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2026-10-19 Email to U18 Managers
Week Two Match Ups
Hello Managers,
Week 2 matchups are now available. We are using the same spreadsheet as last week, with the new matchups listed under the Week 2 tab.
There has been significant movement following the first round of games. We recognize that several matchups resulted in very lopsided scores. Those games are difficult for both teams, but the results provide important information that allows us to make adjustments and work toward fair, competitive placements for the regular season. The Week 2 groupings reflect what we learned over the weekend and are not final tier placements.
Please contact your assigned opponents as soon as possible to arrange your games. Managers are responsible for working together to determine the date, time and host location.
NBC Teams
Teams moved into an NBC grouping must play under NBC rules. Please remember that several teams declared NBC from the beginning and some players have never played body-checking hockey. Coaches and players must adjust their play accordingly and ensure NBC rules are followed.
Game Sheets and Rosters
Digitally signing the game sheet in the app does not complete the verification process. After the game, log in to the NEAHL website, go to League Games, open the full game sheet using the checkmark icon and select Verified or Verified with Errors. Both teams should review the completed game sheet promptly. Any errors should be identified in the notes section so they can be corrected as soon as possible.
Managers are responsible for adding player jersey numbers. Please confirm that every player’s correct number appears on the game sheet before each game, as incorrect or duplicate numbers can create issues when penalties and goals are recorded.
Please ensure your HCR has been uploaded.
Managers and coaches are responsible for knowing when a player or team official has received a suspendable penalty. Not receiving notice from the league does not mean there is no suspension. They are coming but can sometimes take some time depending on our own availability and the number of suspensions that need to be issued. Please record all suspensions being served in the game notes.
Please have all Week 2 games completed and verified by Sunday, so we have the most accurate information available when determining the next round of matchups.
Thank you for your patience and cooperation as we work through the tiering process.
2026-10-03 Email to U18 Managers
U18 Games Begin - Important Reminders
Hi everyone,
We are ready for games to begin!
Before we get started, I have a few important updates and reminders.
Updated Discipline Policy
As previously mentioned, there is a new supplemental discipline policy. I forgot to attach it to my last email, but we have since made an additional update. The accumulation increase has changed from 10% to 15% across the board for both individual player and team accumulation.
The updated policy is here. Please review it and keep it available for reference throughout the season.
Suspensions
Please record all suspensions being served in the notes section of the game sheet. RAMP occasionally does some funny things and does not always remove suspended players from the gamesheet properly, so noting the suspension on the game sheet is the best practice and helps us track games served accurately.
Minimum Number of Players
NEAHL rules require teams to have a minimum of eight players to play a game. This differs from the Hockey Alberta minimum of six. A team with fewer than eight players is not eligible to play.
HCR Rosters
Several managers still need to upload their official HCR roster. While player information syncs through HCR, a copy of the official roster must also be uploaded. This should be obtained through your association and can be uploaded using your NEAHL login.
Overage Players
Any overage player must be identified with O/A. When entering player numbers, please reach out to a deputy to add O/A after the players last name so the designation appears correctly on the game sheet.
Game-Sheet Approval
Visiting teams must approve the game sheet after each game.
Home teams are responsible for reviewing the completed game sheet to ensure there are no errors. If an error is identified, please work to have it corrected as soon as possible.
Things move quickly during tiering, and we need complete and accurate information as soon as possible to help us evaluate results and prepare the following weekend’s matchups.
Good luck this weekend!
2026-10-10 Email to U18 Managers
U18 Welcome, Information and Week One Matchups
Hello everyone,
Welcome to the NEAHL 2026-27 season! Welcome back to returning managers and welcome to those joining us for the first time.
Please read this email carefully and share the relevant information with your coaches. Your week one tiering matchups are attached.
Manager and Team Contact Information
Please ensure your team’s manager and head coach are listed on the NEAHL website with current phone numbers and email addresses. If you receive this email and are not the team manager, please forward it to them and provide us with the correct manager’s contact information.
