Twin Rivers Hockey League Constitution (Created 2016)
Updated September 20, 2023

Article 1:

.01       Name:
            The organization shall be known as the “Twin Rivers Hockey League”.

.02       Objectives
To control, improve and promote senior hockey within the framework and rules of the Saskatchewan Hockey Association.

.03       Membership

1. Full members are considered franchises that have completed their two year probationary year, and have been approved by a 2/3 vote from the other full members.
2. Full members that breach any rules or regulations of the league constitution will be governed by the other full members of the league.
3. Full members will be allowed a one year leave of absence if requested. If more than one year the franchise will be considered a new team and would need to fulfill a two year probationary period.
4. New applications for league franchises will be reviewed at the annual league meeting and voted in by a 2/3 vote from the full members.
5. Full membership franchises will govern the league by majority vote.
6. The furthest distance between any two teams will be 220 drivable kilometers.
7. 100% membership agreement is required to change the league radius.

.04       Performance Bonds

1. The league performance bond will be $1,000.00. This must be in the league’s hands before any games are played.
2. Bonds are non-refundable, and are in place to protect other teams and the league.

.05       Duties of President

1. The president will help govern the league with its “membership” franchises.
2. The president will only get to vote in the instance of a tie. 
3. The president shall not vote on the following:

• Admitting probationary members.
• Elevating probationary members to full member status.
• On any appeals made to the league “membership”, except in the instance of a tie.

4. Ensure that all suspensions are served as per Hockey Sask handbook.
5. To chair all meetings regarding any league business.
6. To appoint a secretary treasurer and statistician.
7. To deal with any minor league related business.
8. To determine if weather or ice conditions are not playable.

.06       Duties of Secretary/Treasurer

1. Deal with all money related league business.
2. Pay annual honorariums.
3. Pay any league expenses (i.e. website fees).
4. Have documented bank statements on request.
5. All league cheques must be signed by two of the following: president, treasurer or a third party.

.07       Duties of Statistician

1. Complete all stats in a timely manner.
2. Maintain all league website related tasks.

.08       Executive Position Terms

1. Executive positions will be for 3 years and revisited after terms are completed
2. Initially, the President’s term will be 3 years, the Secretary/Treasurer 2 years and the Webmaster 1 year.

  .01       Annual General League Meeting

1. The annual general league meeting will be set in the spring by the hosting team.
2. Every team must have one representative attending.
3. Constitution amendments require a majority vote from league members.
4. Conduct any and all business related to the Twin Rivers Hockey League.

   .01       Appeals

1. Appeals and all supporting evidence must be submitted by the protesting club to the president within 48 hours of the game in question along with a deposit of $500.00. The deposit will be refunded if successful. The league will keep the deposit if unsuccessful.
2. The team being protested against will have 24 hours to file a defense.
3. All appeals will be decided by the league members not involved in the appeal; in the event of a tie, the president shall be the determining vote.

  .01       Priority of Games (as per Hockey Sask)

1. Provincial playoff games will take priority over all games.  This will apply to teams entered in provincials, not players who are playing with another team
2. Then, scheduled league games will take priority over any other games.
3. Within 72 hours of playoff matchups being determined, the team with home ice advantage choses the first game date, time and location, and the opposing team will chose the second game date, time and location.

.02       Forfeits

1. Any team failing to play in a scheduled league game except for weather or ice conditions will be subject to the following fines. Regular season game: the offending team pays $1,000.00 to the non-offending team plus costs of referees. Any team failing to play in a scheduled playoff game will be subject to a $1,500.00 fine payable to the non-offending team, plus costs of referees.
2. Fines will be paid from the team’s performance bond. This bond must be reimbursed to the league before the offending team plays any further games.
3. Teams must have 9 players including the goalie as per Hockey Sask; if a team has less than 9 players (including the goalie, then the team forfeits and they pay a fine)

.03       Postponed Games

1. Postponement of scheduled games must be made within 48 hours of game time, except in adverse weather or ice conditions. In this case the president must be notified by noon of the scheduled game day.
2. All postponed games must be rescheduled within 48 hours of the original game day.
3. Home team must supply a suitable date for rescheduling. In the event this can’t be reached the president shall decide the date of rescheduled game.

