Rules

League Rules

1. No Checking.

2. Fighting is prohibited:

a) Penalty for 1st offense is ejection from that game and suspension from the next game.

b) Penalty for 2nd offense is expulsion from the league.

c) Fighting penalties remain on a player's record and carry over to subsequent seasons.

3. Verbal abuse of a referee will not be tolerated and is subject to a minor penalty and possibly other penalties per the discretion of the referee.

4. Any player who accumulates 20 penalty minutes will be suspended for two games. Any player who accumulates 26 penalty minutes will be suspended for four games. Any player who accumulates 30 penalty minutes prior to the start of the playoffs will be suspended for the remainder of the season including the playoffs. The only penalties that will be included towards accumulated penalty minutes resulting in suspensions are as follows: fighting, checking, roughing, boarding, elbowing, charging, cross-checking, high-sticking, and slashing.

a) Any player that accumulates 3 game misconducts throughout the season will be suspended for the remainder of the season including the playoffs.

b)For every two misconducts a player receives, he will be suspended for 1 game. These suspensions, do not count against the 3 game misconducts in rule 4a.

c) Rule 4a and 4b also apply for penalties the player accumulates as a substitute for other teams in the league.

d) For League Subs (not on a drafted team), if they receive a misconduct or game misconduct they will be suspended pending review by the player conduct committee.

5. All players eligible for playoffs will begin with zero penalty minutes. Any player that accumulates 20 penalty minutes during the playoffs will be suspended for one game.

6. Any player that accumulates 3 penalties in one game will be ejected for the remainder of that game.

7. Appropriate protective equipment is required including a helmet.

8. Players are not to skate with a team other than the one he is assigned to unless agreed upon by both coaches. If the coach knows in advance that he is going to be short players he should call players from the waiting list first. Goalie substitutions should also follow the goalie sub list if there is one available for the season. If there is no goalie sub list for the season, a goalie from another team may be used. If all goalies from all other teams are not available, then coaches may look outside of the league for a substitute. Refer to Rule 11.

a) For playoff games, the substitute goaltender must come from an approved goalie sub list.

9. If a player is replaced by a player off the waiting list and the original player returns to that team roster, the replacement player will be moved to a team needing a player of that caliber or be returned to the waiting list. No team may add/re-add a player during the playoffs. A coach or goalie returning from injury would be the only exception.

10. Players skating down:

a) First line skaters shall not skate down on the third line. First line players may be moved down to the second line if a team is short skaters. At no time may a team have more than 5 'First/A Liners' skating in a game (excluding the goalie). Open positions on the 2nd line will be filled in the following order:

I. 1 player short and team has less than 6 '3rd/C Liners' 1st liner skates down.

II. 2 players short 3rd liner skates up.

III. 3 players short 1st liner skates down.

IV. 4 players short 3rd liner skates up.

V. 5 players short 1st liner skates down.

*Only if you are missing a C liner or are short 3 players on B line, can an A liner skate down on B.

b) A player skating down to a lower line shall under no circumstances skate past the top of the circle in the offensive zone. An infraction of this rule results in a face-off outside the blue line of the offensive zone.

c) If an infraction of this rule results in a goal for the offending team, the team scored upon may bring the infraction to the attention of the referee, who will call a time out and assess a two minute minor penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct to the offending player. Also, the goal will be disallowed. The ensuing face-off will be outside the blue line of the offensive zone.

d) A team may skate an A Liner down on B Line if the team has only 12 skaters for that game or at any time during that game, regardless of the number of B Liners suited up. Rules 10a, b, and c shall still apply.

e) Players subbing down cannot take face-offs.

11. If a player is classified as a first line caliber player, excluding goalies, and is less than 30 years of age, he cannot play in this league. A player must be 30 years of age before the championship game, for that season. The same rule applies for goaltenders, unless the league has exhausted all of its means to find a goalie 30 years or older, then the league will allow goaltenders under the age of 30 to join a team.

12. The president of the league will set up and maintain a master roster after the draft and throughout the season.

13. The president of the league will maintain a master waiting list.

14. Any coach needing to replace a player after the draft will inform the coordinator of the PPC (Player Placement Committee) of his intentions. The coach should include the name and draft position of the player being replaced, along with the name of the proposed replacement. The PPC will poll all of the remaining coaches to get their acceptance or denial of the proposed player. The other coaches must respond with their acceptance by email or some other written form. If the proposed player is not accepted, the coach seeking a player will initiate another search. Any player added after the draft must be approved by a majority of the coaches and must be selected from the master waiting list as per the following format:

a) 1st liner replaces 1st liner

b) 2nd liner replaces 2nd liner

c) 3rd liner replaces 3rd liner

In the event that there is not an acceptable player on the waiting list, the affected coach may then proceed to search for a player outside of the league.

No player can be added to a team after fourteen days prior to the start of the playoffs. Goalies are the only exception to this rule.

a) For playoff games, the substitute goaltender must come from an approved goalie sub list.

