1. We follow AAU Official Rules with minor adjustments to suit our league.
2. Game Times: NHL & AHL Divisions will have two 20 minute stop clock periods and be played on cross-rink, IHL & SPHL Divisions will have three 13 minute running clock periods, ECHL will have three 14 minute running clock periods
3. IHL, SPHL and ECHL only, the clock will only stop during the last 2 minutes of the game for stoppage of play when teams are within 2 goals of each other.
4. Each team will be granted (1) 30sec team timeout per game. Timeouts do not carry into overtime and there will be no timeouts granted during an overtime period.
5. IHL, SPHL and ECHL only will have overtime play which will be one 5 minute period of 3 on 3 sudden death, first team to score wins. A Shootout will occur if the game is tied after overtime period. Each team will get best of 3 shooters. If still tied after 3 shooters, the shootout will go into sudden death, alternating teams shootout until a winner is determined and both teams have had an equal number of attempts. No shooter may go twice until every player on the team has gone once. All rostered players must shoot before any substitute players may shoot.
6. During the IHL, SPHL or ECHL playoffs, overtime will consist of regular length periods, 4 on 4, until one team scores.
7. AHL only, if a regulation game ends in a tie, each team will get best of 3 shooters. If still tied it will go into sudden death alternating shootout. Once every member of the team has taken their turn, if the game is still tied, it will end in a tie.
8. Penalties will be enforced according to the AAU inline hockey rule book. Clock will stop during penalties to ensure penalty assessed is enforced for the duration of the penalty.
9. This is a no-checking, minimal body contact league. Any attempt to intentionally check another player will result in a minor penalty or major penalty if the intention was to injure another player. A second attempt by the same player will result in a game misconduct penalty and may be subject to league suspension.
10. If a team is winning by 5 goals, they will remove 1 player from the rink to create a 4v3. If the team down 5 goals scores, the team returns to full strength 4v4. If a team is winning by 7 goals a second player will be removed from the rink to create 4v2. A Mercy Rule shall be enforced if any team is winning by 8 goals and there is less than 2 full periods remaining. At such a time, coaches may mutually decide to continue to play the remainder of the game without keeping statistics. However, any penalties that occur during this extra time will be recorded and any actions that are deemed intentionally flagrant or with intent to injure will be assessed a 10 minute Game Misconduct Penalty and are subject to consequences accordingly.
11. IHL, SPHL, ECHL divisions - No individual player may score more than 4 goals in any one game during regulation. If a player scores a 5th goal, the goal will be disallowed and the player/team will receive a 2:00 penalty to be served by the offending player. If the game goes into overtime, any player that has scored 4 goals during regulation will be allowed to score during overtime.
12. In the event of a time clock failure, the clock operator shall keep time for the remainder of the game on stop watch, cell phone or other time-keeping device. They shall be responsible for notifying both coaches and referees when there is one minute remaining in the period.
13. CHILL has a zero tolerance policy for profane and/or abusive language. If at any time during a game an on-rink or off-rink official hear profane language, that player or coach shall immediately be assessed a 2 minute minor unsportsmanlike penalty. A second offense by the same player or coach will result in a 5 minute major unsportsmanlike penalty. A third offense by the same player or coach within a game will result in an immediate ejection, a 10 minute unsportsmanlike penalty will be assessed and the team will have to serve a second 5 minute major. At the discretion of the Hockey Director the offending player or coach may serve an additional suspension.
14. Cross rink games will consist of 3v3 plus a goalie. Games will be (2) 20 minute periods with stoppage every 2 minutes for line changes. If both team rosters exceed 7 present players at the beginning of the game, teams will use 4v4 to keep players involved. If each team has 7 players, coaches will agree to have (1) 4v4 line and (1) 3v3 line which may only be adjusted during intermissions. This should eliminate players sitting multiple shifts.
15. Only coaches, game officials, league officials, 1 scorekeeper and 1 statistician shall be permitted in the players areas during games. No more than 3 certified coaches shall be present on any team bench during games. Certified coaches MUST complete a Cherokee County Background Check, have a current valid AAU Membership and completed Level 1 and Level 2 of the Positive Coaching Alliance “Double-Goal” coaching certification. All certified coaches shall be supplied an ID badge that shall be worn during game and practice functions.
16. All players shall wear the appropriate equipment for all practices and games including but not limited to a mouthpiece. Any player (excluding the goalie) on the rink surface during an active game session not wearing a mouthpiece shall be assessed a two minute (2:00) delay of game penalty. There will not be a warning given prior to the penalty. That player may not re-enter the game until the expiration of their penalty AND they have a mouthpiece unless a power-play goal is scored. They may retrieve a mouthpiece during the penalty time and return to the penalty box. In the event a power-play goal is scored, the player may return to the playing surface once they have a mouthpiece. In addition, any player on the rink surface that loses their mouthpiece during a play must immediately stop and retrieve their mouthpiece before continuing to play. Failure to retrieve their mouthpiece in a timely manner, at referee discretion, will result in a two minute (2:00) penalty for misconduct.
