Ice hockey playoffs begin Thursday and Pine Creek leads Pikes Peak region teams into postseason action.

Five area schools qualified for the 5A and 4A playoffs and the Eagles earned 4A’s No. 3 seed following a 16-2-1 campaign. The Eagles also clinched a first-round bye and are one win shy of tying their school record of 17, which they achieved in the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons.

Pine Creek will open the playoffs in the quarterfinals with a Feb. 24 meeting against No. 6 Standley Lake. While the Eagles earned the highest seed of all area schools, Cheyenne Mountain will join Pine Creek with a first-round bye.

The Red-Tailed Hawks went 11-6-2 and earned 4A’s No. 5 seed. They will face the reigning champs and No. 4 seed Steamboat Springs at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 25 at Ice Centre at the Promenade. Cheyenne Mountain played Steamboat Springs on Dec. 18 and lost 3-1.

Colorado Springs District 11’s team is the lone area squad to host a first-round matchup after it went 12-5-1. It earned the No. 8 seed and will face No. 9 Crested Butte Thursday at a time and location to be determined. This will be D11’s first tilt with Crested Butte, which finished 10-9 and lost two of its final three games.

Liberty wrapped the season at 11-7-1, earned the No. 10 seed and will head to No. 7 Summit on Thursday for the first round at a time to be determined. The Lancers closed the year with six consecutive wins after a 5-7-1 start.  

Lewis-Palmer, the area’s lone 5A team, earned the No. 11 seed after going 8-8-2 and will head to No. 6 Mountain Vista for their first-round showdown.  

This year’s 5A and 4A semifinals will take place Feb. 28 at Ed Robson Arena. Games will begin at 11 a.m. with the first 4A semifinals and wrap at 7 p.m. with 5A’s second semifinals contest.

The state championship games will occur at the University of Denver’s Magness Arena on March 2. The 4A championship starts at 5 p.m. and 5A begins after that.

5A playoffs

First round

No. 11 Lewis-Palmer at No. 6 Mountain Vista, Thursday, TBD

4A playoffs

First round

No. 9 Crested Butte at No. 8 Colorado Springs District 11, Thursday TBD

No. 10 Liberty at No. 7 Summit, Thursday TBD

Quarterfinals

No. 5 Cheyenne Mountain at No. 4 Steamboat Springs, 6:30 p.m. Feb. 25

No. 6 Standley Lake at No. 3 Pine Creek, Feb. 24 TBD