WOOD BUFFALO HOCKEY LEAGUE RULES AND REGULATIONS 2011-2012 SEASON League The name of the league shall be known as the Wood Buffalo Hockey League (WBHL) herein after referred as the WBHL or the league The league shall operate under the authority of the Fort McMurray Minor Hockey Association The league shall abide by all regulations, bylaws and rules of the Fort McMurray Minor Hockey Association, Hockey Alberta and Hockey Canada The objectives of the league shall be: o To foster and develop minor hockey in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo; o To promote fair and fun competition within the league o To promote the development of players and coaches o To control and administer the playing of the game of hockey in accordance with the rules, regulations and etiquette of the game The league shall includes teams in the following Divisions: o Initiation: Tier 1 & Tier 2 o Novice: Tier 1 & Tier 2 o Atom: Tier 1 & Tier 2 o Peewee: Tier 1 & Tier 2 o Bantam: Tier 1 & Tier 2 o Midget: Tier 1 Rules & Regulations Roster All teams will be registered through a team sheet unless the team is eligible for Provincial play Each team will be a minimum of 12 players Teams will have a maximum of 5 team officials consisting of a combination of Head Coach, Manager, and Assistant Coaches. The exception to this will be the Initiation Division where up to 7 team officials may be registered. A parent not registered on the team sheet as a coach or manager is not permitted to go on the ice during practices or game under any circumstances
Affiliations The Hockey Alberta Affiliation rules will be followed A player can only be affiliated with one team Where possible, team to team affiliation will be used All tier 2 teams will affiliate with a team in the tier 1 The tier 1 teams will affiliate with a team in the higher division Maximum use of the affiliation rules will be use to ensure players are offered as much development opportunities as possible Coaches of affiliated teams will meet on a regular basis and will ensure that the top players of the lower teams are invited on a regular basis to practice with the team they are affiliated with and where possible play games At all times, the priority for games shall remain with the team on which the player is registered unless the coaches have made other arrangements Refer to the Affiliation Directive (under Information on the FMMHA Website) for specific and detailed information for each Division Refereeing The Fort McMurray Referee Association (FMRA) will assign referees to League Games. Where possible, Tier 1 games will be officiated with a 2 or 3 referee system. Tier 2 games will be officiated with 1 or 2 referees. Games may be officiated with only one referee if necessary. In case where no referees are available for a game, the teams will be an exhibition game with at least one coach on the ice. The game will be re scheduled to a later date where possible. If the rescheduling is not possible, the game will count as a tie. Body checking is not permitted for exhibition games if no referees are available Referees will be paid in accordance with the FMMHA fee schedule Scheduling Scheduled games have priority over exhibition and tournament games as provided by Hockey Alberta Regulations Teams participating in tournaments must inform their Division Director at least six (6) weeks in advance to allow for schedule changes. Participation will only be permitted if it does not impact other teams. Games All teams must be ready to start their warm up five minutes prior to the scheduled game time The warm ups will be normally last 5 minutes and where possible with music The games will start immediately after the end of the warm up
Games shall consist of 3 periods of running time. The length of the period will vary for each division and length of the ice time The last 3 minutes of every game will be played with stop time When five minutes is remaining in the schedule ice time of the game, the clock will be set by the timekeeper at 3 minutes. The last 3 minutes will be played with stop time Teams failing to present itself or with insufficient number Teams must have a minimum of six players available to start play five (5) minutes after the scheduled ice time for the game. A goaltender is not necessary A team may dress a goaltender from another team in the same or lower division of tier to play a game. The game will be considered official under such circumstance. In a situation where a team has two goaltenders and the other one has none, the goaltenders play half the game for each team. The game result will count. If a team has insufficient numbers to play or fails to present itself at a time and place appointed to play a game, the game will be awarded to the opposing team with a score of 3 0 for statistical purposes unless the failure was due to an unavoidable accident or unforeseen situation. Game Sheets The home team is responsible to start a game sheet for each game. The home team shall assign a time keeper who will also maintain the game sheet. At the completion of the game, the referees will sign the game sheet and give it back to the timekeeper. The home team manager will keep the white copy while the other two copies will be given to the coaches of the two teams The winning team is responsible to submit the game sheet to the Division Director within 1 week. Both teams will receive 1 point (tie) if the game sheet is not submitted in 1 week. Tournament and exhibition games Teams may participate to a total of five (5) tournaments during the year including one at the end of the WBHL season. A team cannot participate in a tournament with less than 12 players. Duly registered affiliated players may be invited to join the team for a tournament to provide a sufficient number of players. Special Hockey Alberta rules apply to affiliations for Initiation and Novice team. Participation in a tournament is voluntary. No pressure may be put on players or parents to participate to a tournament. Only participants may be assessed a direct fee related to the travel cost of a tournament. General team fundraising is permitted for all team members when the fee is not directly related to a tournament.
