WARNING: In all cases, the applicable USAH Rules and league Rule/Guide Books will supercede anything written on this page. This information is provided so Coaches and Managers have one summary of all Rules around penalties. For further information, consult:
USA Hockey Rulebook
WNYAHL Guidebook - go to www.wnyahl.net and it is posted on the front page
EAHC (Empire House) Guidebook - go to www.empirehockey.org Documents page and page down to the Documents for the current season
Summary of the 2017-18 Playing Rules Changes is in the DOCUMENT BELOW!
Players who receive a Minor plus Misconduct (2+10) for Check from Behind, Charging, Boarding or Head Contact (HC) have NOT received a MAJOR penalty! However, these penalties may be upgraded to a Major plus Game Misconduct if there is an injury or significant intent to injure in the referees judgement (Note: your coaching staff's judgement is irrelevant). Also, note that USA Hockey does not recognize the concept of an Aggressive Play Penalty as defined by WNYAHL and EAHC. This is a LOCAL, LEAGUE based rule. Leagues and Tournaments can make rules more strict but can not relax any USA Hockey Rule.
Every Game Misconduct carries an automatic One (1) Game Suspension. Many Game Misconducts have an associated Five Minute Major although some may not for example: Game Misconducts for Abuse of Referees (Rule 601), Player receiving Five (5) Penalties in a Game, Player receiving a Second (2nd) Misconduct or a Head Coach whose team receives Fifteen (or more) penalties.
Any Player or Coach who receives a Match Penalty is suspended from ALL on ice activity (practices and games) for ALL USA Hockey sanctioned teams or programs they participate on (WYHA or JV) until a hearing is held.
The following two rules may also apply to a Game Misconduct or Match penalty thus increasing the suspensions required.
USA Hockey Rule 411 states that any player who receives their third (3rd) Five Minute MAJOR penalty in a season must serve a three game suspension. Receiving a 4th Major penalty results in a five game suspension. Receiving a fifth Major penalty results in suspension until a hearing is held. Review this USA Hockey Rule on the USA Hockey website for a list of applicable Major Penalties but in general, Coaches should assume that all Majors apply except those from Fighting which are covered in the Rule below.
USA Hockey Rule 615 (f) states: Any player who receives a second major penalty for fighting with the same team during the same season shall receive a three-game suspension. For a third fighting major with the same team in the same season, the player shall be suspended until a hearing is conducted by the proper authorities under Rule 410 Supplementary Discipline.
All league games shall be played using stop time penalties as follows for Pee Wee and Above:
Minor 2 minutes Major 5 minutes Misconduct 10 minutes
For Squirt and below the penalty times are as follows:
Minor 1.5 minutes Major 5 minutes Misconducts 10 minutes
1) It is mandatory that a legible copy of the original game scoresheet involving Game Misconduct’s, and/or Match Penalties in league, non-league, or tournament games in or out of Western New York, shall be mailed to the Division Statistician within twenty-four (24) hours of the completion of the game, along with notification using the “report a misconduct” form on the WNYAHL web site, email, or telephone notification to the Division Statistician or league designee, within twenty-four (24) hours. this is the same for out of state tournaments. There are two forms available on the website: one for game misconducts and another for Match penalties only.
2) ***For the current season, the league designee is
Janice J. Cavaretta janice@nyregistrar.com
Send all scoresheets to:
scoresheets@nyregistrar.com
WNYAHL Statistics
P.O. Box 280
Dewittville, NY 14728
The responsibility of mailing and notification shall be that of the team who received the penalty.
3) Failure to comply with the reporting of Game misconduct penalties and/or Match penalties within 24 hours will result in a $50.00 fine and an additional 1 game suspension to the coach. Multiple infractions by the same team may result in additional discipline.
4) All Suspensions will be served in the team’s next scheduled game(s) already on the schedule. The scheduling of additional games for the purpose of satisfying a player or coach’s suspension is not allowed and the suspended personnel will not be allowed to participate until the suspension is satisfied in the next game(s) already on the schedule.
5) Teams traveling to Canada will abide by Hockey Canada rules while playing in Canada including those rules referencing suspensions. All suspensions incurred while playing games in Canada will carry over to WNYAHL play.
6) Upon notification from the statistician all penalties, game misconduct’s, and match penalties will be reviewed by the disciplinary panel.
7) Excessive team penalty minutes: If a team has an excessive amount of penalty minutes (above the average for that division) a warning letter will be sent to the organization and coach. The coach will be required to respond to the warning letter in writing addressing what measures they will take to curtail the penalties. The coach will have 7 days to respond or be suspended from participating in any WNYAHL activities until the letter is received.
8) In addition, all coaches and players must abide by the leagues aggressive play policy.
9) If deemed necessary, disciplinary action will be taken, pending the outcome of a hearing, as defined in section I and J supplemental discipline and following the guidelines set forth by NYSAHA and USA Hockey for conducting hearings.
Fighting – all fighting penalties in WNYAHL play before during or after the game shall incur a (2) two game suspension to the offending player(s) in addition to the USAH suspension.
