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How Sportsmanship is Rewarded in the Standings

By Minnesota Hockey, 10/30/17, 9:00AM CDT

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Fair Play System Enters 14th Season

Sportsmanship and striving to win haven’t always been known to collide in the same sentence. Since Fair Play was implemented in 2004 though, youth hockey in Minnesota has been one place where players, coaches and parents can help their team achieve its goal of finishing first in the standings by approaching each game with respect for the opponents, the referees, and the game of hockey itself.

The Fair Play program was instituted with the premise of rewarding teams for displaying proper behavior and sportsmanship during competition. Under the Fair Play system, teams earn an extra point (Fair Play Point or FPP) in their district or league standings for staying under an established threshold for penalty minutes and avoiding inappropriate behavior by coaches or spectators.

While Fair Play does not impact the outcome of individual games, consistently good (or bad) behavior can have a cumulative effect on league standings and playoff seedings, encouraging players, coaches and parents to display positive behavior at all events.

Fair Play has been lauded by the medical community and in nationwide media for its approach and its ability to influence behavior. At Mayo Clinic’s recent Ice Hockey Summit III: Action on Concussions, one of the presentations shared data on Fair Play’s ability to reduce dangerous and aggressive hits, which in turn reduced injuries. When the summit released its prioritized action items, expanding Fair Play to all levels of hockey was included as one of the top recommendations for concussion prevention efforts.

Below are the official Fair Play penalty minute equivalents for each type of penalty and the penalty minute thresholds, by age level, which teams must stay under to earn their Fair Play point.

FAIR PLAY PIM THRESHOLD CHART

Level Minutes Level Minutes
Squirt 10 min Girls 10U 8 min
Peewee 12 min Girls 12U 10 min
Bantam 14 min Girls 15U 12 min
Youth 16U 16 min Girls 16U 14 min
Junior Gold 16 min Girls 19U 14 min

Note:  The minimum penalty for head contact, charging, checking from behind and boarding is a two-minute minor and 10-minute misconduct. For Fair Play purposes, these penalties count as 12 minutes towards each team’s PIM threshold.

FAIR PLAY PIM EQUIVALENT CHART

Penalty Classification PIM Equivalent
Minor or Bench Minor 2 minutes
Major 5 minutes
Minor & Misconduct (2 & 10) 12 minutes
Misconduct (10) 10 minutes
Mouthguard Misconduct 2 minutes
Game Misconduct 10 minutes
Match 10 minutes
Penalty Shot Equivalent to penalty assessed

The game scorekeeper is in charge of totaling HEP PIM equivalents at the end of each game and circling on the scoresheet whether each team earned their Fair Play point.  Fair Play points are then reported through the normal reporting process in each league and appear on league standings. For a scorekeeper cheat sheet to Fair Play rules, click here.

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