WISCONSIN MINNESOTA HOCKEY LEAGUE

RULES AND REGULATIONS, amended through 05/2007

I. PLAYER ELIGIBILITY

A. Ages of players will be consistent with the corresponding WAHA age classifications. (WAHA Rules Articles as of 2003/04: Midgets, Art.2 B, 3&4; Youth Boys, Art.2 C; Girls, Art. 2 D.) 

B. Geographic guidelines for associations:

1. No player may play for any association other than the association certified by WAHA to service the area in which the player resides on a permanent basis. Conversely, no association, whether or not its boundaries are certified by WAHA, may accept any player from any area served by another association whose boundaries are certified by WAHA, without written release and review by WMHL board; penalty is the team will not play in league games. (rev 8/04); (WMHL board encourages released players to be requested and reviewed annually; 11/04) Exceptions are as follows:
a. A player may play for a team from the nearest association offering a team of higher classification (AAA, AA, A or B) than the highest team offered by the association serving his place of residence, if he or she is selected by that nearest association to play on that higher classification team. For example, a Squirt from a "B" association could play on the Squirt "A" team from the nearest association, if he or she is selected to play on that "A" team. He could not, however, play on the nearest associations "B" or "C" teams in the Squirt division.
b. Any team may accept two (2) players under exception 1 above with no penalty. Any team accepting more than two (2) players, however, will not be eligible for state tournament competition in that classification. Written notice is to be given immediately to the respective associations.
c. A player residing in an area unrepresented by an association must play for the closest established association. Players residing in an area having two (2) or more associations shall be considered as residing only in the area of the association on whose USA Hockey roster the player's name and signature first appears.

C. Playing up or down:

1. Players may play for a higher age level than their own age level.

2. Players may not play for a lower age level than their own, unless approval for playing at the lower age level is approved by the Wisconsin Amateur Hockey Association Board.

3. As per WAHA Rules and Regulations, a player may not be registered with more than one team in THE SAME AGE CLASSIFICATION for the same association. A player can, however, as long as he or she meets age classifications, be registered with more than one team in a different classification with the same association. For example, a player from an association could not play for both the Squirt A and Squirt C teams, but could play for the Squirt A and PeeWee C teams.

II. TEAM REGISTRATION FEES AND OTHER FEES

A. Team registration fees shall be determined each year by the Board of Directors, with a reasonable minimum amount to encourage placement of all Association teams within WMHL.
1. Fees for each team registered must be sent to the League Treasurer by December 1st of each season.
2. Fees are not refundable after December 15th.

3.  Small Association minimum waiver: Annual Fee minimum is waived where an Association has an aggregate team fee total below that minimum, but all their USA Hockey registered teams are placed in WMHL divisions.

B. The fees for League Patches and Scoresheets shall be established annually based on actual cost. The fees are due and payable upon receipt of patches or scoresheets.

C. All WMHL Member Associations must commit to participation in the League, including attending at least half of the meetings. (rev 9/04)

III. TEAM ROSTERS

Team Rosters must be sent to the league statistician by January 1st of each season. Team rosters must be duplicate copies of official rosters submitted to USA Hockey. If a team roster is not submitted to the league statistician by January 1st, all league games played by that team prior to January 1st are forfeited. All remaining league games will also be forfeited until the statistician receives the team rosters.

IV. GAME SCHEDULING

A.  Mite, Squirt, Pee Wee, and Bantam levels of play in the WMHL will consist of two divisions. If the division consists of nine (9) or less teams, they shall play each other twice, once at home and once away. (Maximum games: 16)

1.     If the division consists of ten (10) to twelve (12) teams, the division shall split into two sections, red and white.

a.      Each team shall play each other team in their section twice and each team in the other section    once. (Maximum games: 16)

2.     If the division consists of thirteen (13) or more teams, the division shall split into three sections, red, white, and blue.

a.      Each team shall play each other team in their section twice, each team in the first other section once at home, and the second section once away. (Maximum games: 18)

3.     Division section splits shall be made as even as possible. (i.e. 5+4=9, 4+4+5=13)

4.     Team placement in the sections of a division split will be determined by drawing names at random except if an organization has more than one team in a division, those teams will be placed in different sections.  Questionable teams should be placed in separate sections so to keep section size amenable in the case the team is withdrawn.

