Tournament Rules

All games are played under current USA Hockey rules unless modified below.

Teams must be USA Hockey registered and in good standing.

Players must wear full protective equipment as required by USA Hockey.

All players must present a valid USA Hockey registration card before playing.

Coaches must be USA Hockey registered and display a current coaching certificate.

Game officials are assigned by the tournament director and their decisions are final.

All games consist of three periods with a two-minute intermission between periods.

Ice resurfacing does not occur during periods — the Zamboni runs only before the game and, if scheduled, between periods.

Regular season and pool play use a stop-time clock for all periods.

Running time may be used at the discretion of the tournament director when games fall behind schedule.

Championship games will always use a stop-time clock.

Standard USA Hockey offsides rules apply — players must clear the offensive zone before the puck enters.

Standard icing rules apply. Icing is waved off when a team is on a penalty kill.

Hybrid icing is used at the discretion of tournament officials.

Minor penalties: 2 minutes for all age groups, served in full.

Major penalties: 5 minutes — player is ejected from the game.

Misconduct: 10 minutes — team does not play short-handed.

Game misconduct: player is suspended for the remainder of the current game plus review for further action.

Fighting results in an automatic game misconduct and tournament suspension.

Any player receiving a game misconduct for contact to the head or boarding is subject to additional suspension.

Body checking is permitted in age groups where allowed by USA Hockey rules (15U and above).

12U and 14U divisions: no body checking. Penalties will be assessed for contact deemed intentional or aggressive.

8U and 10U: cross-checking, charging, and boarding penalties apply.

Pool play ties remain as ties — no overtime during preliminary rounds.

Championship bracket: tied games proceed to a 5-minute sudden death overtime period, 4-on-4.

If still tied after overtime, a 3-player shootout determines the winner.

The visiting team selects shooters first; home team selects order second.

If shootout remains tied after 3 shooters each, the shootout continues 1-on-1 sudden death until a winner is determined. All players must shoot before any player shoots twice.

Roster must be submitted to the tournament director before the first game.

Players may not play for more than one team in the same age division.

Guest players are permitted up to the roster limit with tournament director approval.

Age divisions are based on USA Hockey birth year cutoffs.

Any team found using an ineligible player will forfeit all games in which that player participated.

Each team receives one 30-second timeout per game.

Timeouts may be called during any stoppage of play.

Unused timeouts do not carry over to overtime.