A second team contact, typically the head coach, should also be listed. You may request that other bench staff contact information be hidden.
18 League Contacts
I’m stepping into the U18 Governor role this season and will be working with the following deputies:
| Name | Role | |
|---|---|---|
| Jenn Hoogerdijk | Governor | |
| Kathy Kretschmer | Deputy Governor | |
| Margaret Bayduza | Deputy Governor | |
| Jenna McGrath | Deputy Governor | |
| Leanne Quinney | Deputy Governor |
Deputy tier assignments will be determined after tiering. Until then, the deputies will share responsibilities for scheduling, website updates and suspensions. You may contact any of the deputies for assistance.
Communication Protocol
Please remind your coaches and parents of the league’s communication protocol:
- Parents direct questions and concerns to their team manager.
- Managers and head coaches contact a deputy governor.
- Deputies bring matters to the governor when needed.
- Association presidents may contact the governor or league commissioner directly.
Important U18 Dates
- Tiering: October 17 to November 8, 2026
- NEAHL Tiering Meeting: November 8, 2026
- Regular season begins: November 13, 2026
- Holiday break: December 21, 2026 to January 2, 2027, with no assigned games
- U18 playoffs: February 19 to March 14, 2027
- U18 Provincials: March 25-28, 2027
Tiering Games and Team Availability
The league aims to schedule two games per team each weekend and a minimum of six tiering games overall. However, two games every weekend cannot be guaranteed. Once matchups are assigned, managers are responsible for contacting their opponents and arranging the games.
It is important that we are advised of anything limiting your team’s ability to play during tiering, including referee clinics, referee shortages, limited ice availability or other team commitments. Please notify us as soon as you become aware of a restriction, ideally before matchups are assigned. Include the affected dates and specify whether your team can play one game, cannot play at all or has another limitation.
Advance notice helps us develop workable matchups for everyone. While every effort will be made to provide each team with at least six tiering games, this may not be possible if team restrictions prevent games from being scheduled and a workable alternative cannot be found.
No tournaments are permitted during tiering weekends. Teams must remain available to play their assigned league games.
Assigned games should be completed by Sunday. We aim to distribute the following weekend’s matchups late Monday or early Tuesday. Weeknight games are welcome (and encouraged) when both teams agree and may help with ice and referee availability.
Tiering series are intended to be home and away. Managers should work together to arrange hosting and game dates. Playing two away games one weekend does not guarantee two home games the following weekend. I will only step in to designate home and visiting teams if I notice a disproportionate amount of travel for a team.
We will consider travel when preparing matchups, but some longer trips will be necessary to assess teams across the league.
Reporting Scheduled Games
Please enter your confirmed games in the shared tiering spreadsheet:
Include the home team, away team, date, time and arena. Only one manager needs to enter each game, but the home team manager is responsible for ensuring it has been submitted.
The deputies will assign game numbers and post the games on the NEAHL website. If you have difficulty using the spreadsheet, email the details to a deputy.
Games must be posted on the NEAHL website to be sanctioned and to generate gamesheet app codes.
Exhibition Games
Exhibition games are permitted during tiering, provided assigned league games take priority. Exhibition permits are arranged through your association and Hockey Alberta.
If you would like exhibition results considered during tiering, please submit the gamesheet afterward.
Exhibition penalty minutes do not count toward league penalty-minute accumulation. However, suspendable offences and applicable infraction accumulations still apply. Suspensions cannot be served during exhibition games.
Regular Season
Managers will arrange their regular-season games after retiering, once tiers and opponents are confirmed. The maximum remains 18 regular-season games.
Rosters and Player Eligibility
Your association must submit your roster before league play begins. NEAHL rosters are imported from HCR and do not automatically update when changes are made in HCR.
Please check your roster carefully. Contact a deputy or the website administrator at neahleague@gmail.com or admin@neahl.ca for corrections.
Managers must:
- Add or update jersey numbers.
