By-Laws
1.
Board of Directors
The NEMHL Board of Directors will consist of a member from each team who will meet, either in person or via teleconference, periodically. A simple majority vote (of those in attendance after 1 week notification to all members) will determine outcome of issues. The Board may assign 3-member committees (not from members of affected teams) for disciplinary, roster, or other matters. Importantly, whenever possible, each local team League will continue to act as the responsible organization for each team for these disciplinary, roster, or other matters.
Removal
of Directors
A Director may be removed without cause by a
vote of at least fifty percent (50%) plus one of the members of the
League. Such vote will be conducted by
the President of the League at a regularly scheduled Board of Directors
meeting, upon the request of at least fifty percent (50%) of the members of the
League. Only one such recall election may take place in a 12-month period per
elected position.
A Director can be removed for cause by the
Board of Directors. The President shall,
on each occasion, appoint a committee to investigate matters of alleged
Director misconduct. This committee will then submit
its findings or written charges to the Board of Directors for action or
disposition.
If written charges have been presented to the
Board of Directors for action or disposition thereon, the Board must first
decide, by majority vote, whether to move forward with the prosecution of the
charges or to dispose of the charges. If
prosecution of the written charges is opted by the Board of Directors, the
written charges must be personally served on the accused, or sent via courier
with verifiable documentation of receipt by the accused. Prosecution of the charges shall be conducted
in a hearing in order to present evidence supporting the charges and afford the
accused the opportunity to be heard in his own
defense.
The protocol for a hearing of this nature
shall be as follows:
a. An impartial hearing
officer who is licensed to practice law in the State of New York may be
selected to preside over the hearing, otherwise a
member of the Board of Directors shall be selected by the President to preside
over the hearing.
b. The Board of
Directors shall assume the role of jury to determine the facts.
c. One member of the
Board of Directors shall be selected by the President to present all evidence
against the accused. This member will
not participate with the Board of Directors in determining the facts.
d. The hearing shall be
conducted in a professional decorum and under procedures established by
Robert’s Rules of Order (Revised) Article XIII Section 75.
e. The accused shall be
allowed the use of counsel of his choosing if he wishes to provide such.
f. After all evidence
has been submitted, the Board of Directors will determine what penalties, if
applicable, shall be rendered.
Removal of a Director requires a vote of
three-quarters (3/4) of the members of the Board of Directors hearing the
charges.
Any Director determined not to be a member in
good standing shall immediately cease to be a Director of the League.
2.
Team Withdrawals from Participation in League Games
Any team that withdraws during the NEMHL regular season or from playoffs will not be permitted to play the following year. Thereafter, the team may make application for inclusion into the NEMHL. The application will be voted upon by the entire membership (Directors of member teams) and if accepted, pay a $500 entrance fee and the current fees for the year (as voted upon by the members during the Annual meeting). If the withdrawing team is otherwise in compliance with its obligations to the NEMHL and submits a $500 withdrawal fee within 30 days of its withdrawal from play, it may be considered for readmission to play in the following year by vote at the Annual meeting.
3.
Division Determinations
Teams will be divided into Division 1 and Division 2 on January 1 of each season based upon points per game standings from the first half season play. The number of teams within each Division will be determined by the NEMHL Board of Directors at the September Annual League meeting.
4.
Game Sheet Submissions
a. Team managers will forward game sheets of completed games by fax to the President at (860) 464-2701 within 2 days of completion of the game. Failure to complete this task will result in a forfeit win for the visiting team.
b. The game sheet represents the official documentation of the game. Head coaches must sign the game sheet upon completion of the game to verify the information contained within the game sheet.
5.
Standings Calculations
a. Intra-divisional games will be awarded 2 points for the win and 1 point for the tie.
b. Inter-divisional games will be awarded points as follows:
1. Division 1 team victory over a Division 2 team = 1
2. Division 1 team tie against a Division 2 team = 0.5
3. Division 2 team victory over a Division 1 team = 3
4. Division 2 team tie against a Division 1 team = 1.5
6.
End-of-Season Awards
Season individual player awards will be determined on the following criteria:
a. Top Scorer Award
1. Minimum of 20 games or 75% of total games by the recipient team, whichever is greater, to be eligible for the award.
2. Player with most total points (goals and assists, awarded as 1 point for each) per game average wins the award.
3. In the event of a tie, the greatest goal per game average will be the tie-breaker. If still tied, both players will share the award.
b. Sportsmanship Award
1. Minimum of 20 total points (goals and assists, awarded as 1 point for each) to be eligible for the award.
2. Sportsmanship points are calculated by total points divided by total penalties-in-minutes.
3. Player with greatest sportsmanship points wins the award.
4. In the event of a tie, both players will share the award.
5. A player receiving an unsportsmanlike penalty during the regular season is not eligible to be awarded the Sportsmanship Award.
c. Top Goaltender
Award
1. Minimum 10 games or 50% of total games by the recipient team, whichever is greater, to be eligible for the award.
2. The player with greatest save percentage wins the award.
3. In the event of a tie, least goals against average will be the tie-breaker. If still tied, both players will share the award.
d. Defenseman Award
1. Minimum of 20 games or 75% of total games by the recipient team, whichever is greater, to be eligible for the award.
2. Player with most total defenseman points as calculated by an algorithm established by the League wins the award. The formula is:
(0.25*TP)/(((GA/TG)*(GP/TG))+LN(PIM+1))*100
where TP is total points (goals and assists), GA is goals against on the defenseman’s team, TG is total games played by the team, GP is games played by the defenseman, and PIM is penalties in minutes.
3. In the event of a tie, the least goals per game allowed average (GA/TG) will be the tie-breaker. If still tied, both players will share the award
e. Cleary Award for
Courage
1.
This award is named after Caitlyn Cleary of
2. The NEMHL member who demonstrates the greatest amount of courage throughout the season, as determined by the President of the NEMHL and his family.
f. Coach of the
Year
The coach of the year will be decided by a simple majority of the selections of the coaches. Each coach will vote for the coach of the year, not including himself/herself, and the League will tabulate the votes for a simple majority.