Important Affiliation Information

We at HEO Minor actively encourage player affiliation with higher level or higher age teams.  To that end we have a Regulation regarding Affiliation – 8.0.  We will make reference to HEO Minor Regulation 8.0 b which says “A coach cannot deny a player the opportunity to affiliate.”  This means that a player requested for affiliation may do so as long as proper procedures are followed and the affiliated team is up a level or up an age from the team that player is on.

Here we have to differentiate between being allowed to affiliate and being called up to play.
All requests to utilize an affiliated player must be directed through the coach of the player’s regular team who will decide if the player is available to play up.  Typically if the regular team has a game on the date and time the player is being requested for he may in this particular situation refuse to allow the player the opportunity to play with the upper level team.  We ask that coaches not refuse reasonable requests for players it may interfere with attendance at a practice or other training of because there is a game coming up in a few days following.  These affiliations are an opportunity for the player to improve his skills and should be encouraged.
 
HEO Handbook page 73
 
8.0 Affiliated Players
 
      The Affiliation process is used to give players a chance to develop their skills by playing for a higher level team. Refer to Hockey Canada Regulation Part III E (Teams, Clubs and Affiliations) for affiliation rules. These rules are further supplemented for play between teams in HEO Minor as per the following paragraphs and as specified in Appendix B.
 
a)   Suspensions are to be served with the lower category team, regardless of which team the player incurred the suspension with.       

 

1. A coach cannot deny a player the opportunity to affiliate.

 

2. When houseleague players (Novice level or higher) are affiliating with competitive teams, they may only affiliate with the lowest competitive category team.          

 
d)   Minor Aged Players – A minor aged player assigned to a major aged team may affiliate to a higher category minor team for league purposes only within the HEO Minor Branch.  Note that this rule applies only within HEO Minor and does not apply to tournaments or exhibition games. Refer to Hockey Canada Regulation E 42-45 for additional affiliation rules.
 
e)  Supplement to Hockey Canada Policy B 42- 44. As a general rule no replacement can be made for any ill or injured players by a player of the same Division and Category. The only exception to this rule is the emergency replacement of a goaltender from the same division and category, when no affiliated goalie is available. The replacement must come from within the same district. Written permission must be obtained from the District Chairman (or designate) and with a doctor’s note restricting the team’s regular goalie from playing for a specified period.
 
f)  A player affiliating to a higher age classification may play below his letter classification at the higher age level except for affiliating to the house “C” level where this level is for developmental purposes. This paragraph refers to house league only.