- Ensure overage players are identified as O/A.
- Upload the current official HCR roster PDF under the HCR Files tab.
- Upload an updated HCR report when players or staff are added or approved.
Only eligible players and bench staff on the official HCR roster may participate. Anyone awaiting required registration, certification or transfer approval cannot participate until eligible. Using an ineligible player or bench staff member may result in a head coach suspension.
Managers and coaches are responsible for recognizing when a player has committed a suspendable offence and ensuring the player does not participate while suspended. Lack of notice from the league does not mean that no suspension applies. Consult Hockey Alberta’s minimum suspension guidelines and contact a deputy if you are unsure. Playing an ineligible player will result in a head coach suspension.
Affiliated Players
Affiliated players are not permitted during tiering, as we need to assess the strength of each team’s roster.
After tiering, please confirm that any affiliates are eligible for your team’s level using the anffilliaon grid.
Team Logins and RAMP Gamesheets
Obtain your NEAHL team login from your association. Your login allows you to access gamesheet codes, review gamesheets, update jersey numbers and upload official HCR rosters.
Please encourage new users to practise before their first game.
Gamesheet entry locks after 24 hours. Contact a deputy if a correction is required afterward.
Shots and Goalie Statistics
Please record shots accurately and ensure the correct goalie statistics are entered, including goalie changes during a game. Shots help us assess competitiveness during tiering.
When entering goalie statistics, record the shots and goals against that goalie, rather than the shots taken by their own team.
Penalty Box Volunteers
The visiting team must provide someone to work its penalty box. Please arrange this before each game.
Updated Supplemental Discipline Policy
Please review the attached NEAHL Supplemental Discipline Policy with your coaches and players.
Both individual and team penalty minutes are tracked, including tiering and regular-season league games. Exhibition penalty minutes are excluded.
For U18, the first thresholds are:
| Accumulation | First threshold | Consequence |
|---|---|---|
| Individual player | 100 penalty minutes | One-game player suspension |
| Team | 550 penalty minutes | One-game head coach suspension |
Team totals matter. A head coach can be suspended because of the team’s accumulated penalty minutes, even when no individual player has reached their own threshold.
The league will send a warning letter to the team manager and association contact when an individual or team reaches 75% of the first threshold.
After the second offence, a letter is required within seven days explaining how the association will address the issue, whether it concerns an individual player or the team.
If a player or team reaches the first threshold during tiering or the regular season, penalty-minute tracking continues into playoffs. If the first threshold has not been reached by the end of the regular season, tracking stops.
Outstanding accumulation suspensions must be served at the start of Provincials if they carry into that event. Penalty minutes are not tracked at Provincials.
Please monitor your totals throughout the season and remind players that misconduct penalties can add up quickly.
Suspensions
We will notify teams of identified carryover suspensions. Please ensure these are served and recorded correctly.
Coaches are responsible for knowing and following Hockey Alberta’s minimum suspension guidelines. A player must sit out when a suspension applies, even if the team has not yet received a league ruling.
A player’s removal from the game in which an infraction occurs does not count as a game served toward a suspension.
Suspensions served must be recorded on the gamesheet. If a suspension is served at a tournament, send the supporting gamesheets to your deputy so the league record can be updated.
Simply selecting “suspended†in a player’s profile does not create a permanent record that a suspension was served. Please ensure it is recorded for the specific game, either through the website game portal or a clear gamesheet user note identifying the player and the game being served, such as “suspension 2 of 3.â€
No suspended player or team official may be on the players’ bench, in the timekeepers’ box or in the penalty box during a game.
Please consult the current Hockey Alberta minimum suspension guidelines, available through the Hockey Alberta tab on the NEAHL website, and contact a deputy whenever you are unsure. The league cannot waive Hockey Alberta’s minimum suspensions.
Thank you for the work you put into managing your teams. Please reach out early with questions or scheduling concerns so we can help keep the season running smoothly.
