1
LEAGUE STRUCTURE
1.1. LEAGUE DEFINITION
The National Strat-o-Matic Hockey League (referred to in
the remainder of this document as "NSHL") is founded
with the purpose of simulating the National Hockey League's
competition and competitive environment through the medium
of Strat-O-Matic Hockey. This purpose is to be fulfilled
in whatever manner deemed fit by the league's membership,
while maintaining an amiable league environment.
1.1.1. HONOR CODE
By being a member of the NSHL, all members realize that
the purpose of the league is enjoyment for all members,
and not necessarily individual glory. To those ends, all
members agree not to overtly cheat or alter results to his
own advantage (or disadvantage), and all members agree to
play all games fairly and with the best of intentions for
both teams. By accepting an invitation for team ownership,
the new owner agrees to be bound by this honor code.
1.1.2 AUTOPLAYING GAMES (added 2004)
The auto playing of league games is strongly discouraged.
League policy is to have an actual person, preferably an
associate, play an owner's games in the event that the owner
cannot do so. All possible efforts should be made to affect
the intent of this amendment.
1.2.
LEAGUE CONSTITUTION
The NSHL is governed by this constitution. Any issues not
specifically addressed by this document are to be decided
at the discretion of the presiding Commissioner. The Commissioner
shall edit the Constitution for spelling, grammar and overall
consistency after each vote; if any league member disputes
the need for an edit, that edit will be postponed until
it can be brought to a vote.
1.2.1.
CONSTITUTIONAL COUNCIL
The league shall have five-member Constitutional Council,
the head of which must be elected by the league. The other
four members of the Council shall be the Commissioner,
the Vice-Commissioner, and two appointees to be chosen
by the council's head. The Commissioner and Vice-Commissioner
shall serve while in office, while the two appointees
shall serve a one-year term (appointees may serve consecutive
terms).
The
five-member Constitutional Council is responsible for
submitting all proposed Constitutional changes, in the
form of amendments, to the NSHL membership on or before
June 1 of each off-season. The council shall determine
which possible amendments shall be put to league vote,
and have the authority to edit amendments for spelling,
grammar and content.
In
June of each year, league members will receive the Constitutional
Amendment ballot; to be placed on this ballot, a proposal
must be approved by three of the five council members. Once
on the ballot, a proposed amendment needs a two-thirds majority
in order to pass.
1.3.
LEAGUE MEMBERSHIP
The NSHL shall consist of two types of members - team owners
and associates.
1.3.1.
TEAM OWNERS
There will be at most twenty-four (24) franchises in the
NSHL. Each franchise will be allowed one vote on any item
brought to a vote of the membership. Team owners may leave
the league in good standing provided that they are not
over their ten IP limit (see section 1.5, "Incentive
Points") and provided that they allow adequate time
for the league to find a new team owner.
1.3.2.
ASSOCIATES
The NSHL will allow for an unlimited number of associate
members. Associate members will not be allowed to vote
on league issues, but will receive the league mailings.
Associate members may be asked to play league games for
owners on a game-by-game basis, and may also be selected
to play league games for an extended period of time should
a full owner be unable to do so.
If
a team should be vacated for any reason, the team will
be offered to one of the associates based on the number
of games played for league members. If there are an equal
number of games played by two associate candidates, the
associate will be chosen based on seniority. If an associate
does not wish to become a team owner at that time, then
the offer will pass to the next associate, and so forth,
until the list is exhausted. If the associate list becomes
exhausted in this fashion, the Commissioner may use his/her
discretion to appoint a team owner, on an interim or permanent
basis.
Members
who leave the league in good standing may return as associate
members at any time, retaining their previous years of
service. However, any previous games played by returning
league members will not count towards their future appointment.
1.4.
LEAGUE OFFICERS
The NSHL league officers will consist of the Commissioner,
Vice-Commissioner, a three-member Review Board, and the
head of the Constitutional Council.
1.4.1.
COMMISSIONER
The NSHL Commissioner shall serve a life term on a voluntary
basis. The Commissioner can be removed from office by
a two-thirds vote of the league membership, at which point
a new Commissioner must be elected.
The
duties of the Commissioner include:
-
Responsibility for the NSHL schedule, including producing
and distributing the schedule well in advance of the season
opener.