5.     Each team shall direct their representative as to team division placement.  Section placement will be determined as above and all decisions of the WMHL will be final.

B. Schedules for league games for all teams in each age level will be established at a league scheduling meeting. The meeting will be held in late-September with the date to be set annually by the Board of Directors. It will be the responsibility of each scheduler to get the best balance possible of home and away games for their organization.

V. LEAGUE GAME TIMES AND PENALTY TIMES

Mites, Squirts, U10 and U12: 12 minute stop time 1 ½ minutes for minor penalty
3 minutes for major penalty
6 minutes for misconduct

All Older Teams: 15 minutes stop time 2 minutes for minor penalty
5 minutes for major penalty
10 minutes for misconduct

Overtime, ALL LEVELS 8 minute, sudden-death, stop time. If game is still tied after 8 minutes, the game shall be recorded as a tie.

VI. GAME CANCELLATIONS AND FORFEITS

A. Cancellations due to weather or ice conditions:

1. On outdoor ice, a game shall be canceled if the air temperatures is -10° F or below and/or if the wind chill factor is -20° F or below. The local weather radio station is the final authority if an agreement cannot be reached.

2. On outdoor ice, if snow or blowing snow is severely affecting the play on the ice, the game shall be canceled.

3. If the ice conditions create safety hazards for the players, the game should be canceled.

4. Prior to game time, decisions on the above are to be made by the home coach and, wherever possible, said coach shall notify the visiting team and referees at least 3 hours in advance.

5. At game time and during the game, decisions on the above are to be made by the head referee.

B. Cancellations due to travel conditions:

1. Decisions on whether or not travel conditions between towns necessitate a cancellation is at the discretion of the visiting coach.

2. Visiting coaches should check with the highway patrol for travel information. If the visiting coach intends to cancel the game, said coach should notify the home coach as soon as possible.

C. General cancellation guidelines:

1. Coaches shall promptly reschedule games canceled due to weather, ice or travel conditions.

2. Cancellations for any other reason must be made at least one week in advance of a game. Cancellations within a week are subject to a $100 penalty payable to the opposing team.

3. The home team has seven (7) days to provide three (3) travel-distance-appropriate dates, and may work with the visiting team for an alternate venue.

4. If a coach is unable to contact an opposing coach after three attempts, he or she should contact the league president for their assistance in contacting an opposing coach.

D. Forfeits:

1. An association shall be subject to a penalty for forfeiting a game when either of the following situations occurs:
a. If a visiting coach does not notify a home coach that a team will not be playing a scheduled game for whatever reason.
b. If a coach notifies an opposing coach that he or she intends to forfeit a scheduled or rescheduled game or refuses to reschedule a game.

2. If an association requests a forfeit under D1. above, the WMHL Executive committee shall review the matter and shall, unless extenuating circumstances exist, impose against the association of the forfeiting team a fine equal to the normal rate of one hour ice rental at that scheduled opponent's home ice. The aggrieved association shall receive the fine. All subsequent forfeitures will be subject to the same penalty.

3. If an association forfeits under 1. above, that team shall be issued a loss for that game and the scheduled opponent will be issued a win.

4. If two teams from different associations mutually agree not to play a scheduled game, no result will be posted and neither will receive a win or a loss in the league standings.

5. Two teams from the same association playing in the same division may not forfeit games to each other. They may, however, decide not to play by mutual consent.

6. Blow-Out Forfeits: In the case of an 8+ goal win, the Head Coaches can meet and agree to forfeit on the second game prior to signing the first game’s scoresheet.  Both scoresheets would then be submitted under the normal rules. (rev 9/04)

 

VII. SCORESHEETS

A. All scoresheets are to be submitted by the winning team to the League Statistician within fourteen (14) days of the date the game is played. In the case of a forfeit, the team being recorded as the winner is responsible for submitting the scoresheet. If a scoresheet is not submitted within fourteen (14) days, the game will not be counted in team standings for that season. Results of received scoresheets will be available through the WMHL web site, posted by the Statistician in a timely manner.  It is the responsibility of each team manager to assure that scoresheets are submitted in a timely manner and properly recorded.

