Trueman Cup Playoffs
Current season or competition: 2020 Farrar Cup Playoffs | |
| Founded | 2017 |
|---|---|
| Inaugural season | 2017 |
| No. of teams | 16 |
| Most recent champion(s) |
 Northcliff Golden Knights |
| Most titles |
Northcliff Golden Knights Northcliff Capitals (1) |
| Qualification | Micras Champions' Hockey League |
| TV partner(s) |
Red Sports B-TV |
| Related competitions | MEHL Playoffs |
The Trueman Cup Playoffs is an elimination tournament in the Intercontinental Hockey League consisting of four rounds of best-of-five series to determine the league champion and the winner of the Trueman Cup. The Trueman Cup Playoffs also determines who qualifies for the Micras Champions' Hockey League for the following season. Eight teams from each of the two conferences qualify for the playoffs based on regular-season points totals. The final round is commonly known as the Farrar Cup Finals, which matches the two conference champions.
Current format
The Trueman Cup Playoffs consists of four rounds of best of three series. Each series is played in a 2–1 format, meaning the team with home-ice advantage hosts games one and two while their opponent hosts games three should the series be tied. Eight teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs. In the playoff series format instituted in the inaugural season in 2019, the first, second, and third-place team in each of the four divisions qualify for the playoffs automatically. Two additional teams from each conference, regardless of divisional alignment, also qualify for the playoffs by having the highest point totals out of the remaining teams in the conference. These teams are known as Wildcards. Because there is no attention to division alignment, it is possible to see one division have five teams and the other has three.
In the First Round, the teams are split into two separate brackets by division. Each bracket consists of the top three divisional qualifiers and one of the wild cards. The lower seeded wild card plays against the division winner with the best record while the other wild card plays against the other division winner, and both wild cards are de facto #4 seeds. The other two series match the second and third-place teams from the divisions.
The winners of both First Round series advance to the Second Round. The winners of these series advance to the Conference Finals and the two Conference Final winners move on to the Trueman Cup Finals. In each round, the teams with better regular-season performance than their opponents win home advantage.
Overtime rules
Unlike the regular season where a contest could eventually be decided in a shootout, overtime in the playoffs is played in multiple sudden-death, 20-minute five-on-five periods until one team scores. Although a playoff game could theoretically last indefinitely, a Trueman Cup has never lasted longer than one overtime period.
