USA Hockey Sanctioned Rules

All AHN youth tournaments are conducted under official USA Hockey rules, except as modified herein.

All players must hold a valid USA Hockey registration for the current season. USA Hockey cards must be available for inspection at any time during the tournament.

4-Game Minimum Guarantee. Every team is guaranteed a minimum of 4 games — at least 3 round-robin pool games plus participation in the playoff bracket. Teams eliminated in the first round of playoffs will receive a 4th game via a consolation game.

Each team must have a properly registered USA Hockey team official (coach/manager) present on the bench during all games.

All players must wear properly fitted HECC-certified helmets with full face protection. Mouth guards are strongly recommended.

All teams must complete roster submission by the roster lock date listed on the tournament page. Late roster changes require tournament director approval.

Guest players are permitted subject to USA Hockey affiliate rules and must be rostered prior to the roster lock deadline.

Pool Play: Games tied at the end of regulation remain a tie. No overtime in pool play (except 10U+ may use a brief shootout at tournament director discretion).

Playoff Games: If tied after regulation, play a sudden-death overtime period (4-on-4, running clock, 5 minutes). If still tied, proceed to a shootout.

Shootout Format: Each team selects 3 shooters. If still tied after 3 rounds, proceed to sudden-death rounds with new shooters each round. No player may shoot twice until all eligible skaters have shot.

8U (Mites) division: No overtime or shootouts in any game. All ties stand.

8U, 10U, 12U: No body checking permitted. Incidental contact is allowed. Body checking will result in a 2-minute minor penalty.

14U and above: Body checking is permitted in accordance with USA Hockey rules. Checking from behind, charging, and boarding rules are strictly enforced.

Any player receiving a checking from behind penalty will receive an automatic game misconduct in all age divisions.

Fighting will result in an immediate game misconduct and a minimum 1-game suspension. Repeat offenders may be removed from the tournament.

Minor Penalty: 2 minutes. Power play ends upon goal in 10U and above (running time penalties do not stop for goals in 8U).

Major Penalty: 5 minutes + automatic game misconduct. Power play does not end on a goal.

Misconduct: 10 minutes. Team does not play shorthanded. Player leaves ice for duration of misconduct.

Game Misconduct: Player is ejected for remainder of the game and must leave the ice surface immediately.

Any player assessed 2 major penalties in the same game is automatically ejected and suspended for a minimum of 1 additional game.

Suspensions carry over to subsequent games in the tournament. AHN reserves the right to extend suspensions at the tournament director's discretion.

Playoff seeding is determined by final pool play standings.

4-team bracket: 1 vs 4, 2 vs 3 in semifinals; winners meet in championship; losers meet in consolation (3rd place) game.

6-8 team bracket: Top teams may receive byes per tournament-specific format published prior to the event.

Playoff games cannot end in a tie. Overtime and shootout rules apply (see above).

Championship and consolation games may use stop time at the tournament director's discretion.

AHN has a zero-tolerance policy for abuse of officials. Any coach, player, or spectator verbally abusing an official will result in immediate ejection from the game and may result in removal from the tournament.

Coaches are responsible for the conduct of their players, staff, and spectators. Unsportsmanlike conduct by spectators may result in the coach receiving a bench minor penalty.

All decisions by on-ice officials are final. Rule interpretations and protests must be submitted to the tournament director in writing within 30 minutes of the game's conclusion. On-ice judgment calls are not protestable.

Tournament staff have the right to remove any person from the facility who poses a safety risk or is disruptive to the event.