Each and every summer we try to give our teams and players the best possible schedule during the summer season.

This is one of the perks of playing in the summer as an adult.

Other perks include long days, warm weather so that you can show up in shorts and sandals to the rink and stay in the parking lot after your game is done with your favorite beverage and all your buddies.

• Majority of the games during the summer month start between 8:45 – 10:30PM
• Most of the games are played during weekdays with some games falling on the weekend.
• We never play on the long weekend so when you are planning to go away you can safely leave town without missing any games.
• We do play games on the Monday of the long weekend but they will not start before 7:00 PM in most cases so there is plenty of time to get back in town and get on the ice.

We had a few meetings already with teams like yours and the idea we came up with, is to ask for 10 slots from your booking, integrate them into the schedule and this way you can play with us on your own ice.

The ice is of course still yours and is only loaned to the league for scheduling this season only. If for whatever reason you want to go back to using it for other games next season it is entirely up to you.

Of course bringing your own ice into the picture creates value and this is why we have a special pricing for teams that bring their own ice into the schedule. Please contact us for more details.

What is a club team?

A club is a collection of affiliated teams. The NCHL has many hockey clubs, the Sun Hounds, Demons, Eagles, Hosers and several others.

A club has these key benefits:

• Play twice a week, once with your buddies on a lower team and once with better players
• Calling spares becomes redundant
  • Use your rosters on both teams to make sure you have enough players for the game
  • No need to collect cash from spares as each player is already paid
• Share the same jerseys so you always look like a team even with spares out
• Qualifying for playoffs becomes easier
  • Each game on the bottom team counts as 1/2 game on the top team
  • A player with 20 games on the bottom teams auto-qualifies for the top team
• Save money – $200 New Club Team credit is available (expires August 10th)

The idea of a hockey club is not new and it addresses several issues that can bubble up during a hockey season. Most of the time a hockey team would start of with 3-4 groups of friends that make up the core of the team. If it gels well and guys like each others’ company other players want to join the team. This creates a “good” problem for the GM, too many players not enough roster spots. Instead of rejecting these potential team members the GM can form a second team to be part of the club.

Secondly each team consists of players of different skill levels and ages which may create a rift. Better players want to play better hockey and lesser players want to have fun and player hockey at their level. Sometimes teams like this fold and are reborn as two separate teams. Wouldn’t it be more fun to have two affiliate teams in the club where you get to play with your buddies on a lower team, encourage and help them get better while at the same time play on a better team in a higher division with similarly skilled players?

A typical team consists of 16 full time roster players that pay their dues, however as soon as there are 22 players that wish to play on the same team a club is possible. If a club has 10 core players that play on both teams and 6 players who play only on a higher or lower team a club is born. Of course the more interested players you have the easier it is to form a club. It also helps to know that more than half of players in the league want to play twice a week or more.

“NCHL – A Better way to play”

Collecting money from your players is never a fun experience, on some days it can be compared to pulling teeth. When we run teams we used to collect fees as cash or cheques, while it did the job it was far from ideal. You could not offer your teammates to pay with their credit card for their fees before and offering them to split their team fees into two equal or monthly payments was unthinkable.

If you have never experienced DirectPay, you will love what it can do for you. We have offered DirectPay during the last four seasons and this past winter one for every two players in the league used the service, it is proven to reduce your workload. The NCHL was the first league to introduce this service in Calgary and is the only league that provides this convenience for you.

You can even use DirectPay to pay your deposit so that zero dollars leave your pocket to register your team, all you have to do is get your teammates to sign up and use the service, just ask the Regulators. Every season they manage to get all their guys to pay online and the GM never has to collect money from anyone!

This season you can offer your teammates to:

• Pay with their credit card. No more chasing money!
• Pay their fees with easy monthly payments* so you don’t have to carry them
• Let them collect rewards like Airmiles on their credit card.

If you would like to save time this is what you need to do in order to take advantage of this unique revolutionary service.

1. Activate DirectPay on your Team Registration form.
2. Let your teammates know what you are charging per person.
3. Get your teammates to fill out the DirectPay online form we set up for you.

That’s it! We do the rest.

You as a team GM are still responsible for the overall payment of the team invoice. This is just another method of payment you can offer your teammates. Our mission is to reduce, as much as possible, the unpleasant tasks that fall on you as the team GM and make running a team an easy as pie, fun and enjoyable process.

Get in the game this winter!

Hockey is the fastest, most exhilarating game on the planet. When you’re on the ice, time seems to stand still no matter what time of day or night it is. If you don’t make it to your game, you feel empty. You can’t wait to get back on the ice so you can make that perfect pass, score the game winning goal or stone that all-star forward on the breakaway over and over again. The anticipation can be nerve racking!

“Everyone has to get up and go to work in the morning …”

Like anything, with the good, sometimes come the bad and the ugly. Some will say “Fighting is part of the game”, but we don’t believe for one second there is any more reason to fight during an adult recreational hockey game then there would be to square off on the 18th hole of your favorite golf course. After all aren’t we out there for a little exercise and a good time? The NCHL was the first hockey league in Calgary to completely ban fighting.

We strictly enforce our ‘one and done’ policy, if you fight once, you will be suspended indefinitely from the league. You don’t want goons, wingnuts or meatheads in your league and we don’t either. We want guys and girls that want to play hockey to the best of their ability with character, integrity, maturity and respect. Most of us have to get up and go to work the next morning and what would it look like if you were to show up to a meeting with a shiner or worse?

“It’s true, anyone can play …”

Hockey started out as a sport for the rich in the late 1800′s, but no more! If you didn’t grow up playing Minor hockey it seems like your chances of playing as an adult are slim to none. We believe that anyone can learn to play, at any age, and the NCHL is a living, breathing proof of that. We are the largest adult recreational hockey league in Calgary for a reason, if you have never skated before, we can teach you how, and get you on a team. You can find out more about this program at Discover Hockey

If you played earlier in life but fell out of love with the game for a ‘few years’, welcome back, we’ve got a place for you too. Even if you played for most of your life already, you can still play to the best of your potential with us. There is a place for you here, no matter what your skill level is! With divisions ranging from AA (highly competitive) to E3 (playing organized hockey for the first time ever) and F (yes, women can and do play too) the NCHL has something to offer to everyone.

“Let your teammates use their credit card this season …”

It has never been easier to get in the game. Grab your buddies and start a team. All you need is 5 guys with 2 friends and a goalie and you are on your way. What’s more, this winter season you may not even have to collect fees from your players. We know, this is almost always a painful process for so many team general managers. This season we will do the work on your behalf, all you need to do is let your players know what their fees are and have them fill out a simple form with a valid credit card number. We’ll do everything else.

Someone wants to pay monthly? No problem, we can do that too! For a nominal administration fee, we can break the player fees into equal monthly payments, spreading the financial burden over the course of the whole season. Now you can concentrate on the more important duties of running a team instead of worrying about collecting fees.