Bell Capital Cup 2015: Dates, Schedule, Teams, Format, Rules and Predictions

Ottawa will once again play host to the Bell Capital Cup this winter, as a litany of youth teams converge on this cold Canadian city for five days of fun, frivolity and competition in the 16th edition of this event.

The tournament takes place from Dec. 29 to Jan. 2, 2015. This event features pint-sized hockey players, but the sheer number of teams involved makes this one of the largest hockey tournaments in the world. It's a wonderful spectacle and a great opportunity for kids from vastly different areas to come together and compete.

There is also a beneficial side to the tournament, as money raised from the tournament supports local hockey organizations in the Ottawa area. According to Darren Desaulniers of the Ottawa Citizen, the competition has raised $2.55 million in its 15-year history.

Here is a quick rundown of what to look for at this event.

Schedule 

The schedule for the Bell Capital Cup is hectic, to say the least. Hundreds of teams will compete in many hundreds of games in dozens of different ice rinks and locales around Ottawa. The competition spans five days, starting with a round-robin format and then playoffs for the top teams from the preliminary round.

Nearly 200 games take place on the first day alone. It's impossible to catch all the action, but Ottawa is the place to be to witness the next generation of hockey stars before the world starts to truly take notice.

Note: The complete schedule of competitions is tentative, according to the organization's website. A complete look at times and matchups can be found at PointStreak.com.

Teams

A total of 260 teams are competing in 18 different divisions. Bell Capital Cup noted registered teams hit the 200 mark back in October and also showed the international reach of this competition.

Squads come from all over Canada, the United States and a few hail from overseas. The tournament had as many as 500 teams several years ago, but the competition is no longer drawing in that many participants. According to Bell Capital Cup general manager Scott Lawryk, this is fine with tournament organizers, via the Ottawa Sun's Tim Baines:

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We've got less teams than what we're used to seeing. Two-hundred and sixty teams is still the biggest tournament in the area. It's still obviously a big deal. We concentrate more on the teams that we have here, more than on the teams that we don't have. We want to give them a first-class experience. Five-hundred-plus teams is a big number. It's difficult to handle, but we did make it happen in years past.

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The event features both boys and girls youth hockey teams. The full list of participating squads can be found here (Note: Team names can be found in the drop-down menu in the top-right corner of the page under "2015 Confirmed Teams").

Rules

According to the official tournament website, the Bell Capital Cup is played by the Ottawa District Minor Hockey Association rules, which makes it possible that teams from other areas are at a slight disadvantage should their local rules and regulations have major differences.

Seeing as it's a youth tournament, much of the physicality is taken out of the sport. Per the website, body-checking is not permitted in any division, and fighting will result in a player's suspension for the remainder of the tournament. 

There is also a considerable amount of pressure for the games to be completed quickly, so no timeouts are allowed in any of the matches.

Here is a quick look at the game lengths for each division.

Division	Period 1 (minutes)	Period 2	Period 3
AAA	22	22	25
AA	20	20	22
A, B	16.5	16.5	19
House A, B, C	15	15	15

Note: A complete rundown of rules and regulations can be found at BellCapitalCup.ca.
 

Format

Teams are divided into different groups and divisions based on age and playing level. Depending on the size of the group, either a full round robin or a truncated round robin against select teams in the group is played. The top teams in the division then advance to the playoff rounds, where they will square off in an elimination format ending in a championship contest at each level.

Bell Capital Cup provided a look at the trophies teams will be playing for this year:

Note: A complete overview of format and tiebreaker rules can be found here.

Predictions

The Major and Minor Peewee divisions should provide those in attendance with the best competition. Desaulniers previewed some of the top teams to watch in the Major group: 

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The Major Peewee AAA Division has just five teams competing meaning the competition will be tight. Aside from the two local teams, the Eastern Ontario Wild and the Outaouais Intrepide, the division will have the North Jersey Avalanche, Philadelphia Little Flyers and the Cascades Elite from Central Quebec.

Each team will play one another once during the round robin over a two-day period with the top-two finishers of the round robin playing in Wednesday’s championship game.

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Look for the local teams to take advantage of the home support and play well in the round-robin matches, with the Eastern Ontario Wild winning the championship on Wednesday. In the Minor Peewee division, the Kitchener Rangers were one of the best teams in Ontario and should be able to come away with a top prize.