Author: Kriona "Viking Princess" Hagen

Proud trans woman, storyteller, geek, programmer, athlete, feminist, Slytherin, sister, mother. I'm the president of the league this season (2025-2026) 💃 I'm also in charge of the website, so if you need help, contact me.

2026 Membership Referendum

Each of the topics below will be discussed at the MGHA Members Meeting on Saturday, June 6th at 10am.

This page will be updated with materials on each topic as we create them.

You must log in to vote.

League Name Change Proposal

Name change to Madison Pride Hockey Association would reflect the league’s diverse gender identity membership, align with modern LGBTQ+ language, and strengthen community representation.

If voted Yes, logo design submission opens July-August with finalists chosen/voting in Sept and new logo announced Fall 2026.

If voted No, current name remains and other options will be explored by sub-committee for vote next year.

USA Hockey

USA Hockey enacted an eligibility policy that prevents transgender people from playing in hockey leagues that match their chosen gender. To be clear – the MGHA is not impacted by this eligibility policy, as we are currently registered as an all-gender league. As a result of this policy, the MGHA is considering ending our relationship with USA Hockey and acquiring insurance elsewhere.

✅Move off USA Hockey – pros

  • Partner with an organization whose values are not in opposition to ours
  • Cost is cheaper – TCQHA is under $10 / player
  • Other insurance would not require disclosure of gender
  • MGHA decides if players under 18 can play
    • TCQHA’s insurance allows 16+ with parent permission
    • Kids are cheaper to insure

🥅Stay with USA Hockey – pros

  • If you play in another league that requires USAH, your fee applies to both leagues, so is cheaper for those players who do
    • This depends on what other teams in the area are doing
    • This also depends if tournaments people play in elsewhere require USAH
  • We have a seat at the table to push USAH on policy
    • They are being pressured by the administration, so it is unlikely we will be able to influence their policy for at least 3 years.

If we choose to go with insurance that is not USA Hockey, we will not be considered a USA Hockey sanctioned league. This means that our games will be considered “unsanctioned” for any referee who is a USA Hockey certified official. Some officials may not want to work unsanctioned games (which could reduce the pool of available refs), though many are happy to work unsanctioned games. We are still able to schedule referees through DCHOA (Dane County Hockey Officials Association). We would not be required to have officials who are USA Hockey certified, though we should still prioritize this since these officials have completed the USA Hockey referee training. 

This could give us more flexibility should we choose to do something with that flexibility. This could also mean that nothing changes other than that we are considered “unsanctioned” when we send in our game schedule for official assigning. 

Grain Media Documentary – POSTPONED

6/5 note: Grain Media was unable to schedule a listening session before the member meeting. As a result, we’re not comfortable proceeding with a vote at the member meeting. We will schedule a second meeting just for the Grain Media discussion after the listening session has been scheduled.

The board has handled a LOT of media requests this season. One proposal from Grain Media has stood out above the rest – they want to produce a documentary about the MGHA, highlighting what we do and the impact we have on our community. They would like to send a documentary crew to Madison to follow us around and film us for the 2026-2027 season.

  • The documentary crew would follow a team and/or a couple of individuals for the entire 2026-2027 season. 
  • Grain Media is giving us a lot of creative control over the end product.
  • We have plans for people who do not want to be part of the documentary.
    • We’ve improved profile privacy so people outside the MGHA cannot tell if you play in the MGHA.
    • Green tape on your gear will indicate you do not want to appear on film.
    • A question on your profile will act as a double-check during editing.

Grain Media is going to host a listening session before the member meeting to answer all your questions. Details to come in a follow-up email.

Grain Media – Documentary ProposalDownload

Championship Night 2026 Logistics

Some action items for championship night:

  • Mark yourself as absent and let your captain know if you cannot make your game. Please make sure you’ve marked yourself absent or have signed up to sub by 9 AM on Sunday. Captains will be getting their sub desk emails at 10 AM due to the earlier schedule. Have your phone nearby if you’re looking to sub.
  • Sign up to sub if you want some extra hockey. This is your last chance.
  • Be on the lookout for scorebox opportunities for Sunday. We’ll need your help.

In addition to the games, we’ll have our league photo taken. Please show up on time for this as we have a very limited window. Also, please wear your team’s jersey. Take the ice in your team’s location based on the image below:

Championship Night Logistics

Here are a few things to know about championship night:

Pre-Game: After the warmup, the announcer will ask that both teams line up on their respective blue lines at the same time and we will read off the names. When your name is called, give a wave. Subs can hang back on the bench. Anniversary pucks and the All The Way Award winners will also be announced during this time.

Overtime: For the championship games only (1st vs 2nd), if regulation time ends and the game is tied, it will go to a 5 minute 5-on-5 sudden death. If there is still a tie after that, it will go to a 3-round shoot-out, then to a 1-round shoot-out. All bench players must participate in the shoot-out before a player is allowed to shoot twice.

Food: Social is working on getting us some food for the night. More to come.

That’s it. We hope you had a fantastic season and so much fun. While Sunday ends this season, the next one is right around the corner and we hope to see you back for the 2026-2027 season.

