RULES AND REGULATIONS 2025 - 2026
1. Applicable Rules and Regulations
a) In areas not covered by GRLL League Rules and Regulations, Hockey Canada (HC) Rules and Regulations as modified by the Ontario Hockey Federation (OHF) and Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA) will apply.
b) All disputes will be settled by the Grand River Local League (GRLL) President.
2. Team Roster
a) It is important that all Centres act in the spirit of Grand River Local League’s intention for all teams in an age group from their Centre to have like competitive skill. While the imbalance of competition is addressed when the teams are grouped for playoffs, every effort should be made to provide like competition for the entire season. No tiering of teams.
b) All players and team oficials participating in the league must be Team Rostered with the OMHA. All teams whose rosters are not submitted to the Regional Director for approval within three (3) weeks after the start of the Centre’s schedule of the current playing season will be ineligible for further play in the GRLL. An approved roster will be required to resume play. No changes will be allowed to the rosters after February 10th of the current playing season.
c) All teams will be allowed to roster up to six (6) players from lower age categories in their Centre. These players must either meet the Centre’s policy for playing up or be required to balance team player numbers at that Centre.
d) All players will be OMHA local league players only. No representative (Rep/MD) rostered players allowed to participate in Grand River Local League.
3. Afiliated Players
a) Afiliation of players to follow OMHA regulations for all team members – players and goaltenders. No changes will be allowed to the Afiliated Players’ rosters after midnight of January 15th of the current playing season. In addition to AP’ing, the filling of one-off goaltender game vacancies may follow Item 4 below.
b) The use of Afiliated Players may bring the total team number to be no more than: i) 12 skaters for U9 (full-ice) to U15 inclusive, and
ii) 13 skaters for U18 and U21.
c) A player on the shorthanded team is not to lose ice time because of an “AP” player.
d) Notes:
1. There is no AP’ing to or from any teams playing U7LL (cross-ice) hockey. 2. U7 cannot AP to U8.
3. U8 cannot AP to U9.
4. U9LL players can AP to U9MD during the U9MD ½-ice season (before November 1) and during the U9MD regular full-ice season (after January 9). U9LL players cannot AP to U9MD during the U9MD modified full-ice season (November 1 to January 9).
5. U9LL players can AP to U10A, U11LL, U11B and U11A only after U9LL starts playing full-ice hockey (January 10).
6. Separate Grand River Local League Rules and Regulations specific to U7LL, U8LL and U9LL can be used for the borrowing/sharing of players when required.
4. Goaltenders
a) Teams having no goaltender for a particular game, may dress a player as a goaltender (preferred for U11) or obtain an available goaltender from of one of the following:
i) Another home Centre Grand River Local League team in the same age group. ii) A home Centre Grand River Local League team of a younger age group.
iii) A Grand River Local League team in the same age group at another Grand River Local League Centre. (This option not provided to U11. If cannot get U11 from home Centre, dress a player.)
Teams can move down the list of methods of obtaining a goaltender only after it is determined a method is not providing an available goaltender.
b) All goaltenders must be rostered to a team participating in the current season of the Grand River Local League.
c) For regular season games, when a team borrows a goaltender, the borrowing team’ coach, or their designate, must inform the GRLL OMHA Convenor a minimum of one hour before game time via email of:
i) Team borrowing the goaltender.
ii) Why their goaltender is not available. iii) Name of the borrowed goaltender.
iv) Team the borrowed goal tender is rostered to.
d) For playoff games, unless the goaltender being used is on the team’s approved AP list, prior approval to use a goaltender from another team must be obtained from the GRLL OMHA Convenor.
e) Failure to inform or obtain approval as required will result in a one game suspension of the Head Coach of the offending team registered for that game and will cause will cause the team to forfeit the game regardless of the score of the game. The score to be recorded as 5 - 0.
