Meeting of the Executive

January 18th, 2004

7:30pm - Stanley's





Minutes







1. League Fees

- All teams are have either fully paid or cheques are in the mail.



2. Rosters and Registration

- The Raiders delivered their roster at the meeting, so all teams have now issued their initial 2003-2004 rosters.

- Some teams have incomplete registration information. Registration must include a players name, address, phone number and date of birth. (Email address optional)

- A decision was reached to make the roster deadline January 31st or when a teams has 7 games remaining in the regular season.

- Any team playing players not on their roster following the deadline will forfeit that game.





3. Overtime in the Play-offs

- The RIHL policy for deciding tie games after regulation time is dependent on available ice time. In all cases, every effort will be made to decide games with sudden death overtime.

- A best of three series will now be considered a 4 point series and may (very unlikely) go to 4 games or more.

- In the event a game cannot be decided with overtime, the game will end in a tie and each team is awarded 1 point.

- If there is a tie in any game, the series must go to at least 3 games.

- If the series is tied and cannot be decided after a third game, an additional game(s) will be scheduled.

- There will be no shoot-outs.

Tie games will stand as a last resort, only when all means of overtime have been exhausted.





4. Underage Players - Future League Policy



- By a vote of 4 - 2 (Cowboys, Skyhawks opposed) it was decided to bar all players under the age of 30 as of the 2004-2005 season.







RIHL Rule 1(a) now reads as follows:



Players must be 35 years of age or older on or before December 31st of the current playing season, expect as follows:

i. A maximum of 4 players per team under age 35 (as of Dec. 31 of the current season) may be allowed under the following conditions:

(1) A maximum of 2 new players under the age of 35 each season per team.



Rule 1(a)i(2) and Rule 1(a)ii no longer apply:



(2) Players under the age of 30 will only be allowed with a majority approval of the League Executive.



ii. All underage players from the 2002-2003 RIHL season are grandfathered into the league regardless of the number of underage players their team holds. Teams with rosters that exceed the maximum of 4 underage players will not be allowed any new underage players.



- Shayne Clarkson (20 years old) of the Skyhawks was denied his application to play in the RIHL.





5. New Teams

- A couple teams have expressed interest in joining the RIHL.

- The RIHL welcomes eligible new teams to join the league, however, ice time is an issue. Efforts will be made to obtain ice time to accommodate expansion.

- Any team with ice time will be given priority.

- Expect in extenuating circumstances, a 7th team will only be accepted if an 8th team also joins.





6. Rules

- A "Game Ejections" call is being used by officials to remove problem players from the game. This is different than a "Game Misconduct" that carries a suspension and usually follows a Major Penalty. (Hockey Canada Rule below.) Game Ejection penalties carry no additional suspension beyond the game the penalty was issued.



Hockey Canada Rule 32:

(a) A player incurring a "Game Ejection" penalty in accordance with Rule 28(f) - Minor Penalties, shall be ordered to the dressing room for the remainder of the game.

(b) A player, or team official incurring a "Game Misconduct" penalty shall be ordered to the dressing room for the remainder of the game and shall be reported to the President for further action. A substitute for the penalized player shall be permitted immediately.















7. Official's Protocol to Protests



- The following guidelines have been adopted to resolve issues of game protests.



1. The referee does not have the authority, except under order of the

League President, to forfeit a game.



2. If a team protests to the officials, the officials must advise the

other team of the complaint and (if it seems prudent) offer the option

of voluntarily removing the player(s) from the game.



3. Teams must play the game even under protest. Refusal to play will result in forfeit. Protest must be lodged with the League President to decide if the protest is valid and if any action should be taken.





8. Awards

- In order to be eligible for the RIHL Top Goaltender Award, a goaltender must play a minimum 15 games in 25 game season.



9. New Business



The team finishing in 1st place will play in the first play-off game against the 4th place team.