NERT Playing Rules

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 presented in Item 10.

 

1.      All games will be played under USA HOCKEY rules applying to the age bracket on the ice. Referees have been assigned by the scheduler for the Mass Hockey District 6 referees, and have been approved by the District 6 referee in 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 a game will carry over to the start of your next tournament game. All team officials, players, parents, and fans must follow the "ZERO TOLERANCE" rule listed in the current USA Hockey Rulebook.

  1. 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 full 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. A Player MAY NOT play for more than one team in the tournament. If he/she does, then that player is ineligible and a suspension for the next game shall result for the player and the TWO coaches allowing the player to play. The use of any ineligible player in a game will count as a loss for the team with the ineligible player and a 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.
  2. MAXIMUM NUMBER OF PLAYERS: A team may register a maximum of 17 players for the tournament including goaltenders and may register a maximum of four (4) team officials. However, a maximum of three team officials will be allowed on the bench.
  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 arena between games. (Please leave a contact phone number!)

a.      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.

b.      Teams must be ready to play 20 minutes before the start of the scheduled game due to mercy rules and other factors. 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 form the time of the first period and a delay of game penalty may be assessed to the team causing the delay at the discretion of the Tournament Official assigned to your game. (NOTE: Ice will be resurfaced every three periods).

  1. 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, but one is allowed in the championship game (60 seconds) at any time.

Penalty times will be as follows. Penalty calls may NOT be appealed.

PENALTY

EJECTION/SUSPENSION

Minor

1 and ½ minutes

Major

4 minutes

Misconduct

Half the period
  1. 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 score of 9-1 will be recorded as 7-1 for the purposes of the tie breaking rules. Teams that, in the opinion of FCHA officials observing the game, "run up" the score will not be invited back to the tournament.
  1. RANKING TEAMS/ TIEBREAKERS: All wins shall count for two points, ties for one point, and a loss for zero points. Teams ranking the highest in each division will play in the championship game. The following tie-breaker formula shall apply in the order shown:

a.                                                       Head to Head

b.                                                      Least Goals Allowed

c.                                                       Most Scored (see Item 6 above)

d.                                                      Lowest total penalty minutes

e.                                                       Coin toss

  1. For 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 a stoppage of play occurs after the penalty time has expired.

  2. EJECTIONS AND SUSPENSIONS: Apart from normal rules and penalties, referees may eject a player or team official from the game for the penalties listed below. Suspensions will be assessed by the Tournament Director according to the following criteria:

PENALTY  

    EJECTION/SUSPENSION

 

 

Game Misconduct

Balance of game and next game; 2 games if in last five minutes

Fighting

Balance of game and next game; 2 games if in last five minutes

Four (4) Penalties

Balance of game; second offense out of tournament

Three (3) High Stick

Balance of game; second offense out of tournament

Abuse of Official 

Balance of game and ALL remaining games

Suspensions may be appealed by paying a $25 non-refundable fee and may only be made by a registered team official. Referee calls MAY NOT be appealed, but resulting suspensions may be reconsidered in light of circumstances and the agreement of the referee in chief. Notification of an appeal must be made, in writing, within one (1) hour of the finish of the game. NOTE: TEAM OFFICIALS and HEAD COACH must keep control of its team and fans. The head coach of any team that has three suspensions must personally report to the Tournament Director to seek approval for the team to continue competition.

  1.   Parent/Fan Behavior: Abuse of any game official, coach, or player by any spectator will result in an ejection of the abusive spectator from the rink, and the team affiliated with the abusive spectator will be penalized with a bench minor. Failure to comply with ejection or continued abuse of game official, coaches, or players will result in a forfeit of the game by the affiliated team.

In the case of fighting among spectators, the offending parties will be immediately removed from the building by security and barred from attending any remaining tournament games. If the offending party is a parent of a tournament player(s), then the player(s) will also be penalized with a game misconduct (see Item 9 for game misconduct penalty).

  1.   Handshakes are required at the end of games. Game star pins will be awarded immediately after the handshake. Teams will line up along the opposing blue lines and the game star winners will be announced and the pins awarded. A player can only receive 1 Game Star in the round robin. A MVP plaque will be awarded at the conclusion of each team's 3rd 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.

 

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