📋 Team Info

• When: Friday, October 2 — 6:30 PM to midnight
• Where: Tool Shed Brewing Company, Calgary
• What’s on: silent auction, in-house 50/50 and live music
• Food and drinks: available to purchase
• Tickets: through any Lightning family

• U11 AA Lightning team page the club’s page for our team
• Fan & parent apparel ordering Lightning gear through Times 2 Promotions

Fair warning: most of the U11 information on the club’s team page is still last season’s. Our schedule, roster and stats here are the current ones.

• AEHC home
• How to register for an elite team
• Tryout information
• Elite draw zone associations
• Scholarships & awards
• Preferred sports medicine practitioners
• About the club  ·  AEHC alumni
• AEHC camps
• Contact the club

• u11aamanager@airdriehockey.com our team manager
• u11aacoach@airdriehockey.com our coaching staff
• aadirector@airdriehockey.com Matt Caron, AA Director

This month the coaches and players are focusing on effort over outcome, and on team objectives within a game rather than player-of-the-game awards. Individual prizes like a belt, necklace or hat can be great for the player who wins one, but the rest of the bench starts asking why it wasn’t them instead of how the team did. The culture we want is we over me: win as a team, lose as a team.

• The pizza board comes to the rink every game.
• The team unlocks one slice when it hits 4 of the 5 key team metrics, win or lose. The coach has the final call.
• 8 slices = a team pizza party.

• Scoring chances +/−: +4 or better
• Odd-man rushes, for vs against: 1.25 : 1 ratio
• Takeaways vs turnovers: 1.2 : 1 ratio
• Shots on goal differential: +7 shots on goal
• Penalties drawn vs taken: 1.5 or better

Players are challenged to shoot 100 pucks a day. It builds skill and consistency, and it’s extra work away from the rink. Shots are logged in the 10,000 Shots app so the team can track its progress and keep it competitive. There’s a special reward for the winner at the end of each month.

• Download 10,000 Shots and create your player’s free account.
• Join the team U11AA Lightning.
• The team code is in the coaches’ email. Ask a coach if you can’t find it.

The coaches’ goal is a positive, growth-focused environment where players build skills, confidence, teamwork and a love for the game. Parents have a big impact on that, especially in the car. Praising effort, improvement and enjoyment over results goes a long way toward building confidence and keeping hockey fun.

• Devices away 15 minutes before the rink. It gives players time to get their heads in the game and, if they’re carpooling, to connect with their teammates.
• Screen time on a long drive? The coaches suggest the hockey videos in their email: forecheck, D-zone faceoffs, protecting the house and more.
• For parents, the coaches highly recommend this short video.

• When: Saturday, September 26 — 2:15 PM, between the 11:45 AM game in Josephburg and the 5:00 PM game in Tofield
• Where: Ardrossan Pizza — 101, 53073 Range Road 222, Ardrossan, AB · (780) 619-2222
• Menu: ardrossanpizza.ca/food-menu
• Why there: it is the happy middle between the two arenas
• Cost: players’ meals are covered

Send Holly McCann (social coordinator) a personal message — not the team chat — in this format:

• Player #:
• Attending team lunch? Yes / No
• # of people in party:
• Player’s meal:
• Rest of party’s order:

• What it is: a team building morning with a catered breakfast, before the 11:45 game
• Who goes: players and coaches — this one is not a family meal
• Where: the team hotel
• Cost: covered, nothing to order or pay

The tournament supplies scorekeepers. Everything else is on us — a penalty box operator for every game we play, and a timekeeper for the two we host. Music is optional and ours to run if we want it, and the intro song is ready.

• Fri Sep 25 — home, Ardrossan East: penalty box operator / music, and a timekeeper
• Sat Sep 26 — home, Moyer Arena: penalty box operator / music, and a timekeeper
• Sat Sep 26 — away, Tofield Arena: penalty box operator

Be ready 15 minutes before your scheduled ice time. All games start as scheduled with a 3-minute warm-up. Warm-up pucks are provided by the home team.

Format: 15-15-20 minute stop time periods, ice flooded after each game. If only 5 minutes are left in the ice slot, the clock is reduced to 2 minutes.

Jerseys: home team wears light, visiting team wears dark.

Round robin ties stay tied — no overtime.

• 3-on-3, not counting goalies. Faceoff at centre ice.
• 3-minute sudden death, run time.
• Shootout if still tied: 3 shooters each from the bench, visiting team first, no player twice. Still tied, teams alternate one shooter until one scores and the other does not.
• Penalties in OT: the penalised team plays 3-on-4. A second penalty makes it 3-on-5. Once a penalty expires it is 4-on-4 until the next whistle, then back to 3-on-3.

• The tournament supplies scorekeepers.
• Every team supplies a penalty box operator for each game it plays.
• The home team provides a timekeeper.
• Every rink can play music — bring a parent willing to run it.

One 30-second time-out per game. The clock stops for on-ice injuries.

All players, coaches and bench personnel must be registered with their association and listed on the electronic game sheet. Game sheets run through TeamLinkt — the coach/manager gets an email invite and uploads the roster, and the roster must be entered for each game.

Dressing rooms must be left tidy. Suspensions and deferrals are handled by the appropriate governor at the AEHL.

As the season moves forward, we want to develop independence, team bonding, and accountability for the boys. Moving forward, parents are asked to remain outside of the dressing room.

If your player needs assistance, please quickly help them and vacate the dressing room promptly. Coaches are there and happy to assist players.

The dressing room is for coaches and players to prepare for games and practices — it's not an appropriate place for parents to hang out or socialize.

If you have any concerns please bring them forward. We appreciate parents' cooperation moving forward. — the Team Manager