1. All teams must be registered with USA Hockey or Canadian Hockey Association 
2. Any forfeited games will be recorded as a 3-0 score. Any forfeited games affecting other teams 
    in terms of playoff status, may be reviewed by the tournament director to determine 
    which teams advance beyond preliminary round play. Any use of ineligible player(s) will 
    disqualify team from remaining tournament play. All games played by the disqualified team will 
    be forfeited (3-0 score recorded). No monies will be refunded. 
3. Players and coaches should report to the arena at least 45 minutes prior to the start of their 
    scheduled game in case tournament is running ahead of schedule. A team representative and 
    head coach must sign in prior to each game. The tournament organizer has the right to start 
    games up to 20 minutes ahead of schedule. Players do NOT have to sign in.
4. Games may be called, if in the judgment of tournament officials, continuing play is deemed to                                           be not in the best interest of the tournament, participants, spectators, officials etc... All games may           be subject to curfew or changed to running time, regardless of the score, if one or both teams on       ice actions indicate that there is little interest in actually playing hockey. 
5. Team contacts should carry the following items with them to all tournament games and have 
    copies to provide to the tournament director at each game: 
USA/CHA Certified roster or Player cards
Travel Permit (If required by Team’s sanctioning body)
6.  Jersey Colors – Home (light colors), Visitors (dark colors). Disputes decided by tournament dir.                            

PLAYING RULES 
Discipline/penalties
A zero – tolerance rule for verbal abuse is in effect. Tournament Director does NOT have the authority to reverse the decisions of the game officials.

Sanctioning & On-Ice Officials - All ATC tournaments are sanctioned by USA HOCKEY. We are required to use U.S.A. HOCKEY carded officials and schedule them to officiate only those games that U.S.A. HOCKEY has deemed them qualified to officiate.

For players/coaches/managers/trainers; a minor penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct (zero tolerance) shall be assessed whenever a player: 
A. Openly disputes or argues any decision by an official (On-ice or tournament directors) 
B. Uses obscene or vulgar language in a boisterous manner to anyone at any time, even if it                                 is not directed at any individual. 
C. Visually demonstrates any sign of dissatisfaction with any decision by an official. 

ATC recognizes U.S.A. HOCKEY playing rules for all games. All teams please note the following rules. 
A. Any player receiving 4 penalties (major, minor, misconduct or any combination of these) in one game will automatically be suspended for the following game. 
B. The Head Coach of any team which receives 12 or more penalties (major, minor, misconduct or any combination of these) in one game will be suspended for the following game. 
C. Any Major penalty will include a game misconduct. 
D. Any game misconduct will result in an automatic one game suspension and must be served in the team’s next game. 
E. Any player or coach receiving a match penalty, or a gross misconduct will be disqualified from further tournament play and is not permitted on the bench during games they are serving the 
suspension. There are no exceptions to this rule! 
F. Penalty lengths (determined by period length)
13 minute periods – Minor – 1:30, Major- 4:00, Misconduct - 8:00
15 minute periods and 2 Halves - Minor – 2:00, Major – 5:00, Misconduct - 10:00 

Gameplay

Period length – 
Squirt (10u) all levels – 13-13-13 Minutes
Peewee (12u ) All Levels – 13-13-13 Minutes
Bantam (14u A and B) - 13-13-13 minutes
Midget (14u AA, 16u A and 18u A) 15-15-15 Minutes
15u AA, 16u AA and 18u AA  (2) 22 minute halves with Ice Cut at Half Time. No changing of sides.
Timeouts – 
      Round Robin/Preliminary play = No Timeouts
      Quarterfinal/Semi-Final/Finals = 1 Timeout per team
Mercy rule - If 5 or more goals separate the teams  at any time  running time will commence for the remainder of the game unless the trailing team reduces the lead to 2 goals, at which point stop time will resume for the remainder of the game. 
Teams must be prepared to begin games up to 20 minutes ahead of scheduled time.  Failure to comply could result in a minor bench penalty. Tournament officials reserve the right to use their judgement based on the situation. 
Standings - Teams are awarded 2 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, 0 points for a loss. There are no points awarded for winning periods.
Max goal differential per game is +/- 6

In a 4 team division the Top 2 teams after 3 round robin games shall play in Championship, the other 2 will play in Consolation game

In a 5 team division all teams will play 4 round robin games and Top 2 shall play in the Championship

In a 6 team division teams will play 3 round robin games with Top 4 going to Semis and bottom 2 to a Consolation game. The winner of each Semi Final shall play in the Championship against each other.

In a 14 team division each team will play 4 round robin games and Top 4 shall move to Sem Finals. the winners of each Semi Final will advance to play each other in the Championship.

