• All teams must be registered with Massachusetts Hockey or a USA Hockey Affiliate District. Official USA Hockey rosters must be submitted to the appropriate district/select/club registrar by the applicable deadline.
• “Elite 9” Rosters must be submitted to the league office prior to August 15th.
• Birth certificates of those players on the roster must be made available to the league officials upon request.

• The playing rules of the league will be guided by the current USA Hockey rule book with the exception of the fighting rule as so stated in rule as noted in additional rules.
• Teams should be ready to play 5 minutes prior to the scheduled game time. A warm-up period of three minutes shall be allowed prior to the start of each game. Teams not prepared to play after the warm-up period will be assessed a minor penalty for delay of game.
• All division will play 15 minute stop time periods. 
• There are no running time situations in the Elite 9 games.
• There are no time outs allowed during regular season games.
• Penalty Times:

                All divisions – Minor (1:30) Major (4:00) Misconduct (8:00)

• Player eligibility dates for team rosters will be in accordance with USA Hockey guidelines.  Players must participate in 75% of the team’s league games in order to be eligible to participate in playoffs.
• Any player who plays for a team in any of the Elite 9 or BHL qualifying games must then compete in 75% of that team’s regular season games in order to be eligible for playoffs.
• Any team that has a player that fails to meet the minimum game requirement of 75% after playing in any of that team’s Elite 9 or BHL qualifying games will be excluded from the playoffs and will be expelled from both the Elite 9 and BHL for the subsequent season.
• Any player that plays in either an Elite 9 and/or BHL qualifying game for more than one team will be expelled from both leagues.
• If any player that is on the USA roster of a team that has already qualified for the Elite 9 participates for any other team in the Elite 9 or BHL qualifying tournament, both the PLAYER and TEAM will be removed from the qualifying tournament and will be expelled for the current season.
• A player from a team at a lower level may be carried as an alternate. Each alternate may play only ten (10) games for the team above. If a player participates in an eleventh (11th) game, he or she will not be allowed to play for the team below. Each time an alternate player plays he or she must sign the score sheet prior to the start of the game otherwise the game will result in a forfeit. *Any player movement outside of the above criteria requires permission from the league office.
• Players, including alternates, must wear the same jersey number throughout the season.  (No Duplicate numbers on Game Sheets.)

• In case of inclement weather teams should contact their opponent. If the rink is open the game should be played.
• Teams requesting postponement with other teams due to inclement weather are responsible for the full cost of the regularly scheduled game, unless the game has been cancelled by the home team.
• Teams are able to submit black out dates in advance of the league schedule being generated and published. Therefore, any game that does not fall on a submitted “black out date” can not be changed by either team and will result in a $500 fine to the team requesting the change if more than 10 days prior to the game date; and $1,000 fine if request is being made less than 10 days prior to the game date.
• Any designated home game that is not played will result in a $500 fine. If a game that is not played has any affect on the leagues standings the home team and the organization’s other teams will be subject to further fines and may not be eligible to participate in playoffs.

• Any and all complaints, written or otherwise, by directors, coaches or parents will not be accepted unless they have been approved by the board of directors of their program.
• All protests must be made to the League Commissioner within 24 hours by phone and 48 hours in writing, or before the next game.  Note: Judgment calls of officials are not grounds for protest.

• Fighting or attempt to injure/match penalty will result in expulsion from the league.
• Any player assessed a game misconduct penalty while playing in an Elite 9 Hockey League game shall be required to serve the game misconduct in their next scheduled Elite 9 Hockey League game.
• Any player that receives 4 penalties in a game, including misconduct penalties, will be suspended from that game and the next scheduled Elite 9 Hockey League game.
• Any coach, manager or trainer ejected from a game will automatically receive a one game suspension from the Elite 9 Hockey League. Repeat offenders can be suspended permanently.
• Any coach who forgets he or she is teaching young children and behaves in a less than gentlemanly manner either during, before or after the game, will receive a suspension from the league. Any parent acting in the same manner will cause their child to be suspended.

• The regular season team standings for 2009,2011,2012 & 2013 will be based on RPI (Ratings Power Index) which is made up of three components: A team's winning percentage. Average opponent's winning percentage. Average opponent's opponent's winning percentage.  U14, 2010, 2014 & 2016 divisions will be based on points.
• Tie Breakers
  • Head to Head results against teams tied
  • Goals Differential Head to Head between teams tied
  • Most Wins
  • Goals Differential in all games