Rules for Substitute Players
1. All decisions on substitute players must be approved by the Hockey Director or Assistant League Director. Coaches cannot arbitrarily add players to their roster before or during a game unless approved by the Hockey Director.
2. IHL, SPHL, or ECHL Teams with 6 or more players to start the game may not pick up substitute players.
a. In the event that a 6th member of the team’s roster arrives after the game starts and before the end of the 1st period, the substitute player would then become ineligible.
b. In the event that a 6th member of the team’s roster arrives after the completion of the first period, the substitute player would be allowed to continue to play for the remainder of the game.
3. NHL & AHL (3vs3) Teams with 4 or more players to start the game may not pick up substitute players. Only players within the division may substitute for absent players unless approved by the Hockey Director.
4. At the discretion of the Hockey Director and based on the availability of substitute players:
a. Absent “A” players may be substituted with “A” players from the same division.
b. Absent“A”players may also be substituted with “C” players in a division higher (if age appropriate)
c. Absent“B” players may be substituted with “B” players from the same division.
d. Absent“B” players may also be substituted with “A” players from a division lower.
e. Absent“C” players may be substituted with “C” players within the same division.
5. Team rostered players must start the game on the rink.
6. In the event of a shootout, players on the team’s roster must shoot before substitute players can shoot.
7. All statistics for substitute players will count toward the team totals, but will be tallied separately on the individual statistics and will not count toward their individual statistics.
Fighting Penalty Amendment
Any attempt to start a fight as seen by the on-rink officials or off-rink hockey director will be subject to the following:
At the discretion of the rink officials a fight or attempt to fight is classified in the USARS rule book as "A fight shall be deemed to have occurred when at least one player punches or attempts to punch an opponent repeatedly or when two players wrestle in such a manner as to make it difficult for the Referees to intervene and separate the combatants."
1.1st offense for fighting or attempting to fight will result in a 1 game suspension plus 1 pre-game and post game day rink clean-up community service time.*
2. 2nd offense for fighting or attempting to fight in a 12 month time since 1st offense will result in a 4 game suspension or league expulsion plus 4 pre-game and post game day rink clean-up community service time; UNLESS league officials determine there was intentional provocation of a player for specific purposes to increase suspension length. In this instance a 2 game suspension will be enforced for 2nd offense plus 2 pre-game and post game rink clean-up community service time.*
3. 3rd offense for fighting or attempting to fight in a 12 month time since 1st offense will result in 10 game minimum suspension or league expulsion for 12 months. This consequence will also carry a 4 pre-game and post game rink clean-up community service time* upon their re-in-statement to the league.
4. Upon completion of the determined game suspension AND successful completion of community service time* the league director will re-instate the player for the next scheduled game.
5. Any suspensions a player receives that can not be carried out in the current season shall be carried over to the next season.
6. All games misconduct and suspensions less than 5 games are automatic and are not subject to appeal, according to USARS rules. Any suspension greater than 5 games may submit a written notification of appeal to the Hockey Director within 7 days. The Hockey Director will call an emergency board meeting within 7 days of receipt of appeal and the board by majority vote will decide on the appeal. If the appeal involves a child of a board member, that board member may not vote, but rather a non-partisan volunteer from another division should be a replacement vote.
*Community Service Time - This time will be 30 minutes prior to the players next scheduled contest and 15 minutes after the game concludes. Rink clean-up shall include but not limited to: trash removal, sweeping the rink, equipment room cleaning. Players must check in with the league officials upon arrival and must check out with the league officials upon completion of suspension and community service. Failure to comply with these conditions may result in additional community service time, penalty time for unsportsmanlike behavior, or additional suspensions. This will be at the discretion of the hockey director and/or league president.
WEATHER CANCELLATION AND POSTPONEMENT POLICY
In case of inclement weather please adhere to the following guidelines:
1. Cherokee County weather is sporadic. It may be raining in Holly Springs or Canton and not in Woodstock or more specifically at the rink. So always prepare to play.
2. Notification of cancellation will be sent via email and/or text messages no less than 1 hour prior to a game or practice. If you have not received notification within 1 hour prior to an event and you suspect that event should be cancelled please follow the chain of command: 1. check your email, 2. call your team coach/team parent first and 3. if you still do not have answer, text or call the hockey director.
