PEORIA — The Peoria Rivermen hockey team opens the 2025-26 SPHL season in just over a month — a 58-game tour with the season opener set for 7:10 p.m. Oct. 18 at Quad City.
In early September, the league settled on some changes in rules and procedures for the upcoming season. Here is a look at the changes.
Four-man officiating system
The SPHL will utilize a four-man officiating system for 25% of its regular-season games, with an emphasis on the second half of the season leading up to the playoffs. Two referees are already in use for all playoff games.
Overtime changes
The SPHL will implement an innovative “Over-and-Back” rule that eliminates defensive movement of the puck during regular-season, 3-on-3 overtime.
Once a team gains full possession of the puck in its defensive zone and carries or passes it across its own blueline into the neutral zone, they may not subsequently carry or pass the puck back across that same blueline into their defensive zone.
Infraction will result in a face-off conducted in the violating team’s defensive zone, with all standard faceoff rules in place. The offending team will not be permitted to make a line change or call a timeout before that ensuing faceoff.
An exception to the new OT rule is when a faceoff is located at the center ice dot or the defensive side neutral zone face-off dots. But if the faceoff is at the offensive blue line faceoff dots and the offensive team gains possession, the rule applies, and they may not take the puck back into their zone. The puck can’t be passed back to the goaltender, either.
Roster limits
Teams will now be permitted to dress 19 players for all regular-season and playoff games, up from 18.
Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men’s basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on X.com @icetimecleve.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: 3 new rules changes coming to the Peoria Rivermen league in 2025-26
Reporting by Dave Eminian, Peoria Journal Star / Journal Star
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