Tournament Rules

33^rd Northeast Regional Invitational Tournament

PLAYING RULES

March 7 - 9, 2008

ALL HEAD COACHES AND TEAM MANAGERS MUST READ THIS!

Ignorance of the rules will not be accepted as an excuse. Head coaches must inform all team parents of the penalties in Item 9.

Item 1 - All games will be played under USA HOCKEY rules applying to the age bracket on the ice. In the Midget bracket only, the "tag up" rule will be in effect for any off-sides judgment. Referees have been assigned by the scheduler for the Mass Hockey District 6 referees, and have been approved by the District 6 referee chief. All referees are USA Hockey and Mass Hockey certified. Please note that the tournament committee will not tolerate abuse of officials and the referees on the ice will have the discretion to call bench penalties for any abuse of officials by fans, parents, or team officials. Abuse penalties called at the end of the game will carry over to the start of the next tournament game. All team officials, players, parents, and fans must follow the "ZERO TOLERANCE" rule listed in the current USA Hockey rule book.
Item 2 - TEAM AND PLAYER QUALIFICATION: A team is qualified to play a tournament game if: (a) the team and all players have been registered before the first game and the team is USA Hockey registered; (b) the tournament registration fee has been paid in advance; (c) any suspended coaches or players are not in the locker room, on the bench, or otherwise involved in the game; (d) players on the roster and game sheet are eligible to play. The use of any ineligible players in a game will count as a loss for the team with the ineligible player and win for the other team with the score of the game reversed if the penalized team has won the game; (e) age criteria for each bracket will follow USA Hockey brackets.
Item 3 - GAME SCHEDULES AND TIMING: The official Tournament Schedule shall be provided to each team before the start of the first game. Please note that every attempt will be made to adhere to the schedule, but the Tournament Director may have to make changes once the tournament begins. Accordingly, team managers and coaches are responsible to CONFIRM each game time with the tournament table prior to leaving the tournament between games. (Please leave a contact number!)

Games will commence with a three (3) minute warm-up which shall begin at the designated starting time on the official schedule or when the game actually begins. The timekeeper will determine the warm-up by sounding the buzzer at its conclusion. Teams not ready will forfeit warm-up time.

Teams must be ready to play 20 minutes before the start of the scheduled game. This means in the locker room, skates laced, and ready to take the ice in all respects. Any delays at any time will be subtracted from the time of the first period and a delay of game penalty may be assessed to the team causing at the discretion of the Tournament Official assigned to the game. (Note: Ice will be surfaced every three periods).
Item 4 - GAME PENALTIES: All games will be played with three 12-minute periods. Ice resurfacing and warm-up time is not included. There will be no overtime for round robin games. No time outs are allowed in round robin games. One timeout is allowed in the championship game (60 seconds) at any time.

Penalty times will be as follows:
1. Minor: 1 and ½ minutes
2. Major: 3 minutes
3. Misconduct: Half the period
Penalty calls may not be appealed.
Item 5 - MERCY RULES: No mercy rule will be imposed, so all games will be played to completion. However, a goal differential of more than 6 will not be counted. Thus, a team score of 9-1 will be recorded as 7-1 for the purpose of the tie breaking rules. Teams, that, in the opinion of the Tournament Director, who “run up” the score will not be invited back to the tournament.
Item 6 - RANKING TEAMS/TIEBREAKERS: All wins shall count for two points, ties for one point, and a loss for zero points. Teams ranking the highest will play on the championship game. The following tiebreaker formula shall apply in the order shown:
1. Head to Head
2. Least Goals Allowed
3. Most Scored (see item 6 above)
4. Lowest total penalty minutes
5. Coin toss
Item 7 - CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES: Sudden victory overtime will be played as follows: 5vs5 for five minutes, 4vs4 for five minutes, and 3vs3 for five minutes, or until one team scores. The 3vs3 must be maintained at all times even in the event of a penalty, i.e.., no shorthanded situation can result during the 3vs3. Any player serving a penalty must remain in the penalty box until stoppage of play occurs after the penalty time has expired.
Item 8 - EJECTIONS AND SUSPENSIONS:
    1. As outlined by USA Hockey rules

    2. Four (4) penalties will result in ejection for the balance of game; second offense out of tournament.
    3. In addition, any fighting penalty will result in suspension for the balance of the tournament.
Item 9 - PARENT/FAN BEHAVIOR: Abuse of any game official, tournament official, coach or player, by any spectator will result in the ejection of the abusive spectator from the rink and the team associated with the abusive spectator will be penalized a bench minor. Failure to comply with the ejection or continued abusive behavior will result in the forfeit of the game by the affiliated team.
Item 10 - HANDSHAKES are required at the end of each game. Coaches and players shall line up at the opposing blue lines at the conclusion of each team’s 3^rd game. A MVP plaque will be awarded to each team at the end of the 3^rd game. The head coach may be solicited for a recommendation for the MVP winner, and it is perfectly acceptable to make a recommendation. However, the Tournament Committee has the final decision.

Questions? You may contact the Tournament Director, John Merrigan, at merrigan2002@aol.com.

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