YMCA Adult Hockey Rules and Regulations.

Player Eligibility:

Registration – All players must be 18 years of age, have signed a registration form (waiver) before playing in any games – no exceptions!!! The league fees also must be paid before the beginning of the season or special arrangements must be made with the League Coordinator for payment.

Player Skill Levels: Players should play in divisions based on their skill abilities.

Beginner (D2) –Hockey players at this level are often new to the game of hockey, and those that are developing fundamentals of the game i.e. team concepts, positioning, skating,and stick handling skills. Most are learning basic rules of the game and team play.Some may be ready to advance from a novice level of play to higher skill level leagues.

Intermediate (D1) – Skaters at this level have progressive knowledge of the game, skating and puck handling skills, and can play at a general competitive level. Some are ready to advance to higher skill level leagues.

Advanced (C/B) – Skaters in these leaguesare the best skaters in the league and have exceptional hockey abilities, skills, knowledge and experience. A lot of players at this level had been coached and have extensive organized hockey experience, likely to at least include elite high school or junior level play to those who have played advanced college, major juniors or professionally.

Player Skill Ability: It will be up to the league coordinator to move the player into appropriate division.

Roster Size:

A.The team roster will have a minimum of 12 players and a goalie, andwill be capped at 15 skaters and1 goalie. (Teams may have more than 15 players on roster, pending captain’s approval)

B.Players may request to be placed on a particular team during registration.

  • The YMCA reserves the right to deny placement if the roster is currently full. Exceeding the roster cap may be accepted at the discretion of the team captain.

C.If a team does not fill the roster the Y reserves the right to add “free agents” until the cap is reached.

  • Note: if returning players have not registered before the deadline, the YMCA may fill a roster with free agents, thus prohibiting the returning player from rejoining his/her preferred team. Captains should encourage teammates to register and make a payment as soon as possible to ensure a roster spot.
  • Placement of free agents is based on the skill level of the free agent at the discretion of the League Coordinator. If the free agent is not of the appropriate skill level the player will be moved to appropriate division.

Refund Policy - Cancel before the 1st game and receive a refund minus a processing fee. No refunds are available after the 1st game.

Game Structure:

Game Length - Games will have three 20-minute run time periods with a 5-minute warm up. The last 5 minutes of the third period will be stop time, except when the time limit of 1 hour and 15 minutes will be exceeded by the time remaining on the game clock, or at any time if there is a 4 goal differential.If the score is still tied after 3 periods of play, there will be a 3-man shoot-out (subs and players in the penalty box at the end of OT will be ineligible). If at the end of the 3-man shoot-out the score is still tied, the game will end in a tie.

Clock Management - Due to the above time limit, there will be no stoppages of the game clock, with the exception of player injuries, team time-outs, and during the last 5 minutes of the third period.

Playoff OT - During playoff games, if the score is tied at the end of the game, there will be a 5-minute (stop time) overtime period, if the score is still tied there will be a 5-man shoot-out (subs and players in the penalty box at the end of OT will be ineligible). USA hockey rules apply thereafter.

Playoffs – Playoffs will be conducted following the regular season. At the end of 12 games, the 2bottom teams in the standings cannot compete for the championship. Seedingis determined by 1) total points; 2) head to head record; 3) goal differential in head to head; Bye week games (i.e. between 1 and 2 seeds) will not affect seeding.

Forfeits are automatic:

  1. If a team plays a player not on the Master Roster.
  2. If the team plays a suspended player (League, USA HOCKEY suspension).
  3. A team winning by forfeit will be credited with a 1-0 victory.Furthermore, any team receiving 2 Game Misconducts in 1 game will forfeit the game. The game is immediately over and the forfeiting team must exit the ice. The winning team will be allowed to use the remaining time for practice. It is the teams’ responsibility to keep track of team penalties. NO REFUNDS will be given for missed game time.
  4. If a team gets 10 penalties in one game.