B. Each association representative to the Board of Directors will receive information on how to forward scoresheets to the League Statistician no later than the October WMHL Board of Directors meeting. It is the responsibility of each association representative to pass this information along to the necessary individuals within their organization.

C. In the case of a tie, both coaches shall submit a scoresheet to the League Statistician to assure that the scoresheet has been submitted.

D. ALL SCORESHEETS must be in the hands of the statistician by 9:00 p.m. on the day prior to the regularly scheduled March meeting of the WMHL Board of Directors. No scoresheets will be accepted after this date under any circumstances. The final standings will be certified by the Board of Directors at the March meeting.

E. The March Meeting of the WMHL Board of Directors will be scheduled no earlier than the week after the last WAHA State Tournament weekend, to allow teams every chance to play league games. (rev 3/05)

VIII. LEAGUE AWARDS

A. Team Awards

1. The WMHL shall provide a Championship banner each season to each division champion to hang in each association's arena. The banners will be presented at the annual Awards Banquet.

2. The standings for league awards are determined by points. Two points will be awarded for each win, one point for a tie and 0 points for a loss.

3. Division winner would be by outright standings.  If a tie, winner to be determined by head-to-head goal results during the season. If tied during season play, the co-champions would be awarded.  (04/2005)

4. When a division is split into sections with unbalanced team counts, then there will be a banner awarded to each section. (rev 11/04)

B. Sportsmanship Award. A sportsmanship award will be awarded annually to one association. Each head coach of each registered WMHL team shall be given a ballot. Each coach shall vote for a first and second choice for the association they feel best represents sportsmanship on and off the ice. The ballots shall be returned to the league statistician by March 15th of each season. The first choice on each ballot shall receive two points and the second choice on each ballot shall receive one point. The association which receives the most combined points from all ballots received shall be awarded the sportsmanship banner.

C. Blue Line Defense Award.  Each association can order these patches annually to award to their defensive players. WMHL encourages teams to award two patches per team.

D. League Patches. All skaters and coaches on WMHL-placed USA Hockey rostered teams are eligible to wear that skating year’s WMHL patch.

E. Selects Tournament.  There will be a select tournament for each division at seasons end.  If any team or organization does not nominate players to this tournament, the WMHL may contact individual players for inclusion. This decision of the WMHL will also be final.

1.     Player fee must be received prior to skater being rostered on a Selects team.

2.     Selects Tournament bids are due in the fall, for team practice and selects games after the second State Tournament weekend.  Host bids include finding competent minor officials, resurfacing, and providing food concessions.  WMHL will be responsible for finding on-ice officials and coaches.

F. Presidents Award.  Associations can submit a letter of nomination to the League President for individuals or organizations that they want to recognize for their meritorious, consistent, repetitive or long-term service and/or support efforts on behalf of youth hockey. Recipients would be recognized at the beginning of the next season and at the League’s Annual Banquet.

IX. HOST ASSOCIATION'S RESPONSIBILITIES

A. Each association should have a resource person available at each home game whose primary responsibility is keeping the crowd under control.

1. He/she should discourage:
a. Pounding on the boards
b. Abusive language
c. Harassing goalies

2. He/she should be available and make himself/herself known to:
a. Referees
b. Coaches

B. Each association has the responsibility to educate or inform by posting a notice that disruptive crowd behavior may result in a forfeit of the game

C. Each association should provide personnel and equipment to keep the home ice in as good shape as weather permits.

D. Each association should provide an official scorekeeper and timer for each home game. A neutral scorer from the opposing team may be allowed in the box in order to watch the clock.

E. Each association must provide registered officials for each home game. The officials must be USA Hockey registered for the appropriate level.

