What is States / The State Tournament?
What is States / The State Tournament / Mass Hockey State Tournament?
It's that time of year that you might hear and see a lot about something referred to as "States" or one of the names above - these all refer to the Massachusetts Hockey State Tournaments.
The Massachusetts Hockey State Tournaments Tare a series of competitions to crown the top youth and girls teams (separate tournaments) in the state. Massachusetts Hockey organizes several State tournaments during the season where teams qualify by winning their district or through rankings, with different age and tier levels having their own tournaments and formats.
2025-2026 state tournament dates & locations can be found here.
The Natick Comets is in District 8 and is classified as a large sized organization.
How it works:
* The organization registers teams for District Playdowns with Massachusetts Hockey
* Framingham is the only other large size organization in District 8 so our Playdown games are only versus Framingham to determine which team will represent the District in the actual tournament. (see below for Size Definitions)
* There is only a maximum of 3 team spots available at each age division for Town teams: Tier III, IV, V (see below for Tier Definitions). Girls divisions have less spots in each age division.
* If we have 3 and 4 teams, they will have the option to play each other in a Play In game to determine who will participate in a Playdown game versus Framingham to determine who takes the Tier IV spot in the State Tournament. The head coaches make that determination on whether to play this game.
* The winning District teams from Playdowns will go on to play against other District winners across the state in the same size category to compete for the title of Massachusetts Hockey State Tournament Champions.
Tier Definitions:
Tier I: Top level team in a club program; "elite" or "national-bound"
Tier II: Second level team in a club program: "select"
Tier III: Top team in a town program; ex: Comets top team in an age division (ex: 10U-1)
Tier IV: Second level team in town program; Comets second teams (ex: 10U-2).
Tier V: Third level team in town program (ex: 10U-3 or 10U-4, determined by the head coaches - see above bullet about "Play-in games").
Size Definitions:
Comets teams will play in the Large size level. Refer to the list here on how local organizations sizes are defined.
The Massachusetts Hockey State Tournaments are an exciting opportunity for our teams to play other teams from throughout the State and provides a high level competition. There is a great sense of pride to be able to hold that State Tournament Championship banner.
It's highly encouraged for Comets to cheer on Comets during these games so don't hesitate to come cheer on your favorite teams during Playdowns and at Tournament.
As a reminder, tournaments just hit differently and that also means that emotions hit differently but please remember to exercise respect and good sportsmanship to everyone on and off the ice - you are representing your town, the Comets, but most importantly yourselves.
Watch out for upcoming Playdown games and Tournament Announcements!!