RULES AND REGULATIONS:
Most of the Rules of Ball Hockey mirror those of ice hockey, or what you are already familar with, this is not meant to be a comprehensive list. However, there are a number of special rules that you should be aware of if you have never played SBHL Ball Hockey before
The SBHL will not tolerate fighting, intent to injure or abuse of officials and will provide all team reps with a suspension and fine list that will be enforced in the event that any of the above occur.
Minimal Contact:
Although the term non-contact is used for ball hockey a more accurate depiction would be the term minimal contact. There is no body checking, however, there is always a bit of bumping or light pushing amongst players to gain body position between them, the opponent and the ball. There is absolutely no stick work tolerated in the sport.
The "Floating Blue Line":
This method of offside is exclusive to ball hockey and heavily promotes offense, as the offensive zone is very large and extends from the center line all the way to the end boards in the defensive zone.
Ball Hockey mirrors international hockey in that there is no 2 line pass. However, the largerst difference between Ball Hockey and most forms of Ice Hockey is the "Floating Blue Line" that regulates offides in the offensive zones. Once a player has moved the ball over the blue line into the attacking zone, the attacking zone increases to include the entire opponent's half of the rink. If the defending team sends the ball past center, the zone is reset to the blue line and their opponent must regain it as explained above.
Periods
All SBHL Ball Hockey games in U11 and older consist of three 13-minute periods. The clock is straight-time in the first and second period. The last minute of play in second period is stop time, but only if the whistle is blown after there is less then one minute left. The third period is stop-time. If the score becomes more than a four goal spread at any time during the second half, straight time will occur.
In U9 leagues will be three 15-minute straight-time periods with a 3 minute buzzer allowing teams to change lines. In U7 and U9 age categories there will be a 3-goal limit for each player in a game.
During regular season play, at the end of regulation time if there is a tie, a shoot-out will occur in U9 and above.
In U5 and U7, there will be more emphasize on skill development, so teams will have 20 minutes of practice followed by one 36 minute period (straight time) with a buzzer every three minutes, Teams will be spit into 1/2 or 1/3 of the floor. There will be no goalies but one of the players can stand in front of the net to knock the ball away. Players should not lay down or cover the ball. There are no shootouts if the games are tied unlike all other age categories.
High Sticking & Stick Infractions
Any stick infraction, including slashing, high-sticking or a cross-checking penalty, will result in a double-minor. The penalized player will serve the entire length of his/her penalty regardless if the other team scores, even though his/her team will return to even strength. High sticking involving injuries will result in a 5-minute major and a game misconduct, and review from the discipline committee.
Any three penalties in a game will earn a game ejection.
Sask Ball Hockey has a very strict policy for fighting, intent to injure, abuse of officials and other serious incidents. A list of Fines & Suspensions can be found under the Fines & Suspensions.
EQUIPMENT
Ball Hockey requires very minimal equipment. All that is required is running shoes, gloves and a helmet. However, all CBHA (Canadian Ball Hockey Association) leagues use a certified low bounce orange. The ball is a hard and at the elite levels, can reach speeds at over 100 km/hour.
Mandatory Equipment Requirements
CSA approved helmets (facemasks under 18)
CSA or ZEBRA Ball Hockey gloves
Hockey stick (no plastic blades) and running shoes.
Recommended Equipment Requirements (optional)
Shin pads - ice hockey (must be covered), soccer or ball hockey shin pads
Protective cup
Goaltenders
CBHA approved DGel balls are low bounce and hard. Therefore, goaltenders must use CSA approved ice hockey gear; no street hockey equipment can be used (except in Initiation & Novice youth leagues or unless otherwise approved by the league).
All Goaltenders in Atom (and older) must have their own goal equipmment. In Initiation and Novice, goal equipment (pads, blocker, glove, chest pad) will be provided to teams if they are needed. In circumstances where a team may not have a regular goalie, the league will provide some.
Required:
- Protective cup
- CSA approved goal pads
- Chest and arm pads
- Helmet with cage
- CSA approved blocker and trapper
- Protective hockey pants
Liquor Consumption within Playing Facilities
The consumption of alcohol in dressing rooms/bench areas are prohibited by our facilities. The penalty (issued by the facility) may be the loss of dressing rooms facilities for 5 games. If these facilities choose to implement a fine, then teams will have to pay this out of their pocket and will be suspended from league play until they pay it in full to the facility. Additionally, the league will also forfeit your next game and the team you played will be able to take any game from your schedule being that they did not get to play your game.
Jersey Conflicts (teams responsibility)
In past seasons the league has left pinnies at different arena’s to avoid colour conflicts between teams; However, these pinnies are not returned in full and in other cases players have intentionally torn them, making them unusable for other players.
Teams that have their own custom jerseys will be responsible for their own second uniform to avoid colour conflicts; we understand that having two sets of jerseys are costly, so we will ALLOW teams to wear their own numbered pinnies or even get simple cost effective t-shirts with numbers on the back, to use ONLY to avoid colour conflicts.
For reasons listed above, it is now the team’s responsibility to supply some form of a respectable back up uniform/t-shirt with numbers in case of Jersey Conflicts.
