Rules

Team Rules

1.  A team shall have no more than 6 players at any one time while play is in progress.
2.  Each player should wear an individual number on the back of their team or team-color shirt / jersey for identification.
3.  Each team shall have no more than 16 rostered players, per season.  
4. A minimum of 6 eligible players is needed for a team to start a game.  If a team cannot field that minimum they may request substitute players. 
5. All substitute players must be current-season, league registered players.
6. If a team is unable to field enough players, even after seeking substitutes, they must forfeit the game within 5 minutes of the scheduled start time.
7. Players must play in a minimum of 3 games for their registered team, during the current regular season (2 games during a draft season), to be eligible to play in a playoff game.

Equipment

1. All games are played with a standard, weather appropriate street hockey ball.
2. Non-goalie players should wear comfortable shoes or sneakers; NO skates are allowed.
3. The only required gear is some form of ball hockey, inline hockey, or ice hockey stick.
4. Gloves, shin guards, helmets, and mouth guards are not required, but they are highly recommended.
5. All goalies are required to wear the following:
   • Helmet w/a Face Mask
   • Chest Protector
   • Catching Glove
   • Blocker Pad
   • Goalie Leg Pads

Game Clock   

1.  Each game consists of 3 fifteen-minute periods of regulation time.  
2. The game clock runs continuously, even if play stops, with only the the following exceptions:
   • During the final minute of the first and second period
   • During the final 2 minutes of the third period, ONLY if the score is within 2 goals
   • At the beginning of and for the duration of all penalties
   • During each team's single allotted 30-second timeout.

Overtime

1.  If the regulation game score is tied after 45 minutes, during the regular season, there will be one 5-minute period of sudden death overtime.
   • There will be no time stoppages or timeouts in overtime.
2. Overtime play will be 5v5 (4 runners + 1 goalie or 5 runners).  The team that scores first in this period will be declared the winner of the game.

Shootout

1.  If the score remains tied after an overtime period during the regular season, there will be a 3-round shootout to determine the winner of the game.
2.  Each team will select 3 different runners to take a breakaway shot against the opposing team's goalie.
3. The captain of the official Home Team will choose whether his/her team shoots first or second.  
4. The shootout attempt will start from the center of the rink, and the player will have one chance to score within 15 second of touching the ball.
5. The shootout attempt will be considered over, when the following occurs:
   1.  The shooter stops completely for an extended period of time (referee's discretion)
   2. The shooter completely loses control of the ball, whether or not a shot is attempted
   3.  The shooter fails to maintain forward progress or takes a pronounced backwards step
   4.  The shooter crosses the opposing team's goal line before shooting
   5. The opposing goalie makes a clear save or the shooter does not score on his/her shot attempt
   6.  A goal is scored
6.  If the shootout remains tied after 3 rounds, each team will continue to shoot until a goal is scored AND each team has taken the same amount of shot attempts.
7. A player cannot have a second attempt in the same shootout, until all runners on his/her team have made one shootout attempt.

Playoff Overtime

• During a playoff game, if both teams remain tied after 45 minutes of regulation play, there will be continuous 15-minute sudden death overtime periods to determine the winner.  

Referees

1. Each game will have a minimum of one designated referee.
2. The referee is responsible for making sure all rules are followed by both teams during a game. 
3. The referee will enforce all penalties, confirm all goals, and has the final word in any game disputes. 
4. Any type of abuse towards to the referee will not be tolerated, and referees have authority to remove any player or spectator from the game/rink.

Penalties

• Please CLICK HERE to refer to USA Ball Hockey's list of Penalties.  
• These penalties are typically observed by the LSHL officials, in addition to the National Hockey League's Delay of Game penalty.  
• Any penalty enforced by an LSHL referee or official shall not be argued by any players/spectators and will not be overturned.  
• Penalized players will be instructed by a referee or official on whether or not to report to the designated team penalty box and for how long.

Offsides

1. Whenever a team enters the opposing team's zone, the ball must cross the opposing team's blue line, before any of his/her teammates. 
2. If a player has both feet in the opposing team's zone before the ball crosses, play will be whistled dead resulting in a face-off at the nearest neutral zone dot to the Offsides infraction. 
3. The LSHL also follows the "Floating Blue Line" rule for Offsides, meaning once a team is declared onside/gains offensive zone entry, the ball remains onside until it crosses back over the red center line.  Once the ball crosses the red center line, players will have to reset and leave the opposing team's zone until the ball once again crosses the opposing team's blue line (ball still must cross first).

Icing

1. Icing will be called when the offending team shoots/clears the ball from inside their own defensive zone and the ball travels across the opposing team's goal line.  
2. If the ball has a chance to be played or touched by the opposing team, the Icing may be negated and play will continue (at the referee's discretion).
3. The offending team cannot substitute players, after an Icing call, unless there is an injury prohibiting a player from remaining on the rink.  
4. After an Icing call, a face-off will occur in the offending team's zone.  The opposing team has the option to select the right or left face-off dot.