Minutes CSHL League Meeting October 28, 2008

Attending Programs: Brooklyn, Canton-Akron, Cleveland Barons, Cleveland Hts, Columbus Capitals, Erie, Elyria, Garfield, Geauga, Gilmour, Mentor, North Olmsted, Parma, Rocky River, Shaker, Strongsville, Tri-County, Winterhurst , Wooster.  Absent:  Cleveland  Skating Club, CCYHA Bluejackets, Euclid (excused) and Fremont (excused.)

Attending Board Members: Tim O’Shaughnessy, Terry Horonzy, Chris Kendel, Mark Clendenin, Don Lewis, Mike Radosevic, Pam Rice, Jim Smith, John Stojak, John Stojak and Dan Straka. Absent: Barry Lulas.

Approval of Minutes of September 8, 2008: Mike Cordish motioned to approve the minutes as written. Seconded by Cyndi Bova. All in favor, motion passed.

Final RPI, Team Division Levels and number of Regular Season games per division: Heads of Program to determine whether or not to play an extra third game, in addition to home and away, at 6 and 7 team divisions. Proposal by Mike Cordish to add third game in AA and A-1 divisions, and any division with less than 8 teams, first choice of selection of opponent going to higher ranked team. Concern was availability of ice to accommodate the extra games. Bottom team in each division will face sufficient challenge playing home and away, not inclined to add third game to a potential under .500 season.

Mite B is smallest division at 5 teams. Majority of programs fielding Mite B teams were in favor of adding a third game for a 12 game regular season.  Majority of programs fielding Mite A2 teams, a 6 team division, voted in favor of retaining 10 game home and away season.  Majority of Program Directors overall were not in favor of adding a third game to 7-team divisions.

This year we implemented a new procedure of pre-scheduling Mite Division games. Programs directors submitted ice slots, schedules are nearly complete, extra ice will be returned back via email.  Please do not distribute schedules to Mite coaches before Saturday, these schedules are still subject to changes and adding extra games before being finalized and posted on website.

Suggestion raised to extend regular season one more week at end of season, shorten preseason earlier to alleviate scheduling conflicts. End of season dictated by USA Hockey tournaments, requires 2 full weekends to hold playoffs to accommodate out of town teams. Regular season usually ends prior to Presidents Day weekend to promote local tournaments. Possible to shorten preseason one weekend by holding festival weekends where several teams meet in one location and play 2-3 preseason games in one weekend.

Mite C scheduling will be December 1^st at Rocky River. Difficult for new coaches to determine strength of team and opponents and schedule games accordingly. Perhaps subdivide Mite C into weak and strong divisions. Will look into ways to better determine games between teams of equal skill.

Regular season scheduling will be Saturday, November 1 at Cleveland Hts Community Center. 8am Bantams, 10:30am Peewees, 12:30pm Squirts, 2:30pm Mites. All Heads of Program are required to attend all day on Saturday and must bring ice schedule for entire season to swap ice between teams if necessary.  Starting this season every scheduling room will have a person entering data and a lap top, volunteers are needed to read off scheduling sheets or enter data.

Add additional info to these topics:

Addition to Standing Rules new this season requires teams to submit a CSHL Team roster at the start of regular season play.  These rosters can be a copy of the official USA Hockey team roster, or as simple as a typed list with player names and numbers.  A copy of the scoresheet label may even be submitted as long as it is typed, not handwritten,  and contains player first and last names and jersey numbers.  Program directors can submit for the entire program, or teams may submit lists individually, to league office via email  or regular mail. Send updates if players are added/deleted during the course of the season.  

Dee Trobentor stated official team USA rosters should have been turned into Registrar  to Cathy Fievet by start of preseason, not wait for start of regular season as in the past. Many teams now participate in tournaments prior to Nov. 1 requiring official USA Hockey rosters.

Chris Kendel Eastside Roundtable Family Fun Day at the Q

There is a longstanding rule allowing CSHL teams to bring up players from a lower level team on a limited basis. This season that rule is being utilized more often as programs struggle to field teams with lower player registration numbers. Programs are reminded that moving players from one age group into an older age group should not be done lightly. It is recommended that programs make parents, players and coaches aware there of risks and requirements of “playing up”, especially when moving from Squirt (non-checking) to Peewee (checking) levels. Moving up more than one age level is not permitted. Waiver forms are available from Dee Trobentor. MidAm requires, and CSHL highly recommends that  these waivers be completed whenever a player plays up. Again, all USA Hockey and CSHL rules regarding rostering of players must be followed in addition to completing these forms.

Cleveland Barons updates:  Midwest Elite Hockey League has been renamed Tier I Elite Hockey League. For the first time a Tier I showcase event will be held in the Cleveland area instead of a Chicago or Michigan location. Nov 8-9 the Barons are hosting the U18 Midget Major Tier I Showcase at Strongsville Iceland Arena. The best 20 teams in the country will be represented.

Canton Akron ordered new jerseys this season. The colors are the same but the design, while similar, is noticably different .  Canton Akron requests that referees do not call bench minors because players aren’t all in same jersey. Players are responsible for paying for their own jerseys, can’t transition new design in for entire program this season.

Erie requests review of petition for Peewee team denied moving down from AA into A-1. Board will caucus after meeting.  

Motion to adjourn Dee Trobentor, second Pam Rice. Meeting adjourned.