen, forwards and goaltenders who receive the most votes. All awards are selected by the League’s 13 head coaches.

All-Stars - All-League - Coach-of-the-Year

The top-six Junior Varsity teams qualify for a year-end tournament that coincides with the Varsity event. Third through sixth-ranked teams take the ice Friday for two, single-elimination qualifier games. Winners advance to the semifinals against the first and second-seeded teams. The Junior Varsity championship game precedes the Varsity title game on Sunday. The Kansas City Jets also topped the Junior Varsity regular-season standings with a record of 28 wins, 3 losses and 1 shootout loss. The Omaha Junior Lancers are the defending Junior Varsity tournament champions.

Jr. Varsity Tournament Bracket

Of the 441 players in the League, 257 will receive an Academic Award for a grade point average of 3.0 or better. An additional 45 graduating seniors, with a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or above, will receive the President’s Senior Academic Achievement Award.

Des Moines Oak Leafs and Omaha Jr. Lancers will represent the Midwest High School Hockey League at this year’s USA Hockey High School National Championships in Plymouth, Minnesota, March 23-27. The two teams finished highest in the regular-season standings from their respective state. MHSHL teams have garnered two of the last four national championship titles. The Sioux City Metros captured the League’s first title in 2018 at Plymouth, Minnesota. Omaha, while hosting the event in 2021, followed with a first-place finish. (The 2020 tournament was canceled due to Covid.) Last season, Lincoln and Waterloo both advanced to the semifinals in Dallas, Texas.

The MHSHL is a member of the Pointstreak Scoring Network. For live scoring and complete tournament coverage go to: www.midwesthighschoolhockey.com

For a complete history of the Iowa/Midwest High School Hockey League including year-by-year listings of past champions and statistics, go to the MHSHL Information Vault: www.mhshl.com