USA Hockey Rules

Except as provided herein, the applicable rules of USA Hockey and EPCS shall apply to all games played by teams competing in the EPCS, including mouth guard regulations.

Tournament Game Structure:

• Teams will be given a minimum of 3 hours in between the end of the first game and the start of the second game.
• Teams must be prepared to start their game fifteen (15) minutes prior to the scheduled start time in the event games are ahead of schedule. Players must be ready to step onto the ice when the Zamboni finishes between games.
• All games will start on clean ice with a 5-minute warm-up
• Ice resurfaces:
  • There will be 1 ice resurface at the completion of the 2^nd period for all age levels
• Games will not be subject to a curfew

Game Rules:

• Round Robin:
  • Each EPCS Tournament Round Robin Game is worth 3 points:
    • 3 points: Regulation Win
    • 2 points: Overtime Win
    • 1 point: Overtime Loss
    • 0 points: Regulation Loss

• Overtime:
  • Tied After Regulation:
    • If a game ends in a tie after regulation, there will be a 5-minute sudden death 3 on 3 overtime
    • If still tied at the end of sudden death, a 3 man shoot out will be used until a winner is declared
  • Sudden Death OT Rules

• A 1-minute rest period will occur at the end of the 3^rd period and the beginning of overtime
• Teams WILL switch sides
• Penalized players at the end of regulation cannot leave the penalty box during the rest period
  • When regulation time ends and a team is 5 on 4, teams will start overtime 4 on 3. Once player strength reaches 4 on 4, at the next stoppage of play, player strength is adjusted to 3 on 3, as appropriate.
  • At no time, will a team have less than three (3) players on the ice.

• Shoot Out Rules
  • If still tied at the end of sudden death, a 3 man shoot out will be used until a winner is declared
    • If a player is serving a penalty, she/he is unable to participate in the shootout
    • All skaters must be utilized before any skater can shoot for the second time
    • The home team shoots last in each round

• Seeding Tie Breakers:

NOTE: The maximum goal differential for any game is 7 goals

• • Tie breaker formulas: The following tie-breaker formulas will be used to determine the order of finish (seeding) after regular series play:
    • Head-to-head competition (direct play between two tied teams)
    • Most overall regulation wins
    • Most overall wins (regulation and overtime)
    • Goal differential (GF-GA)
    • Fewest goals allowed overall
    • Lowest total penalty minutes
    • Coin toss (home team declares “heads” or “tails” when the coin is in the air)

• General game rules:
  • USA Hockey and Hockey Canada roster:
    • All teams must submit their certified USA Hockey (1-T)/Hockey Canada roster 14 days prior to the start date of the EPCS tournament event
      • There are NO roster changes permitted during the event weekend
    • Any player and/or team official on the players’ bench or in the team’s penalty box must be listed on the team’s USA Hockey or Hockey Canada roster
    • Only players (including goaltenders) listed on the certified team roster may play in the tournament games
      • Players can only be rostered on one (1) team and will NOT be allowed to play for multiple teams, regardless of age classification
      • In the event of urgent need for an emergency goalie, a substitute player’s eligibility will be determined by the Tournament Director and approved on a case-by-case basis

• Rest time:
  • At the end of the first and second periods, the timekeeper shall immediately run one (1) minute rest time on the game clock and the next period shall begin promptly thereafter
• Warm-up clock shall start immediately after both teams enter the ice
• Each team may utilize one (1) time out per game of 30 seconds in length during the game, regulation or overtime
• Running clock:
  • During any game at any level, if at any time during the third period, a team has a seven (7) or greater goal lead a running clock will commence until the goal differential becomes four (4)
    • The on-ice officials shall direct the scorekeeper to stop a running clock, in the event of an on-ice injury, a goal, or an assessment of a penalty or any event that in their judgment warrants stopping the game clock
• Penalty time will follow the game clock (i.e., stop-time if stop-time and running-time if running-time).
• Penalty time shall follow the 2/5/10 minute format.
  • Under running-time conditions, players must remain in the Penalty box until the puck is dropped if the penalty expires during the stoppage of play.
• The maximum goal differential for any game is 7 goals
• Any game that is forfeited will be scored as 7-0
• Uniform:
  • The Home and Away teams are designated on the schedule
  • Home team shall wear LIGHT jerseys and Away team shall wear DARK jerseys
  • All jerseys must have a player number clearly displayed with a corresponding number on the team roster. Jerseys with taped numbers or jerseys without numbers will not be permitted to be worn