  .01       Rules and Regulations

1. Any match penalty will receive an indefinite suspension until dealt with by the league president. The Hockey Sask handbook will be adhered to when a minimum suspension is given. The president or Hockey Sask has the right to go above and beyond the minimum suspension if the situation warrants it.
2. If a player who is suspended or ineligible participates in any league scheduled game, the team will forfeit the game and be fined in accordance with article 4.02. ($500.00 regular season/$1000.00 playoff game).
3. All suspensions and rules will follow the Hockey Sask handbook. It is the teams’ responsibility to know if their player is suspended.  A forfeit does not count as a game played.
4. The regular season schedule, and playoff format, dates and officiating requirements will be set at the fall league meeting and will be listed on the website.  Any adjustments to the playoff dates must be agreed to by all teams involved.
5. The team with home ice advantage choses the first game (See clause 4.01) and the opposing team choses the second game, etc.  Once series are established, at least the first 2 games must be scheduled within 48 hours and communicated to the president, RIC and secretary/treasurer (or whomever is responsible for entering the schedule on-line).
6. Tie games during the regular season will be decided by a 3-on-3 5-minute overtime period. If still tied, a 3 man shoot-out will decide the winner. If still tied, a sudden death 1 man shooter will decide the winner. The same player may not shoot twice until all available players have shot.
7. Tie games during playoff season will be decided by a 10-minute overtime period. If still tied, the ice will be cleaned and a full 20-minute sudden death overtime period will be played and so on until a winner is decided.
8. The losing team of an overtime regular season game will receive one point in the standings; however this does not impact standings in the event of a tie (as per Hockey Sask).
9. In the event of a tie in the standings the procedures in the Hockey Sask Handbook will be followed (see Appendix)
10. Home team will wear dark jerseys; visiting team will wear white jerseys.
11. Home team will supply visiting team with pucks for warmup.
12. A total of thirty players are allowed per team and must be registered to a team and with Hockey Sask by January 10 at midnight.  If a player is released prior to or on January 10^th, they may register with another club up to February 10^th.  (as per Hockey Sask).  Each team will be allowed 35 cards per team. 
13. Team rosters must be submitted to the League President and Statistician no less than 7 days before the start of the season.  The League President must be notified of all roster changes (additions / deletions) prior to any games.  Any player participating without notification to the president is considered ineligible.
14. Players have to play 5 regular season games, with the same team, to be eligible for playoffs, except for extenuating circumstances (i.e. injuries, forfeits).  The playing of 5 regular season games does not apply to non-elite goalies and affiliate players below AA.
15. The league will permit alternate goalies as an emergency back-up. Roster goalies are to be the starting goalie. Alternate goalies must be non-elites.  Consent from the opposing team and president is required.  A certificate from a medical doctor or chiropractor indicating that the ill or injured goaltender is unfit to play may be requested. 
16. Home teams must email legible, accurate game sheets to the League President and Statistician within 12 hours of the scheduled start time of the game.  Any changes to an official game sheet must be approved by the League President.

  .01       League Awards

1. The following trophies will be awarded:

1. Most Valuable Player – Regular Season
2. Top Defenceman
3. Most Sportsmanlike Player
4. Rookie Of The Year (any player in their first year of senior hockey, who is not an elite player; goaltenders must be on 1/3 of game sheets)
5. Top Goaltender (Lowest goals against average)
6. Top Scorer (player with the most points during the regular season); in the event of a forfeited game, a prorated calculation will be completed.  
7. Most Valuable Player – Playoffs

2. Players need to play in at least 1/3 of the regular scheduled games to be eligible
3. Teams will nominate their own players for the first four awards.  The list will be gathered by league secretary/treasurer and dispersed out to the teams for the voting process. A vote for your own team will be disqualified.
4. Most Valuable Player – Playoffs will be chosen by the losing team’s coach.
5. Awards will be announced on website no later than the championship series.
6. League trophies are allowed to be taken by the winner until the next season’s annual meeting.
7. In the event of a 3-way tie, the teams not involved in the tie will vote again to break the tie.

  .01       Elite Rule

1. All teams are allowed 4 “elite players” on their roster; the 4^th elite player must have played elite hockey at least 10 or more years ago (i.e. to play in 2023-24, their last year of elite hockey would be 2012-2013); no exceptions. 
2. Classification of an elite player is a player who has played 41 total games or more in one of the following sanctioned leagues: SJHL (or equivalent), University (or equivalent), NCAA (or equivalent), or higher.  Any questionable leagues will be discussed with the Hockey Sask.
3. All elite players must be clearly marked with an “E” on game sheets.
4. Any teams with more than 3 elite players on their roster will forfeit any games that the infraction occurred in; Fines will be $500.00 for a regular scheduled season game and $1000.00 for a playoff game.
5. Once an elite player is dropped from a team’s roster, they can only be picked up by another team.  The team dropping the elite player may fill that roster spot with another elite player.

