Mercyhurst ACHA played the Jets of the Non-USAHockey Junior League

On December 9th, the Barry Soskin owned Jamestown Jets of the Northern Junior Hockey League played a game against Mercyhurst College, an ACHA Div 1 club team. ACHA hockey is sanctioned and insured by USA Hockey.

This isn't the first time, Mercyhurst ACHA has played the Jamestown Jets of the non-sanctioned junior hockey league. Last year, Mercyhurst defeated the Jets, 6-4.

Update: Jamestown Jets also was scheduled to play Robert Morris in September. September 19 and 21 in Jamestown but the games were never played according to Head Coach Jason Evans.

2nd Update: Florida Gulf Coast University ACHA team is scheduled to play Muskoka Knights on 2/26/10 in Florida. Unfortunately, Muskoka Knights are allegedly not registered with Hockey Canada or USAHockey. This is not the first time, FGCU has played a team not registered with USAHockey or Hockey Canada. Anyone remember the South Jersey Raptors? The videos on YouTube are no longer up but the article was interesting read. Florida Gulf Coast and the South Jersey Raptors met in January 2007.

The game utilized ACHA officials. Did Mercyhurst obtain the proper waiver from USA Hockey for this game? If they did, can we see future games played between USAHockey teams and NJHL teams? If that is the case, what is the point of being a member of USAHockey if USAHockey teams can play teams from non-USAHockey leagues?

A can of worms may have opened up with these two teams playing.

Special Events Sanction
http://www.achahockey.org/files/0910welcome_letter.pdf
USA Hockey understands some ACHA teams will be playing non-ACHA and non-USA Hockey registered teams throughout their season. A Special Events Sanction is only required when an ACHA team wants to play a non-USA Hockey registered team, to ensure proper insurance coverage during thegame.

USA Hockey will review each request on a case-by-case basis.

The ACHA team must request a Special Event Sanction prior to a game with a non-USA Hockey team. If you do not know whether the team is currently registered, please call USA Hockey for verification. USA Hockey will need the following information from the non-USA Hockey registered team:

1. Who is the non-ACHA team affiliated with? (University, school,league,etc.)

2. The certificate of insurance for that team? (School, federation,etc.)

3. What are the dates of the games played against the ACHA team?

A fax or letter on official letterhead of the non-ACHA team, providing a statement of the above information should be sent to the USA Hockey, Attn: Ashley Bevan, to approve and keep on file. If a team can’t provide this statement, the Special Event Sanction will not be issued.

USAHockey's Risk Management
Is the USA hockey insurance coverage good against non-USA Hockey registered players and their teams?

If you know that a player is NOT properly registered, you must not let him or her participate (until they are properly registered) if you do allow them to ‘play,’ you risk that the insurance for the team and the association might be voided (not valid). If a player’s registered status is in question after an incident has occurred, they will need to prove that they were properly registered at the time of the incident in order for coverage to be in effect. USA Hockey does not sanction games or practices against non-registered teams/leagues, unless a District Risk Manager and Registrar agree to issue a Special Event Sanction (usually done for foreign teams).

Calls to Mercyhurst ACHA, Mercyhurst's ice rink, and Florida Gulf Coast University ACHA have not been returned.