2019–20 Mercury Elite Hockey League

The 2019–20 Mercury Elite Hockey League is the fourth season of the Mercury Elite Hockey League, the premier ice hockey league in Mercury. The league will be contested by 24 teams, including 6 international clubs.

Qualification

Qualification for the MCHL will be determined according to the following criteria:

• Craitish Cosmos and Dyas Stiks qualify automatically
• Regular season champions
• Play-off champions
• Northern, Central and Southern Conference champions, best team from the International Conference, barring Craitish Cosmos and Dyas Stiks.
• If any team qualifies through more than one of the above criteria, then the remaining berths will be allocated to the highest-placed teams in the overall standings.

Regular season

The league's 24 teams play a 66-game schedule from September 2019 to March 2020. Each team plays every other team in the league twice, and each team in their conference a further four times. At the end of the season, the four conference winners advance to the play-offs in addition to the eight next-highest ranked teams in the overall standings.

Legend
	Qualified to play-offs and MCHL
	Qualified to play-offs
	Qualified to MCHL
XXX	Conference champion

Team	Conf.	Pld	RW	OTW	OTL	RL	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Nafferton Panthers	CEN	66	41	12	3	10	286	165	+121	150
Bisminster Battalion	NOR	66	44	4	5	13	276	181	+95	145
Castleton Vikings	CEN	66	37	5	5	19	234	194	+40	126
Mercury Hornets	CEN	66	38	2	7	19	244	193	+51	125
Hanseong Stingrays	NOR	66	37	5	1	23	247	189	+58	122
Dyas Stiks	INT	66	35	6	4	21	258	212	+46	121
Savona Sport	INT	66	34	6	5	21	255	205	+50	119
Kuiper Jets	CEN	66	34	7	3	22	249	205	+44	119
Newcastle Leopards	INT	66	30	9	7	20	242	219	+23	115
Whitby Warriors	NOR	66	30	9	6	21	224	210	+14	114
Tow Law Bears	SOU	66	32	5	5	24	224	188	+36	111
Pelmanby Penguins	NOR	66	32	3	8	23	213	218	−5	110
Craitish Cosmos	INT	66	30	4	4	28	207	186	+21	102
PB Polar Bears	NOR	66	30	4	4	28	232	209	+23	102
Kincester Kraken	SOU	66	27	2	8	29	216	225	−9	93
Longstoke Lions	SOU	66	26	4	3	33	200	222	−22	89
Deacon Thunder	SOU	66	21	6	5	34	199	237	−38	80
Harlby Hawks	SOU	66	22	2	8	34	195	226	−31	78
Clarkson Pirates	NOR	66	20	4	6	36	207	255	−48	74
Taylor Torpedoes	CEN	66	21	3	4	38	182	246	−64	73
West Grinstead Wasps	SOU	66	18	5	5	38	206	277	−71	69
Eastmoor Archers	CEN	66	20	2	4	40	191	249	−58	68
NV Devils	INT	66	8	6	6	46	155	296	−141	42
Plennomorets Chetgavan	INT	66	6	6	5	49	184	315	−131	35
Tie-breaking criteria: 1) If the tied teams have not played an equal amount of head-to-head matches, position of teams from the same Conference in the Conference standings (eliminating teams from broken ties), 2) Head-to-head points between remaining tied teams, 3) Head-to-head goal difference, 4) Total regulation wins, 5) Total wins, 6) Goal difference, 7) Goals scored.

• After finishing with identical points, Kuiper Jets and Savona Sport faced tie-breaking criteria. They were split by their head to head record, with Savona's 6 points from their shared matches beating Kuiper's 0 points.
  
• After finishing with identical points, Craitish Cosmos and PB Polar Bears faced tie-breaking criteria. They were split by their head to head record, with Cosmos 6 points from their shared matches beating PB's 0 points.

Conference standings

Northern Conference

Team	Pld	RW	OTW	OTL	RL	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Bisminster Battalion	30	18	3	3	6	122	88	+34	63
Pelmanby Penguins	30	16	0	5	9	101	104	−3	53
Hanseong Stingrays	30	16	2	0	12	117	95	+22	52
PB Polar Bears	30	12	2	1	15	98	101	−3	41
Whitby Warriors	30	8	6	4	12	97	104	−7	40
Clarkson Pirates	30	5	2	2	21	87	130	−43	21
Tie-breaking criteria: 1) Head-to-head points, 2) Head-to-head goal difference, 3) Total regulation wins, 4) Total wins, 5) Goal difference, 6) Goals scored.

Central Conference

Team	Pld	RW	OTW	OTL	RL	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Nafferton Panthers	30	18	6	2	4	120	71	+49	68
Mercury Hornets	30	14	0	6	10	112	103	+9	48
Castleton Vikings	30	14	2	2	12	92	91	+1	48
Kuiper Jets	30	11	4	1	14	102	100	+2	42
Taylor Torpedoes	30	11	2	2	15	81	105	−24	39
Eastmoor Archers	30	8	1	2	19	84	117	−33	28
Tie-breaking criteria: 1) Head-to-head points, 2) Head-to-head goal difference, 3) Total regulation wins, 4) Total wins, 5) Goal difference, 6) Goals scored.

• After finishing with identical points, Castleton Vikings and Mercury Hornets faced tie-breaking criteria. Both teams gained 9 points each from their shared matches, they were split by their head-to-head goal difference, with Mercury's +2 beating Castleton's −2.

