Hockey Headlines: Insurance squabbles spoil Lighthouse Cup

Nassau switched from USA Hockey to the Amateur Athletic Union after last year, while the Suffolk Hockey League stuck with USA Hockey, whose rules state that teams insured by USA Hockey can only play other USA Hockey insured squads.
 

"USA Hockey does issue waivers at times to play out of conference or out of their jurisdiction, but we didn’t get it this year," Suffolk president Charles Venticinque said. "From what I understand, when I first met with the Islanders in September, I told them we would have to get sanctioning from USA Hockey to play…they were going to apply for it and take care of everything, but it never happened. Three days before the tournament, on that Friday, I was still waiting to get the proper paperwork. I didn’t get it and I couldn’t risk putting my guys at risk without being covered by insurance."

But Islanders Vice President of Game Operations and Events Tim Beach said the organization offered to cover the Suffolk players when USA Hockey refused to grant a waiver for the game.

"The Islanders stepped forward and said, ‘We will address it and take care of it,’" Beach said. "Our legal counsel reached out to the same insurance company that covers USA Hockey and the Islanders offered to not only obtain the insurance for Suffolk but also to pay for it."

Beach said that Suffolk refused the coverage.

"We just thought it wasn’t fair three days before the tournament to go back to the kids and families and say, ‘Oh, by the way, there’s not going to be a game,’" he said.
 

The teams were initially scheduled to play for the Lighthouse Cup on Martin Luther King Jr., day this month. Nassau ended up having an all-star day of its own, though the event attracted less people than the inter-county scrimmage normally does.
 

President of the Nassau Hockey League Steve Rupp said Nassau switched its insurance to AAU because it felt USA Hockey was more oriented toward travel teams than the community-based programs that make up the Nassau divisions.
 

"Hopefully smarter heads will prevail at some point, and we’ll be able to work this out," Rupp said. "It’s just a crazy thing that needs to be resolved for the betterment of the kids and hockey on Long Island. So hopefully it will work out in the end."