F. Each association must provide game pucks for each home game. For Mite/U10, these are the Blue pucks (rev8/04).

G. Each association has the responsibility of providing a safe and fair rink facility for play at any level.

H. If referees report unsafe conditions to the host association's resource person, it is his or her responsibility to try his or her best to alleviate the problem.

I. Safety Toward Other Players Program. Patches will be USA regulation colors.  S.T.O.P. Patches must be sewn on the jerseys of all players from Squirts and U10 age and above.  The patch should be placed on the jersey 2 inches above and centered above the back number.  The S.T.O.P. sign will not be recognized anywhere else on the jersey.  This must take precedence over name plates. (rev 2/04)

1.     Teams have until January 1 to affix the patches and to provide the Statistician with signed copies of the Player/Parent/Coach pledges for all their rostered skaters.

2.     Cost of patches will be born by WMHL, as long as signed pledges received.

J. Failure to meet the above responsibilities can be reported to the WMHL Board of Directors and may lead to a game forfeit.

X. PLAYERS' CONDUCT AND RESPONSIBILITY

A. Players are to understand and abide by all USA Hockey Rules and Regulations.

B. Players should conduct themselves as ladies or gentlemen both on and off the ice. They shall may maintain self control before, during and after the game.

1. They should show respect and politeness toward referees, coaches, other players and spectators and should behave as sportsmen and sportswomen as established by codes of conducts of the respective associations.

2. Abusive or profane language will not be tolerated.

XI. COACHES' CONDUCT AND RESPONSIBILITY

A. In all areas outlined in V. above, coaches should set a good examples for the players to follow.

B. Coaches should be aware of the fact that most players will emulate their coach's behavior and should conduct themselves accordingly.

C. Coaches have the primary responsibility of:

1. Teaching their players the rules of the game and good sportsmanship.
2. Making certain the scorekeepers and timers are present at the home games.
3. Maintaining control of their players, both on the bench and on the ice, before, during and immediately after the game.
4. Informing the association resource person or the referee if the crowd needs controlling.
5. Making certain that the referees are qualified in accordance with league standards.

D. Failure to abide by the above rules may be reported to the WMHL Board of Directors and may lead to penalties such as:
1. Verbal or written warnings to the coaches.
2. Recommendation to an association that the coach be replaced.
3. Banning the coach in question from league participation.

XII. REFEREES

A. The home teams shall provide two certified referees for each home game. All referees must be registered with USA Hockey at the appropriate level for the age group they are officiating. Referees should be prepared to show their registration cards to both coaches or show a statement from their association that they have taken the test for qualification as a referee.

B. The WMHL requires that a referee have attained at least one age level above the match they are officiating. For example, a Bantam level player may referee a PeeWee level game. A Pee Wee, however, cannot referee a Pee Wee level game.

C. General authority and responsibilities:

1. The head referee may cancel a game or the remainder of the game due to weather or ice conditions.

2. Referees should check the rink for safety and fairness both before the game and between periods. This includes checking such things as doors, players' boxes, the net, the boards for loose nails, the ice for dangerous cracks, etc.

3. Referees should refrain from any activities outside their official duties, such as shooting pucks, etc.

 

4. Referees should check players for the proper safety equipment and make certain that all players are properly attired and equipped. All players, including goalkeepers are required to wear a colored (non-clear) mouthpiece, which covers all the remaining teeth of one jaw, customarily the upper. (rev 1/04)

5. Referees should consider themselves as instructors and controllers of the game, working with the coaches to enhance the quality and play of the game.

6. Referees should maintain control of the game and themselves at all times and must set the tone of behavior by adhering to professional conduct in every respect.

7. They must use sound judgment in explanation of calls to the coaches, explaining only complicated or controversial calls to them; otherwise, they should consult with the team captain or alternate. They should not go to the bench on every whistle.

8. They should escort players to the penalty box.

XIII. WMHL GUIDELINES CONCERNING PENALTIES

A. If a player sustains three (3) penalties in a league game, that player will be suspended from play for the remainder of that game. Note: Injury potential infractions, such as checking from behind, shall count as one infraction although marked as two incidents.

