ORMHA House League Tournament Rules

1. General Conduct

• ORMHA and HEO rules apply. The referee’s decision in all matters concerning the application of the rules of the game, and the decision of the Tournament Committee regarding all aspects of the conduct of the tournament, shall be final.
• ZERO Tolerance: Taunting or berating of any players, officials, staff, tournament volunteers or any other participants in the tournament by parents, players, team officials or other spectators will NOT be tolerated under any circumstances. The ORMHA Tournament Committee reserves the right to eject any person whom it deems to be acting in an improper manner and we accept no liability in connection with such ejections.

2. Registration

• Applicant teams must be participants in a minor hockey association; no all-star or select teams will be accepted. If an all-star or select team is found to be playing in the tournament, all games will be forfeited as well as tournament registration fees.
• All divisions are non-checking.
• The team manager, coach or designate must check in with the registration desk 30 minutes prior to each game for the Winter Classic Tournament.
• Upon check in, teams will provide and affix their team roster labels to the game sheet.
• The tournament committee may require a team to start up to 15 minutes prior to their scheduled start time.
• All players must participate in at least one round-robin game to play in the semi-finals or final (unless serving a suspension). If a team is unable to substantiate its line-up to the satisfaction of the tournament committee, the team will be disqualified from the tournament and no refund shall be given.
• Each team must supply a qualified Trainer (minimum Level 1 for House League) for each game.
• Teams must bring with them their official branch-issued roster or player cards.
• It is the responsibility of a team official to collect a copy of the tournament game sheet following each game and to ensure that game point allocations are correct for that game. It is the responsibility of the team to ensure that all applicable suspensions are served.
• There will be no refunds of registration fees.
• Each team shall pump fists with gloves on in sportsmanlike fashion after each game is played.

3. Equipment

• Each player must be fully equipped in compliance with HEO rules, including BNQ throat/neck guard. Chinstraps must be fastened to helmet. Exceptions for out of assocation rules must be reviewed with the tournament convenor prior to start of tournament.
• The Home team shall wear white and the Visitor shall wear a dark colour. When it is determined that there is insufficient colour contrast between the colours of the sweaters, the Home team will be asked to change sweaters (where possible). 

4. Affiliated Players (as per HEO)

• Prior to a team placing a player’s name on its team list as an affiliate, that team must receive permission from the team to which the player is a registered member.
• Permission to use an affiliated player must be obtained on a game by game basis from the player’s original team as per Hockey Canada Regulation E.22 (E) & E.40.
• For more information, refer to: http://www.heominor.ca/

5. Format

• Each team will play three round-robin games. At the conclusion of round-robin play the following playoff format will be followed based on how many teams are at the particular division:
• Playoff format - Divisions with:
  • 16 Team Division – First place team from each of the 4 pools advance to Semi Finals (1v4, 2v3).
  • 12 Team Divisions – Three pool winners + 1 Wild Card team will advance to the Semi Finals (Wild Card will not play against own pool winner)
  • 10 Team Divisions – Top four teams advance to Semi Finals (1v4, 2v3).
  • 8 Team Division – Top two teams in each pool advance to Semi Finals and play crossed over (1v2).
  • 6 Team Division  – Top 4 teams move on to the semis.  1v4 and 2v3

6. Game Duration

• There will be a two-minute warm-up before each game; the curfew clock will start once the referees are on the ice.
• All games will consist of 10-10-10 stop-time periods OR a 50 Minute Curfew Clock, whichever comes first.
• A mercy rule will apply if there is a five (5) goal spread in the score at any time in the third period, in which case the clock will convert to running time. Stop time will be resumed if the goal spread becomes 4 or less once running time has started.
• If an infraction occurs during running time, the clock stops when the penalty is assessed, and running time resumes at puck drop. Penalty durations during running time are as follows:
  • Minor penalties in running time will be three minutes.
  • Major penalties in running time remain five minutes.
• There is no overtime or time-outs in round-robin play. Penalties for delay of game will be strictly enforced by the referees. 
• Teams will be allowed one 30 second time-out in Championship games only.
• During the round robin, games will end within the allotted time of 50 minutes regardless of how much time is left on the scoreboard clock. During playoffs, teams will be allowed to complete all 3 periods.

7. Overtime

• There will be no overtime in round robin games.
• For Semi Final and Final games, ties will be settled with a single five minute stop-time sudden death period. Each team will be reduced to 3 on 3 play. Penalties are carried over into overtime (although a team can have no fewer than 3 skaters on at any time).
• There will be no change of ends, and no break, between the end of the regular time and the start of overtime.
• If the score is still tied after the overtime period, the tie will be broken by a simultaneous shootout. Before the start of overtime, each coach must submit the names of three players to participate in the shootout. All team members must have taken a shot before any player can shoot again. The shootout is the best of three, with the fourth and subsequent shots sudden death after each team has had an equal number of shots on net. If still tied after each player has shot, players shoot in reverse order.

8. Tournament Standings

• The round-robin standings will be determined by the following criteria.
  • Win 2 points
  • Tie 1 point
  • Loss 0 points
• If, at the end of the round-robin play, there is a tie in the standings, the winning teams will be identified according to the following criteria and in the following order:
  • Winner of the game between the two tied teams (two-way tie only)
  • Most wins
  • Goal differential [GF/(GF+GA)]**max + 5 goal differential from each game.
  • Lowest number of goals against
  • Team with the most goals for
  • Lowest number of penalty minutes accumulated in round robin play
  • Coin toss by the tournament coordinator or designated representative

Note: In the event that three or more teams are tied, there will be no reverting back to a previous tie-breaking step as each seed is determined.

9. Protests

• No appeals will be entertained and the decision of the referee is final.
• Should an issue fall outside the parameters of these rules, any decision can only be adjudicated by a member of the ORMHA Tournament Committee. Their decision will be final. No other person is permitted nor authorized to either approve or adjudicate matters arising from conflicts within this tournament.