3. Games may be delayed in attempt to prepare the rink for a game or practice. Game start times will not be postponed longer than 1 hour after the regularly scheduled time. (Ex. A 9:00am game where the rink can be dried and the game could start by 10:00am will still be played).
4. Saturday or Sunday Games may be delayed up to 4 hours at the discretion of the hockey director 24 hours prior to the scheduled game times if eminent weather is forecast, but appears it will move out of the area within said time.
5. In the scenario where it rains during an on-going game, a decision will be made by the hockey director to cancel and re-schedule the game or wait for the rain to stop and attempt to dry the rink in order to continue play. No more than 1 hour delay will be allowed prior to a continuation. (Ex. 9:25am it starts raining and game is postponed, if the rain stops and the rink can be dried by 10:25am the game will continue).
6. If in the event the rink is too wet to continue play for the duration of the 1 hour delay time and more than 2 periods of the game have been played, the final score will be set as the score at the time of the delay. If both coaches agree that the weather forecast does not deem necessary a 1 hour delay be taken, they may mutually agree to end the game immediately. If less than 2 periods have been played and the 1 hour delay criteria has been met, the game shall be rescheduled as a new game and all scoring will be cleared for that partially played game.
Temperature Related Policies
1. In the event that the temperatures drop to below 40 degrees during the fall/winter:
a. Practices will be cancelled on an individualized basis and in coordination with the League Director and Team Coach.
b. Scheduled games will be cancelled and/or rescheduled with the exception of morning games where temperatures may be below 40 but rising above 40 by game time.
2. In the event that temperatures rise above 90 degrees during the spring/summer, we will use a wet bulb globe thermometer “WBGT” and base decisions on the criteria set forth by the Georgia Independant School Association. “WBGT” stands for the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature reading, which is a composite temperature used to estimate the effect of air temperature, humidity, and solar radiation on the human body, expressed in degrees. It is not equated with the “Heat Index.”
Policy Guidelines: (At CHILL, if we need to adapt to one of the following, we will take the minutes used for breaks out of the game times. For example, if a normal period is 14 minutes long with 1 minute intermissions and the WBGT is 82 is would require the intermissions be extended to 4 minutes. We will would in turn make the period lengths 10 minutes. If the WBGT is above 90, it is recommended that there be 20 minutes of break in a 1 hour span, we would make the intermissions 5 minutes and period lengths would be 9 minutes.)
*Under 82.0- Normal activities. Provide at least three separate rest breaks each hour of a minimum duration of 3 minutes each during practice.
* 82.0 - 86.9- Use discretion for intense or prolonged exercise. Watch at-risk students carefully. Provide at least three separate rest breaks each hour of a minimum of four minutes duration each during practice.
*87.0 – 89.9- Maximum outdoor practice time is two hours. For football, students are restricted to helmet, shoulder pads, and shorts during practice. All protective equipment must be removed for conditioning activities. For all sports, provide at least four separate rest breaks each hour of a minimum of four minutes each during practice.
*90.0 – 92.0- Maximum outdoor practice time is one hour. There must be twenty minutes of rest breaks provided during the hour of outdoor practice.
*Over 92- No outdoor activities or exercise. Delay outdoor practice until a lower WBGT reading occurs.
ScoreClock/TimeKeeper Responsibility
1. Prior to the game beginning there should be time permitted for warm-ups. Warm-ups should end 5 minutes before game time for the National Anthem. If we are running behind schedule, no more than 3 minutes shall be permitted for warm-ups, starting at the conclusion of the handshake from the previous game. Officials need to start the game immediately after the National Anthem is concluded.
2. Check the official game sheet for length of periods and length of intermissions.
a. NHL & AHL Games 20:00 halves, clock stops every 2:00 for line change
b. IHL & SPHL Games 13:00 periods 1:00 intermission
c. ECHL Games 14:00 periods 1:00 intermission
3. Set game clock to the appropriate period, and period length.
4. Do not stop the clock unless the officials instruct you that there has been a timeout acknowledged. Coaches cannot tell off-rink officials they want a timeout. It is the coaches responsibility to get the attention of a referee in order to call a timeout.
5. Stop the clock on all penalties when the official blows the whistle. The clock does not start until the puck is dropped. The clock continuously runs during all penalties unless another penalty occurs, a timeout is called, or for an injury timeout.
6. If the clock is stopped for an injury, the clock should be restarted when the official blows their whistle acknowledging teams to return to play, you should not wait for the puck to be dropped in this instance.
7. Stop the clock in the last 2:00 (2 minutes) of any game, only if the score is within a 2 goal differential. (Does not apply to NHL/AHL games.)
8. Overtime shall be 5:00 minutes running clock, without any timeouts. (Does not apply to NHL/AHL games.)