-
Overseeing the annual entry draft.
-
Producing and distributing the NSHL newsletter.
-
Serving on the Constitutional Council.
-
Serving on the Review Board, as necessary.
-
Appointing members to the office of Vice-Commissioner
and the Review Board.
-
Handling disputes between league members to the overall
benefit of the league.
The
Commissioner is also entitled to use his/her discretion
concerning any actions that are not specifically addressed
in this Constitution. Any ruling made in this fashion
is open to appeal; all appeals will be heard by the Review
Board.
1.4.2.
VICE-COMMISSIONER
The NSHL Vice-Commissioner is appointed by the Commissioner
to a one-year term of office (consecutive terms are permitted).
Duties
of the Vice-Commissioner include:
-
Responsibility for all duties of the Commissioner in the
Commissioner's absence.
-
Serving on the Constitutional Council.
-
Serving on the Review Board, as necessary.
-
Overseeing voting to remove the Commissioner from office.
1.4.3. REVIEW BOARD
The NSHL Review Board consists of three members, each
appointed by the NSHL Commissioner. Review Board members
serve a one-year term of office (consecutive terms are
permitted).
Duties
of the Review Board include:
-
Ruling on all protests submitted by league members (section
6.0, "Protests").
-
Ruling on all appeals submitted by league members (section
6.0, "Protests").
1.4.4.
HEAD OF CONSTITUTIONAL COUNCIL
The Head of the NSHL Constitutional Council is elected
by the NSHL membership to serve a one-year term (consecutive
terms are permitted).
Duties
of the Head of the Constitutional Council include:
-
Overseeing the operations of the Constitutional Council.
-
Submitting
the full Constitutional Ballot to the Commissioner.
-
Tallying
the resulting ballot vote, and releasing the results
1.4.5.
THE CONSTITUTIONAL COUNCIL
The Constitutional Council is comprised of five league
members, among which are the Commissioner, Vice-Commissioner
and the Head of the Constitutional Council.
Duties
of the Constitutional Council include:
-
Overseeing
the production of the Constitutional Ballot.
-
Considering and debating all member-submitted amendments
and proposals.
-
Drafting all amendments felt necessary by the Council.
1.5.
INCENTIVE POINTS
The NSHL Commissioner shall give incentive points (IP) to
any league member failing to meet league-assigned deadlines
or for conduct detrimental to the league. Incentive points
shall be awarded to teams based on the following criteria:
-
Late
GRS - 1 IP (per offense)
-
Late
CM - 1 IP (per offense)
-
Failure
to vote on league ballots - 5 IP
-
Conduct
detrimental to the league - 1 to 10 IP
Additional
IP may be assigned per the Commissioner's discretion. Any
member who accumulates 10 or more IP during one year is
subject to removal from the league by the Commissioner.
IP are set to zero on June first of each year.
1.6.
TEAMS, DIVISIONS, CITIES, ARENAS AND NICKNAMES
The NSHL shall consist of at most twenty-four teams dividing
into two conferences; each conference shall be divided into
two divisions of no more than six franchises. The Commissioner
has the discretion to realign the league structure, subject
to two-thirds approval from the league.
Each
owner has the discretion to choose a city in which to locate
his/her franchise, and a team nickname. NSHL teams may not
change cities or nicknames without prior approval from the
Commissioner and Vice-Commissioner, and may only change
cities and/or nicknames once per three years.
Teams
may switch divisions and/or conferences by petitioning the
Commissioner, who will recommend which teams shall switch.
Realignment must be agreed upon by two-thirds of the league,
and unanimously by all teams being realigned.
1.7.
NSHL MAILING LIST
The league will maintain an official league mailing list;
all franchises must have at least one owner subscribed to
this list. In the event that a franchise has a party not
on the mailing list, it is the sole responsibility of the
subscriber to disseminate any pertinent information to other
owners.
2 SCHEDULE
2.1. REGULAR SEASON
The NSHL will play an 82-game schedule, provided by the Commissioner.
Opening day will be on a Wednesday in early-to-mid October.
Each team will be responsible for playing four home games
every two weeks, as well as providing a computer manager for
four road games.
