2021. In 2022, Wakatipu Wild was the first of the two new teams to claim a league premiership and championship, when it went almost undefeated for the regular season and then won both games in finals. Teams Season structure and rules As per 2022. Regular season The NZWIHL regular season is typically played over three months, with dates varying from season to season. The regular season consists of twelve games in total, with each team playing six games. The regular season is broken up into two rounds with a round-robin format used. An overtime period (OT) and shootout (SO) are used to ensure there is always a winner when time permits during the regular season. In the unlikely event of there being no time for OT or SO, then a draw will be declared. Game length The NZWIHL has adopted the international standard three 20-minute stop-time periods length for all regular season and finals games. All games progress to overtime and then a shootout in case teams are tied at the end of regulation time. In order to allow appropriate time for overtime to occur, rinks are booked to hours as a minimum requirement in the NZWIHL. Game rules and points system All games and NZWIHL events are to be played in accordance to the rules set out in the NZWIHL events manual, followed by the International Ice Hockey Federation Rule Book. Governance for the events manual falls to the NZWIHL executive, headed by the General Manager (GM), and oversighted by the New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation (NZIHF) Management Committee. The NZWIHL points system, follows similar systems widely used in Europe and Australian ice hockey leagues. 3 points is awarded for a regulation time win, 2 points for a shootout win, 1 point for a shootout loss and 0 points for a regulation time loss. In the unlikely event of a draw, both teams will be awarded 1 point each. Roster & import rules There are no maximum roster limits in the NZWIHL. Players must be 13 years or older to play in the NZWIHL. NZWIHL players are broken up into two categories, regional players (New Zealand or Australian citizens) and import players (a citizen of any other country). Import players must have a cleared international transfer card (ITC) in order to be eligible to play an NZWIHL game. There are no limits on the number of import players allowed