By: William Martin, HNW
(From release) The Southeastern Collegiate Hockey Conference (SECHC) and the Huntsville Sports Commission are proud to announce that Huntsville, Alabama will serve as the host city for the 2011-12 SECHC Playoffs.
The SECHC is near completion of its fourth season as a representative body of 11 teams participating in Division III of the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA). The 11 teams are collegiate club ice hockey programs at the universities that make up the Southeastern Conference (SEC) in NCAA athletics (with the exception of Kentucky, who participates in Division II).
The 2012 SECHC Tournament will take place in Huntsville, Alabama for the first time in its brief four-year history. “As the Hockey Capital of the South, Huntsville is excited to host this outstanding tournament. The SECHC tournament is a great opportunity for the Huntsville Sports Commission to showcase one of the South’s greatest cities while promoting exciting collegiate hockey, said Ralph Stone, Executive Director of the Huntsville Sports Commission. The championship tournament is scheduled for February 24-26, 2012 at the Benton H. Wilcoxon Ice Complex. The Huntsville Sports Commission won the rights to the 2012 and 2013 Tournaments.
The teams of the SECHC all play each other frequently via a “balanced schedule” throughout the season. This season, like the SEC and NCAA athletics, the teams in the SECHC were broken down into East and West divisions. Each team also scheduled games against numerous non-SECHC teams. The west division teams consist of Auburn, Alabama, Arkansas, LSU, Mississippi State and Ole Miss. The east division teams consist of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Vanderbilt and Tennessee. If the season ended today, the eight teams participating in the 24-26 February 2012 championship tournament would be: West Division – Alabama, Auburn, Arkansas and Ole Miss. East Division – Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Vanderbilt.
The SECHC will officially announce the names of the 8 participating teams and the Day-1 match-ups on February 6th, 2012.