Referees:

• Scorekeeping:
  • EPCS will provide scorekeepers for all games
  • An electronic scoring system will be utilized

NOTE: it is recommended for team managers to bring 3 roster stickers per game in the event the electronic scoring system malfunctions

• • The Head Coach is responsible to verify current roster and indicate suspensions prior to the start of each game
• Teams shall participate in a handshake at the completion of the game

Only registered officials holding USA Hockey referee cards shall referee EPCS events. USA Hockey rules are enforced.

NOTE: There will be NO overturn of any rules and/or judgment applied by on-ice officials, including but not limited to player suspensions.

Coaches:

• All coaches must be current with all necessary USA Hockey and Hockey Canada certifications, including but not limited to, background checks and SafeSport training

Suspensions:

• If any team official or player is serving a suspension, she/he may not sit on or near the player bench of her/his team or in any way attempt to direct the play of her/his team.
• Players and team officials serving any suspension will be considered “ineligible players” for every game in which they participate, until their suspension is served.
• When a game suspension is being served, it must be clearly marked on the scoresheet. The team with the suspended player or team official shall include the name of the suspended player or team official and the total number of games being served.
• All suspensions will be served in the team’s next scheduled game(s) for that team.
• If a team official or player violates her/his suspension, he/she is subject additional discipline, including but not limited to individual suspensions, team suspensions and game forfeitures.

Off-Ice Officials:

• The conduct of any timekeeper and scorekeeper shall be governed by the applicable USA Hockey rules governing off-ice officials. (See the “USA Hockey Off-Ice Officiating Manual” for further information about the responsibilities of off-ice officials).

Zero Tolerance:

• The EPCS supports USA Hockey’s Zero-Tolerance Policy. In order to achieve the objective of teaching good sportsmanship to our players, it is imperative that spectators conduct themselves appropriately. Each team shall take action to ensure that spectators are not abusive to officials, players, team officials or other spectators. Failure to do so could result in team suspension or game forfeiture, such penalty to be decided by the Tournament Director for the age division in which the Zero-Tolerance incident occurred.
• Each EPCS team is responsible for educating and monitoring this policy with the parents and spectators of their team or club.
• Any parent or spectator assessed a Zero Tolerance penalty will receive a suspension of the involved parent or spectator of at least the next one (1) EPCS tournament game scheduled for the team involved. If the parent or spectator violates such a suspension, Elite Prospects Hockey Director and/or SuperSeriesAAA Hockey Director shall have the authority to impose additional discipline, including but not limited to team suspensions or game forfeitures.

Hotel Policy- Stay and Play:

• The EPCS Tournament events are a stay-to-play event, and each team/organization will receive a hotel link to use designated hotels for the duration of the event.
• Hotels must be reserved and booked 4 weeks from the start of the EPCS event start date
• Any team with less than 70% of their registered team roster not booked in the designated hotel, the EPCS reserves the right to charge a $1500 fee

NOTE: local teams within a 45-mile radius, when traveling back and forth, are not required to secure a hotel

• Complimentary rooms are not guaranteed. The following is the complimentary room policy: One (1) complimentary guest room, per team, per night for every 16 guest rooms occupied and paid for each night within the official team block, over the tournament dates. The complimentary room is applied to the 16^th room reserved by the team. Teams that appear to qualify for a complimentary room will receive an email with instructions the week of the event on how to designate the recipient of the complimentary room. Please make sure all rooms for coaches are booked prior to the cutoff date.
• Please note that the guest receiving complimentary rooms will be required to check in with a credit card. Once the actual pickup is confirmed by the hotel following team check-in, comp room nights will be awarded at checkout (some hotels credit eligible stays back to the credit card the day following the event). Comps are awarded based on actual pickup, not reservations.