Hey MGHA,

We don’t have regular games this weekend – but we have ice for cross-level scrimmages and we’ll have a potluck social up at the Eagle’s Nest. Let’s get festive and fill up on fun with the MGHA Fam this holiday! <3 <3 <3

Potluck Social – sign-up here

If you’re interested in snacking and socializing between scrimmages, we’ll have an informal potluck upstairs. Bring a dish, a game, a drink, a snack, leftovers, or just come and hang out! Sign-up here with more instructions.

Note: Points if you bring your own tupperware and cutlery to dish up your potluck plate—less waste is great! We’ll have some paper plates and napkins at the rink as well.

Scrimmage Signups – Rink A, All day

• 5:00pm – 6:00pm: L1/L2 Scrimmage, bench coaches welcome
• 6:10pm – 7:10pm: L2/L3 Scrimmage
• 7:20pm – 8:20pm: L2/L3 Scrimmage
• 8:30pm – 9:30pm: L1/L2 Scrimmage, bench coaches welcome

1. Sign up for one scrimmage, one side below – HOps will adjust for balance if needed.
2. On Friday the 24th you can sign up for another scrimmage. If we get full fast, we may add another ice time on rink B.
3. Wear your favorite light (white, gray, yellow, orange) or dark (black, brown, maroon, purple, blue) jersey.

Opening and Closing: Sign up to volunteer for these shifts below to help the night go smoothly.

Questions or requests? Contact Greta or Christina from HOps!

2023 Thanksgiving Social + Scrimmages

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Schedule

Sign up for one session. If there are spots still available in the 24 hours leading up to sessions, you may sign up for another.

• 5:10 PM – L1 Style Scrimmage, Rink B
• 6:20 PM – New-to-Hockey Structured Scrimmage, led by Tim T, Rink B
  • Hockey 101 will be held immediately after around 7:30 PM (likely in the Eagle’s Nest or lobby)
• 6:30 PM – L2 Style Scrimmage, Rink A
• 7:30 PM – L3 Style Scrimmage, Rink B
• 7:40 PM – Make Up Evaluations for All Levels
• 8:40 PM – L2 Style Scrimmage, Rink B

2023 Thanksgiving Social + Scrimmages

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Reminder: Help Hockey Happen – update your profile with interest to be a captain, coach, or gameday volunteer. We still need over 140 players to fill this out – help us wrangle y’all cats <3.

L1 and L2 Evaluations Night – Rink A and Rink B

Sign up for one 20 minute session, if you intend to play for either level.

• 5:00 – 5:20 PM: Session 1
• 5:20 – 5:40 PM: Session 2
• 5:40 – 6:00 PM: Session 3
• 6:00 – 6:20 PM: Session 4
• 6:20 – 6:40 PM: Session 5
• BREAK – Zamboni
• 7:00 – 7:20 PM: Session 6
• 7:20 – 7:40 PM: Session 7
• 7:40 – 8:00 PM: Session 8
• 8:00 – 8:20 PM: Session 9
• 8:20 – 8:40 PM: Session 10
• 8:40 – 9:00 PM: Wrap Up

Help Evals Happen – 90 1.5h shifts to fill

Sign up for a volunteer shift (4:30-6, 6-7:30, 7:30-9) to note results for an evaluation stations – show up on time and you’ll get direct guidance on what to do. If we don’t have enough people sign up for shifts, we will staff folks based on their responses to their profile preference.

Need help?

• If you cannot attend evaluations, sign up for the general makeup evals scheduled for October 8th OR contact hops@madisongayhockey.org if you cannot make any time work with your schedule.
• If you have issues with the signups, please contact the website@ email listserv.
• If you have questions about which sessions to sign up for, check with your mentor, hockey operations (hops@) or the board (board@madisongayhockey.org).

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2023 Thanksgiving Social + Scrimmages

You must log in to sign up.

Reminder: Help Hockey Happen – update your profile with interest to be a captain, coach, or gameday volunteer. We still need over 140 players to fill this out – help us wrangle y’all cats <3.

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Rink A: Goalie Evaluations

Sign up for one session, based on the level(s) you want to play in this year.

• 5:00 – 5:40 PM: L1 or L2
• 5:40 – 6:20 PM: L2
• 6:20 – 7:00 PM: L2 or L3

Rink B: L3 Prospective Skater Evaluations

Sign up for one session if you want to play in L3 this year. We want to evaluate all players together this year.

