5.1 Following the release of the league schedule in September (for the first half of the season) and December (for the second half), teams will have a period of 7 days to make changes. Should a team wish to change a  game, that team is solely responsible for finding another hour of ice time which must be mutually agreed upon with their opponent and approved by GAARA Referee in Chief to ensure referee assignment is possible. Once approved notify the League Director, League Statistician, and the GAARA Referee in Chief of the details of the change to be made.

5.2 Given that in some divisions the playoff schedule is dependent upon standings at the end of the regular season (and is therefore not determined with much advance notice), no changes to the playoff schedule will be allowed.

5.3 A shot clock will be used in all A, B and C division games.

5.4 The first period of A games shall be seventeen (17) minutes and in all other divisions it shall be fifteen (15) minutes. At the end of the first period the referees shall determine the time to be put on the clock to  start the second period by the following formula: Ice times remaining (e.g. 20 min.) divide by 2 (e.g. 10 min.) then add 3 (e.g. total is 13 min.). The length of the second period shall never exceed the length of the first period.

5.5 After the ice becomes available, games shall start following a two (2) minute warm up. If a team is not ready after the warm up, a two (2) minute delay of game penalty is awarded (see Default by-law #9).

5.6 Once a game has begun, the game will count and the score will stand as is when the game is finished or is called by the referees.

5.7 The home team must provide a score keeper, timekeeper and prepared score sheet.

5.8 In divisions where applicable, the home team is responsible for ensuring that the shot clock is present for the game and for providing a trained person to operate the shot clock. Failure to do so will result in a team fine as set out in the Team Contract.