Updated: Feb. 11, 2026, 4:05 p.m.|Published: Feb. 11, 2026, 1:25 p.m.Skaneateles vs Auburn boy's ice hockeyJack Ide and the Skaneateles boys hockey team will begin a quest for a fourth-straight Division II title as the Section III playoffs get underway.Mackenzie Stevenson | Contributing photographer

Syracuse, N.Y. — The Section III boys hockey playoffs will begin with the perennial targets again on familiar ice.

The section’s two defending champions, Division I West Genesee and Division II Skaneateles, secured the top two spots in this week’s syracuse.com poll.

The Wildcats (15-4-1) are looking particularly dangerous, having won six-straight by a combined 27-2 score. West Genesee will be chasing its fifth sectional title in a row.

Skaneateles (16-4), three-time defending state Division II champion, is rounding into form with a four-game winning streak. That powered the Lakers up two places, to No. 2.

Another hot team is revving it up to make some playoff noise. Cazenovia (12-5-2) has won five in a row to inch its way up one spot, to No. 4.

Sectional play-in games start this week. Here’s how the teams landed in the poll.

Lindsay Kramer is a general assignment sportswriter for Syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. He has covered CNY colleges, the Syracuse Chiefs/Mets and the Syracuse Crunch. He currently covers high school sports… more