USIAA Ice Hockey Rules:
Scholarship and Roster Rules:
- All programs can only have a max of 25 players during the regular season; this limit is lifted to 135 players for preseason tryouts and the summer practices only.
- All programs can choose whether to allow athletic scholarships or not; start-up programs are given a max of 5 years to decide whether or not to provide athletic scholarships to players.
- All D1/D2 scholarship programs can only have a max of 18 total scholarships, and a max of 9 full scholarship players..
- All D3/D4 scholarship programs can only have a max of 16 total scholarships, and a max of 8 full scholarship players..
- All programs can only have a max of 20 players on the active roster for all regular season games.
- All programs are required to give all 12 inactive players & the 22 JV players (when they don't have games) free season tickets in the designated student sections for all home games.
- All players are required to have a minimum GPA of 2.5 to be eligible for athletic scholarships, and the ability to play in both practice and regular season games for active players or attend home games at no charge for inactive players.
- All players who fail to meet this requirement are automatically required to be relegated to both the practice squad/prep team and academic probation until the player(s) in question manage to raise their GPA.
- 4 points for a win.
- 2 points for a draw.
- 1 "bonus" point for scoring at least 3 goals.
- 1 "bonus" point for losing by 3 points or less.
- 1 "bonus" point for losing in overtime or a shootout.
- All D1/D2 programs play a 36-game season (18h/18a) beginning in the second week of October and ending in the last week of February.
- All D3/D4 programs play a 32-game season (16h/16a) beginning in the second week of October and ending in the last week of February
- A max of 16 (8h/8a) non-regional games are allowed; all non-conference games are required to be against teams that are within 700 (D1/D2) or 500 (D3/D4) miles of the program in question.
- The D1/D2 & D3/D4 Tournaments begin on the first week of March and ending 11 weeks later.
- To be eligible for the post season:
a) D1/D2 programs must have a minimum record of 18-18 (or 17-19 with good academic standing), and not be on probation.
b) D3/D4 programs must have a minimum record of 16-16 (or 15-17 with good academic standing), and not be on probation.
USIAA JV Ice Hockey Rules:
Scholarship and Roster Rules:
- All JV teams can only have a max of 22 players separate from the varsity team.
- All JV players must play in at least 4 games, with at least 5 total minutes per game.
- From the moment a player leaves, the player is considered "dead" and cannot return to play until either:
a) The period is over.
b) The substitute player is injured.
- All programs must play a 18-game (9h/9a) JV season beginning on the first Saturday of November and ending on the last Saturday of January:
a) This must be extended to 20 (10h/10a) for the military academies & senior military colleges that have a ice hockey team.
b) All service academies & senior military colleges must also play their respective preparatory school or designated senior military college rival at least twice (1h/1a).