5. Game Schedules
a) The League Scheduler will issue an initial game schedule for regular season and round robin playoffs. Conflicts of this schedule with a team’s activities and/or home facility availability to be resolved by the Centre’s Ice Scheduler. On occasions when the League Scheduler issues match-ups only, the participating Centres’ Ice Schedulers to cooperatively schedule
the game. If the home team is identified for a match-up, it is the responsibility of the home Centre to schedule the game.
b) In the case of game reschedules, except for conditions beyond reasonable control (e.g. snow storm), a minimum of 72 hours’ notice is required. Exceptions will be decided by the GRLL Convenor.
c) If a team does not show up for a scheduled game and does not have a valid reason, the defaulting team’s Centre will be charged a fee to cover the cost of all game oficials. Exceptions will be decided by the GRLL Convenor.
6. GAMES
a) Centres should strive for the ice allocation and period lengths listed below. If it is necessary to play shorter games due to ice time restrictions, or there is luxury to play longer games due to available ice, the home Centre must clearly communicate to the visiting coaches so that they know what to expect when they get to the arena and properly set the expectations of the parents.
b) All cross-ice and ½-ice games will be two 22 minute and 30 second periods with a 90 second buzzer.
c) Full-ice hockey will be stop time as follows: AGE PERIOD ICE GROUP LENGTH ALLOCATION(MINUTES) (MINUTES)
U9 10-10-15 55 U11 10-10-15 55 U13 10-10-15 60 U15 10-15-15 70 U18 10-15-15 70
Note: Ice allocation does not include the 10 minutes required for ice resurfacing. d) Teams will be allowed one 30 second timeout in all full-ice hockey games.
e) OMHA approved electronic game sheets (GameSheet Inc.) will be used to record and communicate details of all games.
f) The game sheet will have only the names of the players who are playing. Late players will be allowed to add their names to the game sheet after the game has started. Extra name(s) on the game sheet that did not play will be deemed an illegal player(s). The penalty will be an automatic one (1) game suspension for the coach who was registered as the Head Coach on the game sheet of the offending player(s).
7. Conduct And Game Ejections & Suspensions
a) Any player that accumulates three penalty infractions in a GRLL game will be ejected from the game immediately. The penalized player shall not serve the third penalty; they must go directly to the dressing room and a player that was on the ice at the time of the infraction must serve the penalty.
Notes:
1. A double minor (e.g. double minor for Butt Ending) will count as one penalty infraction.
2. This rule is for the safety of players in the moment. All coaches, players, timekeepers and referees to make their best effort for implementation. Failure for this rule to be implemented will have no consequence subsequent to the game (i.e. Scores will not be overturned and coaches will not be suspended.)
b) In addition to the OMHA Minimum Suspension List, players accumulating thirty (30) penalty infractions in GRLL play will be suspended for the remainder of the season. Note: A double minor (e.g. double minor for Butt Ending) will count as one penalty infraction.
c) All Match Penalty Reports will go to the appropriate OMHA Regional Director as outlined in the GRLL Guidelines.
8. Playoffs
a) In Round Robin Playoffs different categories (“A”, “B”, “C” and “D”) may be established if the number of teams warrant it. Groups would be established considering regular season standings with the goal of like playing like competition. If it is required to break ties, Appendix A will be applied.
b) Each group shall play a balanced round robin schedule as determined by the League at their Pre-playoff Meeting.
c) Should teams be tied at the conclusion of the Round Robin Playoffs, the tie breaking rules described in Appendix A will be applied to determine which team(s) advance to the Division Final. Application of Appendix A will also determine the first-place team.
