There are a number of notable features of the league, and most of them stem from every team being composed of players ranging in age from 7 to 17.

Each team's players is divided into three lines. Line 1 is the group of youngest players, Line 2 the group that is slightly older, and Line 3 its oldest players.

Prior to the formation of the teams in mid-October, the league has a lengthly pre-season where we look to understand where each of our players is developmentally with a goal of finding the best opportunity for them to experience both accomplishment and challenge.

Once teams have been assigned, games are 45 minutes long with 15 shifts of 3 minutes each. The game begins with each team's first line facing each other. After three minutes, play is stopped and each team's second line comes on to play. After three more minutes the third lines come out for their shift. After the third line shift is done, the cycle repeats.

We play both indoor and outdoor games. The indoor season runs from September through April while our outdoor season is from December through February.

September, October, and November: Wednesday evening games at either 7pm or 8pm. During those months each team plays on alternating Wednesdays.

December, January, and February, every team plays Wednesday evening at either 7pm or 8pm. There are also Saturday morning games at 8am, 9am, and 10am and Sunday evening practice times at 6pm and 7pm.

March and April are playoffs and we're back to indoor ice only, so Wednesday evenings at 7pm and 8pm with four teams playing on any given week.

Because of the structure of each team's roster where each age group all play at the same time, a substitute for an absent player will be taken from the group of younger players on the team. Because the subsituting player is younger and less experienced, absences are more keenly felt than on a team where all players have a common age and ability and the shifts of a missing player will be played by someone of comparable skill.

For this reason, it is essential that registering players have their schedule clear for the league's game times (Wednesday evenings 7pm to 9pm and Saturdays from 8am to 11am)

Registration for each season opens to new families in late April or early May.

In order to guarantee returning players the opportunity to re-register, at the end of each season, current families receive an exclusive two-week window for registration. (Note also that during this time new family members may join a sibling already in the league).

Once that has taken place, newly open spots are made available to new players and families.

To register for an upcoming season, email the Convener (Gilles Dignard) at convener@sghl.ca with the player's full name and date of birth. You will receive back a link to a secure form where you can complete your request.

Please note that because only a few spots open each year, we often fill up the day registration opens.

Registration will open to existing families on April 20th, 2024 and to new families on May 4th.

As noted, for the past many years, we do fill up on the day we open registrations to new families, so to avoid having people feel they need to be online mashing the refresh button the moment we open, we do allow new families to enter their registration information ahead of time and we then treat all submissions made prior to May 4th as having all arrived at exactly the same time.

The SGHL strives to provide a positive hockey experience through fun competition among eight equally matched teams.

It is understood that a lot of the players would like to be on the same teams as their friends, but that is not always possible. The important thing is to have teams that can compete on an equal basis. Our schedule ensures that all the players play and practice together throughout the season regardless of what team they are on.

Siblings are always placed on the same team, but in the absence of exceptional circumstances we do not automatically group players on a team.

That said, while there are no guarantees, occasions can arise where we can take into account these preferences when we go through the process of assembling the teams.

Please do let us know of your requests, but please understand that it often is not possible to fulfill them.

President
Tom Mui
416-389-0703

Convener
Gilles Dignard

Treasurer
Denyse Pilkington