Thanksgiving Tournament Rules

1.       Electronic scoring will be used for the 2023 tournament. Completed game sheets will be emailed to all coaches and managers who signed up to receive them.

2.       All play will be governed by USA Hockey rules.

3.       Players may only be rostered and play with one team unless approved by the Tournament Director.

4.       Teams may consist of a maximum of 20 players, with no more than 18 being skaters and no more than 2 Goalies. Official USAH Rosters for each team participating must be on file with the Tournament Director before the start of play.

5.       All Connecticut Hockey Conference (CHC) affiliates are required to be equipped with neck guards. Teams outside of CHC are highly encouraged to wear neck guards. All teams not affiliated with the CHC are bound by their governing bodies’ rules and regulations regarding neck and mouth guards. All CHC affiliate Peewee and Bantams teams are required to have mouth guards.

6.       All teams should be ready to take the ice for warmups a minimum of 5 minutes before their scheduled game time. A 3 minute warm‐up period will be provided for each team that is prepared and ready to take the ice on‐time.

7.       All Teams should be prepared and ready for their game to start up to 15 minutes prior to the published game time. Starting times may be adjusted, without prior notice, to take advantage of available ice time and manage the overall tournament schedule. Game start times are set, and may only be adjusted, at the sole discretion of the Tournament Director.

8.       Official tournament game results and standings for all games during the tournament will be posted on the Gamesheetinc. Tournament website. A link to the website will be on the Avon Hockey website, www.avonhockey.com.

9.       In accordance with USAH regulations, each team is REQUIRED to have an ADULT, supervising players in the team locker room, at all times, that players are present. The Tournament will NOT provide this supervision. This will be the responsibility of each individual team. No food is allowed in locker rooms. Please make sure the rooms are clean before your team leaves the rink.

10.     Each team will be responsible to supply an ADULT volunteer to manage their team’s penalty box during each of their team’s games. This adult may be a rostered coach who is not on the bench but may NOT coach from the penalty box.

11.     There will be NO PHOTOGRAPHY (still or video) allowed from the benches, officials boxes, or penalty boxes. Spectators are free to take pictures from outside the boards at any time.

12.     All Squirt, Peewee and Bantam games will consist of 3 periods, each 12 minutes in length and will follow stop time rules. All Mite games will consist of two 22-minute running time halves.

13.     TIME MANAGEMENT RULE: If a team is ahead by six (6) or more goals in the third period, a running clock will be used. In the event that the goal differential is reduced to five (5) or fewer goals, the clock will return to stop time for the remainder of the game, or for as long as the goal differential does not exceed five (5). The clock will stop if a penalty is called, and restart on the ensuing face off with a running clock.

14.     During Championship (or Playoff) games, the clock will follow stop time rules regardless of score or game time.

15.     A game which is forfeited will be officially recorded as a 0‐1 loss for the team declaring the forfeit. The opposing team will be credited with a win and receive 2 points in the tournament standings.

16.     Penalties       

Squirts:

1 minute for minor penalties

4 minutes for minor penalties

8 minutes for misconducts

PeeWees& Bantams:

1 minute 30 seconds for minor penalties

4 minutes for minor penalties

8 minutes for misconducts

17.    There will be no overtime periods, except during Playoff or Championship games

18.     There will be no time outs granted, except during Playoff or Championship games, where one (1) time out per team will be permitted.

19.    During round robin play, teams will earn 2 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, and no points for a loss.

20.    In Divisions where there are three (3 teams), play will occur in round robin format, with each team playing 2 games. At the end of round robin play, the team with the highest point total will automatically advance to the Championship game for the Division. At the end of round robin play, teams ranked 2^nd and 3^rd will play each other in a Play In game, and the winner will advance to the Championship game for that division. If there is a tie in the playoff game, it will be broken following the tie breaker procedures used for advancement to Championship games.

21.    In Divisions with four (4) teams, play will occur in round robin format, with each team playing 3 games. At the end of the round robin play, the 2 teams with the highest point totals will advance to the Championship game for the Division.

22.    In Divisions with six (6) teams, play will occur in round robin format, with each team playing 3 games. At the end of the round robin play, the top four (4) teams will advance to semifinal Play In games. The winners of each Play In game will advance to the Championship game for the Division.

23.    In Divisions with twelve (12) teams, the division will be split into two brackets of six (6) teams. Each team play will play 3 games in round robin format. At the end of the round robin play, the top seed from each bracket will move the semifinals. Seeds 2 & 3 from each group will play a playoff game. The winner will advance to the semifinals. The winners of each semifinal game will advance to the Championship game for the Division.

24.    TIE BEAKER: If multiple teams are tied for points after round robin plan, the tie will be broken per the “Official Tournament Tie Breaker Rules” published with this document.

25.    The team with the higher point total (ties broken by method above) will be the Home Team for Championship or Playoff games.

