Muskoka Sharpshooters

🏒 2026 Summer 4-on-4 Wrap-Up & Looking Ahead to 2027! 🏒

Before we wrap up our summer 4-on-4 season, good luck to our **U9 and U13 ORHL teams** as they hit the ice tonight at the Muskoka Lumber Community Centre for their first practices of our inaugural ORHL season! An exciting new chapter for the Muskoka Sharpshooters!

Now, back to 4-on-4...

A huge thank you to everyone who completed our 4-on-4 feedback survey! Overall, the feedback was very positive, and we're already planning to bring the program back next summer.

Here's some of what we learned and what we're looking at for 2027:

🏒 **Divisions**

We're currently considering **U11, U13, U15 and U17**, or we're also exploring the possibility of adding a **girls division**.

One of the biggest factors in any expansion will be goalies! Regardless of which direction we take, we need enough goalies to support the number of divisions and teams.

Our final format will depend on available ice, registration numbers and goalie availability. We expect to know much more once our summer ice is confirmed, likely around January.

📏 **Offsides**

This was one of the closer questions in the survey, but the largest group voted in favour of adding offsides.

Based on the results and written feedback, we're leaning toward introducing offsides in 2027, while continuing with no icing to keep the games moving.

⏱️ **Fair & Consistent Shifts**

One idea we're considering for next summer is a 2-minute buzzer to help keep shifts consistent and ensure everyone gets their share of the ice.

At the buzzer, players would change, with incoming players skating behind their own net before joining the play. If a player still has possession when the horn sounds, the referee would blow the play dead, possession would change, and the half-ice rule would apply.

No decision has been made on this yet. We'll be talking to players, parents and coaches over the winter before deciding if this is something we want to introduce.

👥 **Roster Sizes**

This is one area where we will be making a change.

Next summer, teams will have a maximum of 12 players. No exceptions.

Deposits will also need to be paid promptly to secure a roster spot. If a division fills, we'll use a waiting list rather than adding extra teams.

We tried expanding a division this summer when registrations were high in an effort to accommodate more players. Unfortunately, it created scheduling and roster challenges, so we won't be experimenting with additional teams within a division next summer.

⬆️ **Playing Up**

Players looking for stronger competition will be welcome to register in an older division where appropriate.

📅 **Season Length**

Most respondents felt the season length was about right, although a good number felt it ran a little too long.

We're not planning to split the summer into separate sessions, but we are looking at a 16-game season for 2027.

🔄 **Spare Player List**

We're also planning to introduce a formal registered spare player list.

This will be available for players who missed registration, couldn't secure a full-time roster spot, or simply only want to spare.

Coaches will have access to the list when their team is short.

**ALL spare players must be registered with the Muskoka Sharpshooters before stepping on the ice.** Teams will only be permitted to use spares to bring their game roster up to 8 players.

Most importantly, we're not looking to completely change 4-on-4.

The feedback told us that families enjoyed the fun, fast-paced and lower-pressure summer hockey environment. We want to keep that!

Our goal for 2027 is to improve the organization, consistency, roster sizes and fair ice time while keeping the things that made the program fun.

Thank you again to everyone who played, coached, refereed, volunteered and provided feedback this summer. Your feedback really does help us plan for next year.

And now it's time to start another exciting chapter...

Good luck to our U9 and U13 Sharpshooters as our first ORHL season gets underway tonight! 🏒🎯

🏒 **Thank You for a Great 4-on-4 Season!** 🏒

That's a wrap on our 2026 Muskoka Sharpshooters 4-on-4 season!

A huge **thank you to all of the players, parents, coaches, referees, volunteers, and everyone who helped out throughout the summer.** We hope everyone had as much fun as we did putting it together.

We learned a lot this year, and we're already thinking about next summer. We hope to bring 4-on-4 back in **2027**, and your feedback will play a big part in helping us make the program even better.

📋 **We want to hear from you!**

We've put together a short feedback survey and would really appreciate it if parents could take a few minutes to complete it. Whether you loved something or think something needs to change, **we want to hear it.**

Your feedback will help us with decisions around divisions, rules, officiating, scheduling, team sizes, balancing, game format and more.

👉 **Please complete the survey here:**
https://forms.gle/18SEStQKDtNPTkcP6

Thank you again for supporting the Muskoka Sharpshooters and helping us build this program.

We hope to see everyone back on the ice next summer! 🏒

docs.google.com

🏆🏒 Congratulations U16 Team Black! 🏒🏆

Congratulations to Lemieux (Black) on winning the 2026 Muskoka Sharpshooters 4-on-4 U16 Championship! ⬛

Great job to all the players on a fantastic summer of hockey.

Enjoy those Sharpshooters Championship mini sticks! 🏆

🏆🏒 **Congratulations U13 Team Black!** 🏒🏆

Congratulations to **Crosby (Black)** on winning the **2026 Muskoka Sharpshooters 4-on-4 U13 Championship!** ⬛

Great job to all the players on a fantastic summer of hockey.

Enjoy those **Sharpshooters Championship mini sticks!** 🏆

🏆🏒 Congratulations U11 Team Yellow! 🏒🏆

Congratulations to Bedard (Yellow) on winning the 2026 Muskoka Sharpshooters 4-on-4 U11 Championship! 🟨

Great job to all the players on a fantastic summer of hockey.

Enjoy those Sharpshooters Championship mini sticks! 🏆

🏆🏒 4-on-4 Championship Night is Here! 🏒🏆

Tonight is our final night of 4-on-4 for the summer!

The championship games are set and, coincidentally, all three divisions will see 🟨 Yellow vs ⬛ Black for the championship!

