By NCDC Staff
The Tier II National Collegiate Development Conference (NCDC) has released its 2023-24 schedule, which can be found online at www.usphlncdc.com. For the first time, NCDC teams will play over 50 league games extending into late March, with the playoffs ending with the Dineen Cup Championships in late April with an expanded format that includes best of five series in the semi-final and quarter final round.
Here are the most important things to know about the 2023-24 NCDC schedule:
- Game #1 on the schedule will be played Sept. 22 at 1 p.m. EST as the Northern Cyclones will host the South Shore Kings at Cyclones Arena in Hudson, N.H.
- The first game to be played in the new NCDC Mountain Division will be played later the same day (Sept. 22), as the Rock Springs Grizzlies will play their first-ever game at home against the Idaho Falls Spud Kings at Family Recreation Center in Rock Springs, Wyoming, at 7 p.m. MST.
- The former North and South Divisions will now be known as the New England and Atlantic Divisions, respectively, in addition to the new Mountain Division.
- Each Atlantic and New England team will play an expanded 52-game schedule with the Mountain Division members playing 53 league games with the final day of the regular season on March 22, 2024.
- The 2024 Playoffs begin on March 25, 2024, with the New England and Atlantic Divisions’ No. 4 vs. No. 5 play-in games (sudden death OT format).
- New England and Atlantic Best-of-Three Semifinals will be held March 27-29, 2024, with the top seed in each division hosting the winner of that division’s play-in game, and the No. 2 seed will host the No. 3 seed in each division. The winners advance to the divisional finals March 31-April 10 in a best-of-five series.
- Mountain Division Best-of-Five Semifinals will begin March 29 and will finish no later than April 7.
- Best of Five Series will either be a higher seed hosting games 1, 3 and 5 or if the distance requires it, games 1, 2 and 5.
- Dineen Cup Finals (Best-of-Three) will run April 26-28, 2024 with the winner of the New England vs. Atlantic series hosting the Mountain Division champion in 2024.
Additionally, there will be four NCDC Showcases held during the 2023-24 season.
- The first will be the Boston Junior Bruins Shootout, which will run Sept. 29 through Oct. 1 in Marlboro, Mass., and will feature 17 NCDC games.
● The Hitmen Classic will run Oct. 5-9 in Wayne, N.J., and will feature 16 NCDC games.
● The Mountain Division Showcase will run Dec. 13-15 in Idaho Falls, Idaho, and will feature nine NCDC games.
● The South Shore Kings Presidents Day Showcase will run Feb. 16-19 and will feature 16 NCDC games.
All NCDC games will continue to be broadcast live online with FloSports (formerly HockeyTV) and once again, scouts, fans and families can view the line charts on the PressRoom App with Rinknet!
The NCDC will play its first season as a three-division, 18-team league in 2023-24, with the six-team expansion to the Mountain Division. The P.A.L. Jr. Islanders enter the season as the reigning Dineen Cup Champions in this, the seventh NCDC season overall.
NCDC Alignment 2023-24
NCDC New England Division
Boston Junior Bruins
Islanders Hockey Club
Northern Cyclones
South Shore Kings
Twin City Thunder
Utica Jr. Comets
NCDC Atlantic Division
Connecticut Jr. Rangers
Jersey Hitmen
Mercer Chiefs
P.A.L. Jr. Islanders
Rockets Hockey Club
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights
NCDC Mountain Division
Idaho Falls Spud Kings
Ogden Mustangs
Provo Predators
Pueblo Bulls
Rock Springs Grizzlies
Utah Outliers
For any further information, please contact Joshua Boyd at [email protected].