9. Division Final
a) Division Final will consist of a 4-point series. Teams will be awarded 1 point for a tie and 2 points for a win.
b) All games tied after regulation time will have one sudden victory overtime period. If no team has reached 4 points after completion of the third game, a fourth game will be scheduled. If no winner has been declared after the 10-minute sudden victory overtime period of the fourth game a shootout will be held as follows:
i) 5-player shootout following overtime period. The 5 players are selected at the conclusion of the overtime period.
ii) An ejected/suspended player or a player with an unexpired penalty at the end of overtime is not eligible to shoot.
iii) Shooters will shoot simultaneously.
iv) If a winner is not determined after the 5-player shootout the remaining eligible players will shoot one at a time until a winner is declared. No player can repeat until all eligible players of the team have taken one attempt.
v) Once all eligible players of the team have taken one attempt any shooter can be selected. After all eligible players have taken one attempt, any eligible player can shoot multiple times.
vi) Shoot out continues until a winner is determined.
c) The first-place team in Round Robin play may chose to play at home for the first or second game. If a third game is required, the first-place team in Round Robin play will be awarded that game. If a fourth game is required the team with the fewest home games in the series to date will be provided the opportunity to host the fourth game.
d) Prior to commencement of the first game a Playoff Agreement (contract) must be signed by both Centres and/or Teams. The agreement will consist of Game Dates, Times, Location, Period Length, Time Outs, Overtime, Referee System, and Breaks Between Periods. A signed copy of the agreement to be provided to both Centres/Teams and the League Convenor.
APPENDIX A:
Updated:
GRAND RIVER LOCAL LEAGUE TIE BREAKER RULES - REGULAR SEASON AND ROUND ROBIN
May 10, 2016 September 13, 2016 May 9, 2017
May 8, 2018 May 7, 2019
September 29, 2021 September 27, 2022 January 2, 2023 September 4, 2023 October 11, 2023 September 19, 2024 October 11, 2024 October 25, 2025
APPENDIX A
GRAND RIVER LOCAL LEAGUE TIE BREAKER RULES REGULAR SEASON AND ROUND ROBIN
In the event of a tie in the standings at the end of regular season and/or round robin playoffs, for any position (1st, 2nd, etc.), the procedure listed below will be used to break the tie. Games from regular season only will be used to break ties at the end of regular season. Similarly, games from round robin only will be used to break ties at the end of round robin play.
1. Two Teams Tied
Consider the list below in descending order until the team with the higher position is identified.
i) Head-to-head winner – Team with the best record of the game(s) played between the two tied teams.
ii) Most wins.
iii) Best goal average. The goal average of a team is determined in the following manner:
Goal Average = Total number of goals for, divided by the total number of goals for and against.
Example: 10 GOALS FOR, 4 GOALS AGAINST Goal Average Calculation: 10/10+4 = .714
NOTE: The higher percentage gains the higher position. All games to be included. iv) Least number of penalty minutes throughout all games.
v) Fewest goals against throughout all games. vi) Most goals for throughout all games.
vii) A single coin toss.
2. Three or More Teams Tied
The following list will be considered in descending order to determine the seeding of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th seed. If any step in the tie breaker only seeds one team, that team assumes that position. The three-team tie breaker 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 tie breaker.
i) Point record established in the games among the tied teams only. ii) Most wins among the tied teams.
iii) Best goal average. The goal average of a team is determined in the following manner:
Goal Average = Total number of goals for, divided by the total number of goals for and against.
Example: 10 GOALS FOR, 4 GOALS AGAINST Goal Average Calculation: 10/10+4 = .714
NOTE: The higher percentage gains the higher position. All games to be included.
SCENARIO 1:
Team 1 - .714 = 1 seed – Advances ** Team 2 - .500 = 3 seed – Does Not Advance Team 3 - .650 = 2 seed – Advances **
SCENARIO 2:
Team 1 - .714 = 1 seed – Advances **
Team 2 - .500 = Still tied with team 3 – go to next scenario Team 3- .500 = Still tied with team 2 – go to next scenario SCENARIO 3:
Team 1 –. 650 = Still tied with team 2 – go to next scenario Team 2 - .650 = Still tied with team 1 – go to next scenario Team 3 - .500 = Does not advance
iv) Least number of penalty minutes throughout all games. v) Fewest goals against throughout all games.
vi) Most goals for throughout all games. vii) A single coin toss.