PHL winner to be decided by a three game series for the inaugural Nathan Walker Cup

PHL winner to be decided by three game championship series plus a one game home elimination final.

The Pacific Hockey League (PHL) continues to break the Australian Ice Hockey mold by announcing our historic best-of-three championship series and home-team preliminary finals.

The PHL’s inaugural Nathan Walker Cup winner will have earned it the hard way!

Here’s how it will all work.

The top three teams will advance to the finals at the end of the minor rounds.

On August 6, the second placed team will host the third place team in a one-and-done home game to see who makes it to the championship round.

It’s a historic moment for Australian ice hockey as it allows a team to potentially play a preliminary final in front of their home fans.

The winner of that game will advance to play the team that finishes first in a three-game series in Melbourne the following week.

The three-game series to determine a national champion will be the first of its kind for ice hockey in Australia.

The finals race is heating up, with all teams still having a chance to earn the bye to the championship round by finishing first overall. And all teams can still finish in second spot, to win hosting rights for the semi-final.

Round 7 of the competition begins Friday night with the Adelaide Avalanche visiting the Brisbane Rampage. If Adelaide takes all the points this weekend, they’ll move into sole possession of second place. Puck drop is at 8PM AEST.

The first place Melbourne Ducks travel to Erina Ice Arena to play the red hot Coast.

The Coast has won four straight games and has points in five of their last six. Depending on other results, full points this weekend could see them in a finals spot with just three rounds remaining on the season.

The Pacific Hockey League is in a wildly entertaining first year. Nearly 70% of all games have been separated by just one goal heading into the last minute and all teams are barely separated on the standings. It’s not too late to jump on board and support your team in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia or Victoria!