Playoff Format

Tie Breakers (To Determine Playoff Teams)
If two or more teams have an equal number of points, their position in the standings shall be determined by the following tie-breaking format.  If one tie-breaker establishes a position for one or more teams, each team is placed in the applicable position.  Once a team is placed, the remaining tied teams shall restart the tie-breaking process again at step 1. (If all tied teams have not played each other, then proceed to step 2.) Note: A team may enter into the tie breaking process having defeated another of the tied teams and still NOT advance. 
Step 1: The results of the head-to-head games played (ONLY BETWEEN THE TIED TEAMS in the following order:
Most Wins
Goal Differential – For only these games (Goals for minus Goals against)
Goal Quotient – For only these games (Goals for div. by Goals against)
If two or more teams have zero goals against and the quotient tie breaker is needed, the teams will be ranked descending by goals scored
Step 2. If after applying the formulas in step 1 and the tie still exists, the results or ALL preliminary games played by the tied teams in the following order.
Most Wins
Goal Differential – For all games
Quotient – For all games 
Step 3. If the above procedure does not break the tie, positions for the purpose of advancement will be determined by a coin flip administered by the tournament director and witnessed by a representative (Manager or Head Coach) of each team. 
Each team will receive one timeout in quarterfinal/semi-final and championship games.
Overtime – 
Teams will play a 5 minute sudden death overtime.  Overtime will be played 4v4 (4 skaters plus a goalie) 
Penalties – If a  team receives a penalty during overtime, that team will skate shorthanded 4v3.  If the same team receives another penalty while there is still time remaining on the first penalty, the teams will skate 5v3. Once the first player’s penalty has expired, the teams will play 5v4 until the next stoppage in play. The teams will then go back to a 4v3 power play and the player will enter the ice when the penalty expires. 
If teams are still tied after the overtime period, then a “Shoot-out” will take place
Shoot out Format
A. The team manager/coach should indicate the order of the shooters by placing the numbers 1- 10 next to the individual shooter’s names on the score sheet or fill out the shooting order form. 
B. The Home team has choice of who shoots first. The "shoot out" will start with a round of three (3) shooters per team. If a team out scores its opponent in the round then the game has been decided and no further rounds will take place. If the game remains tied after shooters 1-3 have completed their respective attempts to score, the shootout will proceed to a “sudden death” format starting with shooters 4-10. Sudden death means the first team to score without the opposing team scoring wins. This process will be continued indefinitely until a non-tie situation exists. If the score remains tied after attempts from shooters 4-10, the order returns to shooters 1-3 and so on. The shooting order cannot be changed during shootout. 
C. To start the "shoot out" process the shooter designated "1" will shoot first, "2" will shoot second and so on. PLAYERS RECEIVING A PENALTY IN OVERTIME THAT HAS NOT EXPIRED BY THE END OF THE OVERTIME, ARE NOT ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE “SHOOT-OUT” AND CANNOT BE SUBSTITUTED FOR BY THE TEAM. THE SPOT(S) WILL BE SKIPPED AND THE NEXT PLAYER IN THE ORDER WILL SHOOT. 
D. Goaltender substitution once the “shoot out” process has begun is not permitted unless an injury occurs.
E. If a team has less than ten non-goaltender players on the roster, then the players assigned the lowest numerical positions in the first round (positions 1-3) will assume the "shoot out" positions that have not been assigned in the Second round (positions 4-10) due to a short roster that does not allow for the entire second round of shooters to be filled. Shooter "1" of the first round will fill in the first vacated spot of the second round of shooters; shooter "2" will fill the second and so on. 

PARENTS, SPECTATORS AND FANS REGULATIONS We ask that all parents, spectators and fans conduct themselves in an orderly, sportsmanlike and professional manner when attending a Alpha Tournament Company tournament game. Any report of disorderly conduct in the rink, parking lot, etc. including, but not limited to the following, will not be tolerated: • Parents, spectators and fans going on the ice or into bench area, penalty box or scorer’s box. • Parents, spectators or fans going into referee’s locker room or opposing team’s locker room. • Physical or verbal abuse of referee’s, coaches, players, rink employees or tournament officials. • Fighting amongst parents, spectators or fans in the stands. • Excessive use of noise makers If any of these issues are abused, Alpha Tournament Company has the right to dismiss all culprits from the facility at any time. Also, to be included: 

1. Parents, spectators and fans are not permitted to confront the Alpha Tournament Company tournament director(s) or scorekeeper(s) at any time. If an issue arises, that issue must be brought to the attention of the Alpha Tournament representative by a coach or manager. If a parent, spectator or fan continues to abuse the tournament director(s) and/or scorekeeper(s), they can be dismissed from the facility at any time, by the director or rink personnel. If the person(s) does not leave in a timely fashion, police can be called to assist. 

2. Any parent ejected from the rink during a game must leave the building and are not permitted back in the facility until the team’s next game or whenever determined by the tournament director. 

3. There is to be NO use of any air horns, mechanical noise makers or vuvuzelas at any time. These hinder the ability of players and scorekeepers to hear the whistle. If anyone is found with any of these, they will be confiscated and returned to them after the game has finalized. Excessive use of cow bells will also not be tolerated. If the tournament director(s), rink personnel or officials deem the use is too excessive, they will be confiscated and returned after the game has finalized. If the situation is serious enough, Alpha Tournament Company reserves the right to dismiss any and all people involved from all tournament games and facilities for the entire weekend. Remember, we all are here for the kids to have an enjoyable and fun-filled weekend of playing hockey. We thank you in advance for your understanding and cooperation.