4.0 Member Teams and Member Leagues, Structure, ALLIANCE Manual of Operations (Minor Hockey Alliance of Ontario)

4.0 – MEMBER TEAMS & MEMBER LEAGUES

 
4.1 The ALLIANCE Hockey Structure Committee shall coordinate the following Intercity Leagues:

 

.1   Pavilion League (AAA)

 

.2   Seeded League (AA/A) – Constellation & Bristol

 

.3   All BB & B Hockey

 

Other Leagues within the ALLIANCE (Intercity Leagues) will be governed by local associations or other appointed organizations and/or committees.

 
4.2 ALLIANCE Hockey Pavilion League (AAA):

 

.1   ALLIANCE Hockey AAA competition will be referred to as the Pavilion League. The Pavilion League will consist of teams from the East and West forming two divisions:

 

West East

Chatham-Kent Zone Brantford Minor
Elgin-Middlesex Zone Cambridge Minor
Lambton Zone Huron Perth Zone

London Jr Knights Kitchener Minor
Sun County Zone Waterloo Minor
Windsor AAA Zone

 

.2   If a team becomes unavailable for competition, after the July Scheduling Meeting, notification must be made in writing to the ALLIANCE Office from the centre/zone prior to the first scheduled League game.  If notification is made after the first League game, a fine will be imposed on the offending centre/zone at the discretion of the Structure Advisory Committee.   In the event that an age group does not have a full complement of teams, make-up games will be designated by the Structure Advisory Committee.

.3   Team Participation (Where all teams participate):

 

.1   Each team will play a thirty (30) game schedule.

 

    .2   The thirty (30) game schedule will consist of a single home  and away with the opposite division and a three (3) game round robin within divisional play, the West will add one (1) game within Divisional Play.

 

    .3   For U18 AAA hockey competition only, all teams will compete in one (1) League participating in a balanced schedule.

 
4.3 Team Participation (Where not all teams participate):

 

.1   If a full complement of teams is not participating, games will be assigned to give the teams as close to a thirty (30) game schedule as possible. Game numbers will be assigned by the ALLIANCE Office.

 

.2   Playdown and Playoff charts will be determined at the earliest scheduled structure meeting for the new season.

4.4 ALLIANCE Hockey Seeded League (AA/A) – Constellation and Bristol Leagues:

 

.1 ALLIANCE Hockey AA and A, and East Central Minor Development League competition will be referred to as Seeded Leagues.  The Seeded Leagues are considered two separate leagues known as the ALLIANCE Hockey AA/A Seeded League and the East Central Minor Development Seeded League.  In both cases the Seeded League teams will participate in the same schedule at which time teams will be split in order to participate at the AA or A category for Representative Hockey and Tier 1 or Tier 11 for Minor Development Hockey. The specific dates to split into two separate leagues will be determined at the June Structure Meeting. The split will always be consistent for even and odd number entries in the following manner, when numbers are odd, less teams will be placed in the higher category with the even number of teams or more teams in the lower category, (example 11 teams 5 up and 6 down) even number (example 12 teams 6 up and 6 down).  Consideration will also be given to eliminate byes in the playoffs where by a division could consist of 8 teams.

.2 An appeal can be registered for adjustment to the split by a Member Association.  Appeal will not be considered where a division goes below 5 teams and must be more than 4 points in requesting to move down a division.  To move up a division the difference in points must be no greater than 3 points of the Tier 1 Division or a 6 point difference between 1^st and 2^nd place in the Tier 2 Division.  The appeal must be submitted one week prior to the split date and must be signed by the Representative Council Member, President of the association and Coach.

 

.3   The Seeded Leagues AA/A and BB & B will consist of teams from the following ALLIANCE Hockey associations:

 

Brantford Minor Burlington
Cambridge Minor Hamilton Reps
London Representative Hockey Association Kitchener Minor
Sarnia Hockey                                       Stratford Minor
Waterloo Minor   Woodstock Minor
GLHA - Jr Mustangs St. Catharines

Jr Raiders *St Thomas                                         

 

Note: *St Thomas is a member of the OMHA and participates in the ALLIANCE Seeded League play and when available will come back to ALLIANCE Seeded League Playoffs.
Note: Division teams may be adjusted from time to time to allow for appropriate competition.

