After all eight (8) teams are set to play in the tournament and the bracket is full the Silver Puck Challenge will have a LIVE Bracket Selection Show. This show is to inform everyone on who's in who's bracket and what time they would play on opening night. In the past we would have two (2), four (4) team brackets, with the previous year's champion in one (1) bracket and the runner up in the other. It was setup this way so they would not play each other in round-robin play, and separating them giving them the opportunity for a rematch in the next year's finals.

See SPC Rules for a complete breakdown of tournament rules.

Problem

On LIVE Bracket Selection night the returning champion or runner up team draws a bracket full of teams that "most likely" will fall short. They get a clear skate to the finals, while the other bracket has a dog fight on it's hands.

Solution

On LIVE Bracket Selection night all teams will find out who they play first and that is all, because all teams are in one (1) bracket now. We have eliminated the two (2) bracket format.

In the previous year's a loss on Friday would mean a team is "basically" out of the tournament. The only way to get in the finals would be some major help from other teams, and/or get lucky and have the right tie breakers to get in. The result is teams that lose that first game "don't care" as much in their following games and to put it bluntly, they get a little sloppy.

Now with all teams in one (1) bracket we can have a "double elimination" bracket style tournament before we even know which two (2) will be going to the finals on Sunday. See the format below, then we'll explain (game times are simulated):

Friday Night Schedule
G1 @ 6pm: A v B
G2 @ 7pm: C v D
G3 @ 8pm: Runner Up v E
G4 @ 9pm: F v Champion

Saturday Morning/Afternoon Schedule
G5 @ 10am: LG1 (0-1) v LG3 (0-1)
G6 @ 11am: LG2 (0-1) v LG4 (0-1)
G7 @ 12pm: WG1 (1-0) v WG3 (1-0)
G8 @ 1pm: WG2 (1-0) v WG4 (1-0)

Saturday Afternoon/Evening Schedule
G9 @ 4pm: LG5 (0-2) v LG6 (0-2)
G10 @ 5pm: WG5 (1-1) v WG6 (1-1)
G11 @ 6pm: LG7 (1-1) v LG8 (1-1)
G12 @ 7pm: WG7 (2-0) v WG8 (2-0)

Championship Sunday
G13 @ 10am or 11am: WG12 (3-0) v WG10, WG11 or LG12 (2-1, Tie Breakers will be used to advance to the finals)

Tie Breakers: Wins, Points (3 points = Regulation Win, 2 points = Win in Shootout OR Overtime, 1 point = Loss in Shootout OR Overtime, 0 points = Loss in Regulation), Least Goals Against, Least PIMS, Periods Won, Previous Year's Standings, Bracket Selection Order.

Benefits & Explanations

1. A loss on Friday, isn't a weekend wrote off. Even with a loss on Friday, everyone is still in contention. One (1) team with one (1) loss will go to the finals.

2. ALL Saturday mornings games are still important. ALL teams have a chance to advance in the "double elimination" bracket style portion of the tournament.

2. After the Saturday morning set of games there will be two (2) teams with two (2) loses, they are officially eliminated from the tournament. These two (2) teams will play a conciliation game against each other in their third and final game of the weekend. This will also eliminate any chance of them affecting any teams trying to make it to the finals.

3. In the Saturday evening set of games, there will be six (6) teams that are still in the hunt for the finals and 100% still in contention. These final three (3) games on Saturday evening will decide who plays on Championship Sunday.

4. Points, Goals Against & Fewest Penalty Minutes being a tie breakers, hopefully these games will be cleaner, more competitive.

5. At the conclusion of everyone's third game there will be no question why one (1) team has made it to the finals, they will be undefeated and have earned their spot on Championship Sunday.

6. Now we will have one (1) team with three (3) losses and three (3) teams with two (2) losses, and they are all eliminated from the tournament.

7. Leaving us with three (3) teams with a record of 2-1. We will use "tie breakers" to advance one of these teams to Championship Sunday.

As you can see this will give us more teams with the opportunity to make it to Championship Sunday. We hope this new format will keep all teams excited about playing in the Silver Puck Challenge. Now one (1) game won't define your weekend, and you can be competitive all weekend long. Good luck teams.

6 Team Bracket

A six (6) team bracket is a little more tricky. The Runner Up & Champion from the previous year will be separated and WILL NOT play during round-robin games. We do this to setup a potential rematch in the finals. All teams once again will be in one bracket, with the best two (2) teams playing in the finals. As teams are drawn at our LIVE Bracket Selection Show they will be matched up accordingly (game times are simulated):

Friday Night Schedule
G1 @ 6pm | A v B
G2 @ 7pm | Runner Up v C
G3 @ 8pm | D v Champion

Saturday Morning/Afternoon Schedule
G4 @ 10am | Runner Up v B
G5 @ 11am | A v D
G6 @ 12pm | C v Champion

Saturday Afternoon/Evening Schedule
G7 @ 4pm | Runner Up v A
G8 @ 5pm | B vs Champion
G9 @ 6pm | C v D

Championship Sunday
G10 @ 10am | Best two (2) teams from the bracket.

Tie Breakers: Wins, Points (3 points = Regulation Win, 2 points = Win in Shootout OR Overtime, 1 point = Loss in Shootout OR Overtime, 0 points = Loss in Regulation), Least Goals Against, Least PIMS, Periods Won, Previous Year's Standings, Bracket Selection Order.

4 Team Bracket

In a 4 (four) team bracket all teams will play each other in a round robin format. The best two (2) teams will go to the finals. Below you will see a simulated schedule for a four (4) team bracket (game times are simulated):

Friday Night Schedule
G1 @ 6pm | Runner Up v A
G2 @ 7pm | Champion v B

Saturday Morning/Afternoon Schedule
G3 @ 10am | Runner Up v B
G4 @ 11am | Champion v A

Saturday Afternoon/Evening Schedule
G5 @ 4pm | A v B
G6 @ 5pm | Runner Up v Champion

Championship Sunday
G7 @ 10am | Best two (2) teams from the bracket.

Tie Breakers: Wins, Points (3 points = Regulation Win, 2 points = Win in Shootout OR Overtime, 1 point = Loss in Shootout OR Overtime, 0 points = Loss in Regulation), Least Goals Against, Least PIMS, Periods Won, Previous Year's Standings, Bracket Selection Order.