Club League Rules and Playoff Inforamtion
There will be a playoff at the conclusion of the season in which the top four (4) teams from each division, Mite, Squirt, PeeWee and Bantam will play for the Championship. In this playoff, to be held annually on the weekend following President's Weekend, Team #1 will play Team #4 and Team #2 will play Team #3. The winners only of the preliminary games will play for the Championship. The playoffs will take place on one day with a sufficient (approximately 2 hours) amount of time between the last preliminary game and the championship game to be fair to the winner of the second game.

Hosting: The Bantam regular season champion will have first choice in hosting the playoffs. After that is decided the PeeWee regular season champion will have the choice of hosting. Following that come the Squirts and then the Mites. Generally, a Club is able to host only one playoff although, if ice times can be arranged, it will be possible for a Club to host more than one tournament. The President shall have the final word on hosting. Lunch for all competitors and parents is to be provided by the host Club. A charge may be made for all non-competitors (parents, friends, etc.) but no charge is to be made to the players.

Players Ages: USA Hockey Rules prevail in our League, therefore, USA Hockey ages are the rule of law. The basic reason there can be no deviation is that hockey programs are covered by USA Hockey insurance and this insurance is null and void if there has been any deviation from the age limits imposed. The only exception to this is that a player, by reason of ability, size or any condition acceptable to an individual club or player, may play “up” in age. No player may ever play “down” in age. It is absolutely forbidden that any older player, for any reason, play in an age category below his USA Hockey legal age category.

Permanent “Up” Players: If a player, for any reason, chooses to play “up” in category, and does so on a regular basis, that player will be considered to be a permanent member of the higher level team. He/she may not be shifted back and forth between teams depending upon which team needs the player the most. We discourage any attempt to manipulate game results based on bringing different teams to different games.

Temporary Exception: When a team finds itself in an emergency of being short players for a particular game due to unavoidable circumstances, a player or players may be brought up from a lower age category team. Unavoidable circumstances include legitimate sickness, school vacations, holidays and so on. An unavoidable circumstance is not leaving players at home so stronger players from a lower age category can be used. Any attempt to manipulate game scores is prohibited.

Rosters: All rosters are fixed on January 1. While our rules state that rosters must be submitted to the President’s office by that date, in practicality, rosters need not be submitted but must be available should the President ask for it.

Prep School Players: Prep school players who are away at school are ineligible to play in League games. This rule is inclusive of the playoffs. The only exception is that a prep school player who commutes and, therefore, is a regular member of a team with intentions to play in all the team’s games, is eligible to play in League games.



Playoff Rosters: To be eligible for the playoffs a player must participate in 70% of the games for which he/she is eligible, subject to the following:

1.   The intent of this rule is to eliminate the player who deems himself a “superstar” and only shows up for the odd League game but does show up for the playoffs. This would be considered to be “manipulation of the game scores” and would make a team ineligible to win a championship.

If a player is on a team but cannot play in a League game due to illness or legitimate family commitment, it will be considered that he/she played in that game. If he/she participated in an outside game in conflict with a League game it shall be recorded against the player.
Most Clubs have a membership process that allows new members to join after the season begins. Any member joining by January 1 of the season in question, who then participates in 70% of the games for which he/she is eligible, will also be eligible for the playoffs.
Prep school players are ineligible for the playoffs except under the definition provided (above) on players away at school.

Officiating: It is the home team’s responsibility to furnish qualified referees for all home games. These referees should be assigned by either a USA Hockey supervised pool or by a Head Referee employed by a Club. All referees must be USA Hockey registered and qualified for the level they intend to referee. Refereeing is always a contentious issue as visiting teams, coaches and parents often see the game differently from the home team assigned referee.   Insuring that your referees are of the highest quality, and not just a couple of local kids bent on helping the home team, will go a long way toward insuring impartiality.

Determination of League Standings: The home Club will be responsible for phoning, faxing or e-mailing in the results of the League games to the President following the conclusion of the games. This must be done by the Monday after the weekend on which the games were played. Failure to report the scores could result in a forfeit for each game that is not recorded.

Actual scores should be kept by each home Club. When reporting the game results, however, it will be sufficient only to report a win, loss or tie. Two points will be awarded for a win and one point for a tie. Actual scores are needed only if requested by the President.

