Rules

1. No protests will be accepted.
2. Teams MUST attend the opening ceremony. Teams that do not attend the opening ceremony will forfeit their organization's bid for next year's WYC.
3. All games will be three 15 minute periods, stopped-time.
4. Pre-game warm-ups will be three minutes.
5. Each team should be ready to play 15 minutes PRIOR to their scheduled start times without any advanced warning.
1. If a team is not ready at the start of warm ups they will forfeit their privileges
   to warm up.
2. If a team is not ready for the start of the game, that team will be assessed a
   bench minor penalty.
6. Tournament plays touch offsides (tag-up).
7. You CAN ice the puck when shorthanded.
8. There will be no discussion on coaches’ ejections from games or player ejections.
9. No equipment penalty will be awarded. Teams/players must follow rules of its/his/her Ice
   Hockey Federation's rules regarding the use of mouth guards and neck protectors.
10. All eligible players must be entered on the game’s score sheet prior to the
    commencement of the first game of the tournament (maximum 22 players including 2 goaltenders).
11. Should an “Act of God” happen (power failure, major injury …), after 45 minutes, the game will be called and the score remains as is no matter how long the game was running at the time of the act.
12. There is a team check-in prior to the start of the tournament. All teams must show up and check in as a team as scheduled, prior to each team’s first game (follow team check-in schedule). The Tournament director must be notified of any late arrivals, they must be on the team roster that is confirmed at the team check-in (no players can be added to roster after team check-in). Any late arrival player must be checked in before they play.
1. TEAMS WILL CHECK IN PRIOR TO THE START OF THEIR FIRST GAME. PLAYERS WHO DO NOT CHECK IN WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO PLAY UNTIL THEY CHECK IN WITH THE TOURNAMENT STAFF. SHOULD A PLAYER PLAY WITHOUT CHECKING IN AT THE DESIGNATED TEAM CHECK IN THAT GAME WILL BE FORFEITED.
2. Players will submit to identification checks conducted by tournament organizers prior to the beginning of competition. The proof of ID MUST have a birth date on it. NO EXCEPTIONS (Passport, Birth Certificate, etc.)
13. A player can only play for one team and in only one category (Division) during this tournament weekend, failure to do so will disqualify the said player. An exception can be made for a goaltender, if there is an emergency situation and approved by the tournament director.
14. A player must participate in at least 2 (two) games during the round-robin portion of the tournament to be eligible for the playoff round. A ten-minute delay will be permitted to dress a second goaltender in the event the regular goaltender is injured and the team has no dressed goaltender on the bench.
15. Each team is permitted the use of one, 30-second timeout per game.
16. Ice will be resurfaced after each game.
17. Game procedure
1. Coaching staff get dressing room keys if required by the rink, depending on the schedule at the office.
2. Make sure to have the correct color of the game jerseys.
3. Make sure the dressing room is clean before you leave. In the case, the dressing room is not clean, the organizing committee has the right to disqualify the team from the tournament.
4. All statistics comments should be done within 1 hour after the end of the game at the tournament office by team HEAD COACH ONLY. Any changes must be approved by the tournament director.
18. Discipline
1. Coach should control his players at all times.
2. No parents should be in the players' area, locker room area or bench area, unless it is a medical emergency and help is needed.
19. Running time will be implemented if a game’s goal differential is 5 goals or more at the 10 minute mark of the 3rd period on. The game will return to stop-time again should the differential be reduced to two goals (ex. 5-3).
20. Game Forfeits: Should a team forfeit a game, the result will go in as a 3-0 loss. Any forfeited games affecting another team's playoff status may be reviewed by the tournament director to determine which teams advance beyond preliminary-round play.
21. There will be NO VIDEO REVIEWS to discuss any calls during the game.
22. All checking-from-behind penalties will either be 2-minute minor and 10-minute misconduct or a 5-minute major and game misconduct, based on referee's discretion.
23. Any player leaving the bench to engage in a fight on the ice is automatically disqualified from the tournament as per the discretion of the tournament director.
1. The head coach will be suspended for 1-game minimum for not controlling his players, which left the bench.
2. Player, which physically attacked the referee will be automatically suspended for the rest of the tournament.
3. Any player that is intentionally targeting players, at any time, will receive a major penalty, game misconduct and will be reviewed by the tournament director for potential additional actions.
4. Any player who receives abuse of official penalty will automatically be removed from the current game and suspended for a minimum of 1 additional game.

Rules

• 2011 there is NO CHECKING.  2010 & 2009 CHECKING IS ALLOWED.  