🏆 Players on the winning team in each division will take home an exclusive Muskoka Sharpshooters 4-on-4 Champions mini stick!

Tonight's Schedule

🏒 U11
🟦 MacKinnon (Blue) vs 🟥 McDavid (Red) • 5:00 PM
🟨 Bedard (Yellow) vs ⬛ Celebrini (Black) • 5:40 PM 🏆

🏒 U13
⬛ Crosby (Black) vs 🟨 Stamkos (Yellow) • 6:30 PM 🏆
🟦 Tavares (Blue) vs 🟥 Benn (Red) • 7:10 PM

⚠️ Reminder that the U13 Championship Game is being played BEFORE the U13 consolation game.

🏒 U16
🟦 Bossy (Blue) vs 🟥 Messier (Red) • 8:00 PM
🟨 Orr (Yellow) vs ⬛ Lemieux (Black) • 9:00 PM 🏆

📍 Gravenhurst Centennial Centre

Player Pickups

There are no pickups without approval tonight. If your team is short, please confirm any pickup with myself AND the opposing team's coach before the game.

Playoff Overtime Rules

If we're tied after regulation:

🥅 3-on-3 for 5 minutes
🥅 If still tied, we go to a shootout
🥅 3 shooters per team
🥅 Different players must shoot each round

📺 Live Streaming

We are going to do our best to stream all of tonight's games on Facebook. Something has been interfering with the stream over the last few weeks, so we can't guarantee we'll get every game online.

👕 Jersey Returns

There will be bins in the hallways outside the dressing rooms tonight. Please make sure your jersey is returned before leaving the arena.

📋 We Want Your Feedback

In the next few days, we'll be sending out a survey about this summer's 4-on-4 program. We'd really appreciate everyone taking a few minutes to give us their feedback. It will help us make the program even better next year.

🌐 Website Update

The website will be flipped over to the new season on Wednesday.

To find this summer's teams and information afterward, go to:
Team Finder → ORHL 26/27 → Other Seasons → Summer 26

It's been a great summer of hockey. Thank you to the players, parents, coaches, and everyone who helped make it happen.

Good luck to everyone tonight! 🏆🏒

🏒 Final Power Skating Session Tonight! ⚡

Tonight is the final Power Skating & Edge Work session of the summer!

There are still a few spots available if you'd like to join us.

⏰ Session Times
2016-2019 → 5:00 PM - 6:20 PM

2011-2015 → 6:30 PM - 7:50 PM

📍 Gravenhurst Centennial Centre

👉 Sign up here:
https://registration.teamsnap.com/form/51726

See everyone on the ice tonight!

TeamSnap Registration TeamSnap Registration

🏒 Skate Canada PowerSkating Update

I am excited to share that I have officially achieved Trained status in Skate Canada PowerSkating.

Power skating has always been one of the areas I am most passionate about because strong skating is the foundation of every successful hockey player. Edge control, balance, acceleration, agility, and efficient skating mechanics all play a major role in a player's development.

For the 2026/27 season, our U9 and U13 ORHL teams will follow a development plan that closely mirrors the 10-session Skate Canada PowerSkating curriculum.

While the Sharpshooters program is not a sanctioned Skate Canada program, many of the same teaching principles and progression models will be incorporated into our weekly development sessions.

I'm excited to bring these concepts to the ice this season and continue building a development-first culture with the Muskoka Sharpshooters. 🏒

- Coach Steve

🏒 4-on-4 Finals Night is Next Tuesday! 🏆

We've reached the final week of the season, and the championship matchups are set!

Next Tuesday's schedule:

U11
🥉🟦 MacKinnon (Blue) vs 🟥 McDavid (Red) • 5:00 PM Consolation
🏆🟨 Bedard (Yellow) vs ⬛ Celebrini (Black) • 5:40 PM Championship

U13
🏆 ⬛ Crosby (Black) vs 🟨 Stamkos (Yellow) • 6:30 PM Championship
🥉 🟦 Tavares (Blue) vs 🟥 Benn (Red) • 7:10 PM Consolation

Please note that the U13 Championship Game will be played before the consolation game.

U16
🥉🟦 Bossy (Blue) vs 🟥 Messier (Red) • 8:00 PM Consolation
🏆 🟨 Orr (Yellow) vs ⬛ Lemieux (Black) • 9:00 PM Championship

Good luck to all of our players! It's been a great summer, and we're looking forward to an exciting final night of 4-on-4 hockey.

We will be collecting jerseys from everyone to recycle for next season. There will be bins outside rooms 1&2 and 4&5.

🏒 One final reminder!

Our last Power Skating & Edge Work session is this Thursday, August 20.

There are still 1-2 spots available in the younger group and a few spots remaining in the older group.

👉 Register here:

TeamSnap Registration TeamSnap Registration

🏒 4-on-4 is back to our regular schedule this week!

After last week's schedule changes, we're back to our usual game times at the Gravenhurst Centennial Centre.

Tonight's SEMI FINAL matchups:

U11
🟦 MacKinnon (Blue) vs 🟨 Bedard (Yellow) • 5:00 PM
🟥 McDavid (Red) vs ⬛ Celebrini (Black) • 5:40 PM

U13
🟦 Tavares (Blue) vs 🟨 Stamkos (Yellow) • 6:30 PM
⬛ Crosby (Black) vs 🟥 Benn (Red) • 7:10 PM

U16
🟦 Bossy (Blue) vs ⬛ Lemieux (Black) • 8:00 PM
🟨 Orr (Yellow) vs 🟥 Messier (Red) • 9:00 PM

Please remember to check the website calendar for schedules and any updates.

See everyone at the rink tonight! 🏒