National Ringette League playoffs
The National Ringette League playoffs are the knockout match, round robin, and tournament for determining the champion for National Ringette League (NRL).
The National Ringette League (NRL) playoffs began during the league's second season which was the 2005-06 season. In 2008, the NRL playoffs replaced the national championships for the Under-19 years and Open divisions at the Canadian Ringette Championships and have been conducted in this manner since.[1]
The 2010–11 season introduced the new "NRL Championship Tournament" replacing the Championship qualifying rounds and takes place in just one city with the intention of allowing the league to create a media event and to hold attention. The top 10 teams in the league's regular season participate in the championship tournament crowning the team champion of the league. Starting in the 2011–12 season, 8 teams played a full round robin known as the "Elite Eight" to determine the champion.
Format
The current format consists of three parts: Knockout match, Elite Eight, and Tournament.
- Knockout Stage: the best-of-three match to determine which of the three Eastern conference teams and which one of the Western conference teams advance to the Elite Eight.
- Elite Eight: the eight-team round robin matches. Each team plays seven games one time. These games began being held in one city starting in the 2011-12 season.
- Championship Tournament: the semifinal and final. Second and third place teams in Elite Eight go to the semifinal, and the winner goes against the top team in Elite Eight.
History
| Season | Development |
| 2005-06 | NRL playoffs began during the league's second season |
|---|---|
| 2008 | The NRL playoffs replaced the national championships for the Under-19 years and Open divisions at the Canadian Ringette Championships and have been conducted in this manner ever since.[1] |
| 2010-11 | The playoffs were held in just one city. |
| 2011-12 | The "Elite Eight" (a round-robin tournament) and the new "Championship Tournament" started. The NRL Championship Tournament replaced the Championship qualifying rounds. |
| 2015-16 | The number of teams in the Western conference became 4, and the Knockout stage consisted of five Eastern conference teams and three Western conference teams. |
| 2016-17 | The number of Western Conference teams became 5, but the number of teams advancing to the Elite Eight remained the same. |
Final results
| Year | Champion | Result | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 |  Edmonton WAM! |
4-2 | Cambridge Turbos |
| 2012 | LMRL Thunder |
7-2 | Montréal Mission |
| 2013 | Calgary RATH |
6-5 | Prairie Fire |
| 2014 | Ottawa Ice |
7-4 | Cambridge Turbos |
| 2015 | Cambridge Turbos |
6-2 | Richmond Hill Lighting |
| 2016 | Cambridge Turbos |
5-3 | Gloucester Devils |
| 2017 | Cambridge Turbos |
6-5 | Atlantic Attack |
| 2018 | Atlantic Attack |
5-3 | Edmonton WAM! |
| 2019 | Calgary RATH |
5-3 | Atlantic Attack |
| 2022 | Calgary RATH |
- | Edmonton WAM! |
Records
- All records are from 2011 playoffs.
- Stats updated as of end of 2018 playoffs.
Playoffs appearance
| Team | Appearance | Knockout stage | Elite Eight[2][3] | Semifinal | Final[2] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlantic Attack | 7 | 4 | 5(3) | 0 | 2(2) |
| BC Thunder[4] | 4 | 2 | 2(2) | 1 | 1(0) |
| Edmonton Black Gold Rush | 2 | 2 | 2(0) | 0 | 0(0) |
| Bourassa Royal | 4 | 4 | 0(0) | 0 | 0(0) |
| Calgary RATH | 8 | 0 | 8(8) | 2 | 1(0) |
| Cambridge Turbos | 8 | 2 | 8(6) | 5 | 5(2) |
| Edmonton WAM! | 6 | 1 | 6(5) | 3 | 2(1) |
| Gatineau Fusion | 5 | 5 | 1(0) | 0 | 0(0) |
| Gloucester Devils | 7 | 7 | 5(0) | 1 | 1(1) |
| Lac St. Louis Adrenaline | 2 | 2 | 0(0) | 0 | 0(0) |
| Manitoba Intact | 2 | 2 | 1(0) | 0 | 0(0) |
| Manitoba Jets[5] | 1 | 0 | 1(1) | 0 | 0(0) |
| Montréal Mission | 8 | 3 | 7(5) | 0 | 1(1) |
| Ottawa Ice | 8 | 8 | 6(0) | 3 | 1(0) |
| Prairie Fire[5] | 3 | 0 | 3(3) | 0 | 1(1) |
| Quebec City Cyclones[6] | 3 | 3 | 1(0) | 0 | 0(0) |
| Richmond Hill Lighting | 8 | 8 | 7(0) | 1 | 1(0) |
| Rive-Sud Révolution | 5 | 5 | 0(0) | 0 | 0(0) |
| Waterloo Wildfire | 6 | 6 | 3(0) | 1 | 0(0) |
| Whitby Wild[5] | 1 | 1 | 0(0) | 0 | 0(0) |
Team records
- The overtime loss(es) will be counted as OTL in team records but not in final game records.
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | SL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlantic Attack | 46 | 20 | 25 | 1 | 0 |
| BC Thunder | 22 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 0 |
| Black Gold Rush | 20 | 5 | 15 | 0 | 0 |
| Bourassa Royal | 10 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 1 |
| Calgary RATH | 61 | 32 | 27 | 2 | 0 |
| Cambridge Turbos | 72 | 53 | 16 | 3 | 0 |
| Edmonton WAM! | 50 | 32 | 16 | 2 | 0 |
| Gatineau Fusion | 9 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| Gloucester Devils | 62 | 28 | 31 | 3 | 0 |
| Lac St.Louis Adrenaline | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Manitoba Intact | 11 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| Manitoba Jets | 7 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 |
| Montréal Mission | 57 | 28 | 27 | 2 | 0 |
| Ottawa Ice | 63 | 37 | 26 | 0 | 0 |
| Prairie Fire | 15 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| Quebec City Cyclones | 13 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Richmond Hill Lighting | 69 | 39 | 28 | 1 | 1 |
| Rive Sud Revolution | 11 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Waterloo Wildfire | 39 | 15 | 23 | 1 | 0 |
Final game record
| Team | GP | W | L[7] | % | Most recent appearances | Most recent titles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calgary RATH | 2 | 2019 | ||||
| Atlantic Attack | 2 | 1 | 1 | .500 | 2018 | 2018 |
| BC Thunder[8] | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 2012 | 2012 |
| Cambridge Turbos | 5 | 3 | 2 | .600 | 2017 | 2017 |
| Calgary RATH | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 2013 | 2013 |
| Edmonton WAM! | 2 | 1 | 1 | .500 | 2018 | 2011 |
| Gloucester Devils | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 2016 | Never |
| Montréal Mission | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 2012 | Never |
| Ottawa Ice | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 2014 | 2014 |
| Prairie Fire | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 2013 | Never |
| Richmond Hill Lighting | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 2015 | Never |
Notes and references
- "Stinger Sports Ringette Equipment | About Ringette". stingersports.ca. Stinger Sports. 2022. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
- The number in parentheses means the team clinched this round directly as a seed.
- Ten teams participated in Elite Eight in 2011 playoffs.
- Include one season as LMRL Thunder
- Defunct team
- Inactive team
- This includes overtime loss(es).
- As LMRL Thunder