I wanted to congratulate all the players for some exciting first games and share something about scoring for this season.
I wanted to point out something about the scoreboards and how I score the games week to week. Because the kids in the Novice division are so young, I work with the “Mercy Rule”. How the Mercy Rule works is pretty simple actually, if the score sees one team leading by 5 goals then the scoreboard stops counting should they score again. The Game sheets record all goals and the players that score them, but the scoreboard will stop counting so the kids on the losing team don’t become too discouraged. For instance, if Team McDonalds Red is winning the game 7-2 and they score again – the score remains 7-2 on the score board (even though it’s now 8-2). The scoreboard will resume again once there isn't a 5 goal lead. Should the losing team score putting them at 3 goals, I will then add on the missing goal on the scoreboard for the A team making it 8-3.
It was great to see the teams pretty evenly matched this past weekend, so hopefully the scores don't get too far from one another, but if they do I will certainly implement the mercy rule. I think my favorite part about minor hockey is seeing all the kids gel together for the first few games. They're nervous and excited all at the same time!!
Have a great week!
Mark.