The OVAL is Open for the Season.                                 The Guidant John Rose MN OVAL is a unique outdoor recreation facility with 110,000 square feet of refrigerated ice from November to March. The OVAL has a 400 meter speed skating track surrounding an infield ice area used for hockey or bandy.  Click here for the November open skating/open hockey schedule.

Minnesota Wild Announces Annual Mite Jamboree  (Link Here)    REGISTRATION OPENS NOV. 11 AT 10 AM.  The Minnesota Wild, in partnership with Minnesota Hockey, today announced it will host the fourth annual Mite Holiday Jamboree. Boys and girls across the State of Hockey are invited to participate in the Girls 8U Jamboree on Sunday, Dec. 22 and the Youth Mite Jamboree on Monday, Dec. 30.

Minnesota Hockey Announces 2019 Essay Contest (Link Here)    Minnesota Hockey, in partnership with Park Dental, announced today the topic for the 2019 Minnesota Hockey Essay Contest. Once again, Park Dental will be the presenting partner of the essay contest, which is an annual tradition that encourages players to express their thoughts on what makes youth hockey in Minnesota a fun, unique and positive environment.

All registered Minnesota Hockey participants are encouraged to enter the contest by completing the following: “I Am Thankful I Play Hockey For [Home Association] Because…”

Submissions will be accepted from October 22 through November 25. Original essays should be limited to 250 words or less, and should include the child’s name, hockey association, team/classification, address, phone number and email address. Submissions can be sent to:

Minnesota Hockey
Attn: Essay Contest
317 Washington Street
Saint Paul, MN 55102

The USA Hockey Board of Directors unanimously ratified the Declaration of Player Safety, Fair Play and Respect at its Board of Directors meeting on June 8 in a significant move focused on improving the game at the youth level, particularly related to player safety.  The focus of the Declaration is a concentrated effort to change the culture around body checking and competitive contact at all levels of play and clearly define what is acceptable and unacceptable. The Board’s action makes clear that a body check must be an attempt to win possession of the puck and not an effort to punish or intimidate. Further, USA Hockey is committed to a culture where there are: 1) no late hits 2) no hits to the head and 3) no checking from behind.      Click here to read the full article.

Minnesota Hockey today announced the host sites for the 2020 Minnesota Hockey State and Region Tournaments. For the seventh consecutive year, The Drive to State is presented by Chevy, and will be highlighted by 14 State Tournaments hosted by nine communities. Region Tournaments will be played February 28 through March 1, followed by State Tournaments being played March 13 through 15.

Read the full article here.

Check here each Monday for a variety of articles and information related to the sport of hockey.  To submit an article, send to: D2hockey.webmaster@gmail.com 

FUN FACTS

1. Bobby Hull shot the fastest puck in recorded history, at 118 miles per hour.

2. The greatest player of all time, Wayne Gretzky, has 61 NHL records. Nobody else comes close to this many records.

3. Manon Rheaume was the first woman to play in the NHL. She was the goalie for Tampa Bay Lightning.

The objective of hockey is simple: score more goals than the opposing team. During regulation time, each team uses five skaters—three forwards and two defensemen—plus a goaltender. Players are not allowed to kick the puck into the net or purposely direct it in with any part of their body.

HOCKEY MADE SIMPLE

THE PLAYERS

Goaltender:: The goalie's primary task is simple - keep the puck out of his own net. Offensively, he might start his team down the ice with a pass, but seldom does he leave the net.

Defensemen: These players try to stop the incoming play at their own blue line. They try to break up passes, block shots, cover opposing forwards (center and wings) and clear the puck from in front of their own goal. Offensively, they get the puck to their forwards and follow the play into the attacking zone, positioning themselves just inside their opponent's blue line at the "points."

Center: The quarterback on the ice, the center leads the attack by carrying the puck on offense. He exchanges passes with his wings to steer the play toward the opposing goal. On defense, he tries to disrupt a play before it gets on his team's side of the ice.

Wings: The wings team with the center on the attack to set up shots on goal. Defensively, they attempt to break up plays by their counterparts and upset shot attempts.

THE OFFICIALS

Referee: The referee supervises the game, calls the penalties, determines if goals are scored and handles faceoffs at center ice at the start of each period.

Linesmen: Two are used. They call offside, offside pass, icing and handle all faceoffs not occurring at center ice. They do not call penalties, but can recommend to the referee that a penalty be called.

Goal Judges: One sits off-ice behind each goal and indicates when the puck has crossed the red goal line by turning on a red light just above his station. The referee can ask his advise on disputed goals, but the referee has final authority and can overrule the goal judge.

Official Scorer: He determines which player scores and credits assists if there are any. He might consult the referee, but the scorer is the final authority in crediting points.

HOCKEY'S THREE MAIN RULES

Offsides: When any member of the attacking team precedes the puck over the defending team's blue line.

Offside (or two-line)Pass: When a player passes the puck from his defending zone to a teammate beyond the red center line.

Icing: When a player shoots the puck across the center red line and past the opposing red goal line. Icing is not called if the player's team is killing a penalty, a teammate of the player shooting the puck touches it before a player from the opposing team, the defending goalie touches the puck first or if the puck travels through the crease (semicircle of blue paint at the "mouth" of the goal) on its way to the red line.

THE PENALTIES

A team plays shorthanded when one or more of its players is charged with a penalty. However, no team is forced to play more than two players below full strength (six) at any tiime. If a third penalty is assessed to the same team, it is suspended until the first penalty expires. When a penalty is called on a goalie, a teammate serves his time in the penalty box.

Minor Penalty: Two minutes - Called for boarding, charging, cross-checking, elbowing, holding, hooking, high-sticking, interference, roughing, slashing, spearing, tripping and unsportsmanlike conduct.

Major Penalty: Five minutes - Called for fighting or when minor penalties are committed with deliberate intent to injure. Major penalties for slashing, spearing, high-sticking, butt-ending and cross-checking carry automatic game misconducts.

Misconduct: Ten minutes - Called for various forms of unsportsmanlike behavior or when a player incurs a second major penalty in a game. This is a penalty against an individual and not a team, so a substitute is permitted.

Penalty Shot: A free shot, unopposed except for the goalie, given to a player who is illegally impeded from behind when in possession of the puck with no opponent between him and the goal except the goalie. The team which commits the offense is not penalized beyond the penalty shot, whether it succeeds or not.

Delayed Penalty: The whistle is delayed until the penalized team regains possession of the puck.

Source: Winnetka Hockey Club