HOCKEY RULES
GENERAL
I. These regulations are in constant evolution and can be changed or adapted at all times if LFA Management deems it necessary.
II. These Hockey Rules (HR) must be considered in conjunction with the Administrative Rules (AR).
III.The following regulations must be respected by all members and applied by the league administration. Note that in certain cases they are not applicable given the nature of the games offered. Ex: Morning division 7AM Buzz, 3v3 and Horizon or our LFA 3v3 Rush and LFA Challenge tournaments to name these, all with their own particularities.
HR-01 – THE SPIRIT OF THE LIGUE FÉDÉRALE DES AS (LFA)
I. The Ligue Fédérale des As is a non-contact hockey league. Slapshots are allowed.
II. II. LFA will not tolerate “gratuitous violence" of any nature whatsoever or any inappropriate behavior and reserves the right to suspend or ban anyone who does not comply with its regulations, the fundamental values of sportsmanship and good conduct whether on the ice during a game or at any other time and place.
III. The league administration, the dean of discipline and his committee reserve the right to expel and suspend anyone either on the spot or after investigation, and that,
-regardless of the decision(s) made by the referee(s) during the game.
-for acts committed out of sight of the referee(s).
-following a formal complaint corroborated by witnesses and / or video.
** Any gesture or behavior deemed excessive or dangerous is subject to suspension, depending on the nature and severity, at the discretion of the LFA Management.
IV. -Any Player ejected from a game will automatically be subject to suspension for the following game. Each case will be analyzed by LFA Management and the Disciplinary committee while taking into consideration the referee’s report, that of witnesses and upon viewing the video.The history of the player will also come into play.
V: It is strictly forbidden for any player to empty the bucket of pucks or to put a skate on the ice before the access door of the ice-resurfacer (Zamboni) is COMPLETELY CLOSED. Any player not respecting this rule will be given a minor penalty effective at the start of the game. In the event that a penalty would be given to each team, the 2 players will be penalized but the play will stay 5 on 5.
VI: Handshake All players who participated in a game must shake hands at the end of the end of it, thus signaling to each other that any friction that may have occurred during the game is now a thing of the past. This handshake must be warm and well-intentioned: Shaking your opponent's hand while pronouncing insults will be considered unsporting behavior, in the same way as refusing to shake hands.
Any player refusing or deliberately failing to shake hands with their opponents at the end of a game will be issued AN OFFICIAL WARNING. Repeat offenders will be subject to a one-game suspension to be served during the game following that in which the incident occurred.
HR-02 – JERSEYS and SOCKS
I. The jerseys and socks are the property of the League and are loaned to the players for the hockey season only. Each player is responsible for the care of the jersey and the socks provided to him. In order to prolong the lifespan of these items, follow the guidelines for care indicated on the garment. These items should never be put in the dryer.
IA. All players on a team will wear the socks and jerseys provided by the league. A player who fails to put his official team socks on more then one occasion during the season will receive penalties and could be refused playing the game.
II. Each player is responsible for the jersey that is lent to them and will pay, if necessary, the cost of replacement in case of loss, theft or damage caused by negligence or accident outside of activities related directly to a league game.
III. Only the jerseys provided by the league may be worn during games.
IV. Certain jersey numbers are reserved for substitute players.
HR-03 – PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT
I. We suggest that players wear all mandatory equipment in accordance with the regulations of the Quebec Ice Hockey Federation. The LFA will not be held responsible for injuries caused by a player's negligence in wearing the said equipment. We strongly recommend the use of a full face shield but it is not mandatory.
HR-04 – ALCOHOL/DRUGS
I. Any player who comes to play a game under the effect of alcohol or drugs can be prevented from playing by the league or its referees, if the player is deemed to be a risk to the safety of the other players and himself.
HR-05 - ABSENCES
I. Any player who plans to be absent from a game must notify it on our league2go.com application no later than 48 hours before the game or inform the LFA administration (or the division director) at number indicated in your player document after this deadline.
* See also Administrative Rules RA–06, RA–07 and RA–08.
HR-06 - SUBSTITUTES
I. Substitute players are found with the help of the league2go.com application and the teams rebalanced as far as possible by the administration based on absent players and available substitutes.
II. If a player wishes to reverse his decision within 48 hours of a game after using the App to report his absence, he must obtain permission from the LFA administration to return to the line-up.
III. In the playoffs, IDEALLY, only substitutes who played a minimum of 3 games in the regular season will be able to play.
HR-07- PLAYER TRADES
I. The objective of a transaction must be to resolve teams imbalance or in certain cases an internal problem.
II. IDEALLY, no trades between teams should be made after the second week of December.
*Note that for the summer season a decision on the need for trades is generally made after the third week of activity.
III. League administration, division directors and captains are responsible for carrying out transactions.
HR-08 - REFEREES
I. Referees have the right to make errors, and refereeing decisions will be respected by all players. Any player who regularly mouths off, argues with or interferes with the referees’ work will be instructed by the Disciplinary Committee and league administration to change his behavior. A bad attitude is a waste of everyone’s time and goes against the purpose of the LFA to offer a saine playing environement.
II. Only the Captain or his Assistant have the privilege to speak to the referee, and in a polite and appropriate manner.
HR-08.1 : HARASSING OF OFFICIAL OR PERSISTENT DISPUTE OF A VERDICT OF THE REFEREE :
A minor penalty (unsportsmanlike or game delayed) will be imposed to any player which defies or disputes the decisions of the referee after being warned.