Players: For the purposes of this policy the following infractions are defined as “Aggressive Play Penalties”: any Match penalty, any of the major penalties, plus any Checking from Behind, Boarding, intent to injure, body checking, butt ending, kicking, kneeing, spearing and all
Head Contact penalties
a) Any Player who incurs five Aggressive Play Penalties during a Season in any combination would, following the fifth such penalty, be suspended for one (1) additional game in addition to any other suspensions that are incurred for the infractions. Any aggressive type penalty thereafter would carry an automatic game suspension.
b) Upon the sixth such penalty the player would be required to appear before the WNYAHL Disciplinary hearing panel or its designee for the purpose of reviewing (with the player and head coach as well as the parents of the player) the penalties that have occurred and
the concern that this raises with the League.
c) Violations of the policy to the extent that the circumstances relating to the penalties incurred warrant, the disciplinary panel to take action for a second time would result in supplementary discipline by way of suspension for up to five games above and beyond any mandatory suspensions served to date.
d) A player, who has appeared before the Disciplinary Panel twice under this rule and incurs a match penalty for an aggressive play penalty, will be automatically suspended from all WNYAHL Activities for the duration of the season including playoffs, and championship games. A request will also be made to the section President to extend the suspension to all USA Hockey activities.
Head Coach: a coach whose team has incurred eight of more Designated Aggressive play penalties over a five game period will be required to respond in writing to the disciplinary chair within 5 days, addressing the penalty issue and their coaching methods. For this purpose, “Designated Aggressive Play Penalties” shall be the penalties relating to Checking From Behind, head contact, Boarding, intent to injure, game misconducts and match penalties. The team’s Manager will be required to attend the hearing also. The coach and the manager will be expected to explain the steps that they are taking to curtail this behavior. If not satisfactory to the Disciplinary Panel, then supplementary discipline can be imposed by the Disciplinary Panel at its discretion. The coach will be placed on a one year probationary period.
a) The Head Coach of the Team for each player who appears before the Disciplinary Panel under this policy will also be required to appear with the player. The Head Coach will be asked to explain what steps he or she has taken, both with the team and with this player to reduce the incidence of Aggressive Play. Where circumstances warrant, the panel can impose supplementary discipline on the Head Coach by way of a suspension for up to three games.
Penalties that occur in a EAHC Regular Season or Playoff Game may have additional EAHC imposed suspensions for exceeding a penalty minute threshold, exceeding a Aggressive Play threshold or exceeding the number of allowed Major Penalties (players) or Game Misconducts (coaches). Please contact your EAHC Commissioner about these suspensions whenever you suspect you have a player or coach close to one of these limits.
NEW for 2015-16 Season: In addition, EAHC requires that all (5 minute) Major, Game Misconduct and Match Penalties incurred in any League, Playoff, Scrimmage or Tournament Games be reported via the "Report an Infraction" Form under the Forms menu at www.empirehockey.org
Any coach who receives three (3) Game Misconducts (excluding USA Hockey suspensions for a head coach whose team receives 15 penalties in one game) or player who receives three (3) Major Penalties during any given season shall forfeit their eligibility for the remainder of the season and playoffs. A player or coach may appeal the suspension within thirty (30) days
Accumulated penalties and misconducts exceeding:
Thirty (30) minutes for Squirts
Forty (40) minutes for Peewees
Fifty (50) minutes for Bantams
Seventy (70) minutes for Midgets
Incurs an automatic suspension for a minimum of two (2) Conference regular season or playoff games.
Additional penalties subsequently accumulated in fifteen (15) minute increments thereafter (20 minutes for Midget) including Playoff games, shall result in the player or coach automatically receiving an additional two (2) game suspension and the player or coach must attend a hearing before the Disciplinary Committee.
Team Staff are responsible for keeping track of a player’s penalty minutes.
Penalties considered to be Aggressive Play Penalties:
Minor plus Misconduct Penalties for:
Checking from Behind
Charging
Boarding
Head Contact
All 5 minute Major Penalties
All penalties designated as "intent to injure"
Any player who incurs five (5) aggressive play penalties during EAHC games in a season shall, following the fifth such penalty, be suspended for two (2) games (to be served in Conference/playoff games) in addition to any other suspensions that are incurred for the infractions.
Upon the sixth (and higher) penalty the player shall be suspended one additional EAHC game and required to appear before the EAHC Disciplinary Committee. This hearing shall occur within a time frame not to exceed thirty (30) days from the sixth (or higher) infraction. The purpose of this hearing is to review with the player, Head Coach and the parents of the player the penalties that have occurred and the potential injury concern to EAHC.
Every additional aggressive play penalty (7th, 8th, etc.) received thereafter shall result in an automatic additional EAHC game suspension.
A Head Coach shall be required to submit a letter to the Conference President, if his or her team has incurred seven (7) or more aggressive play penalties over any four game period. The Head Coach shall be expected to explain the steps that they are taking to curtail this behavior. If not satisfactory to the EAHC President and Commissioner, then a hearing shall be called before the EAHC Disciplinary Committee.
The Head Coach is responsible for tracking Aggressive Play penalties and ensuring that Conference suspensions are served in the next Conference game. Failure to have players serve their suspensions in the next Conference game shall result in the offending Head Coach serving an additional suspension equal to the number of games said suspensions were not served. Team officials are encouraged to seek advice on their player’s status from their Commissioner