Teams must notify their Division Director at least 6 weeks in advance of a tournament to allow for schedule changes. Shorter notice will only be considered if other teams are not impacted A travel permit is required for all out of town travel. The travel permit will be issued by the FMMHA for travel within Hockey Alberta Zone 2 (Cold Lake, Bonnyville, Lac LaBiche, Lloydminster, Fort Saskatchewan). A travel permit from Hockey Alberta must be obtained (through the FMMHA) for travel outside Zone 2 (including Edmonton, Sherwood Park, St. Albert, Athabasca, Slave Lake, Grande Prairie, etc). A special permit must be obtained for any travel outside Alberta. Out of town travel Teams travelling out of town must travel by chartered bus. Booking must be done through the FMMHA office at least six (6) weeks in advance. Exceptions to this must be justified to, and approved by, the WBHL Governor. Diversified Transportation does not travel outside the Province of Alberta Players may only travel with their parents or guardians or with others through private arrangements No car pooling arrangement shall be made by the team or any team officials Travel in a 15 passenger van is strictly forbidden Protest Protests with all supporting evidence shall be submitted in writing and signed by the coach or manager within 72 hours of the scheduled time of the game protested to the Division Director or at the Fort McMurray Minor Hockey Office. It may be submitted by fax or by electronic mail. Upon receipt of the protest, the Division Director may contact the coaches or other individuals as required and will render a decision within five working days from the time he/she received the protest. The decision shall be communicated to both coached in writing (electronic mail is acceptable). Appeals Appeals on a decision of a Division Director may be made in writing to the League Governor within 72 hours of the receipt of such decision. The appeal shall be made in writing with supporting evidence. Appeals on a decision of the League Governor may be made in writing to the President of the Fort McMurray Minor Hockey Association in accordance with the bylaws of the Association.
Discipline Policy All major penalties shall be reported by e mail to the Division Director by the coach or manager of the offending player s team within 24 hours of the offence. Not all major penalties are listed below and may or may not be subject to assessment of suspension. Coaches are responsible to enforce the following automatic minimum suspensions for their players: Verbal Abuse of Official (coach or player): 2 games Checking from behind 5 minutes: 1 game Head Contact 5 minutes: 1 game Any Game Misconduct in last 10 minutes of a game carries one additional game suspension automatically. For example, a coach receiving a Game Misconduct for Abuse of Officials in the last 10 minutes of a game would be suspended for 3 games (2 for abuse of officials + 1 game for GM in last 10 minutes) Cumulative major penalties will result in the following suspension assessment: Offence 1st Offence 2nd Offence 3rd Offence 4th Offence Major (in addition to other Hockey Alberta suspensions) 0 1 2 3 Game Misconduct (Unsportsmanlike Conduct, Verbal Abuse) 0 1 2 3 Fighting Infractions 2 5 Indefinite -- Fighting Aggressor 2 Indefinite -- -- Any players serving a suspension shall have his name recorded on the game sheet with the annotation serving game # of # games suspension A suspension notice will be issued by the Division Director within 48 hours The Division Director will contact the referee in chief as required. Appeals may be filed, by the offending player or his/her parents, to the League Governor and subsequently to the President of the Association, if the League Governor s decision is not to the satisfaction of the offending player and his/her parents. Appeals will not be heard by the League Governor or President for FMMHA or Hockey Alberta rule infractions in which the minimum suspension is applied as per either the FMMHA Rules and Regulations or Hockey Alberta Regulations and where the suspension is based on a game official s call and recorded on the game sheet; game official s calls cannot be overruled by the Association according to Hockey Canada Regulations. In addition to the Hockey Alberta Minimum Suspension Guidelines, the League or the FMMHA may impose additional suspension at their sole discretion. Such rulings may be appealed. During out of town play such as tournaments, the League expects Coaches and Team Management to be responsible for the discipline of their team and actions of their fans to protect the reputation of our Association and community. Occurrences of inappropriate conduct (refer to Codes of Conduct) by our members (players, team
officials and parents) may result in sanctions against both the offender and the Head Coach. All such conduct issues reported to the Association by the Tournament Committee or Hockey Alberta will be investigated by the League Governor for WBHL Teams, by the VP of Rep Hockey for AA teams and by a Female Hockey Director for the Female Teams. Sanctions from these investigations will be levied by these individuals. Such sanctions may be appealed to the President as per FMMHA s bylaws. Equipment Each team will be provided one set of WBHL jersey the addition of name or sponsor bars to the jerseys is not permitted under any circumstances The FMMHA will have additional jerseys for teams participating to tournaments where home and away jerseys are required The purchase or provision of matching team pants, gloves, helmets or other equipment is not permitted Teams may purchase a team track suit. The track suit must include the logo of the WBHL and of the Team Sponsor Teams in the WBHL may not have a dress code for games. Fundraising All teams are subject to the Fort McMurray Minor Hockey Association Fundraising and team financial policies and procedures (posted under Information on FMMHA website).