NORAD Canadian Hockey League Commences 2009/2010 Season

Story by Capt David Simms (CF), NORAD-USNORTHCOM/J712

2009 - 2010 NORAD Canadian Hockey League (NCHL) Schedule

The NORAD Canadian Hockey League (NCHL) commenced play on 13 Sep 09 at the United States Air Force Academy Field House Hockey Rink. The NCHL was started by Canadian Forces (CF) personnel stationedto the Colorado Springs area some thirty yearsago. The original purpose of its formation was toprovide a non-contact and no slapshot hockey league for the recreation and physical fitness of Canadian Forces members serving in the Colorado Springs area. Although this continues to be one of the league’s primary purposes the league has grown and evolved over the past thirty years.

Today the league is comprised of seven teams and some one hundred twenty one players. Players are made up of regular members and associate members. Regular members consist solely of CF regular and reservist members whereas associate members are comprised of Department of National Defence (DND) civilian employees, retired Canadian military, regular CF member dependents, active duty U.S. military, reserve U.S. military, Department of Defense (DOD) civilian employees, retired U.S. military; and US civilians. Each of the teams is sponsored by a local area business.

The NCHL governing executive is comprised of the following individuals:

President - Maj(CF) Kevin Lattemore
Vice-President - Maj(CF) Brad MacAskill
Treasurer - Capt(CF) Rod Zeaton
Referee In Chief - Sgt(CF) Tim Parrell
Team Captains - Mr. J.D. Caron,  Maj (CF) Mike Hagen, MCpl (CF) Craig Adamson, Sgt (CF) Marc Bouffard, Capt (CF) David Simms, Cdr (CF) Darrel Martin, and Capt (CF) Rick Fraser.

The seven teams that make up the NCHL and their respective sponsors are:

971 Wing - 971 Wing Air Force Association of Canada - Colorado Springs
Foster - Foster's Electric Inc
AirMe - AirMe Inc
Summit - Summit Chiropractic
Player's Bench - Player's Bench LLC
Overtime - Overtime Sports Bar and Grill
Fulcrum – local area financial planning company

Ice hockey is a very exciting and fast moving team sport played with skates, sticks, and a circular rubber puck with the object being to shoot the puck into the opposing team’s goal in order to accumulate more goals than the opposing team. A team normally consists of seventeen to twenty one players plus two goalies. During normal play each team has six players on the ice including the goalie. Goalies generally remain on the ice for the duration of the game whereas other players rotate on and off the ice both during play and during a stoppage of play. Usually a game is comprised of three twenty minute periods with stoppage of the clock whenever there is a stoppage of play initiated by the referee. In the case of the NCHL there are two twenty minute periods and one period consisting of twenty five minutes. However, the clock is constantly running regardless as to whether or not there is a stoppage in play. If the referee assesses a penalty the player who has committed the infraction leaves the ice and sits in the penalty box for two minutes. In the case of the NCHL the player sits for three minutes due to the running clock. The team with the most goals at the end of the final period is declared the winner. Teams amass two points for a win, one point for a tie, and zero points for a loss.

So, if you are interested in watching a fast and exciting sport then come and join us at the USAFA Field House Hockey Rink on Sunday evenings between 1730-2130 hrs. Admission is free! Please consult the schedule below for more information concerning specific teams and playing times. Please refer back to this column over the course of the season as I will be posting articles with focus on team profiles, individual player profiles, sponsor profiles, rules of the game, as well as other interesting and relevant topics.

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NOTE TO EDITORS: For further information, please contact NORAD and USNORTHCOM Public Affairs at (719) 554-6889.

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