.01       League Fees and Compensation

1. Independent President $100/team plus Hockey Sask mileage rate to watch games (maximum 1 game per weekend).and attend meetings
2. Statistician / Webmaster $150/team
3. Secretary / Treasurer $100/team plus Hockey Sask mileage rate to attend meetings
4. League fees of $500 per team are to be submitted before any games are played.

   3.08.01      To determine team standings in the event of a tie, the following criteria shall be used by all leagues or associations playing under the jurisdiction of the Hockey Sask.
a) Two Teams Tied
If two teams are tied

1. Best win record in games played between tied teams.
2. If still tied, the team with the best win record.
3. If the two teams are still tied after i) and ii) have been applied, then the team with the best goal average gains the higher position.  The goal average of a team is to be determined in the following manner:

Total number of goals for divided by the total number of goals for and against.
NOTE: All games are included. NOTE: A  maximum of seven (7) goal difference per game will be used in the calculation of the game ratio.  This will be calculated from the actual “goals for” of the losing team in the particular game.
Example:  Goals For = 10  Goals Against = 4 Goals
  Percentage
  Total Goals For        10      =     10   =     .714
  (Total Goals for +     (10 + 4)     14 
  Total Goals Against)
 
iv)        If the two teams are still tied after i), ii) and iii) have been applied, the team with the least number of minutes in penalties throughout all games, gains the higher position.
v)         If the two teams are still tied after i), ii), iii) and iv) have been applied, then the team which scored the first goal in the game between the tied teams gains the higher position.
vi)        If the two teams are still tied after i), ii), iii), iv) and v) have been applied, a single coin toss will determine which team gains the higher position.
 
NOTE: In round robin Hockey Sask Provincial Playoffs there shall be no overtime played.
General Regulations
b) Three or More Teams Tied
 
NOTE: The three–team tiebreaker is used to determine the seeding of the three tied teams.  If any step in the tiebreaker only seeds one team, that team assumes that position.  The Three–team tiebreaker will continue to determine the seeding of the two remaining teams.  At no time will teams using this formula go back to the two–team tiebreaker.
If three teams or more are tied, the point record established in the games among the tied teams only will be used as the first tie breaking formula in deciding which team(s) shall advance, provided they played an equal number of games against one another.

1. The team with the most wins (among tied teams), in ALL games, would gain the highest  position.
2. ii) If teams are still tied after I) has been applied then the team with the best goal average gains the highest position.    NOTE: All games are included.

NOTE: A maximum of seven (7) goal difference per game will be used in the calculation of the game ratio.  This will be calculated from the actual “goals for” of the losing team in the particular game.
Example:  For = 10  Against = 4 Goals
  Percentage:
  Total Goals For            10     =      10   =     .714 
  (Total Goals For +       (10 + 4)     14 
  Total Goals against)
 
NOTE: The highest percentage gains the highest position(s) The exercise of ii) establishes the team or teams with the highest position(s) by percentage. These team(s) will advance.  If there are still teams tied, they go to the next step.  They do not go back to the “Two Team Tiebreaker”
Example:
(1) Team A – .714 = 1 seed – Advances Team B – .500 = 3 seed – Does Not Advance Team C – .650 = Advances
General Regulations
(2) Team A – .714 = 1 seed Team B – .500 = Still Tied with Team C – go to next step iii) Team C – .500 = Still Tied with Team B – got to next step iii)
(3) Team A – .650 = Still tied with Team B – go to next step iii) Team B – .650 = Still tied with Team A – go to next step iii) Team C – .500 = Does not advance.
iii)        If teams are still tied after i) and ii), the team with the fewest goals against (all games played) will gain the highest position.
iv)        If teams are still tied after i), ii), iii), the team with the most goals for (all games played) will gain the highest position.
v)         If teams are still tied after i), ii), iii) and iv), have been applied, the team to qualify would be the team that received the least number of minutes in penalties throughout all games played.
vi)        If teams are still tied after i), ii), iii), iv) and v) have been applied, a coin toss shall determine the winner.  In a 3 team coin toss, the odd team gains the highest position.
 
NOTE: In round robin Hockey Sask Provincial Playoffs there shall be no overtime played.