If a player or a goalkeeper persists and continues despite everything, he will receive an additional major misconduct penalty (5mins) and if the persistence of dispute continues afterward, an additional extreme misconduct penalty (10mins) will be imposed on the player
HR-09 – PENALITIES AND SUSPENSIONS
Note: the following applies to pre-season, regular season and playoff games.
I. Minor penalties are 2 min in stop time
IA. For 5 minute penalties, the player (or his replacement) must serve the full time of the penalty even if the opposing team scores.
IB. The face-off following a penalty will take place in the defending zone of the offending team. Any action or conduct has degrees of severity that can be at their extreme limits liable for suspension and this from the first offense, verbal or physical. Just as a cross check, slashing, tripping or roughing may be considered an «attempted injury» if made intentionally or at a moment and with abusive force resulting in potential injury. The LFA will also adopt a zero tolerance policy regarding verbal abuse (like racist comments or other degrading and disrespectful language as well as physical threats of any kind. )
III. A fine will be imposed on all players receiving a suspension. $ 50 for a first offense and $100 for any subsequent one.
** A penalty for “attempted injury" results in an eviction from the game and an automatic suspension for a minimum of 3 games. The Disciplinary Prefect and the President reserve the right to extend the suspension according to the seriousness of the gesture.
HR-09.1 : PROTECTION AND GOALIE OBSTRUCTION :
Any player that (regardless if voluntary, pushed or accidental) collides with the goalie and is not making any attempt to avoid the collision will receive a minor goalie obstruction penalty, regardless if the goalie is or not in his crease.
If the puck was to penetrate the goal under such conditions, the goal would not be granted.
The LFA takes to heart the protection of its goalies and reserves the right to crack down against those who act irresponsibly by charging the net and endangering the goalies unnecessarily.
HR-09.2 : PENALTY FOR DELIBERATELY SHOOTING THE PUCK OUT OF THE RINK :
If the referee judges that a player, including the goalkeeper, shoots intentionally the puck outside the rink, a minor game delay penalty will be imposed, regardless in which zone the infraction occurred.
Important remark: The LFA do not apply the same NHL rules, which systematically penalized a player shooting the puck outside the rink from the defensive zone because some rinks we play in have very low windos.
HR-09.3: THE PUCK REMAINS IN PLAY EVEN IF IT TOUCHES THE PROTECTIVE NET BEHIND THE GOALS
As proposed by the IIHF in 2018, the LFA applies this regulation to maximize your playing time so henceforth the referee will not stop the game when the puck touches the protective net.
HR-10 – GAME RUNDOWN (IN MOST DIVISIONS)
I. Each game has three periods of 22 minutes in running-time. The warm-up before the game is 4 minutes.
II.The league encourages Changes on the fly in order to maximize our ice time and the flow of the game. You are allowed to change at the stoppage of play (except if your team ices the puck (*RH-10.2) and the referee will wait 5 SECONDS once at the face-off before putting the puck back into play. If a team delays the game and is not ready after the 5 seconds they will receive a penalty after the referee's third warning. And another if the team continues to delay the game according to the judgment of the referees.
III. Teams are allowed one time-out a game
IV. The last minute of play in stop time except if there is a 4 goal difference.
V. 3 points for a regulation time win
2 points for winning in a shootout
1 point for the loosing shootout team
HR-10.2 : NO PLAYER CHANGE ALLOWED FOLLOWING AN ILLEGAL ICING FOR THE FAULTY TEAM :
Following a refused icing, the faulty team will see itself refused any change of players. The referee will notify the faulty team bench by raising his arm to indicate this prohibition.
After ONE (1) verbal notification made by the referee to the team, a minor game delay penalty will be automatically imposed if players have changed.
HR-11 –PLAY-OFFS & FINALS IN MOST OUR DIVISIONS
I. For the championship game (the final), the finalists will be entitled to three periods of 20 minutes in stopped time with the resurfacer (zamboni) between each period. As for the playoff games, they will take place as in the season.
II. The referees can decide to stop the clock (based on available ice time) in the event of injuries, if a team voluntarily delays the game* and in any other circumstance that he deems relevant. *This may also result in a minor penalty to the offending team.
III. Playoff games play out as follows for 8-team divisions: The teams that finished in the top 4 positions in the regular season will face the teams that finished in the bottom 4 positions. After these 4 matches, the playoff ranking following the same criteria as regulation RH-13 will determine the clashes of the 8 teams in a quarter-final as follows: 1st vs 8th, 2nd vs 7, 3 vs 6 and 4 vs 5. The winning teams of these quarter-finals will face each other in the semi-finals as follows. The winning team in the quarter-finals and having accumulated the most points during the playoffs will face the winning team in the quarter-finals with the fewest points in the playoffs. The other 2 winning teams in the quarter-finals will face each other. The 2 winning teams will meet in the final.
IV. If the quarter-final or semi-final games end in a tie, a period of 5 minutes at 4 against 4 will be added and if after this period of additional time the tie persists, we will proceed to a series of 3 shoot outs and then move on to “sudden death” if the tie still persists.
V. For divisions with 4, 6 or 12 or more teams, a round robin is generally used with semifinals (or conference finals) to determine who will play in the championship game.
VI. If the championship game ends in a tie, a 20-minute overtime period will be added (depending on ice availability). If for x-reasons we cannot extend the rental time, we will proceed to shoot-outs.
HR-12- SHOOTOUTS DURING THE REGULAR SEASON
If a game finishes with a tie, we will immediately have a shootout to determine a winner. Three shooters per-team will take part in the shootout. If still tied after 3 players, a forth player from each team will shoot, followed by a fifth….., etc, until a winner is determined. The winners will have 2 points while the losers will have 1 point.
