Novice Information 2019 - Wednesday Feb 27th at 6:30pm, News (Quinte Red Devils)

There are many questions about Novice program and “cross-ice hockey” beginning in the 2019-20 hockey season.  As this is a work in progress, we don’t as yet have all the answers but here is what we know so far:   Hockey Canada, the governing body of hockey in Canada, has decided that hockey for all players age 8 and under will change in 2019.  The Ontario Hockey Federation (OHF) and the Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA) are the two provincial governing bodies under whose jurisdiction we compete and are implementing these changes.  This is not a QRMHA decision or an ETA (Eastern Triple A) decision. 

Every hockey player, male or female, at AAA, AA, or A levels, or from smaller centres, EVERYWHERE IN CANADA all will play under the same framework.  QRMHA is looking to continue with the Novice program for the 2019-20 Season. 

The Novice season, next year and moving forward, is expected to look like this:

Development Phase (6 weeks from mid-September until the end of October – 25% of season)

·         Ice Setup:  Half-Ice

·         2 practices a week will generally be scheduled

·         Games at the Head Coach discretion but will be no more than 6 games and 1 tournament/jamboree.

·         Scores will not be kept and games will be officiated by coaching staff(s).

Regular Season Phase (12 weeks from the beginning of November until mid-January – 50% of season)

·         Ice Setup:  Half-Ice

·         2 practices a week will generally be scheduled

·         Again at the Head Coaches discretion, but would be no more than 12-18 games and 1-2 tournament/jamboree.

·         It is presently unclear whether or not scores will be kept and games will be officiated by coaching staff(s) or OMHA certified officials. 

Transition Phase (8 weeks from mid-January to mid-March – 25% of season)

·         Ice Setup:  Full-Ice

·         2 practices a week will generally be scheduled

·         8 League games and 1 tournament/jamboree.

·         Scores will be recorded and games will be officiated by OMHA certified officials.

·         OMHA Regional Playdowns will be integrated into this phase in some form.

Some things to keep in mind:

Regardless of a player’s ability, no player 8 or younger may ‘play up’ and play Minor Atom.  A player aged 8 may become an Affiliated Player (AP) for a Minor Atom team, but only once the Transition Phase (January 15th) has begun.

The Novice program will be rostered (i.e. one cannot play for their home centre AND their AAA zone team) and there will be tryouts this April.

We are planning to have a Novice Information Night once we have finished the Coach Selections.

This is a work in progress. It is possible that Hockey Canada , OHF, or OMHA may change these parameters at any time, so check our website for updates.