Short Bench Doesn’t Measure Up

Rule/Policy Clarification 

It has become a source of debate between the Clubs as to how many players should constitute a team. There are some Team Staff who advocate as few as ten or eleven players as being the ideal in order to maximize ice time for a few elite players. There are some reports of parents who are shopping Clubs before they register their player to get a guarantee of a short bench situation and even some teams who are warm to the idea.  It’s easy to understand the opposition of Clubs who carry full benches as a matter of policy, who feel the short bench creates an unfair advantage for opponents and disadvantages those players who would have the opportunity to play if the spaces were made available.

  The NYHL Rule Book under Article 9 Section 9.6 allows a minimum of six players to begin a legal game. The Select Guidelines ask for a minimum of thirteen including goalies. It’s important to recognize here that the concern is not with an individual game that may have attendance affected by bad weather, illness, etc. The issue is with teams who only sign a short bench for tactical reasons. Philosophically, that contravenes a basic tenet of select which is to give as many kids as possible the opportunity to participate.
    Ideally, that would mean that every team would be populated with 17 skaters and two goalies – a practical impossibility for many Clubs who struggle for registrations. The reality is, for a variety of reasons beyond the control of coaches and managers, some clubs simply can not fill out a roster of 17 select players in every division, every year. Rigidly requiring every team to do so would force some clubs out of the league, and would only serve to limit the opportunity for some kids to participate in our unique brand of Select hockey.
    For the 2008-2009 season, NYHL will mandate that each team have a minimum of thirteen players signed and active (including goalies). Any Club (not team) who for reasons of insufficient registration in an age group find that they have a potential team but are unable to meet the 13-player minimum can apply to the NYHL for dispensation and the league will decide whether to accept or not accept in each individual circumstance. Clubs with teams who simply want a short bench to maximize the ice time for a very few players will not be given the permission whereas Clubs with legitimately light registration who wish to continue Select participation as an essential part of program enhancement will be considered.