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January 14, 2018
NOTICE TO ALL MASSACHUSETTS HOCKEY PROGRAMS/TEAMS
THAT INTEND TO PARTICIPATE IN THE 2018-19 NATIONAL BOUND TOURNAMENTS
It is important that all programs and their teams that intend to enter the 2018-19 Massachusetts Hockey National Bound Tournament are familiar with the USA Hockey Guidelines and Requirements for eligibility in the National Championship tournaments.
Specifically, any team desiring to be considered “National Bound” CAN NOT hold tryouts until 24 hours after the conclusion of the 2018 National Championships, meaning that this year’s tryouts may not begin before April 11, 2018. While there have been conversations and discussions on how this impacts Massachusetts hockey, and there was a desire to work within the confines of the USA Hockey Rules to benefit our programs and not extend the season into mid to late April for players whose season was completed as many as six weeks prior, the rule is clear that no variance from the rule in the USA Hockey Annual Guide is permissible.
USA Hockey is working to establish some consistencies both nationally and locally and there is a belief that there is an unfair advantage given to teams not participating in the National Championships and holding tryouts when a team that has won the opportunity to represent their district at the Nationals can not reasonably be expected to hold tryouts while still competing. By establishing and enforcing the allowable dates for National Bound teams to hold tryouts, all teams have the same opportunity to select from the pool of available players.
Massachusetts Hockey appealed this rule and associated enforcement to USA Hockey’s Youth Council at the 2018 Mid-Winter meetings and our request was unanimously denied.
All rules pertaining to a team’s eligibility to participate in the National Bound tournament can be found in the 2017-18 USA Hockey Annual Guide (www.usahockey.com/annualguide) starting on p.134. We strongly encourage ALL program leaders and coaches/managers to read the entire section pertaining to membership, eligibility and classifications. Any program that is found to be not in compliance with the rules and regulations will be deemed ineligible to participate in the Massachusetts Hockey National Bound State Championship tournament. Additional information specific to the National Championships is available in the USA Hockey Tournament Guidebook (http://nationals.usahockey.com/guidebook).
Any questions regarding this process can be directed to the appropriate tournament chair:
Youth: Bob Joyce (bjocye@mahockey.org)
Girls/Women’s: Mark Lissner (mlissner@mahockey.org)
We appreciate your understanding of this matter and look forward to continuing the strong tradition of Massachusetts Hockey teams representing us at the USA Hockey National Championships.
Respectfully,
John L. Tobin, Esq.
President- Massachusetts Hockey
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