LNAH Playoff Primer

It’s finally here! After eight weeks of scenarios and team profiles, the LNAH Playoff Bracket is set. Looking at how we got there, we know this post season will be a great one. Going into the final weekend of the regular season, five positions were up for grabs, and each of them had the potential to need a tiebreaker. In the end, it came down to the final game to determine things. Even then, a tie breaker was necessary. 

Format-wise, each series will be a best of seven with the high seed having home ice. Each series will be a continuous home and home series. Teams will be re-seeded after each round based on their regular season standings. With that, the opening round is as follows. 

Laval (1) vs Riviere du Loup (8): It’s David versus Goliath. These two teams have been in their respective positions nearly all season. It’s a classic matchup of size vs speed and physicality vs finesse. Still, the 3L have a wild card with a new coach who managed to get the team winning with some degree of regularity after taking over near the trade deadline. Home ice should be a true advantage for Laval in terms of not having to make the 4+ hour trip home on Friday night in order to play Saturday.  

Saint-Hyacinthe (2) vs Quebec (7): The Sophomore Season Series. This presents an interesting matchup in terms of how the season ended for both teams. After being red hot in January, the Bataillon cooled off down the stretch, but managed to win some critical games. Meanwhile, the National have been sliding since the Christmas break after being part of a logjam near the top of the standings. Injuries and trades have added to instability for Quebec, while Saint-Hyacinthe remained steady after an off season retooling. 

Sorel-Tracy (3) vs Jonquiere (6): No fancy name here. No team is carrying more momentum into the series than the Eperviers. It took nearly all season for the boys from Sorel-Tracy to shake the championship hangover, but since doing so, they’ve been the hottest team in the league. Meanwhile, the Marquis have been a steady mid-card all season. Each team has its bona fide leader and has depth to support them.  

Saint-Georges (4) vs Thetford (5): The Battle of the Beauce- playoff version! If there's a matchup that could produce finals-level electricity in the opening round, it’s this one. All the passion of two of the league's oldest franchises. A neighborhood rivalry. What more can we ask for? Saint-Georges lost out on finishing as high as #2 in the final weekend. Paired with the overwhelming disappointment of last year's opening round upset loss, no team will have a bigger chip on its shoulder coming into the opening round. Did we mention finals level electricity?

The fun starts Friday!