Cross Ice Hockey is a way of making hockey more to scale for younger players. USA Hockey has started to encourage youth hockey organizations to use this method. In 2014 USA Hockey did a demonstration on Dollar Lake Eagle River, Wisconsin during an adult pond hockey tournament of what a standard NHL size rink looks like to an 8 year old. The rink was scaled to 310 feet by 130 feet to give adults an idea of what the rink looks like to kids. Other sports uses smaller sized playing surfaces such as Little League Baseball uses 1/3, 1/2, 2/3 size field for various age groups to make the field more proportional to the kids size and abilitites and eventually moving up to full size fields for the 13+ year old age groups.
The actual lay out of the ice also allows for 2 to 4 games (depending on layout) to be played at the same time on one sheet of ice. The two game method uses what would roughly be from the blue line to the goal line on each end of the ice with the teams skating from side boards to side boards with the neutral zone being the bench area and low boards (six inches) along the goal and blue lines. The three game method would also use the neutral zone as a third playing area. The four game lay out is shown below with the rink being halved both along the long and short lengths of the ice making for a 100 x 42.5 foot playing surface with one rounded corner.
The American development model used by USA Hockey for the 8U age group claims:
- players touch the puck twice as often
- attempt twice as many passes
- shoot six times at much
- receive five times as many passes
- have puck battles twice as often
- the direction of play changes twice as often
- the goalie faces four times as many shots per minute
Image of layout for 4 games on one sheet of ice
The directive from USA Hockey also includes no full-time goalies, 12 or fewer players per team, station-based practices and cross-ice games.
https://www.nhl.com/news/usa-hockey-encouraging-cross-ice-youth-games/c-708222
Hockey Canada had adopted the policy for six and seven year olds for the 2017-18 and gave a few exemptions. The mandate is being extended to eight and nine year olds for 2018-19. Some areas of the country had long ago adopted the the concept breaking the ice up into either 2, 4 or even 8 games going on at once on the same sheet of ice. The games are played four on four plus goalies on the smaller surface. The push towards cross ice hockey puts the emphasis on fun and development at the same time where the kids are in a smaller area and with fewer players so they get the puck and aren't skating 200 feet back an forth every time there is a errant pass and the goaltenders are closer to the action so they are not day dreaming when their team is up the other end of the ice for extended periods of time. Many parents have complained that the games aren't as structured and that they can't see their kids as well during the games. Ontario Hockey Federation executive director Phil McKee stated the change is about putting fun back into playing hockey and that the resistance is from parents who claim everything in their kids lives need to be structured. In 2017-18 the North York Hockey League was one of the few programs that offered full ice select programs for six and seven year olds. The league will be required to meet the cross ice mandate for 2018-19. Some parents were resistant to the point of asking the league to withdraw from Hockey Canada over the issue. Private hockey schools are exempt from the mandate and non-Hockey Canada leagues such as the Ontario Rep League based out of Brampton, Ontario refuse to follow the mandate.
Costs and opportunities are also issues as ice time is expensive and with 4 on 4 games that would mean smaller rosters 4 or five spots per team. Many of the leagues only have one game going on at a time, even on the smaller surface, which would seem to be a factor adding to cost with fewer players. Though it wasn't mentioned the article stray pucks going from one game to another could also be a safety concern.[1]
Some systems such as cross-ice with practice station as shown in the diagram allow for a bench area for the game at the blue line and a buffer zone between the blue lines for player safety.
