Hey Guys (and Gals),

We have a new name, a new website, and a new logo! Also, below is the latest Red penalty summary

If we were giving out a dinner today it would be going to the Old Dogs in the 55 plus division. Good job guys!

“Rule Emphasis”
As I told all of you a few weeks ago, we are in a period of rule emphasis where we are cracking down on things like obstruction, hooking etc. The early feedback is that it is causing our officiating to be inconsistent. We are aware of this and in the coming weeks there will be evaluations done on our officials to ensure they are calling the games the way the league has instructed regardless of their personal opinions. Please continue to send us your feedback on this.

Discipline Issues
So far this season we have had a few issues for our disciplinary committee to deal with. We’ve had a couple of ten game suspensions, and a couple of teams have brought personal complaints to the executive about a couple of specific players. One of the tools available to us is to bring players in for a chat with the executive and we have done that in these cases. As your executive we want you to know that we are doing all we can to make our league more fun for all.

Divisions
We are continuing the talk around the league about making changes to improve parity. At this point I feel like there are two different options to continue to discuss. I will mention them here in order to foster some open debate and invite your feedback. One option is to move the age minimums on the divisions to 30+, 40+, and 50+, and to add a division for 60+. We already have enough guys in the league for at least 4 teams in a 60 plus division. The other good idea is to simply drop the ages altogether and split teams into divisions simply based on skill. This would allow groups of friends to play together longer and lessen the need for feeder teams like we have now. Both ideas have their merits and pitfalls.

Clerical Issues
In another email recently, I brought up some clerical issues and I will remind you all now of the new policy. The league requires roster information, properly filled out game sheets, all players on the ice must be insured and be the correct age for their division and be recorded correctly on each game sheet. These errors will be met with one warning to the team rep. If there is another error or violation in policy, the league reserves the right to suspend the team rep for one game.

Rec League
Our Rec Division has shrunk from 8 to 5 teams. This is not due to lack of players its only due to lack of people to run the teams. So this coming fall the league will be helping to start new teams. We are taking names now and will be putting up posters at the arenas asking for players age 19 and over to join these teams, so if you know anyone please direct them to contact myself or Mark Ennis the Rec Division VP.

Last Word
Last year I put money together to sponsor a dinner for the Red penalty winning team. I wanted to do it again this year but simply haven’t had the time. Instead what I am planning is to get every one in the league a free hat or T-shirt with the new NAHL logo on it. And to do this I will again need sponsors. If anyone out there is interested in helping to sponsor the hat or T-shirt program please contact me.

Jeff Boehm
On behalf of the NAHL Executive
250-751-4030
jcboehm@telus.net

NAHL NEWSLETTER - December 12, 2018