Coaches Corner

> When is our schedule coming out? 

Practice times and game slot allotments will be published by the the first week in August.

> Who schedules our games? How do I schedule a game? 

The practice schedule is set by the association. Each team is responsible for finding it's own opponents for games. By now each team’s head coach should have either designated another coach or parent or decided to do the game scheduling themselves. Once the game slots are available you are free to start booking home games (and away games). BUT DO NOT ENTER THEM TO THE WEBSITE UNTIL WE GIVE THE OK.

> How do I figure out what teams to schedule? 

Our goal is to play a balanced schedule - we should be around .500 for the regular season, building up to teams ready to excel in the tournaments. If you are unsure of what teams to play a good guide is to go onto the CHC And CGHL websites and pull up last year’s schedules from the same team and see who they played. You can then look up on other organizations websites contacts and see if anyone is ready to schedule. (Be aware: most other organizations are nowhere close to being ready like we are to schedule, so you may not have much success in July but it could be worth your efforts, especially in early August.)

> When are the scheduler's meetings?

The CGHL schedulers meeting is at 6pm on August 28th at the Milford ICE PAVILION 6pm. The CHC Schedulers Meeting is held on August 16th at the West Haven Italian American Club, Doors open at 6:15pm. Here you will find a representative from just about every team in the state scheduling their games. It’s very chaotic, but the job gets done - you would be smart to bring a helper or two with you to help find the different teams you want to schedule. You should have 75-90% of your schedule completed after this meeting.

Coaching requirements have changed from last year, so please pay attention to the following steps. WE NOW MUST COMPLETE USA HOCKEY REGISTRATION, SAFESPORT, SCREENING, AND ONLINE MODULE ALL BEFORE THE VERY FIRST PRE SEASON PRACTICE. No longer do we have till Dec 31 for the modules so we’ll need to get on this stuff immediately.

The following must be completed before you step on the ice: 

1 - Register as a Volunteer & complete Safe Sport & Age-Specific modules.  Visit our volunteer page for instructions on registering with USA Hockey, a Capital Wolves volunteer, background screening, and Safesport. 

The following must be completed by December 31, 2023.

1 - Find, register, and attend the required coaching certification level class.  If you have never attended a class before then you need to go to a Level 1 class, if you did Level 1 last year you must do Level 2 this year, if you did Level 2 last year, you must do Level 3 this year. Once you achieve Level 3 you are allowed a few online recertifications at the Level 3 level before you must attend a Level 4 class. Here is a link to a listing of the classes http://www.usahockey.com/coachingclinics and here is a link to register: http://www.usahockey.com/coachingclinics The cost of these classes is $40 and they will take the better part of a day so plan accordingly so that not all of the coaches from your team are all at class at the same time. You may only take one class a year.

2 - How do I know what module I need or what class to take? 

If you are unsure what module or coaching class you need, you can do it yourself by going to this link:  http://www.usahockey.com/page/show/893024-cep-list Enter in as little information as possible (just put in your last name and state - the system seems to work better with the least amount information when trying to find you), click on your name and your information will appear.

> What about these rule changes I’ve heard of?  For the 2017/18 season the following rule changes are in effect.

• All face-offs must be on one of the 9 dots.
• When a shot is taken and it hits the crossbar/post without touching the goalie and goes out of play, the face-off will stay in the attacking zone.
• ICING IS NOW PROHIBITED WHEN A TEAM IS SHORT HANDED. So if you’re down a player and your team ices it down the rink it will be whistled for icing and the face-off will come back to your end. You can substitute players though if you want.