Tournament format guide
Pool play + seeded playoffs
Pool results seed an eight-team knockout bracket.
When this format works well
Use pools when a full event-wide round robin would require too much ice. Pool play preserves several guaranteed games while crossover rounds create a clear championship path.
How scheduling is handled
The optimizer schedules every division against the shared ice pool, keeps dependent playoff games after their prerequisites, and compares rest, daily balance, stage progression, schedule efficiency, and start-time fairness.