YOU ARE VEIWING A PAST SEASON.

MCAHA MISSION STATEMENT

The MCAHA strives to provide patrons with the opportunity to play ice hockey in a competitive, but recreational, organized league environment that is founded on the emphasized principles of fair play, sportsmanship, camaraderie and safety.

 

SPORTSMANSHIP AND CODE OF CONDUCT

All MCAHA players are expected to conduct themselves in a sportsmanlike manner and follow all rules as stated in the MCAHA Bylaws and this league playing guide. This includes, but is not limited to, respect for the officials, the scorekeepers, teammates, opponents, the patrons and Centennial Ice Arena Employees and facilities.

The MCAHA Board reserves the right and the authority to disqualify, suspend, or remove any player, spectator, or team which behaves in an unsportsmanlike manner before, during or after a game.  Players, spectators, and teams are expected to clean up after themselves and refrain from leaving a mess or otherwise damaging arena facilities.  

MCAHA enforces a zero-tolerance policy for abuse of officials and scorekeepers.  Abuse includes verbal, physical or otherwise.

 

RATE SKATES:

There will be four rate skates this preseason--Two in August and two in September.  Watch the website, rink calendar, or our facebook group to see when they will be scheduled. These are very important because a player must have a current MCAHA rating to be able to play in any league. NO exceptions.

We also encourage captains to come watch the rate skates to help us determine a consensus for initial ratings for players, and as an opportunity to scout for new players if you need to fill spots on your roster.

 

SEASON LENGTH

Season will be 20 games, played Sundays through Thursdays, starting November 7th and concluding late March/early April. 

 

2020-2021 LEAGUE FEES

SKATER FEES:

$300 Individual player per team for Rec/Advanced/Elite divisions.  No discounts offered for playing in multiple divisions.  A payment plan is available with $50.00 being due at the time of registration, with five payments of $50.00 per month following.  If a skater wishes to also play goalie for a different team in a different league, please contact the Board.  We may be able to place you as a goalie without additional cost, if we have more teams than goalies registered.

 

GOALIE FEES:

$100 Flat fee and may play goalie for up to two teams (separate divisions).  There is no payment plan for this registration.

 

GREENHORN PROGRAM:

Flat $150 fee for 20 icetimes of instructions and scrimmage.

 

TEAM ROSTER SUBMISSION:

There is a new registration process for team captains to submit team rosters that will run from July 1st through September 30th.  The team roster registration link will be on the front page of our website MCAHABillings.com.  Please indicate on the roster submission if you have available spots for unrostered players on your team.

Team Roster Size: Min: 14  Max:18

 

FREE AGENTS:

Due to the growing number of participants in the MCAHA, we will allow players that do not currently have a team to register as a Free Agent. The MCAHA will try to accommodate Free Agent Players by creating additional teams or adding players to existing teams on a first come first serve basis, but we cannot guarantee placement on a team. Free Agents that are not placed on a team will have their entire fees refunded.

 

PLAYER RATINGS

All players will be rated on a 1-10 scale.  Ratings are developed by the Player Ratings Subcommittee with input from the previous season’s Captains, referencing the USA Hockey rating system, and previous season statistics. 

Letter Grade	Rating Definition	MCAHA Number	USA Hockey Resource Guide Level
D	Considered the Novice Level of Player. Generally, players started as adults	1,2,3	Novice/Bronze
C	Considered Intermediate level players. Generally, players in this category may be experienced Adult Recreational Players or may have played up to Midget or High School in a non-traditional hockey area.	4,5,6	Bronze/Intermediate
B	This Player is an Advanced Level Adult Player with high basic hockey skills. Generally, players in this category played High School Varsity Level, Junior C or Competitive Midget	7,8,9	Silver
A	Players that have mastered the basic skills of the game and would be considered an Elite Level Adult Player. Players in this category have played at the highest levels of organized hockey or professionally.	10	Gold

 

DIVISIONS:

The MCAHA offers 3 divisions of competitive play as well as a NEW developmental division intended to be a way for newer players to participate in the sport before moving to the competitive divisions.