B. A player shall receive the maximum call of penalties, shall receive a match misconduct penalty, shall be ejected from a game and shall serve a suspension from the next game scheduled at the time the match misconduct penalty occurred under any of the following conditions:

1. Any and all incidents of fisticuffs. A player who is attacked and does not retaliate should not receive a game disqualification.
2. Deliberate injury or attempted injury of a player.
3. Deliberate physical contact of an official.

C. Any molesting of an official should receive the maximum call of penalties for the game and should be reported to the league Board of Commissioners, which has the option of imposing additional penalties up to and including the suspension of the player involved for the remainder of the season.

 D. If a player or coach receives a second penalty in one season for gross misconduct, match penalty or gross misconduct as defined by USA Hockey, the player or coach will be suspended for one calendar year, from the date of the second offense, for all WMHL league games. A player or a coach has the right to bring a dispute of this decision to the Executive Committee at the next league meeting.

XIV. DUTIES OF MINOR OFFICIALS

A. Rink Official

1. Provide game officials, confirming schedules with them at least three days in advance.
2. Meet referees and coaches prior to the game and assign them to their respective dressing areas.
3. Provide other minor officials.
4. Be available during the games to resolve any questions or concerns.

B. Announcer

1. Be impartial and objective. Do not editorialize.
2. For goals, announce the number and name of scorer and those assisting. For penalties, announce the time, the penalty and the length of penalty.

C. Scoreboard official

1. Be sure to test the clock before the game.
2. If there are any problems with the clock during the game, contact the referees immediately.
3. Do not register goals until it is verified by the referee.

D. Scorekeeper

1. Contact coaches and obtain rosters at least 15 minutes before game time.
2. Ask game officials to repeat anything you are unsure of.
3. Notify the officials immediately if a player has received their third penalty.

E. Penalty Box Officials

1. Be polite but firm. Let the player know when and how you will let him or her back on the ice.
2. Do not tolerate unsportsmanlike behind in the box. Summon the referee and inform him or her of the problem. Do not attempt to handle the situation.
3. If there is more than one player in the box, know which player gets out first.
4. Do not antagonize a penalized player. Do not question an officials' call. Be neutral.

XV. GRIEVANCE PROCEDURES

To establish rapport between the WMHL and the member associations and to resolve issues related to perceived infringements of the WMHL rules and regulations, grievances will be heard in the following manner.

A. The Executive Committee will hear all grievances or appeals of the rules and regulations. If a member of the executive committee represents the association of the complainant or the association against which the complaint is lodged, he or she shall not serve on the grievance panel. The President shall appoint another member of the Board of Directors to serve on the seven (7) person grievance panel for that matter only.

B. Any grievance or appeal must be submitted verbally to the President (or another member of the Executive Committee, if the President is unavailable) within 24 hours of the perceived infringement. The verbal submission will be followed by a written account of the perceived infringement utilizing the form on the last page of this document. Appeals must be filed by an officer of a member organization.

C. This grievance procedure WILL NOT be utilized to discuss issues of performance of USA Hockey certified referees.

D. Guidelines for grievance panel meeting:

1. All meetings shall be presided over by the President.

2. Meetings shall be scheduled at the discretion of the President.

3. A quorum shall consist of at least six (6) of the seven (7) members of the grievance panel.

4. Order of Meeting

a. Call to order by President.
b. Introduction of complaint by the Chair.
c. Restatement co complaint of perceived infringement.
d. Appeal in support of organization against which complaint has been filed.
e. Review of case and balloting.

The order of the meeting may be modified upon approval of two-thirds of the total membership on the grievance panel present.

5. Any organization filing the grievance must appear before the panel. In the event the party filing the complaint does not appear, all issues relative to the matter will be dropped.

6. All members of the grievance panel shall have the right to question the accused, the accuser and witnesses.

E. All decisions of the panel will be final and binding regardless of whether or not the organizations appear at the hearing. Simple majority vote of the members of the grievance panel present will determine whether a grievance is upheld or denied.

F. All records shall be kept and placed in the files of the President of the WMHL.