Tournament format guide
Single elimination
Winners advance through a straight knockout bracket to one championship game.
When this format works well
Use this when ice is limited and a decisive advancement path matters more than equal game guarantees. Leave enough time between dependent rounds for rest and score confirmation.
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.