SSWHL Meeting Minutes November 17, 2010 New England Sports Center

1. TREASURER’S REPORT - Louise Cardinale

· After the last meeting when several teams complained about the increased team fee of $4,698, the league went back and reviewed the schedule and gave some ice back. The season will now end in March but each team will have 25 games. THE NEW FEE FOR THE SEASON IS $4,500.

· The November 15 payment of $1,100 is now due.

· THE LAST PAYMENT DUE DECEMBER 15 WILL NOW BE $900.

· The two teams that have paid in full for the season should let Louise know if you wish to get a $200 refund or a credit towards next year.

· Laura Bowser has the revised budget available if anyone wants to review it.

· Several teams still have not returned their signed contracts. Please get your signed contracts to Louise immediately.

2. NESC UPDATE – Nick Cardinale

Some of the problems with Rink 6 scheduling have been avoided because we were able to give ice back.

New USA Hockey rules may have mites playing three games per rink which will create further parking problems at the rink. Players can park across the street, but may want to allow a little extra time.

3. SCHEDULER REPORT – Jill Depto

· The season will now end in March. There will be no games in April.

· Teams should be aware that all teams will have to play some Saturday games, some games in Bedford and some games in Canton or Milton. Teams have complained about the difficulties of fielding a team on Saturday night – but the fact is we have Saturday night ice and all teams will have to play some Saturday games.

· If you don’t mind or you actually like Saturday games, please let Jill know. She will give you more Saturday games which would be helpful with the scheduling challenges.

· A reminder that there will be no games scheduled on Super Bowl Sunday. However, there will be games scheduled for the Friday and Saturday nights of Super Bowl weekend.

4. AB DIVISION RENAMED A2

Jill proposed that we rename the AB division A2. There was some confusion because in the past the AB division played crossover games with both A and B teams. This season, the AB teams only play each other and A1 teams – there are no longer any crossover games with B teams. In addition, there was some confusion that AB players could sub for B level teams. This is not true. The motion was passed unanimously.

5. DIVISION REALIGNMENTS

Several teams requested that they move up or down one division:

· East Coast Wizards (currently B division) requested to move up to the A2 division – passed unanimously

· Lady Monarchs (currently C1 division) requested to move up to B division – passed unanimously

· RI Panthers (currently B division) requested to move down to C division – Teams present at the meeting felt that the style of play of the RI Panthers was more consistent with the B division (more youth and physicality). While the RI Panthers had several games where they lost by 5 or more goals, these losses seemed to be the result of a short bench and strong team members missing the game. While the Panthers did have a lot of losses, most games were close and competitive. The proposed move to the C division was unanimously rejected. The RI Panthers will remain in the B division.

· Nighthwawks Red (currently C1 division) requested to move down to C2 division – passed unanimously

· These changes even out the divisions and should make scheduling simpler. Summary of changes:

East Coast Wizards B – move up to A2

Lady Monarchs – move up to B

RI Panthers – remain in B

Nighthawks Rd – move down to C2

6. SUB RULE DISCUSSION

· Laura reminded players that subs may only be used to bring the total number of skaters on a team to ten. There was an instance where a team had 3 subs with a total of 10 skaters. One of their regular skaters showed up late for the game which would have given her team 11 skaters – so she ended up deciding to sit out the game. In a case like that (when a skater shows up late and brings the number of skaters to more than ten), one skater must leave the bench – either one of the subs or the player who showed up late. There should be no more than ten skaters on the bench if a team is using subs.

· All subs must be written in on the game sheet with their name and jersey number. Laura and Stacey review game sheets before posting stats and are seeing too many cases where a goal or assist or penalty is assigned to a player number that is not listed on the game sheet. It is particularly important for the league to be able to track which players are receiving penalties.

· If a team notices that their opponent may be violating the sub rule (e.g., they are using a sub who normally plays for a higher division, that a sub is not written in on the game sheet, their opponent has more than ten skaters and is using subs, etc.) then that team should raise the issue with the other coach and report it to Laura after the game.

· Laura is reviewing game sheets and has spoken to several players who were not adhering to the new sub rules.

7. CORRECTING LABELS ON GAME SHEETS

The discussion of the sub rule raised several issues about crossing players off the game sheet:

· If you are sure that a player will not be coming to the game, you should cross them off the game list.

· However, If there is some chance that a player may be late but will make it to the game, you should NOT cross them off the game list until the end of the game. See bullet below about why this is important.

· Under USA Hockey rules, a player can come into a game as long as there is time on the clock and they are listed on the game sheet. However, if you crossed that player off or they were not listed on the game sheet and they enter the game, then it is a bench minor penalty for every change that you make to your game sheet.

· Timekeepers are trying to count skaters at the end of the game and cross off those skaters who are still listed on the game sheet but are not on the ice. DO NOT GIVE THE TIMEKEEPERS A HARD TIME FOR DOING THEIR JOB. At the end of the game, the timekeepers are supposed to cross off those people who not on the ice.

· If you have a problem with any of the timekeepers at NESC, please call Nick.

8. NON-PLAYERS ON THE BENCH

Bill reminded teams that there are strict rules about who can be on the bench during games:

· Only coaches who are registered with USA Hockey as coaches may be on the bench. Boyfriends, girlfriends, parents, etc. are not allowed on the bench unless they are rostered and USA Hockey registered with your team.

· Injured players on the bench, if they are not registered as a coach for your team, must wear a helmet on the bench. Only registered coaches are not required to wear a helmet.

· Players can not bring their kids on the bench, even if they are wearing helmets.

9. A REMINDER TO PLEASE SIGN YOUR GAME SHEET

· Be sure to sign your sheet

· Please sign under the game labels so that it goes through to every sheet

10. PENALTIES

The number of penalties league wide have declined. However, while the number of penalties has come down, the type of penalties is still a problem. Laura wants teams to know that the league is watching several players who have a high number of penalties and/or consistently nasty penalties (body checking, etc.). This league is about having fun not hurting people.

NO LEAGUE MEETING SCHEDULED FOR DECEMBER