Tournament Director:

The Tournament Director shall be responsible for resolving all inquiries or disputes regarding off-ice rule application or interpretation, player eligibility, disciplinary action or any other procedural disputes. He or she will not overturn any dispute concerning rules and/or the judgment applied by on-ice officials. All decisions of the Tournament Director are final.

Player Eligibility:

A player may only play for one team in his own age group. A player must appear on the official roster. Every team must be USA Hockey or Hockey Canada registered for Insurance purposes.

Jerseys:

Home and visiting teams are indicated on the tournament schedule. Home teams shall wear light colored jerseys. Visitors will wear dark jerseys. All jerseys must have a player number clearly displayed.

Equipment:

All players in the tournament are required to wear a neck guard. Mouth Guards are mandatory, unless your home organization does not require you to wear one. Mouth guards should be colored – non-clear mouth guards.

Early Start Option:

All teams must be prepared to play their games fifteen (15) minutes prior to 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. Please have your teams prepared.

Penalty Box:

Each team is responsible for providing its own penalty box attendant

Warm Ups:

A three (3) minute warm up will take place before the start time of the game. Pucks will NOT be provided. Please bring warm up pucks for your team.

Time Outs:

One 30 second time out is permitted per team per game.

Length of Periods:

All games will be 3 x 15 min periods. Games will have an ice cut after the 2^nd period and end of game. All games must have a winner, and will not end in a tie.

Period Break:

There will be a one (1) minute break between each period.

Mercy Rule:

The mercy rule shall be in effect. If a team at any point during the third period is leading by 7 or more goals the clock will revert to running time. If the difference is reduced to 3 goals or less, the clock will revert back to stop time.

Officials:

All on-ice officials are currently and completely registered and in good standing with USA Hockey and their respective State Association or the international Ice Hockey Federation, (llHF). Games will be played under USA Hockey rules. Please note that SSAAA cannot change or alter decisions made by USA Hockey officials.

Penalties/Match Penalties:

Penalty times will be as follows: Minor 2:00 minutes, Major 5:00 minutes, Misconduct 10:00 minutes. Any player and/or team official who is in receipt of a match penalty or gross misconduct will be suspended for any remaining games and subject to USA Hockey and Hockey Canada discipline. Any player that receives a second major penalty will result in an ejection from the remaining games of the weekend.

On Ice Altercations:

Eastern Exposure Series abides by the rules and regulations set forth by USA Hockey. If a game is interrupted by on ice fighting between players and /or bench staff, then the clock will continue to run. Games times will not be restored until the whistle has blown on the play that immediately follows the on-ice fight. Minutes lost will not be restored.

Division Scoring:

All divisions will be scored per game as follows:

1. a)  3 points for a regulation win
2. b)  2 points for an OT/SO win.
3. c)  1 point for an OT/SO loss.
4. d)  0 points for a regulation loss.

Overtime

If the game ends in a tie, teams will then proceed to a 5-minute period of sudden death 3 on 3. Teams will switch ends and be in the further net from their bench. If the game remains tied, each team will select three (3) players to participate in the shootout. Please reference Eligible Players for a Shootout below.

Eligible Players for a Shootout

1. Each team will select three (3) players to participate in the shootout.
2. If a player is serving a penalty, he is unable to participate in the shootout
3. Once a player shoots, he/she is no longer eligible to participate until every player on the bench (excluding goaltenders, players serving penalties and/or players that are injured) has shot at least once.
4. The home team decides who shoots first.
5. Once all three rounds of players have finished their attempts, the team with the most goals is declared the winner.
6. If, after all six (6) players have finished their attempts, the game remains tied then each team will start the fourth round by selecting one (1) player who has not yet participated in the shootout.
7. The shootout will then continue, one player at a time, with each team having an equal number of turns.
8. During the fourth round and beyond, the team that scores first, with the other failing to score, is declared the winner.

Tie Breakers: 

In the event of a tie for playoff seeding, the following criteria will be used to determine the team’s placement. If more than 2 teams tied, skip to tiebreaker 2:

1. Head to Head (Only if 2 teams are tied)
2.  Total Wins
3.  Most Regulation Wins
4. Best goal differential (GF - GA)
5. Fewest goals against.
6.   Fewest Penalty Minutes during the Round Robin
7. Coin toss.

Forfeited Games:

Any forfeited games will be recorded as a 3-0 score.

Goal Differential:

The maximum goal differential attainable per game is +/- 7.