 
4.5 ALLIANCE Hockey Seeded League Games:

 

.1   If a team becomes unavailable for competition, after the July Scheduling Meeting, notification must be made in writing to the ALLIANCE Office from the centre/zone prior to the first scheduled League game.  If notification is made after the first League game, a fine will be imposed on the offending centre/zone at the discretion of the Structure Committee.  In the event that an age group does not have a full complement of teams, make-up games will be designated by the Structure Committee.

 

.2   Each team will play a home and home series with each team participating in the specified age group. The seeding season will conclude on the third Wednesday of December each year. This Wednesday will also hold the re-seeding scheduling meeting.

 

.3   Once the teams have been seeded in December, the Bristol League teams will play a single home and away with each team in their League to create as close to a twenty-eight (28)-game schedule as possible.

 

.4   Once the teams have been seeded in December, the Constellation League teams will play a double home and away with each team in their League to create as close to a twenty- eight (28)-game schedule as possible.

 

.5   Playdown and Playoff charts will be determined at the earliest scheduled structure meeting for the new season.

 

4.6 ALLIANCE Hockey BB & B:

 

.1   The ALLIANCE BB/B East/Central Teams may play a seeded League Schedule which will consist of a home and away. Upon completion of the schedule, teams will either qualify for BB (Tier 1) or B(Tier 2) competition based on where they finish. A round robin playoff may take place in each of the tiers to determine the top four teams where upon completion a Semi-Final may take place (2 of 3) between 1st and 4th, 2nd and 3rd.

 

Brantford Minor St. Catharines CYO
Kitchener Minor                Waterloo Minor
Woodstock Minor   Brantford CHL
Burlington Cambridge Minor
Hamilton Jr Raiders

 

.2   The ALLIANCE Hockey BB & B West teams may play a regular season series with each team in their division to create as close to a 24 game schedule as possible. The title of “League Champions” will be awarded to the team finishing first in each division at the conclusion of the regular season.  A single round robin Playoff series may then be played to determine the top four teams advancing to a semi-final Playdown series, best 2 of 3; 1st place versus 4th place and 2nd place versus 3rd place.  Winners may advance to the ALLIANCE Hockey BB/B Championships BB(Tier 1) and the losers will advance to the ALLIANCE Hockey BB/B Championships B(Tier 2) with the Host being automatically  seeded in the ALLIANCE Hockey BB/B Championships B(Tier 2) if they finish lower than 4th place.

 
North London

Oakridge
London Bandits

West London
Sarnia
Stratford* Woodstock*
*Teams may be moved to E/C Divisions based on number of teams, etc.

.3   Notification must be given to the ALLIANCE Office by September 1st  as to the final complement of teams they will be icing for the upcoming season.

 

.4   If a team becomes unavailable for competition, after the September Scheduling Meeting, notification must be made in writing to the ALLIANCE Office from the centre/zone prior to the first scheduled League game. If notification is made after the first League game, a fine will be imposed on the offending centre/zone at the discretion of the Structure Committee.  In the event that an age group does not have a full complement of teams, make-up games will be designated by the Structure Committee.

 

.5   Each division  will schedule a specific number  of games based on the number of teams in the division, to be determined at the August Scheduling Meeting at which time game match-ups will appear on The OneDB for scheduling meeting in September.

 

.6   Playoffs will be determined at the earliest scheduled structure meeting for the new season.

.7   ALLIANCE U9 MD Hockey will be restricted to three (3) tournaments plus one (1) at Christmas during the current playing season.  Exhibition games will be restricted to six (6) which includes tryouts.  It is recommended that U9 MD teams practice two (2) times per week.  A Silver Stick Tournament qualifier will count as one (1) tournament should a team have success in advancing to a second event.  The Head Coach that is in contravention to the U9 MD Tournament and Exhibition Game Policy will be suspended for three (3) games as per the ALLIANCE Hockey Suspension Policy.  Cancellation of Exhibition Games and Tournaments to meet the set Policy will be at the expense of the team.
NOTE: Check for seasonal Bulletins re: applicable Tournament Policy