5.18 TOURNAMENTS & EXHIBITION GAMES
Representative Teams (A/AA & B/BB) will follow the ALLIANCE Hockey Tournament Policy which is released each year after the ALLIANCE Hockey Structure Committee meeting. For the 2023/24 season, the tournament policy is:
U12 & above A/AA:
1) Teams are permitted 4 total tournaments, including Christmas Tournaments.
2) The number of tournaments entered before or after the split may be determined by the local Association, keeping in mind 11 weekends are available in the first half and 8 weekends in the second half. League play will occur through to at least March 1st.
3) Seeded split will be ~Dec. 3 but may change based on the number of total teams.
4) Coaches are encouraged to visit the ALLIANCE Hockey web site and look at the season structure which is posted under the division age group with tabs such as “Group Home Page”, “Schedule & Results”, “Group Calendar”, “2024 ALLIANCE Hockey Championships”, and “Standings”. Note that the AA league is referred to as Constellation and the A league is referred to as Bristol. Pay special attention to whether your division will be playing a playdown or tournament style playoff structure. The tournament style playoff structure will incur a tournament fee for the team. Sarnia Hockey will pay ½ of the registration fees for tournament championships.
5) No team tournaments are permitted during Playdowns.
U12 – U18 B/BB:
1) Teams are permitted 4 total tournaments, including Christmas Tournaments.
2) All B/BB teams championships are tournament style. The tournament style playoff structure will incur a tournament fee for the team and the cost is usually posted on the tournament web page. In 2023, the tournaments cost was $1,200 for all teams. Sarnia Hockey will pay ½ of the registration fees for tournament championships.
U11 & U9 – Follow Hockey Canada Pathways:
1) U10 & U11 A/AA, B/BB: Teams are permitted 4 tournaments during Regular Season and Playdowns, including Christmas Tournaments.
2) U9 BB & B: Teams are permitted 4 tournaments during Regular Season and Playdowns; Two half-ice and two full-ice tournaments. All teams will participate in the season-end B/BB Championships and do not contribute to the tournament allotment.
3) All B/BB teams championships are tournament style. The tournament style playoff structure will incur a tournament fee for the team and the cost is usually posted on the tournament web page. In 2023, the tournaments cost was $1,200 for all teams. Sarnia Hockey will pay ½ of the registration fees for tournament championships.
4) U8 B/BB: Teams are permitted 4 Festivals/Jamborees + season-end Jamboree (half-ice).
NOTES:
a) All post-season play is considered Playdown hockey.
b) Christmas Tournament is defined as the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day.
c) In most cases, omissions would be for tournaments but for definition purposes it will include team functions other than tournaments i.e., team building weekends, educational trips to NCAA Schools, etc., and will be known as “weekend omissions” (Maximum of 4-weekend omissions per team).
d) Replacement of cancelled tournaments will only be considered once Playdowns are complete or if a team can provide proof of an opening in the schedule due to a bye or early playdown exit.
e) A Silver Stick tournament qualifier will count as one tournament. Should a team have success in advancing to the Silver Stick Finals, that Silver Stick final is not counted toward the tournament allotment.
f) Penalty to teams who do not adhere to the Tournament Policy:
• a 5-game suspension to the Head Coach,
• a $1500.00 fine to the Member Association and,
• the immediate withdrawal from the Tournament.
g) No tournaments are allowed prior to the start date(s) outlined by the OHF.
SHA teams or players must not take part in any tournament unless such tournament has a sanction permit from the ALLIANCE or unless the team has permission from ALLIANCE Hockey.
Contact the SHA Ice Scheduler and inform them whenever you have locked in any tournament so they can update your team schedule on the SHA web page. All tournaments’ dates must be sent to the SHA Ice Scheduler before mid-August so that they can schedule regular season games around the tournaments and no conflicts occur. If a tournament is scheduled after the season games have been scheduled, contact the SHA Ice Scheduler with your planned tournament date and see if they can reschedule your league games. There is no guarantee this may happen as it is also up to the other ALLIANCE team Schedulers to rearrange the league game(s).