Official Rules

1. League Structure

1.1 The league will operate as a “dynasty” or “keeper” hockey pool from season to season.

1.2 Each league participant will have his own “franchise”. He will play the role of owner (a seat on the Board of Governors for league votes) and GM (building his roster, making deals with other teams) of that franchise.

1.3 The league will also have a commissioner. It will be the responsibility of the commissioner to organize and facilitate all league events, ensure proper record keeping, maintain the league website, appoint a Treasurer, and resolve any disputes that may arise. He has authority to interpret and enforce all rules, and decide any matters not specifically covered by the rules. At his option, he may allow owners to decide questions by vote. His decision is final. The commissioner will be elected by the owners, and also may be deposed by a vote of greater than 50%.

2. Entry Draft

2.1 Each summer there will be an entry draft. The draft order will be determined by descending order of finish from the previous year’s regular season pool. The draft order will remain the same for each round (i.e. the last place finisher will select first in each round, while the regular season winner will select last in each round.)

2.3 The last three teams in our pool will line up with the last 3 teams in the NHL. Whoever wins the lottery draft in the NHL will win it in our pool also (i.e. This year NYI, TB, and Colorado finished bottom three in the NHL. Tony, Gord, and Kats finished bottom three in our pool. Therefor, if TB won the draft lottery, Gord would also win it in our pool too.)

2.2 The entry draft will be held at a location that is agreed by all. Teams will only be able to make their selections when they hold the next pick. There will be a 5 minute time limit on selections.

2.3 The entry draft will consist of 5 rounds.

2.4 GM’s may only draft players that currently have, or have in the past had their rights owned by an NHL team. (i.e. no players under the age required for NHL draft eligibility.).

2.5 Players of any position may be chosen in any round of the draft. GM’s are free to draft however many players they wish at any position, as long as they are able to meet the positional quotas for their active roster as noted in Rule 4.3

2.6 Teams are free to trade their draft positions in any rounds leading up to and throughout the entry draft.


3. Scoring

3.1 All forwards and defenders will be credited with one point per goal scored and one point per assist.

3.2 Goalies will earn two points for each win and three additional bonus points for each shutout.

3.3 Players can only accumulate points while they are on your Active Roster.

3.4 Shootout goals are not included in point totals.

3.5 If there is a tie in the standings at years end, the best PPG will be credited with the high position. Therefor, the total number of games played will be divided by the point total, and whoever has a higher PPG will
win the tie breaker.

4. Team Rosters

4.1 Each franchise will start the season with a minimum of 25 and a maximum of 33 players. Roster limits may not go under 25 throughout the season but can go over 33.

4.2 Each team’s active roster will consist of 20 players, which must include two goalies, six defenders, and twelve forwards.

4.3 Players that you hold the rights to, but are not on your active roster will be considered to be on your bench.

5. Roster Changes

5.1 Before the start of every month each GM must indicate which players he is starting on the active roster on the league website. The deadline to submit your roster changes is the first of every month at noon. All moves will be inter-squad, moving guys from the starting roster to the bench and vice versa.

5.2 Each GM will also be given three any time moves. The GM is allowed to use one move per player. The GM is allowed to use these any time moves whenever he pleases and the changes will take effect immediately.

5.3 Each month, every GM is allowed to use an injury move. The player must have missed at least one game before using the injury move to replace him with a player on your bench. If you do not use your injury move, it will not roll over to the next month.

5.4 To avoid “tanking”, teams must ensure that they keep a full active roster in situations when a player is on a long term injury and there are players on his bench.

6. Trades

6.1 Teams are free to trade players with each other as they see fit. Multiple player deals are acceptable as long as all teams remain within the acceptable roster sizes. (see Section 4.1)

6.2 No trade is official until BOTH teams confirm on the league website.

6.3 No trade may be made involving cash.

6.4 Teams may include draft picks for entry draft as part of any trade. Only draft picks that are two years away will be tradable. Eg; If we are in the 09-10 season, you cannot trade your 11-12 draft picks.

6.5 The trade deadline will be midnight eastern time on the NHL trade deadline day. Trading can only resume after the Stanley Cup Playoffs have finished. The NHL holiday roster freeze will also count towards our league.

6.6 Traded players will begin accumulating points for their new teams starting in games immediately. The cut-off time for this will be two hours prior to a player playing. For example, if confirmation of the trade is received from both teams on Tuesday 5:14pm, the trade will not be processed if any of the players involved in the trade play at 7:00pm. (only applies to active roster players, or a player going to the active roster)

6.7 Trades can only be vetoed when there is evidence of collusion. If a GM wants to veto a trade they must make a request to the Commissioner 48 hours the trade has been processed. The GM that requested the veto and the two GM’s involved in the trade will present their sides to a panel of three independent GM’s appointed at random. The three GMs will submit their vote to allow or not allow the trade to the Commissioner. The Commissioner will then announce to the rest of the league the decision. If the Commissioner is involved in the trade, the last place person in the pool who is not involved in the deal will act as Commissioner. The players involved will remain on their current process during the voting period but their totals will be back-dated to their new team if the deal is approved. A GM can only call for one veto vote per season.

7. Free Agents

7.1 A free agent is defined as any player who is not currently held on the active roster or bench of any of the teams within the league, and whose rights are owned by an NHL team.

7.2 Free agents may not be claimed by a team at any point in the season other than during the summer entry draft.

7.3 As a result of 7.1 and 7.2, there will be no waiver wire.

8. League Participation

8.1 Members are expected to remain active in the league. A team owner who becomes inactive may be expelled from the league. An owner, who fails to keep an active e-mail account, abandons his team, or fails to answer trade request from other league members or officials without explanation may be rated 'inactive'. If more than 50% of the league wishes to “fire” a GM the commissioner will warn the inactive GM before taking action to expel.

8.2 The Official Rules of the league will need to be ratified before every entry draft. Any changes to the Official Rules will require support of greater than 50% of league participants.

8.3 At some future time the league may decide to grant expansion franchises. No more than one expansion team per year will be allowed. An expansion draft will be held.

8.3a Expansion Rules, to be determined.

9. Fees/Payouts

9.1 Annual entry fee will be $100 Canadian, paid in full at the entry draft.

9.2 First place will receive $350; Second place will receive $150; Third place will receive $50.

9.3 We will also give out prize money for the following categories.

• The winner of the month (excluding April) = $25
  
• The GM who owns the goalie with the most goalie points = $50
  
• The GM who owns the top scoring defender = $50
  
• The GM who owns the highest scoring rookie that is drafted in our pool = $50
  
• The GM who owns the player with the most goals = $25
  
• The GM who owns the player with the most assists = $25
  
• The most improved team (points wise) = $50