The Meadowvale “Ice Puppys” Program offers an introduction to hockey for 4 – 6 year old girls and boys in a fun and non-competitive environment. Kids will have the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of the game while gaining confidence and developing their abilities at the appropriate level.

What makes Meadowvale Minor Hockey a great experience?

• A focus on fun and the development of each player
• A safe, non-contact environment with lots of opportunity for ice time
• Excellent, well trained coaches (most teams have 3-4 volunteer coaches)
• A track record of success at the house league and rep levels
• A supportive parent community that can help you get started
• Lifelong friendships – for both players and parents!

What does my child need to get started?

• Your child does not require skating experience as the first part of our program focuses on skating development.
• Full hockey equipment is a must. Play It Again, Canadian Tire and Hockey Pro Life offer very reasonably priced new player equipment packages that start at about $100.00.

Program Details:

• The program runs from mid-September through to the end of March with an ‘ALL STARS” fun weekend to end the season. It is called “ALL STARS” because, in our program, ALL the kids are stars. It is a day of hockey fun, games and music where every kid gets to play and receive a medal.
• At the start of the season four evaluation sessions will take place in order to start your child at the appropriate skill level. Players will be placed onto teams based on skill set in order to evenly distribute skill sets across all teams fairly. Players are further divided on each team into one of three lines; red, white and blue based on playing ability. This gives our players the opportunity to be on the ice, learning, playing and developing with other players at a comparable skill level. Lines may be adjusted throughout the season as player skill changes to help players continue to develop and have fun.
• Typically the ice puppy league will run 8-12 teams consisting of 14-18 girls and boys – 4 per line and 2 goalies (goalies are rotated throughout the team through the season)
• Games will commence 4-6 weeks in to the program and experience has shown that almost all kids are comfortable skating independently by this time.
• All our coaches are police checked and trained volunteers. They are given play books that map out drills for each practice. We highly encourage positive parent involvement.
• The team will practice every Saturday morning between 7am and 10am for one hour and once games begin they will take place on Sunday between 10am and 3pm. All practices and games will be at our home rink, Meadowvale 4 Rinks.
• During the games, the buzzer will indicate a shift change every 2 minutes to ensure fair play. Games last 40 minutes. We do not keep score at this age and each child will have the chance to play goalie (equipment provided) at least once in the season.
• Power skating is also offered free of charge every Tuesday and is optional for those who want to continue to develop the skating skills of their player.
• At the end of the season, kids will receive their ‘first goal’ trophy which tells them the date of their first goal for the season. Holiday celebrations and Year end parties can also be a great part of the experience!

The “Select 6”

Six years olds have the option to tryout for the “Select 6” in their final year of the Ice Puppy program. This provides kids the opportunity to play a more competitive game in addition to regular house league. The main purpose of this program is to prepare the players for the higher competitive levels of hockey in their Minor Novice year, the Red or Gold divisions . They will be taught more formal rules of hockey including: where to be during a face off, icing, offside, penalties and playing in a position. All games played with Select 6 are refereed with certified On-Ice Officials.

The Select 6 team will be allocated an additional sheet of ice each week to learn the game of hockey and all its rules.

Come join us!

Our program is only as good as the volunteers that help, and we need to hear from anyone that can help, be it coaching, helping on the ice, or administratively.

The whole ice puppy program is all about fun and learning, and the coaches all work to ensure this is the main goal at all times!

Watch the website for news about our program at our open house. In addition, a parent’s meeting at the beginning of the season (after evaluations) will give parents an opportunity to meet the coach and answer any more questions you may have.

To join the fun, please visit the “Registration” section of our website or if you have any immediate questions please send an e-mail to
icepuppydirector@meadowvalehockey.com

Register Today.