• 5:00 – 5:20 PM: Session 1
• 5:20 – 5:40 PM: Session 2
• 5:40 – 6:00 PM: Session 3
• 6:00 – 6:20 PM: Session 4
• 6:30 – 7:00 PM: Session 5

Rink A L1 Clinics – Beginner Skills

• 7:10 – 8:10 PM: New-to-MGHA Clinic, led by Mark N, Amanda T, Zach S, Doug L, John S
• 8:20 – 9:20 PM: Returning L1 Player Clinic, led by Mark N, Ted J, Amanda T, Kriona H

Rink B: L2 Clinics – Intermediate Skills

• 7:10 – 8:10 PM: L2 Early Clinic, led by Alanna F, Greta L, Paul W, Trisha A, Leif B
• 8:20 – 9:20 PM: L2 Late Clinic, led by Alanna F, Greta L, Alex K, David H, Trisha A, Leif B

Help Evals Happen – 30 1.5h shifts to fill

Sign up for a volunteer shift (4:30-6, 6-7:15) to note results for an evaluation stations – show up on time and you’ll get direct guidance on what to do. If we don’t have enough people sign up for shifts, we will staff folks based on their responses to their profile preference.

Need help?

• If you cannot attend evaluations, sign up for the general makeup evals scheduled for October 8th OR contact hops@madisongayhockey.org if you cannot make any time work with your schedule.
• If you have issues with the signups, please contact website@madisongayhockey.org.
• If you have questions about which sessions to sign up for, check with your mentor, hops@ or board@madisongayhockey.org.

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2023 Thanksgiving Social + Scrimmages

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REQUIRED ACTION – Update your /account page with which volunteer option(s) you want to participate in for the 2023-2024 season.

Note: Your selections are not publicly visible and what you click does NOT automatically mean you will be asked to take on the role. Your input will be used by operations folks to get roles filled more quickly.

But, why?

Each year, MGHA puts on a large-scale, volunteer-operated season.

“Large” means we’ve budgeted for 199 ice times, 130 games and over 250 players. We need 40 captains, 40 coaches and 520 scorebox shifts.

With more MGHAing to do than ever before, we’re asking all players how they want to help hockey happen. Kindly read through each hockey-oriented role’s key responsibilities and reminders to decide how you can to help our MGHA mission and community thrive!

CAPTAINS. We want to recruit 40, we must have 2 per team.

Captain Responsibilities:

1. Select subs to balance gameplay by filling roster gaps.
2. Lead team communication during pre- and post- game locker room time, period breaks, team emails/chat groups, and regular pass-down info from league-wide announcements.
3. Set lines and strategy, requesting support from coaches as needed.
4. Request support from, and raise issues to, league leadership (i.e. Board, HOps, Mentors).
5. Be the main contact to give and receive feedback from players, coaches, opponent captains, and referees.

Reminder: If you can offer leadership with your communication OR hockey capabilities, you can request a captain who has complementary skills.

COACHES. We want to recruit 40, we must have 4 for each L1 team.

In addition to assigned coaches in L1, we will start a Coaching Pool for captains and players to connect directly with coaches.

Coach Expectations:

• Coach to team- and player-specific goals by observing play, noticing patterns, and celebrating small and big wins that demonstrate progress.
• Share hockey knowledge and be able to explain position-based strategy. Explain and show techniques, lead with why it matters.
• Communicate with Captains and be a second set of eyes so they can be present as skaters. As requested, share tips/tricks/notes at period breaks and in the locker room. Converse with players on the bench and be open to questions.
• Reminder: Coaching isn’t simply pointing out negative outcomes. Being overly reactive to situations can further hurt players who just had a negative experience on the ice.

OTHER Hockey Operations Roles

These roles require ZERO hockey skill. If you didn’t sign up for one above, please select at least one of these when filling out your /account page.

• Evaluations Helper (need 75 shifts) : Work a shift at evaluations to stand (on skates) at a station, instruct players on what skill to perform, hold a clipboard and write down the result. That’s it!
• Scorebox Leader: Use your years of experience with scorebox and stats tasks to educate others with less experience.
• Scorebox Supporter: Show up to the scorebox to learn and perform hands-on tasks; keep time, update score, track shots on goal, play music, get pucks where they need to be, submit stats to website.

Thanks and we’ll see you SO SOON!

<3 Hockey Operations: Christina L, Tim T, Gabby G <3

It’s here! The Official MGHA 2023-2024 Ice Time Schedule for the year:

Preseason

SEPTEMBER

10th: New-to-MGHA Orientation

17th: New Player Skills, Returning Player Scrimmages

24th: Prospective L3 and Goalie Evaluations, Skills Clinics

OCTOBER

1st: L1 and L2 Evaluations

8th: Makeup Evaluations, Scrimmages

15th: Team Reveal, Scrimmages

22nd and 29th: Team Practices

Regular Season

NOVEMBER

5th: Team Games

12th: Team Games

19th: Team Games

26th: Thanksgiving Scrimmages

DECEMBER

3rd: L1 Practice, L2 and L3 Team Games

10th: Team Games

17th: Team Games

24th and 31st: BREAK for the Holigays

JANUARY

7th: Team Games

14th: BREAK – no games due to Madison Capitols tournament.