 

GREENHORN

This is a new option planned for up to 20 skaters with priority given to those brand new to hockey. The format will be a set weekly hour long icetime. The first 30-40 minutes will be drills/practice leaving about 20-30 minutes of scrimmage at the end. This will also be available for skill levels 1-3 should there be extra room in the program.  All players without hockey experience will be required to play in this division for one year before being eligible to play in a higher division.  (Current 1 level players are highly encouraged to participate in this offering to increase your skills/knowledge of the game. Rec division will be faster this season, and team captains may be faced with hard decisions of who to keep and still keep the team competitive.)

 

RECREATIONAL:

Designed to be a slower paced league for D and low to mid level C Players. Generally, players in this league have started playing as adults and are fairly new to the game of hockey. 

• Player Ratings 1-5

• Team Average: 3.0 max

• Teams are allowed up to 4 mid to low C players (4 and 5 rated players).

 

ADVANCED:

Designed to be the intermediate division of play for C and lower and mid B Players. Generally, these players have played Youth Hockey briefly or have progressed their skill enough through Adult Hockey. 

• Player Ratings 4-8

• Team Average: 5.5 max

• Teams are allowed up to 4 mid to low B Players (7 and 8 rated players).

 

ELITE:

Designed to be the highest division of play for A and B players. This will include players that may have once played at a high level (former pros, college and junior players, college club, midget and travel, etc) and have mastered the speed and skill of the game, and feel confident playing at this level. 

• Player Ratings 7-10

• Team Average: 8.5max

• Teams are allowed up to 4 A Players (10 rated players).

 

PLAYERS OUTSIDE LEAGUE PARAMETERS

The MCAHA strives to create leagues with parameters that yield similarly skilled teams. However, we understand that camaraderie is also a foundational building block of our association’s success. With that in mind, we will be allowing players with lower ratings to participate in higher paced leagues. Lower rated players will not count toward a teams average to prevent stacking and the following conditions must be met:

• A captain is willing to add a lower rated player as one of their 18 max roster spots

• The team’s roster is compliant with or without the lower skilled player

The MCAHA will never force a player outside of the leagues parameters on a team and we encourage players to play in leagues that are appropriate to their skill levels. We want to offer the opportunity for players to play with friends without sacrificing league integrity.

 

PLAYER SUBSTITUTIONS:

This season we are piloting the ability to use substitute players in games as long as they are registered and rostered within the same division (similar to our past use of goalie subs). Captains will be given a list of players who have indicated willingness to be a sub at the beginning of the season. We will be monitoring this for abuse/stacking.  Team skill averages still apply as does the max number of high level players per team. The board encourages captains and refs to notify a board member if you see a team rule violation within 48 hours. We will research the potential infraction, and if verified, the game will be modified as a forfeit for the team who violated the team rules.

The requirements to use a sub will be as follows:

-Only an option if the team in question has less than 10 rostered players for the game.

-Captain has to notify the scorekeeper AND opposing team captain of the substitution before the game starts.

-All substitutions are expected to be like-for like. (Example, if you are missing a 4 skill level, replace it with a 4 skill level or lower.)

 

LEAGUE PARITY

Despite player ratings, the Board reserves the right to move players if their actual level of play is deemed more appropriate for another division. The Board may also choose to shift players within divisions in attempts to maintain some level of league parity.  Any such moves would include consultation with the affected team captains and involved players.

 

CAPTAINS

Captains will be held to a higher standard than players and have the following responsibilities:

• Create a team per guidelines in this Season Playing Guide and Association Bylaws.
• Obtain on their own or work with the board to ensure each team has necessary jerseys.
• Light and dark jerseys, with individual numbers, are required for each player on each team..
• Recruit substitute players/goaltenders per guidelines in this Season Playing Guide, and make sure your team roster conforms to team rules for each and every game.
• Manage helmet sticker distribution for your team.
• Consult on Player Ratings at the end of the season.
• Make every effort to attend as many monthly Open MCAHA Meetings as possible

 

TRADES

Captains may initiate player trades within their division. Once the captains agree upon a trade, it must be brought before the MCAHA Board for approval. Trades may not drop or boost the involved team’s ratings outside of the listed parameters.  The involved players may not play for 48 hours after the trade to give the registrar time to adjust the rosters.

