Ice Dogs House League

Registration for the 2024-25 Fall|Winter Hockey Season is now OPEN: CLICK HERE

There is a service fee for using a credit card. There is no extra service fee when paying via electronic check.

*PLEASE NOTE* SPACES ARE LIMITED AT THE SQUIRT, PEE WEE, AND BANTAM LEVELS. If you find that there's a level that is full, please email: sanderson@glacierskate.com.



MANDATORY NECK GUARDS

Starting August 1, 2024, all players in the Youth (boys), Girls, High School and Junior age categories are required to properly wear a neck laceration protector that is designed for that purpose, and all game officials under the age of 18 are required to wear a neck laceration protector as well. You can find more details on www.usahockey.com

It is a necessity for all young players to receive proper instruction in all skating and puck skills. Our staff will focus heavily on these areas. We will work on the basic components of skating, including forward stride, backward stride, turns, pivots, and acceleration. We will also provide instruction to develop puck handling, passing and shooting skills. Incorporated into the instruction of these important individual skills will be the basic fundamentals of team play in both the offensive and defensive zones.

All players, regardless of position or current skill, will be encouraged to carry the puck, make plays and have fun.

Your child’s time on the ice will be spent both with practice and game sessions. The game sessions will be structured to promote and expose the fun of the game. However, the primary goal of the IDHL will be player development. Players will be couraged to take chances, overcome their weaknesses and push themselves to improve. Our staff instructors and the parent coaches will not berate players for mistakes, but instead give positive instruction and reinforcement as to their errors and for recognizing and correcting them in the future. Our philosophy is to develop the whole individual by improving confidence and self-esteem, in addition to teaching the sport of hockey.

TYPICAL HOUSE LEAGUE HOCKEY SEASON

The IDHL will offer a pre-season clinic before player evaluations in case your players would like to get the rust of their blades and their "skate legs" back after a summer away from the rink. They will be co-ordinated by level and dates & times should be made available the first week of September if not sooner.

The IDHL House League Season will begin with a series of Evaluation Skates that all registered players must attend. Evaluation Dates & Times will be announced the first week of September. The evaluation process enables the Glacier Hockey Directors and Staff to appropriately place the players on the teams that will form the league. There will be 2 or 3 evaluation dates and times for players and ideally you should attend all three of these evaluations. If your player is unable to attend please contact Sandy Anderson via email at sanderson@glacierskate.com  

TEAM SELECTION & POSTING OF ROSTERS

Teams will be selected after the Evaluation Sessions and posted on the team pages of the IDHL Website within 5 days. You will be notified by the Glacier Hockey Office when the teams are posted online. You may not ask to have your player moved to a different team once posted. Teams will also find their first ice sessions posted on the online calendar and at their first ice time, they will meet their coaches and receive their team jersey and socks.

After the season begins, it is important to understand that the Glacier Hockey Staff may move players up until November 1st in an attempt to further balance the rosters and maintain team parity. You cannot decline to have your player moved if the level director deems it necessary for program parity.

VOLUNTEER COACHES

Parent Coaches have been and continue to be a vital key to the success of the Ice Dogs Hockey League. 

Please Contact the Glacier Hockey Office if you are a parent with a hockey background, be it as a player or a coach - we would love to have you be a part of our program!!

Our Volunteer Parent Coaches at Mini-Mite & Mite level must take the AAU Coaching Certification online course. At the Squirt through Midget level our Volunteer Coaches are required to go through the USA Hockey Coaching Education Program which has certification classes offered starting typically in June or July and can be either virtual online classes or in person classroom. They also are required to take the USA Hockey Background Check, the Online Safe Sport Test and Online Coaching Modules. Most of this can be done in the summer so that coaches can then be allowed on the ice in September at the start of the season. See the USA Hockey Coaching Pages on the the USA Hockey Website for all information.

PAYMENT POLICY of the IDHL

Payment of player fees may be made in full at the time of application to the program. We have two options for fees: You may select making a full payment at time of registration which will feature a savings of $50 to $100 depending on the level.

An alternate payment plan of making an initial payment at time of registration and then opting for monthly payments is also available. The online platform will split your balance into 4 payments to be automatically processed on predetermined dates starting in September. PLAYERS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IF THESE PAYMENT OPTIONS ARE NOT FULFILLED. You will be notified by email of non-payment issues and the possibility of player suspension if payment is not rectified.

****please note everything is subject to change and revisions****

MINI-MITES

Mini-Mite Level is the "beginner" Mite level - designed exclusively for first year mite players who are just starting out and have not played any organized mite hockey yet. The Mini Mite program will consist of approximately 45-50 ice slots that will again be split between skills stations and games. The Mini Mite slots are Saturdays & Sundays throughout the season with some weekends being blacked out for holidays and/or hockey tournaments & contracted ice events. All MM's will be on the ice at the same time but will be within their individual teams. The designated MM Level Director will maintain communication with all of the volunteer coaches and assure that balanced instruction and skill development take place throughout the season.

MITES, SQUIRTS, PEE WEES

The season will consist of approximately 50 ice slots on Saturdays, and Sundays for the Mites, Squirts, and Pee Wees. These slots will be split between evaluation sessions, practices, games, end-of season play-offs and final tournament games of the season.

During the season teams will typically have a practice on Saturday and a game on Sunday.

All instruction sessions and practices will be supervised by a Glacier Hockey staff professional but we rely on volunteer coaches for all of our house league teams, comprised of parents and|or relatives who want to stay involved in hockey and teach young hockey players the fundamentals of hockey and pass on their knowledge and love of the game.

All full ice games will have referees and the score will be kept on the scoreboard. Parents are required to volunteer to run the score clock and record the game on score sheet. **depending on the number of teams, we may have PW teams participate in the NSYHL**

BANTAMS

The IDHL Bantams will consist of approximately 50 ice slots. The team will participate in the North Shore Youth Hockey League (NSYHL). The NSYHL is comprised of teams from the North Shore and can include Evanston, Glenview, Northbrook, Wilmette, Winnetka, Twin Rinks and Highland Park.

***Glacier Ice Arena does have a First Aid Kit. It is located in the Front Office.*** 

(if office is closed, please ask Zamboni Driver/Maintenance Staff Member for help)

We are excited to introduce Rink Rat Rentals, a local Chicagoland company providing affordable youth hockey equipment rentals for children ages 3-12. Their mission is to grow the game of hockey by eliminating financial barriers, offering full sets of gear for as little as $1 per day or individual items based on your needs.

Simply visit their website at www.rinkratrentals.com, select the equipment and rental period, place your order, and it will be shipped directly to your door. When the rental period ends, they will email you a return label for easy UPS drop-off. Please note there is a 3-week lead time on all orders, so plan accordingly for the upcoming hockey season.

For any questions, you can reach them at contact@rinkratrentals.com. We have attached their flyer for more information. We proudly support Rink Rat Rentals and their initiative to provide affordable options for hockey equipment to our community.