NEMHL SKILLS CHALLENGE

Division one and Division two players will compete in each event separately.  Only 1 player per team per event can participate in each challenge, except for NEMHL Puck Control Team Relay (Event #1), which requires 4 skaters representing each team.  No player can compete in multiple events unless first approved by Scott Springli.  Each team must have 8 skaters and 1 goalie for the Challenge, selected by the team’s coaching staff.

EVENT #1 - NEMHL PUCK CONTROL TEAM RELAY

Participants

· Four players from each team compete  

Procedure / Rules

· The contest consists of team races.  Each player skates once.

· Starting from a standing position at the goal line, on the referee’s whistle, the first skater puck handles one lap of the obstacle course (five cone slalom course, with ½ turns on the first four cones, and a full turn on the final cone).  Length of the course shall be from the goal line to the far blue line.  The far blue line must be touched with the player’s skate before returning back to the starting goal line.

· The next player for each team to skate will start when his preceding teammate crosses the goal line.

· The second player from each team must skate backwards thru the cones, without a puck.  A ½  turn is all that is required on the final cone.

· The third play must be a team goalie, skating in full goalie gear.  He will skate the course just as the first player, only without a puck.

· The fourth player will skate the course just as the first player, with a puck.

· Winner is determined by the first team to have all four players complete one lap of the slalom course, with the final team skater crossing the goal line with the puck.  

EVENT #2 - NEMHL FASTEST SKATER

Participants

· One player from each team competes.  

Procedure / Rules

· The contest consists of single individual races.  Each player skates once.

· Starting from a standing position at the center line, on the referee’s whistle, the skater completes one lap of the arena surface outside all four faceoff dots and around each net in its usual location. The player has the option of skating in either direction.

· Winners are determined by the stopwatch of the referee.  In case of a clock malfunction, the official time will be recorded by the NEMHL Official’s stop watch.

· The player with the fastest time wins.

Tie Breaker

· The tied skaters will skate again.

· If there is still a tie, then the tied skaters will race in the reverse direction. 

· If there is still a tie, then the tied skaters will race backwards.

EVENT #3 - NEMHL ACCURACY SHOOTING

Participants

· One player from each team competes, one turn each.

Procedure / Rules

· A “Shooter Tutor” will be attached to the goal posts, one target in each corner, and a center “5-hole” target.

· The shooter has a maximum of one minute to shoot up to 8 pucks in an attempt to score on any of the 5 targets.  Pucks must be shot from the hash marks.

· Any puck that is shot through a target and into the net is scored as a goal.  The Referee makes the call on any goals.

· Scoring is determined by points.  One point will be scored for each goal in the lower corners, two points for the upper corners and 5-hole.

· Winner will be determined by the most points in the competition.

Tie Breaker

· Head to head, 1 shot at a time for most point(s).

EVENT #4 - NEMHL HARDEST SHOT

Participants

· One Player from each team competes.

Procedure / Rules

· A single puck is positioned on the ice approximately 30 feet from the center of the goal.  A player, starting no further away than the nearest blue line, may skate towards the puck and shoot it from its positioned spot into the goal. The highest recorded shot (in mph) of two attempts will be scored.

· Shots must be on goal to be calculated and all shots are recorded by radar in miles per hour.

· If a puck enters the goal uncalculated due to a malfunction of the radar equipment, the shooter will be allowed an additional attempt.

· If a player breaks his stick during the shot attempt, he will be given another attempt.

· The winner is determined by fastest shot recorded by the radar gun. 

Tie Breaker

· The tied players shoot 1 puck each, head-to-head, until one player has the fastest shot.

EVENT #5 - NEMHL ELIMINATION SHOOTOUT CHALLENGE

Participants

· One shooter and one goalie from each team.

Procedure / Rules

· Before the competition, the four goalies in each Division will conduct a random draw to determine the intra-divisional shooter that they will face in the first round.  This will continue in subsequent rounds.

· Three shots per shooter, one after another, in rapid succession, without stopping.  Pucks will be placed at the top of the face off circles, centered between the two, and skater can go in on the goalie.

· Each goalie faces three shots from a single shooter.

· Shooters that score the most goals move on to the next round.

· Goalies with the most saves move on to the next round.

· Advancement of shooters and goalies to subsequent rounds will be determined by the afore-mentioned rules.

· Each scoring attempt is officiated in accordance with NEMHL shootout rules.

· The winning scorer of the contest will be the player who scores the most goals in any round.

· The winning goalie of the contest will be the goalie who has the most saves in any round.

Tie Breakers

· In the event of a tie (i.e., all goalies have an equal number of saves and players goals), the round shall be repeated.

· In the event of a winning goalie, yet a winning shooter has not been determined, the remaining shooters shall face the winning goalie.  In the event the goalie and shooter are teammates, a goalie eliminated in the previous round will face that shooter.

· In the event of a winning shooter, yet a winning goalie has not been determined, the remaining goalies shall face the winning shooter.  In the event the goalie and shooter are teammates, a shooter eliminated in the previous round will face that goalie.