 

GAME FORMAT

Games will consist of: 

• 3-minute warm-up before the game starts.
• 1st and 2nd period 15-minute run time with 1-minute intermission after periods.
• 3rd period 15-minute stop time.
• One 30 second timeout is allowed per game per team.
• Overtime will be a best of 3 shootout.  During the initial shootout, players will alternate shootout attempts beginning with the visiting team.  If tied after 3 shooters, the shootout will move to sudden death elimination with shooters making their attempts at the same time.  All players (except goalie) must shoot before any player may repeat.
• Teams earn 2 points for a win, 0 points for loss, 1 for a shootout loss.

Players are allowed 3 goals per game. If a player scores more than the allotted 3 goals, they will receive a verbal warning for the 4th goal (and goal will not count).  The subsequent faceoff will be in the defending zone of the offending team.  A Delay of Game Penalty will be assessed to any player scoring additional goals after receiving the warning.  A player that has scored 3 goals and is awarded a penalty shot may still take said penalty shot (and goal counts).  A player that has not scored 3 goals and is awarded a penalty shot, if scored, will count towards the 3-goal limit. 

 

PENALTIES

Minor penalties will be 3-minutes in duration during run time periods and 2-minutes during stop time periods.  If a minor penalty carries over from a run time period to a stop time period, the following actions will be taken:

• If the penalty has more than 2-minutes left to be served, time will be dropped to 2- minutes at the start of the 3rd period.
• If the penalty has less than 2-minutes left to be served, no time change will be applied.

Major Penalties will be 7-minutes in duration during run time periods and 5-minutes during stop time periods.  If a major penalty carries over from a run time period to a stop time period, the following actions will be taken:

• If the penalty has more than 5-minutes left to be served, time will be dropped to 5- minutes at the start of the 3rd period.
• If the penalty has less than 5-minutes left to be served, no time change will be applied.

Misconduct Penalties will be 10-minutes in duration regardless of run time or stop time periods.

Any player that receives 3 penalties in one game will receive a Game Ejection with no additional suspension (unless necessitated by other called penalties).  

• Note, the calling of a double-minor, minor plus misconduct, or major plus misconduct all count as two individual penalties towards the 3-penalty rule.

 

HELMET STICKERS (NEW REQUIREMENT):

This year we will be providing and requiring stickers for helmets in each division. This change is intended to help captains/refs/board identify when a player shouldn’t be on the ice either because they play in a different division or they are not properly registered/rostered.  Anyone playing in a MCAHA event that is not properly registered /rostered with the league and USA Hockey jeopardizes our insurance coverage.   Most larger programs use some sort of identification method before each game is played, and the board feels this is the easiest option to implement. (If you change helmets mid-season you will need to remove your old sticker and trade it for a new one with a member of the board.) Consequences of playing without a sticker are as follows:

• Player is registered with the league and USA Hockey rostered with the league, but does not have sticker

  1. First offense - Verbal warning 

  2. Multiple offenses - Game Forfeit and 3 game suspension for every game played without sticker

• Player that is not registered with the league or USA Hockey and DOES NOT have a sticker:

  1. Game Forfeit and 3 game suspension served by the team captain for every game ineligible players play

• Player that is not registered with the league or USA Hockey and DOES have a sticker

  1. Game Forfeit and 3 game suspension served by the team captain for every game ineligible player plays 

  2. Supplementary discipline may be issued to captain that could include loss of privilege/ability to serve as team captain

 

MCAHA ISSUED JERSEYS

While each team is encouraged to provide their own jerseys, it is understood that under some circumstances that may not be possible.  MCAHA shall maintain a small number of jersey sets that may be rented to teams on a season by season basis.  

Jerseys purchased and printed by the MCAHA will have the League logo on the front, a number printed on the back, and will be one of the 5 designated colors:

• Red

• Blue

• Yellow

• Black

• White