Player Subs (regular season/playoffs) - Subs are permitted to get a team up to 10 players only during the regular season. There will be no subs allowed during the playoffs (except goalies). All subs must be on a current YMCA Adult Hockey league roster or in any of the YMCA Adult Hockey programs, and can only be playing on equivalent level to the team they are subbing for. Goalie subs can come from the goalie sub list, but it is not a requirement. If a goalie is not registered in any of the YMCA hockey programs, he or she must sign a waiver before the game. If an appropriate goalie cannot be found, YMCA goaltending gear is available. If an illegal sub is discovered during or after the game, the game will be a forfeit.

Rules - USA Hockey and the ‘in-house” rules will be enforced.

Equipment - All players must wear the required protective equipment per USA Hockey in the manner for which it is designed and no alterations or modifications may be made from the original manufacturing specifications as any alterations or modifications shall cause said equipment to be illegal. Helmet ("chinstraps") must be properly fastened by both players and on-ice officials. Players are not required to wear a full-face mask or mouthpiece.

Jersey Regulations:

-All players are required to wear the same primary color as the rest of their team.

-Every player must wear a readable number on their jersey at all times, according to USA Hockey rules (i.e., no hockey tape numbers, etc).

-Only one player per number per team.

-All player numbers must correspond with the score sheet.

-Any player who does not comply with the jersey regulations shall not be able to participate in the game until compliant.

-There will be a 2-weekgrace period for players to get similar colored jerseys (appropriate for their team color) with appropriate numbers. After the grace period is over, players without proper and unique numbers will not be allowed to play until the problem is resolved.

Penalties and Suspensions:

-1st fight, suspension remainder of that game plus automatic three games.

-2nd fight, expelled from league. Player may return to league pending Adult Hockey Coordinator’s discretion.

-There will be no body checking in the league. Minor & Major Penalties will be assessed for body checking.

-Any player who receives 4 penalties will be suspended for the remainder of that game.

-Any goalie who receives 4 penalties will finish the current game and be suspended for the next game. Any goalie who receives a game misconduct will be suspended for the remainder of that game plus whatever other penalties apply.

-A player who receives multiple game misconducts in a season may be expelled pending Adult Hockey Coordinator's discretion.

-Referees may hand out a game ejection penalty, which does not carry an additional game suspension.

-A player who has been ejected from the game may watch the game quietly from the bleachers or leave the building. If the player does not watch quietly they will receive additional game suspensions.

-Any suspension not served during a current season, will carry over into future seasons and must be served before eligibility to play is restored. Cross-season suspensions will be extended to all levels, should a player be participating in more than one YMCA Adult Hockey league.

Game Suspension/Game Misconduct - No refunds will be available. Players and the team captains will be contacted by League Coordinator about suspensions. Anyone that is given a suspension in the league will not be allowed to participate in any drop-in hockey sessions during the duration of their suspension.

A combination of 1 Game Misconductand 2 Suspension incidents in one season may also result in ejection from the league.

Intent to Injure Suspension- Any player who deliberately goes after another player or official in an attempt to injure that person will be assessed a major/game misconduct penalty, and suspended pending league review up to ONE YEARor, depending on the severity of an incident, a player may be BANNED from playing hockey at the YMCA.

Zero Tolerance- Verbal and physical abuse of any official (on/off ice) and arena personal will not be tolerated by the league. The league, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to suspend or terminate any player from the league for detrimental behavior. All reviews will be made on a case-by-case basis by the league coordinator, and will consist of information from teams, referees and scorekeeper, and arena personnel.

Handshake line is mandatory. There will be an automatic 1-game suspension for anyone skipping it.

PLAYERS WILL NOT COME ON THE ICE UNTIL THE ZAMBONI DOORS ARE COMPLETELY CLOSED!!! INCOMPLIANCE WILL RESULT IN A 2-MINUTE BENCH MINOR PENALTY AT THE BEGINNING OF THE GAME.

The YMCA reserves the right to change or add to the “in-house” rules at any time.