26.    Ties after regulation play during Playoff or Championship games will be broken as follows:

a.       A 5-Minute sudden death overtime period, with 4 skaters (4 on 4) and 1 goalkeeper will be played.

b.       If still tied after the overtime period, the tie will be broken with a shootout as follows:

c.        Each team will designate 3 shooters

d.       The goalie who was last in the game during the preceding overtime period must initially represent their team in the shootout.

e.       Teams will alternate shooting on the opposing team’s goal until all 3 shooters for each team have attempted a shot. The Home team will shoot first.

f.        The team that scores the most goals during the shootout will be the winner of the game.

g.       If the shootout ends in a tie after the first three rounds, each team will designate one new player (replacing one of the original 3 shooters) and the shootout process will be repeated until a winner is determined.

h.       Teams may change their goalie (with the exception of an injury situation) only after a completed shootout round (3 shooters from each team).

If two or more teams have an equal number of points, their position in the standings shall be determined by the following tie‐breaking format. If one tie‐breaker establishes a position for one or more teams, each team is placed in the applicable position. Once a team is placed, the remaining tied teams shall start the tie‐breaking process over again at step 1. (If all tied teams have not played each other, then proceed to step 2.)

Note:

A team may go into the tie‐breaking process having defeated another of the tied teams and still NOT advance.

If three teams are tied and after the tie‐breaker establishes an order 1,2,3, then this will be the order used for advancement.

Step 1: The results of the head to head games played ONLY BETWEEN THE TIED TEAMS in the following order:

a.       Standings – Most Points

b.       Most wins

c.        Differential – For only these games ‐ Subtracting goals scored against from goals scored, the positions being determined in order of the greatest surplus.

d.       Goals Against – The Team with the least goals allowed gains the higher position.

e.       Goals Fort – The Team with the most goals scored gains the higher position.

f.        Quotient – For only these games ‐ Dividing the goals scored by the goals scored against, the positions being determined in order of the greatest quotient. A quotient involving dividing by zero (0) has higher standing than a quotient from dividing by any number other than zero (0). Where two or more teams have no goals against and the quotient tie‐breaker is required, the teams shall be ranked high to low in descending order of “goals scored”.

Step 2: If after applying the formulas of 1a through 1f a tie still exists, the results of ALL the games played by the tied teams in the following order:

a.       Most wins

b.       Differential ‐ For ALL games ‐ Subtracting goals scored against from goals scored, the positions being determined in order of the greatest surplus.

c.        Goals Against – The Team with the least goals allowed gains the higher position.

d.       Goals Fort – The Team with the most goals scored gains the higher position.

e.       Quotient – For ALL games ‐ Dividing the goals scored by the goals scored against, the positions being determined in order of the greatest quotient. A quotient involving dividing by zero (0) has higher standing than a quotient from dividing by any number other than zero (0). Where two or more teams have no goals against and the quotient tie‐breaker is required, the teams shall be ranked high to low in descending order of “goals scored”.

f.        Most periods won – In the games played by each tied team, points will be awarded for each regulation period won (2 points) and for each regulation period tied (1 point). Positions shall be in the order of highest point total.

g.       Quickest first goal – The team that scored the quickest goal in round robin play shall be ranked highest.

Step 3: If the above procedure does not break the tie, positions for the purpose of advancement shall be determined by coin flip administered by the Tournament Directed and witnessed by representatives from each tied team.

Note: Forfeits – If a team forfeits any of its games, and becomes involved in any tie‐breaking formula to determine its eligibility to advance, the team shall be declared to have forfeited all games in round robin play and the games recorded as 1‐0 victories for the non‐offending team.

Administration of the above procedures will be conducted by the Official Tournament Scorekeeper and only those results will be official. Any interpretation of procedure will be provided by the Tournament Director whose decision will be final.

ACFYHA – 2023 Thanksgiving Tournament (11‐13‐2023)

2023 Avon Thanksgiving Tournament GAME FORMAT:

•    Each team will play a minimum of three (3) Cross Ice Games

•    USA Hockey Certified Referee for each game

•    Championship game for Mite A, Mite A1 Mite B-Blue and Mite B-Green divisions

•    Trophies and Medals for top two teams

GAME PLAY:

•    4 skaters vs 4 skaters plus 1 goalie for each team

•    (2) 22 minute running time periods with one minute intermission between periods (3 minute warmup period prior to 1st period)

•    Horn blows every 2 minutes for shift changes. Shift changes should be done quickly.

•    If a player is injured, BOTH GAMES and Game Clock will be stopped.

•    Face offs ‐ At the start of each period; after each shift change and to resume play after an injury stoppage. All Face‐offs will be conducted at the center ice spot for each game.

•    After a goal is scored or the goalie covers the puck, puck is dropped behind the net and the opposing team backs up to center ice to allow break out.

•    Penalties ‐ If a player commits a penalty, the penalized player will be sent to the bench and will be replaced immediately. NO POWER PLAYS. Clock will continue to run.

•    Two points for a win, one point for a tie will be awarded in round robin games.

•    Teams will be seeded for the championship game based on point totals earned in round robin play. Ties will be broken using the Tournament Tie Breaker Rules.

CHAMPIONSHIP – TIE BREAKER:

•    In the case of a tie after regulation in the championship or consolation games, the teams will skate a sudden death period for 4 minutes. Overtime will be 2 vs 2 plus goalies. The horn will blow after two minutes to allow for a shift change. If game remains tied after 4 minutes, a sudden‐death  three player shoot out will be used to determine the winner. The Teams will alternate shots until a winner is determined. If, after three rounds, there is no winner, additional shooters will alternate until there is a winner. No player can be used in the shootout a second time until all skaters from that team have been used once.