- This is a USA Hockey sanctioned Tournament, using USA Hockey rules. All teams must be registered with USA Hockey or the Canadian Hockey Association. All teams must provide a copy of their certified roster prior to their first game of the tournament. Only players who appear on the team's certified roster may participate in any game during the tournament.
- Any team using a non-rostered player in any game will forfeit all preliminary round games and will not be eligible to advance to a semi-final or championship game. In this situation no entry fees will not be refunded.
- Players are required to wear all equipment mandated by their respective home governing body.
- A team representative or coach must enter players' names and the head coach must sign the scoresheet prior to each game. Players do not need to sign in.
- All players must wear numbered uniforms in the proper team colors.
- The home team will wear a white or light colored jersey and the visiting team shall wear a dark colored jersey.
- Teams will need to provide a penalty box attendant if they would like someone to open the penalty box door for the players.
- Teams shall shake hands at Center Ice after completion of the warm-up period. Post-game hand shakes are optional at the discretion of the coaches and referees.
- Playing Time/Penalty Minutes
Playing time for all games will be stop time periods as follows:
Mite 13 minutes
Squirt 13 minutes
Pee Wee 13 minutes
Bantam 13 minutes
Midget 14 minutes
- A running clock will be used in the third period when one team is ahead by 5 or more goals.
- Penalty times are as follows for all divisions:
Minor 2 minutes
Major 5 minutes
Misconduct 10 minutes
- Each team is permitted one time-out per game.
- Starting Time/Warm Up Period
A) Teams should be ready to enter the ice surface for the warm-up period up to ten minutes prior to the scheduled start time. If the tournament is running ahead of schedule teams are expected to be ready to play.
B) Warm-up time shall be three minutes.
- Zero Tolerance: Referees will be instructed to strictly enforce zero tolerance rules. MYHockey Tournaments and the host arenas reserves the right to remove from the arena players, coaches or spectators who violate USA Hockey zero tolerance policies.
- Game Misconduct Penalty: Any player or coach receiving a game misconduct penalty shall be suspended for the next tournament game. There are no exceptions to this rule. CHICAGO ONLY: All game misconducts for fighting in Chicago carry a mandatory three (3) game suspension.
- Match Penalty: Any player, coach or manager who receives a match penalty shall be suspended immediately for the balance of the tournament. There are no exceptions to this rule.
- Game Suspensions: Suspensions resulting from game misconducts, match penalities, or any other circumstances, which are mandated by USA Hockey or Tournament Rules will not be overturned by the Tournament Director or MYHockey Tournaments under any circumstances. Players, coaches and parents should be fully aware of the potential consequences of their actions at all times.
- Protests: Protests of games shall not be accepted or considered for any reasons. Decisions of on-ice officals are final. Decisions by MYHockey Tournaments related to game suspensions and tie-breakers are final.
Games may be stopped and ended if, in the judgement of tournament officials, continuing play is deemed to be not in the best interest of the tournament, participants, specatators, officials, etc. The final score and outcome of the game will be decided solely by MYHockey Tournaments based on the current score, time remaining and situation which lead to suspension of the game.
- Game Points: Teams will be awarded points in round-robin play according to the following:
A) Two points for a win
B) One point for a tie
C) Zero points for a loss
- Forfeits: When a team forfeits a game for any reason, all games in the preliminary round for that team, played or not, will be officially recorded as a 3-0 loss for the purposes of determining tournament standings. A team forfeiting a game is not eligible to play any semi-final or championship games. It should be noted that the purpose of this rule is to absolutely discourage forfeits for any reason, as this causes another team to miss a tournament game. Entry fees will not be refunded to teams forfeiting any games.
Tournament Standings: Standings will be compiled by the tournament director and staff and posted at the rinks. Teams will be ranked within their tournament division by the total number of points obtained. In the event of a tie, final standings will be determined by the following criteria:
a) Head to head competition – With 3 or more teams tied, all teams must have played each other and there must be an obvious winner. If not we skip Head to Head and go to Most Wins.
b) Most wins
c) Goal differential (5 goal maximum differential for a single game) involving only the tied teams, if all tied teams have played one another
d) Goal differential (5 goal maximum differential for a single game) in all games.
e) Fewest goals against in games involving only the tied teams
f) Fewest goals against in all games
g) Fewest Penalty Minutes
h) Coin Toss
- Tie Games/Tie Breaking Procedures:
Each team will receive one point for a round-robin game that is tied at the end of regulation play.
If a semi-final or championship game ends in a tie the following tie-breaking procedure will be followed:
a) 5 minute sudden death overtime period (4 on 4, plus goalies)
b) Shootout (5 players/team - each player may only shoot once) - most goals wins
c) If shootout ends in tie, sudden death shootout until winner is decided (each team must continue through their roster until all players have taken a shot. If the shoot-out is not decided, players will continue to shoot in the same order as their first shots.)
- Additional Explanations for Tournament Standings Tie-Breakers:
If multiple teams are tied, as we move down the list of tie-breakers, we will never move back to the top of the tie-breaker list. For example, if three teams are tied and head-to-head and most wins do not settle the tie, but goal differential between the tied teams decides a winner, ties between the remaining teams will be decided by moving down the list to goal differential between all teams, fewest goals against, etc.
Head-to- Head Tiebreakers: With three or more teams tied, it will be very unusual for the head-to-head tie-breaker to apply. All tied teams must have played each other and there must be a “obvious winner” of the tiebreaker. One exception to this case is if three teams, Teams A, B and C are tied, and Team A has defeated both Team B and Team C, Team A would win the head-to-head tie-breaker whether Teams B and C have played each other, or not. If Teams B and C have played each other and are still tied, the team that won the head-to-head match-up between teams B and C will advance. If Teams B and C have not played each other, we would move to the goal differential tie-breaker.
Goal Differential Between Tied Teams: If three or more teams are tied and if all of the tied teams have played one another and the Head-to-Head and Most Wins tie-breakers do not provide a winner, goal differential involving only games between the tied teams will apply. If Teams A, B, and C are tied and all have played each other and either the same or different other opponents, only the games between “A and B”, “A and C” and “B and C” will be used to calculate goal differential between the teams. The team with the greatest goal differential will advance. If all tied teams have not played each other, then the next tie-breaker, goal differential in all games will decide the winner.
Fewest Goals Against Between Tied Teams: If three or more teams are tied and if all of the tied teams have played one another and the Head-to-Head, Most Wins and Goal Differential tie-breakers do not provide a winner, fewest goals against involving only games between the tied teams will apply. If Teams A, B, and C are tied and all have played each other and either the same or different other opponents, only the games between “A and B”, “A and C” and “B and C” will be used to calculate goals against for each team. The team with the fewest goals against will advance. If all tied teams have not played each other, then the next tie-breaker, fewest goals against in all games will decide the winner.