Southern Connecticut Conference commissioner Al Carbone has announced boys hockey teams in the SCC and SWC will combine to form one overall league for next season.
Athletic directors in the SCC voted to approve the SCC-SWC partnership earlier this month and the SWC athletic directors made the arrangement official when they voted to approve the partnership on Wednesday.
Starting next season, boys hockey teams in the SWC and SCC will compete in a Division I, II and III format complete with postseason playoffs for each division.
“I’ve been working on this since the winter and it really came to shape when we had an idea that there would be possible changes in boys hockey divisions at the state level,” Carbone said. “I floated the idea to coaches and administrators in both leagues, got some pretty good feedback and we were able to work together to come up with a proposal."
 The SCC-SWC Boys Ice Hockey League will consist of 25 teams (16 from the SCC and nine from SWC) in three divisions. Teams will play one regular-season “counting” game within their division. The leagues will also host postseason competitions in all three divisions following the regular-season. There will be four-team playoffs in Divisions II and III (March 6 and 8), and a one-game championship game in Division I (March 7).
Carbone said playoff sites and times will be determined at a later date.
Here is the breakdown of each SCC-SWC Division:
DIVISION I - Fairfield Prep, Notre Dame-West Haven, Xavier, Hamden, Notre Dame-Fairfield, West Haven, East Haven . Postseason: Top 2 teams in regular-season standings will play in a championship game (March 7)
DIVISION II - Branford, Daniel Hand, Guilford, North Haven, Cheshire, North Branford, Amity Regional, Milford co-op, Brookfield-Bethel-Danbury co-op, New Milford, Watertown-Pomperaug co-op. Postseason: Top 4 teams in regular-season standings will earn playoff berths (March 6 and 8)
DIVISION III - Sheehan, Lyman Hall, Joel Barlow, Masuk, Newtown, New Fairfield/Immaculate co-op, Shepaug-Litchfield-Nonnewaug co-op. Postseason: Top 4 teams in regular-season standings will earn playoff berths (March 6 and 8).
“I am encouraged that more types of partnerships will happen in other sports,” Carbone said. “We’ve seen it already in football with the SCC and FCIAC. The important point is that every sport is different, whether it’s the way you schedule or even in the levels of competitiveness. “Leagues need to be respective of these challenges and be ready to come up with new ideas that may be outside of the norm. Change is hard, but having these ideas and conversations does lead to good outcomes.”

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