Stratford Aces Festival Cup Challenge Rules 2022
*** Rules posted online are the official rules of the tournament and supersede any other copies ***
*** Tournament Executive decision is final and binding ***
1) Hockey Canada and OWHA rules shall apply, except for any added conditions below;
2) All teams must check in at the registration desk prior to their first game at the arena where their first game is being played. A copy of your teams OWHA official roster is required to have available if required. Any team using a pick up player must present an OWHA pick up player consent form upon check in. To be eligible to play in the tournament, a player’s name must appear on the OWHA official team roster, or on the completed pick up player consent form for the sanctioned tournament
3) Per OWHA requirements our tournament is using the RAMP system for game sheets. All tournament games will be uploaded to RAMP by the tournament. If you have entered your teams’ games in RAMP - please REMOVE them.
You are not required to bring game sheet labels but if there are any issues with the app, we will have games sheets as back up. A maximum of 19 players including 2 goaltenders per team will be allowed. Pick up players are not permitted to replace suspended players. Teams may not register more players for the tournament than they have listed on their approved/sanctioned roster by their governing body. No player may play on more than one team in a tournament. No player may participate in more than one hockey tournament on the same dates.
5) All teams MUST be available to start fifteen (15) minutes prior to the scheduled game time including all semi-final and final games. *** Starting a game early is at the sole discretion of the Head Tournament Official and or Tournament Rink Supervisor ***
6) If a team is not able to arrive for a scheduled game due to inclement weather (road closures) they must contact the tournament convener at least 1 hour before the scheduled game time. The tournament committee will make all reasonable attempts to reschedule the game. If, however, it is not reasonable to reschedule the game, the game will be forfeited.
7) Home team must wear light jerseys & away teams must wear dark jerseys
8) Game lengths will be;
U9 ~ 2 – 22 min periods
U11 & U13 ~ 10-10-12
U15, U18 & Senior ~ 10-10-15
9) Ice resurfacing will take place at the end of all games with the exception of the Novice division games
10) Each game will start with a 3:00 minute warm up. For Round Robin games, the clock will be set to 13:00, the clock will start when the resurfacing doors have been closed (no players are to be on the ice surface prior to this time) The horn will sound at the 11:00 minute mark. The clock will not stop at the 10:00 minute mark. The clock will continue to run until the first stoppage of play.
11) All games (including semi-final & finals) will be stop time, unless there is a five (5) goal difference in the third period, at which time the clock will not be stopped for the balance of the game until the goal differential is reduced to three (3) goals. Stop time will then resume. Penalties that are assessed during run time will be the same as regular time (ie: 2 min penalty will be 2 min run time, 4 min penalty will be 4 min run time)
12) Handshakes will take place at the end of the game
13) All players, including teams from out of country, must wear equipment approved by their governing body.
14) There will be no overtime or timeouts allowed in round robin play. One (1) 30 second timeout will be allowed for each team during semi-final & final games (Overtime is not a new game)
15) All suspensions will be enforced according to the OWHA Constitution, By-Laws, Regulations and Rules. A fighting major or match penalty will result in an automatic ejection from the tournament.
***** Referee’s decision is final and not subject to appeal or grievance *****
16) It is the team's responsibility to ensure a clean dressing room is left upon completion of their game. All teams are requested to vacate the dressing room 25 minutes or less after their game is completed. Teams are not permitted to hold team meetings in dressing rooms.
17) Round Robin Format
Divisions with 6, 7, 8 and 9 teams – all teams will play 4 round robin games, teams will be seeded 1 through 6, 7, 8 or 9. Top 4 teams advance to semi-finals. 1st seed vs 4th seed, 2nd seed vs 3rd, Winners of each semi-final game will advance to the finals. Highest seeded team in round robin is home team throughout the semi-finals and finals.
Divisions with 5 teams – all 5 teams will play each other in round robin play. Top 2 teams advance to Finals. 1st seed vs 2nd. Highest seeded team in round robin is home team throughout the finals.
Divisions with 4 teams – all 4 teams play each other in round robin play, at the end of the round robin teams will be seeded 1 through 4 for semi-finals. 1st seed vs 4th seed, 2nd seed vs 3rd, Winners of each semi-final game will advance to the finals. Highest seeded team in round robin is home team throughout the semi-finals and finals.
Divisions with 3 teams – all teams will play a double round robin, at the end of the round robin teams will be be seeded 1 through 3. 2nd seed vs 3rd seed will play in the semifinals, winner of semifinal advance to final and play 1st seed in the finals. Highest seeded team in round robin is home team throughout the semi-final and finals.
18) During round robin play, teams will be awarded 2 points for win, 1 point for tie and 0 (zero) points for loss. In the event of a game being forfeited, the forfeiting team will be awarded 0 (zero) points for a loss. The opposing team will be awarded two 2 points for a win plus 1 goal for.
19) In the event of a tie in tournament points at the end of round robin play, the following will be used to break the tie. Follow the numerical order until all ties are broken. Once a tie-breaking rule has been used or is not applicable, it cannot be used again.
***** THE TOURNAMENT COMMITTEE WILL DETERMINE THE TIE BREAK RESULTS. THEIR DECISION IS FINAL *****
i - Number of wins
ii - Record against other tied team if two teams are tied will be head-to-head.
If more than 2 teams are tied, the team with the most wins versus the other tied teams in the tiebreaker will be seeded higher (only works in a balanced schedule)
iii - Goals for Percentage as calculated by dividing team’s total “Goals For” by the SUM of the team’s “Goals For and Goals Against”. TGF / (GF+GA) = %
iv - Fewest goals against
v - Most goals for
vi - Fewest penalty minutes
vii - First goal scored when the tied teams played (not applicable in a three way or more tie)
viii - Best 2 out of 3 in a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors between the tied team head coaches
20) Semi-final and Final Games:
a - All semi-final and final games will have a 3:00 minute warm up (no running clock to start the game)
b - All semi-final and final games, teams do not change ends for overtime or for shoot outs
c - All semi-final and final games, in the event of a tie at the end of regulation, teams will play one 5 minute sudden victory overtime period consisting of 5 on 5 play plus goaltenders. Players can change on the fly or at a stoppage in play. Goalie may be pulled at any time and a substitute player from the bench may be used. If still tied after overtime a shoot-out will occur. Any penalties incurred at the end of regulation will carry into overtime and shoot-outs
d - All semi-final and final games, if the game is still tied after 5 minute overtime period, a three player shoot out will decide the winner. The shooters will be identified to the referee prior to the start of the shootout. Shooters will alternate starting at the center ice red line.
** Home team will decide if they would like to shoot 1st or 2nd **
e - All semi-final and final games, if still tied after the three player shoot out, a sudden death shoot out will commence. Players from the bench will shoot, one per team until a winner is determined. A winner is declared when one team scores and the other team does not score. A player may not shoot for a second time until all players on the game sheet (except goalies) have shot.
f - Any player serving a penalty that has not expired by the end of the sudden victory overtime period is not eligible to participate in the shoot-out and must remain in the penalty box. The coach must designate a shooter(s) to take her place(s) immediately at the end of overtime (if this player is one of the selected three shooters)
g - A maximum of seventeen (17) individual awards will be presented per team in the championship games. Championship awards and medals MAY be presented off-ice if deemed by tournament officials due to time constraints and will be presented at a determined location as required. We thank you for your support in this matter.
** Tournament office will be at in the Games Room located at the Rotary Complex 353 McCarthy Rd. Stratford, ON **
** Any tournament questions or concerns, please contact Terry Soper at 519-276-0836 or [email protected] **