1. ICING: Changing players on an icing call is NOT allowed for the offending team. (Automatic Icing)
2. FACE-OFFS: All face-offs will occur on a designated face off dot (9-Dot). After a penalty occurs the face-off will be conducted in the offending team's zone.
1. Any shot off goal frame or goaltender will result in a face-off inside the zone.
3. CREASE: No player may enter the crease unless the puck is in the crease with a play at the net.
4. HAND PASS: Only allowed in the defensive zone.
5. HIGH STICK: Face-off to be conducted in the offending team's defensive zone.
6. INTENTIONAL OFF-SIDE: Face-off will take place in the offending team's defending zone.
7. FIGHTING: Any player receiving a fighting major and game misconduct will receive a 2-game suspension.
8. PENALTIES:
1. MINOR: 2 minutes.
2. MAJOR: 5 minutes (attempt to injure player).
3. MISCONDUCT: 10 minutes - mouthing, abusing official, discipline. In case of SECOND MISCONDUCT penalty IN THE SAME GAME, player automatically gets GAME MISCONDUCT penalty.
4. GAME EJECTION: Player removed for the balance of the current game. There is no additional game suspension added for a game ejection.
5. If a player receives FIVE penalties in a single game, he will receive a game ejection.
6. GAME MISCONDUCT: Out for remainder of current game and following game. - In case of SECOND GAME MISCONDUCT the player will be removed from the current game, plus have to sit out 2 additional games.
7. MATCH: Tournament expulsion - Will be reviewed by tournament directors.

Dangerous, intimidating and illegal acts will not be tolerated and penalized diligently, with emphasis on player skill and movement. A referee may remove an unruly player for the balance of that game.

Scores and Standings:

Points are awarded as follows:

1. 3 Points – Regulation Win
2. 2 Points – Shootout Win (SOW)
3. 1 Point – Shootout Loss (SOL)
4. 7-goal differential will be in place. Example: 10-0 decision will be scored 7-0 in the game scoring
   Standings.

Round Robin Games: In case of a regulation tie, there will be a shootout (best-of-3 format). 3 players will be chosen by each team’s coach at the end of regulation. After the first 3 shots, the team can use any player as many times as they choose.

1. The home team has the choice of who shoots first.
2. Should the tie persist, teams will continue 1 player at a time until the tie is broken..
3. See below under “Playoff Tie Games” for rules in playoff games.
4. If there is a player(s) serving penalties at the end of regulation, those player(s) can not participate in the shootout.

Tournament Format

2011  DIVISION - Team will play a 5-game minimum round robin. Plus, Playoffs.  Top two teams advance to Semi Final games.  Seed #  3 vs # 6 and Seed #4 vs #5, will have a play-in playoff game, winners advance to the Semi Final games.  Teams reseed for the Semi Finals based on the final Round Robin standings.

2010  DIVISION - Team will play a 5-game minimum round robin. Plus, Playoffs.  Top two teams advance to Semi Final games.  Seed #  3 vs # 6 and Seed #4 vs #5, will have a play-in playoff game, winners advance to the Semi Final games.  Teams reseed for the Semi Finals based on the final Round Robin standings.

2009  DIVISION - Team will play a 5-game minimum round robin. Plus, Playoffs.  Top two teams advance to Semi Final games.  Seed #  3 vs # 6 and Seed #4 vs #5, will have a play-in playoff game, winners advance to the Semi Final games.  Teams reseed for the Semi Finals based on the final Round Robin standings.

TIEBREAKERS

If 2 teams are tied in points, the following order applies to determine the ranking of teams. If more than two teams are tied, teams will go through each tiebreaker until ONE team is determined the winner (there is no head-to-head if there are more than two teams tied), once the tiebreaker is broken and one team is the winner, that team advances and the tiebreaker resets to #1 (again, head-to-head only applies for when there are only 2 teams left) for the remaining teams.

1. Head-to-Head (if applicable, for only when 2 teams are tied in points)
2. Best goal differential formula = Goals For / (Goals For + Goals Against )
3. Least goals against
4. Most goals for
5. Least penalty minutes during the tournament

*EXAMPLE:

Team A, B, C and D all are tied with 6 points. The first tiebreaker in this example would be #2 Best goal differential formula. Team A wins that, so then it resets to 3 teams tied with 6 points. Then, apply the best goal differential formula again, Team B wins that. Then, the last two teams would go to #1 if applicable, if not, then the process would proceed according to the tiebreakers #2 through #6.

PLAYOFF & PLAY-IN GAME  TIEBREAKERS

If there is a tie game at the end of regulation time during the tournament playoffs, the following

overtime rules will apply.

1. 15-minute sudden-death period, 3-on-3 plus goaltender overtime. Teams will switch ends to start the overtime period. If still tied, there will be a best-of-3 shootout. 3 players will be chosen by each team’s coach at the end of the 15-minute  overtime period. After the first 3 shots, the team can use any player as many times as they choose.
1. The home team has a choice of who shoots first.
2. Should the tie persist, we will continue 1 player (from each team)  at a time until the tie is broken (sudden death).  The team that goes second does get a chance to tie, should the first shooter of the team that shoots first scores.
3. If there is a player(s) serving  penalties at the end of regulation, those player(s) can not participate in the shootout.

***Respect the referees at all times. Should you have a situation you would like to discuss concerning a particular individual, we have appointed a referee-in-chief who is available to you, he does not have the power to change a referee's decision. However, we have advised our refereeing staff to treat coaches with respect and they will expect the same in return. They will not exercise any patience when being sworn, screamed or gestured at.

The Tournament Director has the final word on the interpretation of the rules.