A new day brings new playoff pairings from the NHIAA, which released the seedings for boys and girls hockey on Monday.
Unlike Class L and I girls basketball, all of the high school hockey teams will have a few days to prepare for their first opponents. The Division I boys preliminary round starts Wednesday, while the Division I girls quarterfinals are on Friday. The Division II and III boys quarterfinals begin Saturday.
In Division I, the Bishop Guertin boys are once again the top seeded team after finishing the regular season 12-2-2. The Cardinals earned a bye in the preliminary round and will start the playoffs in the quarterfinals on Saturday.
Who they’ll face will be determined Wednesday, as the winner of No. 8 Manchester Central (11-7-1) and No. 9 Nashua North (6-9-1) will take on BG. The Little Green and the Titans will play Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the JFK Coliseum in Manchester.
Merrimack (11-7) enters the Division II tournament as the No. 5 seed and will play at No. 4 Timberlane (11-6-1) on Saturday at 4 p.m. The Tomahawks defeated the Owls twice this season, including a 4-3 win last Thursday that ended Merrimack’s six-game losing streak.
If Souhegan is to make it to a fifth-straight Division III final, it will have to win a playoff game on the road. The No. 5 Sabers (12-6) will travel to face No. 4 John Stark (12-5-1) on Saturday.
Also in Division III, Hollis/Brookline (9-8-1) enters the tournament as the seventh seed and will take on No. 2 Bedford (16-2) at the Tri-Town Arena in Hooksett on Saturday at 4 p.m.
On the girls side, Bishop Guertin (11-3-2) is the No. 2 seed an earned a bye into the Division I semifinals. The Cardinals will play the winner of No. 3 Concord and No. 6 Oyster River on March 9 at 5:30 p.m. at Everett Arena in Concord.