Games from March 15th Rescheduled to March 25th and 26th

While we didn’t want to take away your hockey on Sunday night, it ended up being the right call. As promised, we’ve been working hard to reschedule those games.

Your updated schedule has been posted to the site. Note that this is only possible because high school hockey is done for the season. We normally do not have weekday availability.

PLEASE UPDATE YOUR ABSENCES. Absences will have carried over from the canceled games. That means that if you marked yourself absent on the 15th, you are marked as absent for this game.

More information will be coming about scorebox shifts. You’re also able to sign up to sub for these games now. Please sign up to sub as we’ll likely need some extra subs this week.

That’s all I have for now.

If you have questions, please reach out!

Best,
Tim (he/him)
on behalf of HOps

Games Canceled: March 15, 2026

You know what they say… beware the ides of March. Unfortunately, the storm is enough today that we’ve decided that all games are canceled tonight, March 15, 2026.

As you look out your window, you might question this decision. I get it. Right now, it’s just rain and it doesn’t look too bad. The issue is that rain will later change to freezing rain and a wintry mix. That changeover looks to happen as we start our games. Then, around 6 PM, the changeover to snow will happen and it will likely be quick. The snow rates will likely be very heavy, leading to quickly deteriorating roads and dangerous travel.

To make sure I have the best information possible, I have been consulting with multiple meteorologist friends over the last two days to better understand this storm and they are all in agreement that it makes sense to cancel these games based on the current model output.

Know that we don’t WANT to cancel our games. It makes more work for us and is a logistical nightmare. We’re working with the information and data that we have right now and that’s the best that we can do. Do we have 100% confidence in the forecast? No. And that’s what makes this so hard. That said, we have to make the decision early enough to cancel our ice time and referees for tonight. And for this storm, with what we know right now, the safest play is to sadly cancel all games.

I’m very sorry if you wanted to play tonight (I wanted to play, too!), but we have to put the safety of our league first. This was not an easy decision and we did not take it lightly.

On a positive note, we are trying to find a time to reschedule these games. More on that once we get through the storm, though. One thing at a time. 🏒

Should you have questions, feel free to reach out.

Best,

Tim (he/him)

on behalf of HOps

2025-2026 League Deposit Open

Deposits for the 2025-2026 season are open!

The deposit secures your spot in the league for the upcoming season. The full cost of the season will be $375 ($100 deposit, remaining $275 due before you set foot on the ice). The cost of ice is going up (as it always does), but the planned expansion to DeForest this season is actually keeping the cost down.

As always: cost should not be a barrier to playing hockey with us! If it is, reach out – we have a financial aid program to help make the cost of playing hockey easier. If you want to play with us but need some time to figure out the finances, that’s fine! Let us know and we’ll hold your spot in the league.

(the PayPal interface is new, and there are still a few kinks to work out with it, so don’t worry if there’s a delay in seeing the “you’ve secured your spot in the league!” message on your profile)

-Kriona, on behalf of the MGHA Board

League Expansion [with a request] + Town Hall notes

First and foremost:
We’re planning on expanding to a second rink in DeForest on Sunday nights next season. We discussed this at the Town Hall earlier this month and voted on the proposal (90.2% in favor).

The majority of games will still be at L20 Middleton (fka Cap Ice), but everyone will play some games in DeForest. In addition to letting us expand by (at least) 4 teams, it will also let us get rid of the late-late time slot.

We’re looking to get an idea of which levels to expand next year. As part of that, we want to ask early – if you are planning on playing next season, what skill level do you want to play at? This doesn’t secure your spot (paying the deposit when it becomes available secures your spot), but it does help us with planning. I cleared out everybody’s answer for “Which of our skill based leagues would you prefer to play in this season?“, so please fill that in again for next season.

The request – tell us your skill level preference:
https://www.madisongayhockey.org/account/logistics

OK, on to other stuff.

Town Hall highlights:

  • The league is mostly running smoothly this season.
  • Our finances are in a good spot, we’re working on the 501c issue.
  • We’ll have summer ice (skills + clinics) from June – August.
  • We’re putting together a Player’s Handbook outlining the MGHA Way across all skill levels.
  • We’re decided to do a “career fair” and a potluck at championship night (next Sunday!!).
  • The Wisconsin Historical Society wants objects from the MGHA.
  • We’re considering getting tournament jerseys (to lend to folks when people from the MGHA play in other tournaments).

In case you’re interested in further reading, here are some notes:

-Kriona, on behalf of the board

USA Hockey Registration

For liability reasons, all MGHA players must register with USA Hockey. Registration covers one year of play (September 1 to August 31).

IMPORTANT: You will NOT be allowed to step on the ice for skills clinic, practice, scrimmage, game, etc., without being registered with USA Hockey.

How to Register with USA Hockey

  1. Go to: www.usahockeyregistration.com.
  2. Click the red “REGISTER NOW” button.
  3. For Registration Type, select “Ice Player/Coach.”
  4. Complete the form and include payment.
  5. You will receive a registration confirmation email with a confirmation # and bar code. Please enter your confirmation number on your account.

(Note: If you play in more than one league, you only need to register with USA Hockey once per season.)

Email board@madisongayhockey.org with questions or concerns!