15. Ice Fees:

a) Each player must be signed up on the M.A.H.A. team roster and have paid the U.S.A. Hockey fee prior to the start of the season, as well as provide their USA Hockey Registration Number to the league. Payment plan is as follows: $300 by Oct 31 and $125 by Dec 1. All ice fees must be paid by Dec 1. Players that fail to pay by Dec 1 will be deemed ineligible for play until ice fees have been paid in full.

b) Goalie fees are $100 and are due by Dec 1.

c) Failure to pay ice fees as per prescribed payment schedule will result in said player being dropped from the league participation. Replacement proceedings shall follow the procedures established in the Player Conduct and Player Placement Committee guidelines and as described in Rule 14 above.

16. Any player who fails to abide by the rules of this league or exhibits conduct that is considered to be unacceptable by the officers, coaches, and Player Conduct Committee may be suspended or expelled from league participation. Each player must acknowledge, in writing, their receipt of a copy of these rules and that they agree to be bound by them.

17. In the event that a player is suspended for a stated number of games or for the remainder of the season, due to a violation of rule number 2, 4, 5 or 6, ice fees will not be refunded.

18. The Player Conduct Committee will consist of one Head Officer and one Team Representative. The team Representative cannot be a coach, sponsor, or league chair holder.

19. There will be a 4 team playoff showdown to determine which teams play the final night. The method of determining the 4 team playoff showdown after all round robin games are played:

a) Total Playoff Round Robin Games: Total points (Win=2, Tie=1, Loss=0)

b1) Head-to-head Playoff Round Robin Games: (2 teams have the same number of points) Total points for the playoff games played between the 2 tied teams

b2) Head-to-head Playoff Round Robin Games: (3 or more teams have the same number of points) Highest number of games won in the playoffs.

b3) Head-to-head Playoff Round Robin Games: (3 or more teams have the same number of points) Highest goal differential ("goals for" minus "goals against") for all playoff games

c) Head-to-head Playoff Round Robin Games: Highest number of "Goals For" minus "Goals Against" between the 2 tied teams.

d) Total Playoff Round Robin Games: Highest number of "Goals For" minus "Goals Against"

e) Regular Season: Total points (Win=2, Tie=1, Loss=0)

f) Regular Season: Highest number of "Goals For" minus "Goals Against"

g) Regular Season: Total points between the 2 tied teams

h) Regular Season: Highest number of "Goals For" minus "Goals Against" between the 2 tied teams

i) Coin Toss

20. Championship Game and Playoff Showdown Game Tiebreaker Formula:

In the event of a tie after regulation time the following tie-breaker shall be used.

a) There will be an overtime period, in which the clock will be reset to 4 minutes, 30 seconds. B-Line, then C-Line, then A-line will each be scheduled to play one shift, 1 minute and 30 seconds. Each shift will be stop time for the overtime period.If one team scores at any point during the overtime period the game is over. If no team scores during the overtime period the game will be decided by a shootout.

b) The procedure for the shootout will be as follows: Each team will select 3 shooters, 1 each from B-line, C-line & A-line. Players will shoot in that order, B-line first, then C-line, then A-line. Teams will alternate shooters. The home team as listed on the score sheet will choose to shoot first or second. Each goal will count as one point. For the first round of the shootout all six players will shoot.

c) If the score is still tied after the first round the shootout will continue in sudden death format, one shooter per team in each subsequent round until there is a winner. Subsequent shooters will be selected in order B-line, C-line then A-line as necessary. No shooter can repeat a turn until all players on that line have taken a shot. The game cannot end until each team has taken the same number of shots.

21. Pucks will be played off netting and ceiling. In the event the puck enters the goal off either the protective netting or ceiling it is deemed a good goal.

22. Shootouts:

Where time allows we will break the tie with a shootout. Shootout order will be as follows: B line player, C line player, A line player for each team (six shooters total). If after the first round of the shootout there is no winner the shootout continues to sudden death rounds following the same order, B, C, A. In the sudden death format each round consists of two players. After the first round no players may repeat as shooters unless all previous players, from that particular line have been utilized. The home team gets to choose whether they shoot first or second.

The winning team in a game decided by shootout will be awarded two points. The losing team in a game decided by shootout will be awarded one point.

The shootout can be implemented in all tie games as time allows (curfew). Only in the Championship and Playoff Showdown games will there be an overtime period to determine a winner. If the game is not decided during that overtime period the game will be decided by shootout.

If a player is given a game misconduct during the game or minor/major penalty at the end of the game, that player cannot participate in the shootout.

No Subs will be allowed to participate in the shootout.

23.For the Championship Game, the clock will stop for the last three shifts of the game if there is a 2 goal or less differential.

24. During regular season games, the clock will stop during the last shift if the game is a 2 goal or less differential.

25. Family Plan: Only Father and Sons and Brothers will be eligible to be Pre-Slotted during the draft.

26. Pre-Determined Team Members:
Any team may have up to 2 players pre-slotted for draft. They include 1 Coach, 1 Assistant Coach / Sponsor. If a coach or sponsor have a family member in the league, they will be eligible to be pre-slotted per the family rule.