We are just days away from returning to the Ice and all playing the sport that we love. With that in mind I will need to go over some specifics when it comes to West Hillhurst and their COVID protocols as well as a couple rule adjustments.
West Hillhurst Arena Rules
Arrive at the arena no sooner than 20 mins before your scheduled ice time. Ideally come as dressed as possible or change in the parking lot.
You will have an assigned dressing room so you can put on your skates and store personal items. Dressing Rooms are max occupancy of 9 people. There will be overflow designated areas in the hallway and will be marked for any extra players.
Bring your own water as sinks/fountains will be restricted
There will be no use of Showers and you must leave the arena 20 mins after your ice time is completed. When you leave please follow signage and exit out the appropriate doors.
There are no Spectators allowed
Please stay in your designated dressing rooms and designated areas of the hallway until your ice time starts, do not line up and congregate in the hallway to the ice surface.
*Please respect and follow all signage, floor markings or social distancing measures to ensure we protect one another *
Rule Adjustments for World Cup of Hockey
We will follow all rules of the NCHL except for;
There will be no jersey infractions but players must have a similar color with its own unique number
There will be no playoff Eligibility. All players that are registered with your team and have completed the NCHL waiver as well as COVID waiver are eligible for ALL games.
No players are to approach or go near the scorekeeper. We must ensure social distancing is adhered to. If you have a sub from your cohort or a jersey # change please approach a referee and advise them of this.
You can play the game if you don’t have a goalie. If your goalie is injured or does not show and you have enough players (6) you can play the full game. Just know that if you can not field the proper number of players due to penalties or ejections the game will end in a forfeit
At the discretion of the team GMs and in fairness of fun, YOU can swap players mid game. This means that if you are short players, or the game is uneven, you can swap individual players or even Goalies to ensure the game is fun and can be completed. If this does happen your players will still be created playing for your team as well as the team they swap too and all stats will be counted
There will be no re-alignment. Due to COVID restrictions we must play within the same Cohort for all 5 games. If your team truly feels they cant compete, speak to the other teams GM about swapping players and/or bring out Subs from the other teams in your cohort to compete.
Player penalty minutes. If a player receives a total of 10 PIM they will be suspended 2 games. If a player exceeds 14 PIM they will be suspended indefinitely. As normal Summer season is 15 games, player PIMS are 30 PIM = 2 game suspension and 40 PIM = Indefinite suspension, we adjusted these numbers by 1/3 to fit the 5 games. Team total PIMS is set at 50 PIM. If your team exceeds 50 PIM your team will be suspended for the remainder of the World Cup of Hockey and no refund will be given.
The last 2 games of the World Cup of Hockey will follow Playoff rules of the NCHL
ALL teams will be limited to 13 Players and 1 Goalie during any game. If you have more than 13 Players, any extras players will not be permitted to play and will be asked to leave.
Reminder that Teams must only have 10 players and 1 goalie on their official roster. Any extra players are Subs from the same Cohort.
Please remind your players to complete all waivers and please submit your rosters ASAP. Failure to do so will result in your team not being allowed to play. These waivers and rosters are crucial in the NCHL abiding by AHS health protocols and for Trace Tracking in the off chance a COVID positive case comes forward. Please respect this and have it completed.
Thank you and welcome back to the World Cup of Hockey!
Mike Calhoun
NCHL Director of Player Safety