Tie Breaking Procedures: In the event two teams are tied in the standings at the end of the season and it is necessary to break the tie to determine playoff participation, the following procedure will be used:


1.       Results of head to head competition
2.       Fewest goals given up in head to head competition
3.       Fewest goals given up in League play

Procedures When Not All Games Are Played: It is understood and agreed that every effort will be made to play all League games and to arrange make-up games when there is a postponement. Club League games always take precedence over non-league or another league’s schedule. It is unconscionable to avoid playing games, especially at the end of the season, in order to avoid certain competitors, manipulate the standings or simply not play because it is not convenient. The President shall have sole power to rectify any situation deemed to fall into this category.

Sometimes, however, some games do not get played. Therefore, at season’s end, if there are unplayed games and if two teams are within two (2) points of each other in the standings, and the unplayed game (s) can affect the final standings, the teams will be considered tied and the following will apply:

1.       Head to head competition.
2.       Fewest goals given up in head to head competition
3.       Fewest goals given up in the last eight (8) games of League competition.

USA Hockey: USA Hockey rules govern all competition in the Club League. This includes the time of the periods. Presently, USA Hockey rules state that Mite and Squirt periods shall be 12 minutes in length and that PeeWee and Bantam periods shall be 15 minutes in length.

Overtime: There shall be no overtime in regular season games. There will be sudden victory overtime in the playoffs as follows: A fourth (4th) full period shall ensue with the winner to be the first team that scores a goal. If this period does not determine a winner then, time permitting, a fifth (5th) period will take place and so on until there is a winner. If time does not permit, subject to the home team’s ice availability, a sudden victory shootout will take place using five shooters per side. These five shooters will alternate until all have shot and a winner is determined.   If no winner is determined after each team’s five shooters have shot then one shooter from each team shoots until a winner is determined.

Completion of Play: In the event a game must be shortened due to time constraints encountered by the home Club,  that Club shall alert each coach and arrange a suitable conclusion to the game. This conclusion must be imminently fair to both teams. In the event of a serious dispute the details shall be reported to the President and the results shall be subject to review and his decision shall be final.

Red Line: Due to the fact that not every one of our rinks is “standard” size the red line shall be a local rule. In some rinks it is used for icing and in some rinks it isn’t. The referee shall make each team aware prior to the start of the game whether it is being used or not. If the referee does not do this then it becomes the coaches responsibility to ascertain this for his players.

Time For One Sided Games: In the event there becomes a nine (9) goal differential between teams all subsequent time becomes “running time.” The Club League strenuously discourages running up the score on an opponent no matter how weak that opponent is. It is a coaches responsibility to ensure that his team does not do that. Individual scoring statistics are not kept in our League and no trophies are awarded to scoring leaders. In the event a game “gets away” from a team it is suggested that the score on the board be fixed and not added to as goals are scored.

Ejection: If a player is ejected from a game he/she will receive, at a minimum, an automatic one-game suspension from the next League game. The League President must be notified of every ejection and will have the sole authority to review and, if necessary, determine any punishment besides the automatic one-game suspension. A punishment may be as simple as asking a child to write letters of apology. A player remains ineligible for League play as long as the punishment terms remain in effect. Once satisfied, a player, once again, becomes fully eligible.

Shirts and Socks: Shirts and socks must match. Each League team shall do its best to enforce the proposition that shirts and socks must match. The intent is to eliminate the player who thinks it is “cool” to show up, for instance, in an unmatched pair of his high school’s socks.

Disputes: The League President shall be the arbitrator of any disputes between Clubs and his decision shall be final. In every case, it is the President’s responsibility to be fair to all concerned. As a practical matter, the President usually consults several League member representatives to solicit opinions when matters become dicey.

Overall Trophy: There will be an overall trophy presented at the end of the year to the Club that accumulates the most regular season points, in aggregate, in the six divisions, Mite, Squirt, PeeWee, Bantam, Girls U16 and Girls 12. This is known as the Lou Body Trophy and it is given annually.

Trophies: There are trophies awarded to the team winning the playoffs in each of our four divisions. It is the responsibility of the winning team to both get the trophy engraved with their name and to ensure it is brought to the following year’s playoff venue.