• The Ice Scheduler schedules ice for all SWH teams as equitable and fair as possible.
• In addition to scheduling practices, the Ice Scheduler also schedules all Development Programs (Academy and Association Development), Prep Camps, Goalie Camps, Evaluations, Various Clinics/Training, Tournament Packages, Cougars Classic 3on3; as determined by the Board of Directors with regards to the events being hosted that season.
• The Ice Scheduler uses a software program called “OneClickIce” ("OCI") to schedule teams.

• There are no set rules but rather guidelines that Hockey Calgary uses when scheduling the league games.
• For consistency, Southwest Hockey utilizes these same guidelines when scheduling practices.
• However, the Association (or individual teams) may schedule outside of these posted guidelines for such events as; evaluations, exhibition, tournament and practice times; as deemed necessary, because these are only 'guidelines'.

There are no set rules, and rather there are guidelines that (Hockey Calgary) HCAL uses when scheduling how late a League Game is played. For consistency purposes, SWH utilizes these same guidelines when scheduling practices.

• Because these are ONLY guidelines (not set rules) --> Teams or the Association, may schedule outside these ranges for activities such as; evaluations, exhibition games, tournaments & practices; as deemed necessary.
• House League parameters: CLICK HERE
• U7 Timbits schedule: CLICK HERE

WEEKDAY - PRACTICE RANGES

• U9 --> 4:30pm - 8:00pm
• U11 --> 4:30pm - 8:45pm
• U13 --> 4:30pm - 9:45pm
• U15 --> 5:30pm - 10:15pm. More common would be between 5:45pm - 10:15pm
• U18 --> 5:30pm - 11:15pm. More common would be between 7:00pm - 11:15pm

WEEKDAY - GAME RANGES

• U9 --> No weekday games
• U11 --> 5:45pm - 8:45pm
• U13 --> 5:45pm - 9:45pm
• U15 --> 5:45pm - 10:15pm. More common would be between 6:30pm - 10:15pm
• U18 --> 6:00pm - 11:30pm. More common would be between 7:00pm - 11:15pm

WEEKEND - PRACTICE RANGES

• U9 --> 6:30am - 8:00pm
• U11 --> 7:00am - 8:45pm
• U13 --> 9:00am - 9:45pm
• U15 --> 10:30am - 10:00pm. More common would be between 1:00pm - 10:00pm
• U18 --> 11:00am - 10:00pm. More common would be between 1:00pm - 10:15pm

WEEKEND - GAME RANGES

• U9 --> 8:00am - 8:00pm
• U11 --> 8:00am - 8:45pm
• U13 --> 9:00am - 9:45pm
• U15 --> 10:30am - 10:15pm. More common would be between 3:00pm - 10:15pm
• U18 --> 1:00pm - 11:30pm. More common would be between 3:00pm - 11:30pm

A P90 is an effective way of scheduling teams so that they can benefit from receiving both shared ice and full ice within a 1 hour practice. The start time is offset by 30 minutes to allow each team to have full ice for 30 minutes and also share ice for 30 minutes.

Example: The Ice Scheduler has a 5:45pm-7:15pm ice time and schedules Team X and Team O.

• On Team X's schedule, they will see 5:45pm-6:45pm.
• On Team O's schedule, they will see 6:15pm-7:15pm.
• Team X will have the 1st 30-minutes as full-ice, then Team O will come on the ice at 6:15pm where the teams will share the ice for 30-minutes.
• Team X will leave at 6:45pm, then Team O will have full-ice for the last 30-minutes of the ice time.

Utilizing the ice scheduling software helps to ensure that teams within the same age division receive a similar number of:

• Hours on the ice
• Full & shared practices
• Total practice ice times
• Earlier morning ice times (for the younger divisions)
• Later evening ice times (for the older divisions)
• Early weekday ice time starts may vary between age divisions

The following checks and balances are reviewed for EVERY generated practice schedule; with the goal that by the end of the season, teams within each age division are as balanced as possible.

• Minimum 15-hours between ice times.
• Minimal back-to-back days. Attempts are made to not have more than 4-days in a row on the ice.
• Early & late ice counts.
• Blackout dates.
• Dry Spells. Attempts are made to try and ensure there are no large gaps between ice sessions. NOTE: A dry spell is only a 'dry spell' if a team has not practiced OR had a game over a period of time. It is also possible that a team could have multiple games before another practice is scheduled; due to how Hockey Calgary scheduled the games.

To find another team's GAME schedule, visit the Hockey Calgary website, and at the top of the page --> select the Age Category. Teams will then be listed.

Practices are not posted publicly. If you would like to know when team practices are scheduled, please contact the family directly. At that time, you can also inquire with the family if you can have access to the team schedule, and add you to TeamSnap.

For instructions on adding family members to TeamSnap: CLICK HERE.

There are about ten (10) "sections" when it comes to scheduling. NOTE: Dates can be subject to change:

• Evaluations --> (Aug 29 till approx. OCT 5)
• Preseason --> (OCT 1 - OCT 21)
• Seeding Round --> (OCT 22 - NOV 20)
• Seasonal Break --> (NOV 21 - DEC 4)
• Regular Season - 1st Part --> (DEC 5 - DEC 21)
• Winter Break --> (DEC 22 - JAN 5)
• Regular Season Resumes - 2nd Part --> (JAN 6 - FEB 26)
• U9 Esso Minor Hockey Week (EMHW) --> (JAN 13 - JAN 15)
• U11 - U18 Esso Minor Hockey Week (EMHW) --> (JAN 13 - JAN 21)
• U11 - U18 City Championships --> (FEB 28 - MAR 22)
• Provincials --> Depends on age division (applicable to U13 - U18)
• Team Practices for the Community League will go till approx. mid-March
• All other programming is determined per program

For the Community League --- Practice schedules are not set schedules between 'Monday to Sunday', and rather they are balanced within approximately a 7-day period; depending on where games are scheduled.

Programs that have set days and times; such as, House League and U7 Timbits can be completed for the season.

U9 to U18 schedules cannot be completed for the entire season due to game scheduling being completed through Hockey Calgary. Games need to first be scheduled, and then the Ice Scheduler can proceed with the remaining ice slots to generate the practice schedules.

Hockey Calgary breaks-up the season into Seeding Round, Regular Season, Esso Minor Hockey Week, and Playoffs.

October is the month we have the most ice available for practices because there are no games being scheduled on that contract ice, until the Seeding Round starts.

Ideally, it would be great to have a practice (or two) prior to every game. However, this is just not always possible given a number of other variables; such as, Hockey Calgary needing to schedule an increased number of games in a 7-day period to ensure teams within each division have played each other. A 'domino effect' to this is the possibility of not having available ice in between those games.

People often see a “dry spell” only in terms of practices.  That is NOT the case. Both games and practices are taken into consideration when calculating “dry spells”.

If your team has no practices in a 6-day stretch, but the team has 2 games scheduled, this is not considered a “dry spell”. A "dry spell" is only a "dry spell" if the team has not been on the ice at all for four (4) + days.

Ice is charged by the hour and ice slots vary from 1 hour to 1.5 hours.  If we were to look at just the number of sessions, teams that were scheduled more 1.25-hour slots would accumulate an extra hour of ice time; every 4 practices vs. a team that had 1-hour practices.  Hours are the best way to ensure balancing is as fair as possible.