AGENDA
1. State of the Union
a. Clearly the global pandemic has had a negative effect on the RIHL (and hockey in general). Indeed it was nearly the death of the league. However, it appears that we will be able to continue, provided players are willing to accept the imposed Covid 19 restrictions (at least for the start of the season).
i.
In brief the following Covid 19 are currently in
place:
• No limit on players on the ice or in each dressing room.
• Dressing rooms 15 minutes in advance, showers not yet added – currently under
review.
• Masks must be worn when not playing, once helmet is on leaving dressing room
then you can take off mask.
• Further protocols based on PHO seem to be developing and once we have a
better idea on how those play out including vaccines, we will communicate any
changes.
b. Of course we need to be ever aware that greater authority may choose to shut us down at any moment until the pandemic is finally behind us. We must be prepared to accept any loss that comes from it.
Outcome:
Not all teams are willing to participate under the current regulations, thus making
much of the remaining agenda items somewhat less important.
2. Financial Report
a.
We took a heavy hit in the 2019-20 season when
we lost the Raiders just prior to the start of the season. We elected to keep the Thursday ice time in
order to reserve it for next season, in hopes of finding new teams. We managed
to farm out 6 ice times to a junior team, but otherwise these ice times sat
vacant for the most part. The cost of maintaining this idle ice time was
approximately $6768. Compounding our
financial strain, we voted to keep league fees low at $8000 with the expressed
intent to reduce our inflated contingency. In that regard, we were successful
as our financial assets diminished to $11,619 – slightly more than required.
Our financial situation would have been worse had it not been for the unseen
pandemic event that cut our playoff season short. This was not a desirable conclusion,
but it did save us some money.
b. We did not receive the same financial benefits from Covid 19 for the 2020-21 season – which lasted all of 2 games. Unfortunately we had ice time expenses for much more than that. We were able to sublet some of the unused ice time, but the ice did sit vacate some nights. The result was a season loss of about $1500, which we were able to absorb, bringing our reserves quite in line to where they should be at just over $10,000.
c. Despite the hardships of the past couple years, the RIHL has come out on solid financial ground and ready to resume in good health.
3. The Coming Season
a. We are expecting all teams that played the 2019-20 season to return to the RIHL and are hoping to add a new team (or resurrect an old one). We are still hopeful to add a sixth team, but time is running out on that option.
b. While it has not yet been fully confirmed that we will even have 4 teams, the expectation is that we will have 5 – presents a scheduling difficulty. With our usual three ice times of 2 on Tuesdays and 1 on Thursday, we have a few options:
1. One team will play twice a week every 3 or 4 weeks.
2. Drop Thursday and 1 team sits out every 4 or 5 weeks.
3. We sublet several Thursdays to reduce the number of double or byes.
c. League fees will be heavily dependant of the above schedule options and length of season.
i. Option 1 would require a 28 game schedule (70 games) that would start later and end earlier (Oct 5 – Mar 15)
ii. Option 2 would only allow 20 regular season games (50 games) (Sept 28 – Mar 15)
iii. Option 3 would allow 24 or 28 games, depending on how many doubles we want to play.
d. In order to be included in the RIHL schedule for 2021-22, a $500 deposit is required.
e. New teams must pay a $500 initiation fee.
Outcome:
In anticipation of Covid restrictions being lifted, we expect 4 teams to enter
the 2021-2022 season. The Thursday night ice time will be dropped and we will
play a 25 game schedule, teams playing once a week beginning Oct 5th.
4. Scorekeeper and Statistician
a. Unfortunately for the RIHL, our long time Scorekeeper has retired due to aging health issues. This is a great loss to the league as he not only provided timekeeping services, he was also the unbiased eyes and ears of the RIHL, helping to keep the League President aware of on-ice situations and results. He will not be easy to replace.
b. Not only do we need to find a suitable replacement for Len, we should really do something to recognize and honour Len’s long and loyal service to the RIHL.
c. Along with our loss comes opportunity. As good a Scorekeeper that Len was, at age 85 he is not altogether up to speed with today’s technology. A little more will be asked of a new Scorekeeper, with added tasks to assist the Statistician and scheduling of the Officials. For that reason and more, we should consider increasing the compensation. The Scorekeepers job in the RIHL is just as important as the officials and their payment should reflect that.
d. Our existing Statistician is willing to continue at the same rate of pay, but based on the above, the job description could change – hopefully making the job easier (but maybe not).
Outcome: All teams agreed that Len should be honoured and plans will be
put into place when the time comes. In the meantime a search goes out for a
replacement.
5. Playoff format
a. In the past, with a 5 team league, we have implemented an elimination playoff for the bottom two teams to determine 4th place.
b. The remaining four teams will playoff as follows:
i. 1st place plays 4th place (Best of 3)
ii. 2nd place plays 3rd place (Best of 3)
iii. 1st place team receives preferential scheduling.
iv.
10 minute
OT (if permitted by iceman) and a shoot out will decide games
v.
Deciding
Final Games: Overtime limited only by available ice time, then shoot-out
Outcome: The item was not addressed,
but with only 4 teams expected, it will be an all team playoff in standard
format.
6. Awards Night
a. When, Where, How?
b. Trophies?
Outcome:
No discussion took place and the item will be deferred
7. Referees
a. Due to the highly competitive nature of the teams, obtaining qualified and dedicated Referees for the RIHL is always a problem. In the past, an increase in pay helped attract officials, but certain officials used this to their advantage to ask other leagues to meet the same pay as the RIHL. This obviously negates any incentive we were trying to create. Rather than offer additional pay, perhaps we could consider some sort of bonus system.
Outcome:
Wait to see the response.
8. Rosters and Registration
a. Current Covid 19 protocols with contact tracing makes player registration more important than ever. All players must be registered with name, address, phone and email address prior to playing.
9. RIHL Rules and Regulations
a. The current RIHL rules are posted on our website. However, it is important to note that while efforts are made to keep the rules up to date, that is not always the case. At times, certain rules have been changed or added, but did not make it to the official RIHL Rulebook. These amendments would have been approved at a league meeting and recorded in the minutes. If at any time there is a variance in the RIHL Rule and RIHL Minutes, the minutes shall override the posted RIHL Rules.
b. RIHL Rule 10 specifies that rules changes are best made prior to the start of the season. There are no new rules proposed at this time.
Outcome:
No new rules
10. Other business:
Outcome: No other business was discussed, but there was mention of
Scorekeeping/Stats software that will be explored