2026 Trevor Ettinger – Jeff Smith Memorial Tournament

- Rules and Regulations

Click here to download a copy of these rules 

1. There is no entrance fee for the 2026 Trevor Ettinger – Jeff Smith Memorial Tournament. 

2. CAHA rules as laid down for minor hockey will govern all games. Tournament bylaws shall be in addition to CAHA/Hockey Nova Scotia (HNS) rules and will not conflict with same.

3. Teams should be at the rink minimum one hour prior to the game starting. Games will begin as soon as the game before is completed. Base your readiness off the period and time remaining in the game prior to yours. 

4.  All teams shake hands at the start of the game and line up on the blue lines at the end of the game for the presentation of the player of the game.

5.  Coaches will pick player of the game for their own teams.  

6.    HNS Code of Discipline will apply to all games. All suspensions will be reported to HNS on the day the infraction occurs by the Tournament Chair or delegate.

7.  All teams must submit a copy of their official H.C.R. roster listing every player and team official before participating in the tournament. No additions will be accepted after start of first game.

8. Any player receiving four penalties in the same game shall be assessed a game ejection. A double minor counts as 2 penalties. 

9. No fighting or intent to injure will be allowed. Anyone fighting, match or gross misconducts will be automatically suspended from further tournament play. Fighting penalties, misconduct and match penalties will be reported to the player’s Community Hockey Club. Five minute major and game misconducts are an automatic game suspension, could be more based on HNS or Community Hockey Club. If issued a 10 min game misconduct you are not permitted to play until suspension is received. 

10.    Only those listed on the game report are permitted in the bench area.

11.    No protests or appeals of any kind will be entertained. 

12.    All round robin games will be three 10-minute stop time periods. All playoff games (semis/finals) are three 10-minute stop time periods.  All warm-ups will be three minutes in length as designated by the timekeeper. There is no flood between periods.

13.    Games are to be played to completion; rink clocks will not be enforced.

14.    There will be no time outs in the round robin portion of the tournament. Teams will each have one 30 second time out for all play-off games.

15.    Round Robin games can end in a tie.

16.   Points will be allotted after each game as follows: 2 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, 0 points for a loss. There will be no goal differential maximum in round robin games, the final score in each game will be the goals for/against used in tie breaking calculations.

17.    Any team unable to ice a team will forfeit the game and be charged with a 5-0 loss.

18.    In all tournament round robin games where there is a goal differential of five (5) or more in the third period the game clock will be running continuously until the game has ended. A goal reducing the goal differential back below five (5) goals will not result in any further stop time during this game. Length of time of penalties will not change regardless of if play is in stop time or straight time. (i.e. a minor penalty is two minutes regardless of stop or straight time.) Elimination games will not enforce the mercy rule. 

19.    Standings

• for divisions where there are an even number of teams that all play the same number of games, standings will be calculated using the total points

• for divisions where there are an odd number of teams where a random team has to play an extra game, standings will be calculated as follows

• Point win percentage

• For example: Team A has a record of 2-0-1 (5 points), Team B has a record of 2-1-1 (5 points), Team C has a record of 2-1-0 (4 points), Team D has a record of 2-1-0 (4 points) and Team E has a record of 1-1-1 (3 points).

• In order to accurately seed teams we will take the point win percentage of the teams Vs the total points

• Team A: 5/6 = .833 (1st)

• Team B: 5/8 = .625 (4th)

• Team C: 4/6 = .667 (2nd)

• Team D: 4/6 = .667 (3rd)

• Team E: 3/6 = .500 (5th)

• As you see above, even though Team B accumulated 5 points to appear tied for 1st in the standings, the point win percentage calculation drops them to 4th

20.    The tie-breaking formula for team standings shall be as follows.

In the event that two teams are tied with points after round robin play, the tie will be broken as follows:

• The winner of the game played between the tied teams shall be seeded higher

• If the game played ended in a tie, or the teams did not play each other in the round robin the tie will be broken by the tie breaking formulas

In the event that 2 or more teams are tied in points, the tie will be broken as follows. Note: due to the nature of the schedule, head-to-head matchups in round robin play may not be taken into consideration when breaking ties of 3 or more teams (if they didn’t all play against each other)

• Goal Average: GF / (GF+GA)

• NOTE: All round robin games are included. Example: For = 10 goals Against = 4 goals Therefore Goal Average Percentage = 10 (Goals For) divided by 10+4 (Goals For plus Goals Against) = .714 NOTE: The higher percentage gains the higher position

• If still tied, the quickest time documented for the first goal recorded by each team in the tournament in their first game of the tournament shall finish higher

• If still tied, least amount of penalty minutes moves on. If penalty mins are tied, we will do a coin toss. 

21.    DIVISIONAL RULES:

• Top four teams in each division advance to play offs (semi finals): 1 Vs 4 and 2 Vs 3

• As stated previously, if a division has an odd number of teams, one team is required to play a 4th round robin game in their division. This game is meaningful for that team.

22.    PLAYOFF/ELIMINATION GAMES TIE BREAKING RULES:

• All playoff games must have a winner

• If tied after regulation play, there will be a stop time five (5) minute sudden death overtime with three skaters + a goalie on the ice. If still tied, we will go to a shootout. Shoot out. Home team has the choice as to who shoots first. Each team will select 3 players to shoot. If still tied, teams will then select 1 player at a time until someone scores. A player cannot shoot twice unless all other players

• During the overtime period if a penalty is called the non-offending team will place an additional player on the ice to establish the man advantage. After the penalty time has expired, the player from the penalty box will join the play. At the next stoppage of play, the number of players on the ice will revert to 3 on 3.

23.    STANDINGS ON WEBSITE:

• Standings on website do not necessarily reflect tiebreakers (teams with same total points may be shown in alphabetic order).  The official playoff schedule will identify four teams/division who advance.  The official playoff schedule will be available within 2 hours after the last round robin game.  Seeds may be determined earlier depending on how teams fair and when the division completes their final round robin game. 

24. U9 Jamboree Rules

• 3 minutes allowed for warm up 

• Teams will play on full ice surface.

• Games will be 2- 21 Minute Run Time Periods.  Line changes will be done by buzzer every 90 seconds

• Amendment to Games.  Please discuss with opposing coach, timekeeper and officials.  Willing to exercise 2 x 22 minute run periods with line change buzzer every 2 minutes.

• Ensure all parties are in agreement to length of shift.

• At buzzer sounds the ref throw a new puck to keep the play equal (no faceoff required). 

• All games will be 5 vs 5 with goalies

• Both offsides and icing will be called. Secondary ref not retrieving puck to work with kids to get them lined up quickly for face-off caused by icing. 

• Teams will not switch sides after 1st half. 

• Penalties will be called. Chase down penalty shot. If buzzer sounds while penalty shot is happening, players will change after the shot. 

• Goalies can cover the puck, attacking team retreats and the goalie moves the puck to keep the play going.