21st: L1 Practice, L2 and L3 Team Games

28th: Team Games

FEBRUARY

4th: Team Games (delayed start times for Madison Capitols tournament)

11th: Super Bowl Scrimmages

18th: Team Games

25th: L1 Practice, L2 and L3 Team Games

MARCH

3rd: BREAK – no games due to Madison Capitols tournament.

10th: Team Games

17th: Team Games

24th: Championship Night Team Games

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Who’s behind all this?

Tim T. (backed up by Avery C.) actively manages this schedule with Tyler at Capitol Ice. Ice times are budgeted and approved by the MGHA Board of Directors.

When ice time changes, affected players will be directly notified ASAP while the website and calendar will be updated passively.

Notice a website or calendar issue?

If you’ve added our MGHA calendar to your personal calendar AND you notice any issues or differences between the two tools, remove the calendar and re-sync it. If that doesn’t work, reach out to the website@ listserv and share what’s wrong.

Have schedule questions or comments?

Contact Hockey Operations leaders specifically or the bigger group using the hockey-ops@ listserv.

• Christina L. for captain, coach, volunteer wrangling.
• Tim T. for rink scheduling.
• Gabby G. (also on the Board of Directors) for evaluations and skill development.

Reminder: To sign up, you must have this year’s USA Hockey # on your profile. Learn how to register and update your profile on this here post.

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NEW PLAYER SCHEDULE:

4:00 PM Gear Up in the Locker Room

• Mentors can join new skaters to support (their first!) proper gear fitting.

4:30 PM On-Ice Skills, Rink B, Leaders: Mark N, Ted J

• All New-to-MGHA Players are welcome
• These drills will train basic skills, designed for those new to skating or hockey.

5:40 PM On-Ice Skills, Rink B

• These drills will train basic skills, regardless of your ice skating or hockey experience. 
• Leaders: Mark N, Ted J

7:00 PM New Player Orientation (off-ice), Leaders: Amanda T, Kriona H, Mark N.

• If you cannot attend either orientation (9/10 or 9/17), please check in with your mentor to get a recap.

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RETURNING PLAYER SCHEDULE:

Please only sign up for one session below. If there are empty slots 48 hours prior to the event, we will allow signing up for multiple sessions.

5:00 PM L2 Returning Player Scrimmage, Rink A

6:10 PM L2/L3 Small Space Drills, Rink A

• Limited to 60 skaters and 8 goalies for coaching and space constraints
• Example drill: turn net to corner, everyone is the goalie’s enemy (4 goalies, 4 nets, 7 on a side, 14 skaters in each corner)
• Designed by: Gabby G
• Leaders: Avery C, Emily F, and 1 TBD (contact Gabby to help)

6:50 PM L1 Returning Player Scrimmage, Rink B

7:20 PM L3 Returning Player Scrimmage, Rink A

Scrimmage Reminder: If you have 3 or 4 goalies sign up to scrimmage, please work together to share time in net equitably and safely.

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Need help?

• If you have issues with the signups, please contact the website@ email listserv.
• If you have questions about which sessions to sign up for, check with your mentor, hockey operations (hops@) or the board (board@madisongayhockey.org).

2023 Thanksgiving Social + Scrimmages

You must log in to sign up.

Important: To sign up, you must have this year’s USA Hockey # on your profile. Learn how to register and update your profile on this here post.

NEW PLAYER SCHEDULE:

3:00 PM New Player Orientation (off-ice), Leaders: Amanda T, Kriona H, Mark N.

• If you cannot attend either orientation (9/10 or 9/17), please check in with your mentor to get a recap.

4:00 PM Gear Up in the Locker Room

• Mentors can join new skaters to support (their first!) proper gear fitting.

4:30 PM On-Ice Skills, Rink B, Leaders: Mark N and Ted J

• New to skating or hockey? Pick this session!
• These drills will train basic skills – which most of our new folks are beginners to skating or hockey.
• All new-to-MGHA skaters are welcome to this session, though we strongly encourage new-to-skating players to join this session. 

5:40 PM On-Ice Skills, Rink B

• These drills will train basic skills, regardless of your ice skating or hockey experience. 
• Leaders: Mark N, Ted J

Need help?

• If you have issues with the signups, please contact the website@ email listserv.
• If you have questions about which sessions to sign up for, check in with your mentor, hockey operations (hops@) or the board (board@madisongayhockey.org).

2023 Thanksgiving Social + Scrimmages

You must log in to sign up.