Hi everyone,
As the IHACT RIC and anticipating the start of the summer season, I want to welcome you all and take this opportunity to emphasise a few key rules and other points.
Like previous seasons, player safety remains my number one priority. With that in mind, I’d like to remind you all that D Grade is a non-checking league. What this means is that competitive contact is allowed in battles for the puck, but deliberately running into someone or rubbing them out in play – whether in open ice or along the boards – is not permitted. The on-ice officials will call penalties for checking when they see them. However, interpreting whether something is checking or not can be very difficult for a variety of reasons, not least of which is the varying skill levels of everyone playing in D Grade.
Player safety extends to goalies in particular. When the whistle is blown after the goalie has stopped the puck, play must stop; it’s not okay to keep hacking away. This is slashing and will be penalised as such. Furthermore, please be aware of where you are vis-a-vis the goaltender. Standing inside the goalie’s crease when trying to score is not okay, and the goalie is not fair game when they leave their crease.
As with last season, we will once again be running a two official system over the summer. As a result, there may be missed penalty calls. I recognise there will be times when you get frustrated and might wish to criticise the officiating, but I ask that you all please be patient and respectful of the officials at all times.Please remember the officials are giving up their time so that you can play the sport you love. Without the officials, we wouldn’t have any games.
As the RIC, I will not tolerate any disrespect shown towards the officiating team. Consistent with the winter season, I have asked the officiating team to penalise in particular any instance of abuse of official. So, I would request that you not challenge or dispute the call of any official. Doing so will result in an abuse of official penalty being assessed (Rule 39). If you have any concerns about the officiating at any time, please let me know at ric@ihact.org.au.
Thirdly, we tend to see some common penalties in D Grade. These are Slashing (Rule 61), Hooking (Rule 55), Tripping (Rule 57), Roughing (Rule 51), and Interference (Rule 56). A few tips to to avoid these penalties are: 1) keeping your stick on the ice and away from the hands/torso at all times; 2) play for the puck and not the body; 3) keep your stick away from the feet of other players; and 4) don’t retaliate.
If you’re keen to find out more about what the officials are looking for with respect to the common D Grade penalties, some good resources are: 1) Team Stripes channel on YouTube; 2) NHL Department of Player Safety videos on YouTube; and 3) Scouting the Refs (Website);
As an educational opportunity for all teams in D Grade, I would be very happy to organise for a member of the officiating team to attend team training sessions in order to provide more education on common penalties. Unfortunately, with the running clock during games, we can’t do this education effectively enough while games are happening.
In relation to rule changes since last season, the major one is Rule 21 – Dangerous Actions. This rule allows officials to call penalties for situations that are not described in the IIHF Rule Book, but which are considered dangerous. The expectation is that this rule will be used sparingly, but it may be used if required.
Fourthly, please be mindful of the jersey colour of your team. I would ask that all players on every team wear the same colour jersey, to help avoid confusion on the part of the officials. Where confusion may occur, officials may ask individual team members to change jerseys.
Fifthly, all players, regardless of their year of birth, are required to wear a visor as the minimum standard of facial protection. Visors must also cover the eyes and nose at all times, and not be flipped up. Players found not wearing visors will be asked to affix one prior to play. Similarly, players not wearing their visor in the proper manner will be asked to fix it. If you are asked to affix a visor and are unable to do so prior to playing, you will be unable to play. If you refuse to affix a visor or lower your visor when asked to do so (regardless of when that occurs during a game), you may be penalised with a two minute minor penalty as a minimum for Illegal Equipment (Rule 12).
Sixthly, each team is responsible for organising scorers. Where there are no scorers to start the game, the captains of each team will be expected to score. If the captains are unwilling to do so, the officials will then cancel the game.
Finally, I am keen to keep the games moving. So, the officials will start each period immediately after the expiry of the warm up period and the expiry of each break. This will mean reduced time on ice for teams that are slow to start each period, but it will hopefully improve our relationship with rink management.
Thanks for your attention. I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable season. See you on the ice!
Tim Murton
IHACT Referee-in-Chief