The Clear Cup — Presented by Bladetech
Every Senior A team in the West is playing for one thing. Not a banner for winning the weekend. Not bragging rights at the bar. The Clear Cup — the championship of the Mountain Hockey League.
WHERE IT CAME FROM
For years, Senior A hockey in the West had great players, real crowds and no stakes. The Mountain Hockey League was built in 2022 to change that, and it dropped the puck on its first season in November 2023. A league needed a trophy worth chasing.
The Cup takes its name from The Clear. Commissioner Rick Batenburg III worked with his college teammate from Nichols College, Frankie Posillico, and Intigo 3D to design and 3D-print it: a frosted, clear cup unlike any other trophy in hockey, awarded every year to the champion of Senior A hockey.
It was built to recognize a special kind of hockey player — men who work real jobs Monday through Friday but still carry the skill of professional players. On Friday and Saturday nights they suit up, represent their hometown, play real hockey and bring something truly magical to the small towns of the mountain region. The Clear Cup is for them.
April 25, 2026 — Reno Ice. Commissioner Rick Batenburg III presents the first Clear Cup to Reno Ice Raiders captain Jess Peterson.
WHY IT'S HARD — AND WHY WE DO IT
Putting a championship together in Senior A hockey isn't easy. Nobody gets paid. Teams cover their own ice, travel, hotels and officials, and getting four teams from four states into the same rink in April costs real money.
We keep at it because hockey players need something to play for. These men have dedicated their lives to a fast, physical, dangerous game. They've taken the hits, the stitches and the 2 a.m. drives home, and they still lace them up every Friday and Saturday because they love it. They deserve to be acknowledged and rewarded for that — with a trophy that means something, and a night when the whole town watches it get raised.
TITLE PARTNER — THE CLEAR
The Clear is one of the original brands in legal cannabis. It was founded in 2013 by a team of scientists in California who brought molecular distillation to the market — producing a clean, clear, potent oil that changed the industry. Today The Clear is headquartered in Denver and found in Colorado, Montana, Nevada, Missouri, Arkansas and New Jersey. The Clear EFX is part of the same family of brands.
The Clear backed this league before there was a board, a website or a single stat on the record. That's why its name is on the Cup. theclearbrands.com
PRESENTED BY BLADETECH HOCKEY
Bladetech Hockey is the presenting partner of The Clear Cup and the official equipment partner of the MHL. Based in Toronto, Bladetech builds high-performance skate blades and sticks engineered to add speed; their patented Flex Force Advantage reduces impact on joints so players skate faster, longer. When the Cup gets raised in April, it's raised under their name. bladetechhockey.com
HOW YOU GET THERE
Every game counts. The MHL is the leaderboard for Senior A hockey. Play a league team, a barnstorming team or a bunch of firemen from New York — it goes on the board.
You have to host, and you have to fill the barn. To be eligible for The Clear Cup, a team must host home games and average more than 400 fans. Attendance is recorded on every game sheet. A team can top the board and still be ineligible if it doesn't bring its town to the rink.
Four teams play for it. When the regular season wraps in April, the top four eligible teams on the leaderboard make the playoffs.
HOW THE PLAYOFFS WORK
Semifinals: #1 vs. #4 and #2 vs. #3. The higher seed hosts.
Every round is best two out of three, played in one weekend. Game 1 is Friday night. Game 2 is Saturday night. A tied game after regulation goes to 5-on-5 overtime.
Tied 1–1 after Saturday? They cut the ice clean, put zeros back on the board and drop the puck on a brand-new game, right there, Saturday night. Five-on-five, full 20-minute periods, sudden death. First goal wins the series.
There's no third night. It's still best two of three, but if it goes the distance, the decider starts minutes after Game 2 ends, with the same crowd still in the building.
The Clear Cup Final: the two semifinal winners meet in the same best-two-of-three format, on the home ice of the higher remaining seed. Picture it: the ice freshly cut, the Cup sitting at the end of the bench, the whole town on its feet waiting for one goal. That's the most electric night in Senior A hockey. 2027 dates: April 16–24.
CHAMPIONS
2026 — RENO ICE RAIDERS. The first team ever to raise The Clear Cup. Reno went 13–5, best on the board, beat Breckenridge in the semifinal and swept Mansfield in the final, 6–3 and 5–0, with a shutout in the clincher in front of a packed barn in Reno.
— From the Office of the MHL