Start with the ice you can book
Write down how many sheets of ice you have, which days, and the first and last ice time on each day. Ice is booked by the hour and it is usually the biggest cost of the weekend, so this number decides how many teams you can take.
Most rec tournaments book 50 to 60 minutes per game: a short warm-up, three periods of 12 to 15 minutes, and time for the flood. Many run the clock without stopping for most of the game and stop it only in the last minutes, which keeps games inside their slot.
One sheet from 7 am to 11 pm at 60 minutes a game is 16 games. Two sheets is 32.
Work out how many teams fit
Teams travel for a guaranteed number of games, usually 3 or 4. Pools of 4 give every team 3 games before the playoffs.
- 8 teams: two pools of 4 and a 4 team playoff is 15 games, 12 in the pools, 2 semi-finals and a final.
- 12 teams: three pools of 4 and an 8 team playoff is 25 games.
- 16 teams: four pools of 4 and an 8 team playoff is 31 games.
Compare that with your ice. 25 games at 60 minutes is 25 hours: two sheets for about 12 and a half hours, or one sheet across two days. Keep a slot or two spare for a game that runs long or a resurfacer that breaks down.
Pick a format
- Pools, then a playoff bracket. The usual format. The pool standings seed the playoffs.
- Round robin only. Everyone plays everyone and the standings decide the winner. Works for 4 or 5 teams.
- A and B playoffs. Split the playoff teams by seed so the weaker teams play for a B title instead of going home after pool play.
Pool games can end in a tie. Playoff games cannot, so decide now how a tie is settled: a few minutes of sudden death overtime, often 3 on 3 or 4 on 4, then a shootout. Some tournaments go straight to a shootout to save ice.
Write the rules down before anyone registers
- Period length, and when the clock runs and when it stops.
- Mercy rule, for example a running clock once a team leads by 5 or more.
- Body checking or non-contact, and whether slapshots are allowed.
- Penalties: minors, and what gets a player removed from the game or the tournament.
- Rosters: how many players, whether a player can play for two teams, and the rule for goalies.
- How standings ties are broken. More in Hockey Tournament Standings and Tiebreakers.
Book referees and the timekeeper
Rec hockey usually runs with two officials on the ice: two referees, or one referee and one linesperson. Book them as soon as the ice is confirmed, and give them the schedule early. Each game also needs someone in the box to run the clock and keep the game sheet.
Publish one schedule everyone can open
A printed schedule taped to the glass cannot be changed. One link can. Give every game a sheet and a time, check no team plays twice in a row without a break, and put the standings and the bracket on the same page.
On the day
- Arrive before the first game, check the rink numbers match the schedule, and meet the referees.
- Get results in as each game ends so the standings are always current.
- Post one announcement for anything that changes: a late start, a rink swap, a rule reminder.
- Before the playoffs, check the standings and tiebreakers once, then let the bracket fill in.
- Hand out the trophies while the teams are still in the building.
