A few key rule changes were presented, voted on and approved during the Annual Meeting.

• The role of “State Tournament Coordinator” is now included on the Massachusetts Hockey Executive Board. 
• There are updated deadlines for teams/associations to submit official rosters with USA Hockey. Failure to comply with this policy may result in fines and/or discipline to the association.
• Effective immediately, new teams and/or associations who are looking to register with USA Hockey under a previously inactive code or are looking to be granted a new code will be subject to review prior to being issued a registration code.
• Game sheet labels are REQUIRED for every USA Hockey sanctioned game under Massachusetts Hockey’s jurisdiction. Failure to comply with this policy may result in fines and/or discipline to the association.
• The referee coordinator job description has been updated, including serving on Disciplinary Committee and working to ensure safety for officials, players, coaches and others.
• All hometown programs/associations shall register their teams as Tier III, Tier IV and Tier V and may register multiple teams at a level. Hometown programs may also elect to register teams as a Tier II National Bound.
• In an effort to curb repeat offenses, an education and training component can be imposed as part of a discipline decision.
• All references to mite, squirt, pee wee, bantam and midget will be removed from the guidebook, consistent with USA Hockey’s requirements.

A full summary of the changes is available and posted online below at the end of this story.

The USA Hockey Board of Directors approved the rulebook for 2021-25. The organization modifies/updates the playing rules on a four-year cycle. Highlights of modifications include:

• The principles of the declaration of safety, fair play, and respect that were originally passed by the Board in 2019 will be fully implemented into the new rulebook, including zero tolerance of hateful and discriminatory language and as well as hits from behind, hits to the head and late hits.
• All levels of youth hockey outside of high school will include both immediate offside and the removal of the exception to ice the puck when shorthanded. 
• Major and match penalties will be determined on the principle of reckless endangerment, not based on injury.
• All major penalties will now also include a game misconduct penalty. 
• Modified the length of penalties based on length of period.

To see the full review of the 2021-2022 USA Hockey Annual Congress, click here.

At the Annual Meeting this past Monday (June 21) elections were held for Massachusetts Hockey Board positions. Below is a complete list of the elected positions:

• Re-elected Bob Joyce as president.
• Re-elected Steve Rizzo (Lynn, Mass.) as 3rd vice president.
• Elected Christopher Gong (Hingham, Mass.) as 5th vice president.
• Re-elected Christopher Holden as treasurer.
• Elected Ron Cincotta (Waltham, Mass.) as director at large on executive board.
• Re-elected David Hymovitz (Needham, Mass.) as director at large on executive board.
• Re-elected Steve Rizzo (Lynnfield, Mass.) & Christine Mayer (Wellesley, Mass.) as USA Hockey directors.

At Saturday's (June 12) Board of Directors meeting, the Board:

• Elected Mike Trimboli (Massena, N.Y.) as president.
• Elected T.C. Lewis (Richmond, Texas) as vice president and chair of the marketing council.
• Re-elected Keith Barrett (Northfield, Vt.) as vice president and chair of the youth council.
• Re-elected Don Mulder (Fond du Lac, Wis.) as vice president and chair of the adult council.
• Re-elected George Atkinson (Spring Lake, Mich.) and Sarah Fraser (Chesire, Ct.) as directors at-large.
• Elected Glenn Hefferan (Ridgewood, N.J.) as director representative to the executive committee.
• Affirmed the following as athlete directors: Julie Chu (Fairfield, Conn.), Taylor Lipsett (Plano, Texas), Molly Engstrom (Siren, Wis.), Kendall Coyne Schofield (Palos Heights, Ill.), Lyndsey Fry (Chandler, Ariz.), and Declan Farmer (Tampa, Fla.); and Meghan Duggan (Danvers, Mass.) as athlete director representative to the executive committee.
• Steve Laing (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) was elected chair of the high school section, replacing Bob Mathson (Naperville. Ill.) who served for 21 years.
• Amy LaPoe (Hamilton, Tex.) was elected chair of the disabled section, replacing J.J. O’Connor (Mt. Prospect, Ill.) who served in the capacity for 20 years.
• Affirmed Ken Reinhard (Fort Worth, Texas) as chair of the officials section.
• Elected J.J. O’Connor (Mt. Prospect, Ill.) and Bob Mathson (Naperville, Ill.) as director emeritus.
• Elected Jim Smith (Mt. Prospect, Ill.) and Ron DeGregorio (Salem, N.H.) as president emeritus.

USA Hockey annually recognizes the outstanding contributions of national- and district-level volunteers who have served at least 5 years with the organization as a district registrar, associate registrar, coach-in-chief, referee-in-chief, risk manager, section representative or member of the board of directors. Please click here for a complete list of award recipients.

10 YEARS SERVICE 
Mark Lissner (Woburn, Mass.)
USA Hockey Associate Registrar
Girls/Womens District

25 YEARS SERVICE
Charlie Bradbury (Metheun, Mass.)
USA Hockey Associate Registrar
District 2

Al Smith (Yarmouth, Mass.)
USA Hockey Associate Registrar
District 5

The upcoming 2021-22 Massachusetts Hockey Board of Directors meeting dates are tentatively scheduled and listed below (in-person meetings will be at the Sheraton Boston Needham Hotel):

• Wednesday, September 8, 2021 at 7:00 p.m.
• Monday, October 4, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. (VIRTUAL/ONLINE)
• Monday, November 1, 2021 at 7:00 p.m.
• Monday, January 3, 2022 at 7:00 p.m.
• Monday, March 7, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. (VIRTUAL/ONLINE)
• February & April 2022 – TBD
• Annual Meeting – June 2022 – Location – TBD

Service and Annual Awards for Massachusetts Hockey were postponed to be awarded at the next board meeting (September 8).