2017-18 EHLP Season

This is the 2017-18 Eastern Hockey League Premier Season.  This is the Eastern Hockey League's lower level league.  It is the league's 3rd season as a feeder league for the higher EHL's league.  It was known as the Elite Division for 2015-16 and the 19U Elite Division for 2016-17.
==Membership Changes==
* On December 22, 2016 the USPHL announced that the Boston Bandits, Connecticut Nighthawks, Hartford Jr. Wolfpack, New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs, New Jersey Rockets, and Northern Cyclones organizations are leaving the Eastern Hockey League and joining the United States Premier Hockey League for the 2017-18 season. This moved would bring six premier level and five elite junior teams. The 16U, 18U and youth porgrams of these organizations would also be involved in this move. The Boston Bandits, New Jersey Rockets, and Northern Cyclones would be also be part of the National Collegiate Development Conference when it commences play for the 2017-18 season.
* USA Hockey approved the addition of the New Hampshire Avalanche as an expansion franchise for the 2017-18 season. The organization has a history of running teams from mite to U-18. The team is apparently a replacement for the New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs who announced they were joining the USPHL for the 2017-18 season. The team will be based out of the Ice Den Arena in Hooksett, NH.
* In February of 2017, the league announced that they would expand to include six of the seven members of the North American 3 Atlantic Hockey League ( the Central Penn Panthers, Jersey Wildcats, Long Island Royals, Metro Fighting Moose, New Jersey Renegades, and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights. The only NA3AHL team not included was the Exton Bulls.
* On March 16, 2017 The Superior Roughriders of the Western States Hockey League announced they were changing thier affiliate program in Connecticut to be named the Connecticut RoughRiders which will be based out of the SoNo Ice House in Norwalk, Connecticut. The balance of the teams based out of the facility will also take the RoughRiders name. The existing Connecticut Oilers team will move to the Louis Astorino Arena in Hamden, Connecticut.
*Around the same time two additional teams were announced as the Hyannis, Massachusetts based Total Athletics Seahawks and the Middletown based New Jersey 87's were announced as expansion teams. The New York Bobcats were also announced as planning on returning to the league after withdrawing for the 2016-17 season when their coach was hired by the North American Hockey League's New Jersey Junior Titans and there was not enough time to get a replacement coach hired and have them be able to adequately prepare for the season.
==Teams==
===North Conference===
Team 	Arena 	Location
Boston Jr Rangers 	Tewksbury, Massachusetts	Breakaway Ice Center
New England Wolves 	Laconia, New Hampshire 	Merrill Fay Arena
Valley Jr. Warriors	Haverhill, Massachusetts	Haverhill Valley Forum
Vermont Lumberjacks	Burlington, Vermont 	Gordon H. Paquette Ice Arena
Walpole Express 	Walpole, Massachusetts 	Rodman Arena
===South Conference===
Team 	Arena 	Location
Central Penn Panthers 	Lancaster, Pennsylvania 	Regency Ice Rink
Jersey Wildcats 	Randolph, New Jersey 	Aspen Ice
New Jersey 87's 	Middletown, New Jersey 	Middletown Ice World Arena
New Jersey Renegades 	Flemington, New Jersey 	Flemington Ice Arena
New York Applecore 	Brewster, New York 	Brewster Ice Arena
Philadelphia Junior Flyers	West Chester, Pennsylvania	Ice Line Quad Rinks
Philadelphia Little Flyers	Aston, Pennsylvania 	IceWorks Skating Complex
Philadelphia Revolution 	Warminster, Pennsylvania 	Revolution Ice Gardens
===Originally Listed then removed===
Team 	Arena 	Location
Connecticut Oilers 	Hamden, Connecticut 	Louis Astorino Arena
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights	Pittston, Pennsylvania	Revolution Ice Centre
==Standings==
===North Conference===
Team 	GP	W 	L 	OL	GF 	GA 	Pts
Boston Jr Rangers 	44	37	4 	3 	216	80 	77
Vermont Lumberjacks	44	33	9 	2 	216	123	68
Walpole Express 	44	23	19	2 	175	162	48
Valley Jr. Warriors	44	12	28	4 	96 	158	28
New England Wolves 	44	12	30	2 	97 	194	26
===South Conference===
Team 	GP	W 	L 	OL	GF 	GA 	Pts
Philadelphia Junior Flyers	44	34	5 	5 	261	127	73
New Jersey 87's 	44	33	9 	2 	193	107	68
Philadelphia Revolution 	44	29	14	1 	186	145	59
Philadelphia Little Flyers	44	22	19	3 	162	147	47
New Jersey Renegades 	44	23	21	0 	162	143	46
Jersey Wildcats 	44	13	29	2 	103	193	28
New York Applecore 	44	8 	35	1 	81 	196	17
Central Penn Panthers 	44	7 	34	3 	116	289	17
==Playoffs==
===Format===
the top five teams qualifying with the fourth and fifth place teams playing a single game sudden death and then the winner becoming the fourth seed.  The division semifinals are also single elimination within the division.  The division final is best-of-three.  The division winners meet in a single game final on March 25th at Schneider Arena in Providence, Rhode Island.
===First Round===
*New Jersey Renegades defeated Philadelphia Little Flyers 3-2 (ot)
*New England Wolves defeated Valley Jr. Warriors 2-1 (ot)
===Conference Semifinals===
*Boston Jr Rangers defeated New England Wolves 7-2
*Vermont Lumberjacks defeated Walpole Express 6-0
*Philadelphia Junior Flyers defeated New Jersey Renegades 3-2 (ot)
*Philadelphia Revolution defeated New Jersey 87's 7-4
===Conference Finals===
*Boston Jr Rangers defeated Vermont Lumberjacks 2 games to 1
*Philadelphia Junior Flyers defeated Philadelphia Revolution 2 games to 1
===Final===
*Boston Jr Rangers defeated Philadelphia Junior Flyers 4-3
Category:2018 in hockey
Category:EHL Seasons