Southern Conference

Team	Pld	RW	OTW	OTL	RL	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Kincester Kraken	30	17	0	5	8	115	84	+31	56
Tow Law Bears	30	15	4	3	8	103	83	+20	56
Longstoke Lions	30	14	3	0	13	98	91	+7	48
Deacon Thunder	30	12	4	2	12	94	95	−1	46
West Grinstead Wasps	30	9	3	3	15	82	113	−31	36
Harlby Hawks	30	8	1	2	19	82	113	−31	28
Tie-breaking criteria: 1) Head-to-head points, 2) Head-to-head goal difference, 3) Total regulation wins, 4) Total wins, 5) Goal difference, 6) Goals scored.

• After finishing with identical points, Kincester Kraken and Tow Law Bears faced tie-breaking criteria. They were split by their head to head record, with Kincester's 13 points from their shared matches beating Tow Law's 5 points.

International Conference

Team	Pld	RW	OTW	OTL	RL	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Dyas Stiks	30	20	3	2	5	130	84	+46	68
Newcastle Leopards	30	17	4	3	6	115	97	+18	62
Savona Sport	30	16	2	1	11	102	84	+18	53
Craitish Cosmos	30	14	3	2	11	111	80	+31	50
NV Devils	30	6	2	3	19	63	112	−49	25
Plennomorets Chetgavan	30	2	1	4	23	72	136	−64	12
Tie-breaking criteria: 1) Head-to-head points, 2) Head-to-head goal difference, 3) Total regulation wins, 4) Total wins, 5) Goal difference, 6) Goals scored.

Play-offs

Qualifying play-offs

The qualifying play-offs will be played over two legs in March 2020. The four conference winners will advance directly to the quarter-finals.

	Castleton Vikings	5 – 0	Tow Law Bears
Tow Law Bears v Castleton Vikings 17 March 2020 Tow Law Bears 0 – 2 (0–0, 0–0, 0–2) Castleton Vikings
Castleton Vikings v Tow Law Bears 18 March 2020 Castleton Vikings 3 – 0 (1–0, 0–0, 2–0) Tow Law Bears

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	Mercury Hornets	6 – 5 OT	Whitby Warriors
Whitby Warriors v Mercury Hornets 17 March 2020 Whitby Warriors 3 – 3 (0–1, 0–2, 3–0) Mercury Hornets
Mercury Hornets v Whitby Warriors 18 March 2020 Mercury Hornets 3 – 2 OT (0–1, 0–1, 2–0) (OT: 1–0) Whitby Warriors

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	Hanseong Stingrays	6 – 4	Newcastle Leopards
Newcastle Leopards v Hanseong Stingrays 17 March 2020 Newcastle Leopards 2 – 5 (1–2, 0–1, 1–2) Hanseong Stingrays
Hanseong Stingrays v Newcastle Leopards 18 March 2020 Hanseong Stingrays 1 – 2 (1–0, 0–0, 0–2) Newcastle Leopards

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	Savona Sport	6 – 7	Kuiper Jets
Kuiper Jets v Savona Sport 17 March 2020 Kuiper Jets 2 – 2 (1–0, 0–1, 1–1) Savona Sport
Savona Sport v Kuiper Jets 18 March 2020 Savona Sport 4 – 5 (2–1, 0–0, 2–4) Kuiper Jets

Quarter-finals

The quarter-finals will be played over two legs in March 2020.

	Nafferton Panthers	6 – 5	Kuiper Jets
Kuiper Jets v Nafferton Panthers 21 March 2020 Kuiper Jets 1 – 2 (0–2, 0–0, 1–0) Nafferton Panthers
Nafferton Panthers v Kuiper Jets 22 March 2020 Nafferton Panthers 4 – 4 (2–1, 0–1, 2–2) Kuiper Jets

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	Bisminster Battalion	8 – 4	Hanseong Stingrays
Hanseong Stingrays v Bisminster Battalion 21 March 2020 Hanseong Stingrays 2 – 3 (1–0, 0–1, 1–2) Bisminster Battalion
Bisminster Battalion v Hanseong Stingrays 22 March 2020 Bisminster Battalion 5 – 2 (1–1, 2–1, 2–0) Hanseong Stingrays

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	Dyas Stiks	6 – 5	Mercury Hornets
Mercury Hornets v Dyas Stiks 20 March 2020 Mercury Hornets 3 – 4 (0–1, 0–3, 3–0) Dyas Stiks
Dyas Stiks v Mercury Hornets 22 March 2020 Dyas Stiks 2 – 2 (1–0, 0–2, 1–0) Mercury Hornets

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	Kincester Kraken	3 – 5	Castleton Vikings
Castleton Vikings v Kincester Kraken 21 March 2020 Castleton Vikings 1 – 3 (0–0, 0–1, 1–2) Kincester Kraken 2= Kincester Kraken v Castleton Vikings 22 March 2020 Kincester Kraken 0 – 4 (0–2, 0–0, 0–2) Castleton Vikings

Semi-finals

The semi-finals will be played at the Mercury Ice Arena in Mercury.

Nafferton Panthers v Castleton Vikings

30 March 2020

Nafferton Panthers	2 – 1 SO (0–1, 0–0, 1–0) (OT: 0–0) (SO: 2–0)	Castleton Vikings

Mercury Ice Arena, Mercury

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Bisminster Battalion v Dyas Stiks

30 March 2020

Bisminster Battalion	4 – 3 SO (0–2, 3–1, 0–0) (OT: 0–0) (SO: 2–1)	Dyas Stiks

Mercury Ice Arena, Mercury

Final

Nafferton Panthers v Bisminster Battalion

31 March 2020

Nafferton Panthers	5 – 4 OT (1–2, 2–2, 1–0) (OT: 1–0)	Bisminster Battalion

Mercury Ice Arena, Mercury