Santa visits the Pre Novice Christmas Party Left to right, Mark Zizek, President, Santa Claus, Vince Sicilia, Pre Novice Convenor

Pre-Novice hockey

Applewood is looking forward to another fantastic year of Timbits Pre Novice hockey. This program is offered to children ages 4 - 6 years of age who are interested in learning how to play hockey.

In our Pre Novice program we have teams that play a fully organized hockey season from October to March, with all games played on Sunday mornings at Chic Murray Arena (Burnhamthorpe Community Centre) between 9 a.m. and noon. Practice times are scheduled for Saturday mornings at Tomken Arena between 7:30 - 9:30 am. Each team will have 50 minutes of half ice practice time.

Applewood will run the Hockey Canada Initiation Program, which develops specific hockey-related skills during practices. We will take the appropriate Holiday weeks off.

Applewood Hockey Association is committed to ensuring that the young hockey players learn as much as possible about the sport of hockey as well as the idea of a team sport. Special attention is given to making sure that all the players enjoy playing the sport.

We also have two extra curricular events at Applewood that are great events for the children. One is our traditional Christmas game and Banquet. The players play a game in which Santa drops the opening puck. Following the game the players are treated to a pancake breakfast and treats in the hall. Santa visits with them and has a gift or two for each of the players. The second event is our annual year- end banquet. All teams play in a game on Championship Sunday and are entertained afterwards at a banquet where they each receive their trophies.

Pre Novice Rules

 

1.	Each game consists of three 15 minute periods with a three minute buzzer system.
2.	The teams are separated into 3 equal calibre lines so that all players play against their own skill level. (Red, White and Blue)
3.	There are no icing calls. The offside rule is enforced after four weeks of play for just the Red line only.
4.	All players will have equal playing time.
5.	Penalties will only be called on a flagrant foul (i.e. slashing, crosschecking, high-sticking, etc.). The penalty will be the remainder of the shift.
6.	The goaltender can be pulled for an extra attacker. The level of the player must be of equal or lower level than those on the ice.
7.	When a player is absent, you can only double shift players evenly from the skill level below.
8.	All players must wear full equipment, helmet, mask and hockey neck guards.etc., and equipment must be CSA approved.
9.	Full standings will be kept and listed on the Applewood web site. The standings are there for the benefit of understanding the rules only. All teams will participate in Championship Sunday.
10.	Finally and most importantly, we commit to making sure that all players enjoy their experience of playing organized hockey.