37th Annual CHEETAH CHALLENGE – 2026

Tournament Rules

1.  All games will be played under School Sport Nova Scotia (SSNS) rules except as outlined below and there will be no protests allowed.  Suspensions during the tournament will be based on SSNS guidelines.  Players who are under suspension for a gross misconduct, game misconduct or match penalty are ineligible to participate in tournament games unless their suspension terminates during tournament play.

2.  Teams should be at the rink one hour before scheduled game times. Teams must be prepared to begin a game up to 20 minutes prior to the scheduled start time if required.

3.  When there are minor hockey games scheduled prior to tournament games, there may be delays in being able to access dressing rooms until the minor teams have vacated the dressing rooms. All teams must comply with Greenfoot Energy Centre (GEC) rules for dressing room keys prior to their games i.e., only team staff will be issued keys.

4.  A five-minute warm-up is allowed before each game. All round robin games will be three stop time periods of 15 minutes, with ice resurfacing after the five-minute warm up and after the second period.

5.  Quarterfinals, Semifinals and the Championship game will be two 15-minute stop time periods and a 20 minute stop time third period with ice resurfacing after the second period.

6.  If, at any time during the first two periods of any round robin game, a goal differential of six goals exists, the balance of the game will be played at straight time. If at any time in the third period of any round robin game, a goal differential of four goals exists, the balance of the game will be played at straight time. Once a round robin game switches to be played at straight time, it will not revert to stop time. For all games other than round robin games, if at any time in the third period, a goal differential of five goals exists, the balance of the game will be played at straight time. If the goal differential narrows to four goals, the game will revert to stop time once. Should the differential reach five goals a second time, the balance will be played at straight time.

7.  Minor penalties will be two minutes in duration unless the game is being played at straight time at the time of the penalty infraction. Straight time penalties will be three minutes in duration. 

8. Ties will not be broken during round robin play.

9. In the event a team is unable to play a scheduled game, the other team will be awarded five points with a winning score of 3 to 0.

10. There are three 4-team divisions (A,B,C). All teams in the 4-team divisions will play a round robin game against each of the other teams in their division. At the end of round robin play, the two division winning teams with the highest number of points will receive a bye to the semi-finals. The remaining division winner and the next thee teams with the highest points will advance to the quarter finals.  Any ties will be broken by using the tiebreaking procedures outlined in #14 below. 

11.  After the quarterfinal teams are determined, the games will match the teams as follows:

       i.  The remaining division winner will play the advancing team with the least number of points in QF 1. 

       ii   The remaining two teams will play in QF 2

12. After the semifinal teams are determined, the games will match the advancing four teams as follows:

      i. The first place team from round robin will play the winner of QF2

      ii. The second place team from round robin play the winner of QF1

The higher ranked team will be the home team in these semifinal games.

13.  The team with the most points in round robin play will be the home team for the finals.

14. Ties in points will be broken as follows:

       i.   Record of the head-to-head round robin game between tied teams (if applicable).

       ii.  The ratio of goals scored divided by goals against from all round robin games (calculated to four decimal points).

       iii. The team with the least penalty minutes from all round robin games. 

       iv.  A coin flip.

NOTE: If more than two teams are tied, the highest ranked team will be determined first, then the tie breaking formula will start over to break any remaining ties between those teams remaining.

15. The winners of the semifinal games will meet in the Cheetah Challenge Championship final. The team with the highest number of points in the round robin will be the home team with ties broken as determined in # 14 above.

16. There are no ties for games outside of round robin games. If a quarterfinal, semifinal or the championship final game is tied at the end of regulation time, there will be a tie-breaking procedure as per the following:

       i. A two-minute break followed by a 5-minute stop time, sudden victory overtime period with 3 skaters per team.

       ii. If the game remains tied and the tournament director determines there is enough time available, a second 5-minute stop time, sudden victory overtime period with 3 skaters per team will continue until the tie is broken. If there is deemed not to be enough time, the teams will go to a 3-player shootout as per the Metro High School Hockey League rules for breaking ties in Regional Playoff games.

       iii. Penalties will be two minutes and will be served in the following manner: (i) the penalized player will serve the penalty, (ii) the penalized team will have teh allocated 3 skaters, and teh other team will be allowed one additional skater to a maximum of 5.  At the first stoppage of play after the penalty has been served, both teams will return to playing with three skaters.  

17. Teams will be permitted one, thirty second time-out per game and if a game goes to overtime a second 30 second time out will be permitted.

18. Point System - Applies to round robin play only: The Cheetah Challenge will use the 5 point system.  Under this system, the maximum number of points that a team can earn in a single game is 5; by winning all three periods and the game.

     a. The standard 5-point standings system breaks down as follows: 

           (i)  Period Points (Up to 3 Points Available) - 1.0 point is awarded to the team that wins an individual period (1st, 2nd, or 3rd).0.5 points are awarded to both teams if an individual period ends in a tie.0.0 points are given for a lost period.(Note: Each period is treated as its own mini-game starting at 0–0 for these points).

          (ii)  Game Outcome Points (2 Points Available) 2.0 points are awarded for winning the overall game.1.0 point is awarded to both teams if the overall game ends in a tie.0.0 points are given for an overall regulation loss.