This league is being created as a platform to promote the High School game, and offer both  an informative and developmental experience for the players and programs who participate. It is an amazing recruiting tool to give players playing in other formats the opportunity to explore what Illinois High School hockey has to offer. It will also be a venue where Local ACHA programs can have a presence and offer direction on the process of playing Hockey at the Collegiate level. We have several programs already excited and committed to being a part of the program. 

3v3 small area hockey is proven to be an exceptional tool for improving scoring techniques, learning proper transitioning from offense to defense, creativity and the importance of accurate well timed passing! To do all of this in a game-like competitive style adding fun to the training is invaluable! 

Each team will be part of the North or South Region, and play within their Region at their home rink for 7 total sessions. Session 8 is a guaranteed playoff round.  Winners will advance to a 9th Championship session.

The South teams will play at Willowbrook Ice Arena and the North teams will play at Mount Prospect Ice Arena in the Reapers Rink during the initial 7 game seeding round.

Teams will play a cross ice 3v3 game with full changes required every minute. There will be 3  15-minute running clock periods which can each be seen as small games. 1 point will be awarded for the winner of each period, and an additional point will be awarded for the team that scores the most overall goals. 

Each division will ideally consist of 8 teams, but this is subject to registration numbers and will be organized based on final registration.     

The first four weeks each team will play 7 other teams in division at the home rink. Standings will be kept based on the 4 point per session system, and after the seven inter-division games, teams will play a playoff against the other division.  The top 2 teams in the North will play the top two teams in the South (1N vs 2S and 1S vs 2N). The 3rd and 4th place teams in the North will play the 3rd and 4th place teams in the South (3N vs 4S and 4N vs 3S), and so on down the standings. All teams will get their 8th session as a playoff game in this form. Winners of these games will play for one additional session in a championship final. The first and second place teams in these games will win points for their North or South Region to determine who wins Battle Grounds for the year. The winner of the 1st and 2nd place game will be Battle Grounds Champions and earn 8 points for their Region. Second place will earn 4 points for their region. The winner of the 3rd place Championship game will earn 6 points for their region and the second place finisher in that game will win 3 points for their region. The winner of the 5th place Championship game will earn 4 points for their Region and second place in that game will win 2 points for their region. Lastly the Winner of the 7th place Championship game will win 2 points for their region and the second place finisher in that game will earn 1 points. These points will determine the Regional Winner of Battle Grounds!

Flags will be awarded to the regional champions and overall champions in each division.

Structure of standings and seeding is subject to change based on registrations received.

Tie breakers for seeding purposes will be:

1. Total Wins
2. Goals For
3. Goal Differential

Cross ice games

3v3 with pads along blue lines, so players change from the neutral zone.

Games will be 20 minutes long with running time.

A Buzzer every minute will signal and required full change to keep ice time equal.

A referee will be provided for each contest and penalties will forfeit possession of puck and team will receive a penalty shot at the end of the game.

Games will allow body contact, but no open ice hitting, excessive forceful body contact will be penalized.

A player who receives 4 penalties in a two game session will be suspended for the next weeks action.

Referees and organizer will have the authority to remove a player for any conduct detrimental to the spirit of the event, ie. excessive aggression, disrespect or disregard for structure of the competition. 

For any unanswered questions please reach out directly to director Mike Murphy at 630-253-4899.