Each
NSHL two-week period (hereafter referred to as a "biweek")
will begin with a Tuesday afternoon newsletter, identifying
the upcoming schedule and injuries. Computer manager shall
be sent to a team's road opponents by Wednesday evening
(or thirty-six hours after receipt of the newsletter).
Face-to-face
play, either using the same computer or via NetMeeting,
is permitted.
In the
event that a team will not be able to play their home games
for a given biweek, they need to contact an associate to
play the games in their stead; alternatively, they may contact
the Commissioner who will attempt to handle this transaction.
All
results are due by the Monday two weeks later, with game
reports and files sent to the Commissioner, Vice-Commissioner,
the team's opponent and the games list by that time.
League
standings will be based on the NHL-style points system,
with two points per win, one point per tie and one point
per overtime loss.
2.2.
POSTSEASON
At the conclusion of the regular season, the top eight teams
in each conference will be entered into the Farley Cup playoffs.
Division winners will receive the top two seeds in each
conference. For purposes of teams tied in the standings,
all NHL tiebreakers will be considered.
Each
conference will then determine a champion by best-of-seven
series between #1 vs. #8, #2 vs. #7, #3 vs. #6 and #4 vs.
#5. After the completion of each series, teams will be reseeded
based on record, with division winners maintaining their
advantage, and the process will repeat until each conference
has a champion. These two teams will compete in the Farley
Cup Finals, a best-of-seven series with home-ice advantage
held by the team with more regular-season points.
Each
series' schedule will be determined by the two participants,
with guidance from the Commissioner if necessary. Series
shall last no longer than two weeks.
3 ROSTERS
AND ELIGIBILITY
3.1. ROSTERS
Each NSHL team shall be limited to thirty-six players on their
roster during the season and postseason. All players, carded
and uncarded, count against this thirty-six man limit.
Once
the Farley Cup playoffs have completed, teams may carry
as many players on their roster as they wish until the annual
entry draft. From draft day until the regular season cut
down date, teams may carry a maximum of thirty-nine players.
3.2.
ELIGIBILITY
All players who played in at least one game in the prior
NHL season are eligible for the annual NSHL entry draft.
Even
if a player is uncarded for a particular season, a franchise
may hold his rights for as long as they desire. This player
will count towards their roster maximums.
3.3.
TRANSACTIONS
Transactions made during the season will be confirmed via
the NSHL newsletter. Moves are not made official until announced
in the newsletter. Allowed transactions include trades,
free agent signings, and releasing of players to the free
agent pool.
3.3.1.
TRADES (amended 2008)
Trades may be made from the end of the NSHL season until
the newsletter following week 13/14 (the NSHL trade deadline).
All owners involved in a trade must notify the Commissioner
and Vice-Commissioner via e-mail before the trade will
be considered official. The trade will become official
once it appears in the NSHL newsletter; to be assured
of appearing in the upcoming newsletter, trades should
be completed by the final Monday of a particular biweek.
All
trades are final, pending protests, and all player compensation
shall change hands at the time of the trade. Draft choice
compensation may be conditional, but all conditions must
be announced at the time of the trade. Owners may trade
draft picks in the upcoming free agent draft only.
Any
league member may protest a trade between two teams if
they feel either that the trade was made in bad faith,
or that the trade represents an unrealistic or competitively
dangerous exchange of talent. To protest a trade, a league
member must send to the Commissioner, Vice-Commissioner,
Review Board, and the teams involved in the trade an explanation
of why the member is protesting the trade. Protests must
be filed by the Friday following the newsletter announcing
the trade. The Review Board shall request information
from the teams involved in the trade as necessary. A unanimous
vote by the Review Board voids the trade.
The
Review Board's decision can be reversed by a two-thirds
vote of the league membership; such a vote may be requested
of the Commissioner by any five league members not involved
in the original protest. Such a request must be filed
within one week of the Review Board decision.
3.3.2.
FREE AGENT SIGNINGS
An owner may sign any player on the free agent list at
any point during the NSHL regular season. An owner signing
a free agent must notify the Commissioner by the final
Monday of a biweek in order for it to appear in the following
newsletter.
In
the event that two or more teams wish to sign the same
player, the team with the lower winning percentage will
be permitted to sign the player. For players signed before
the beginning of week three, the previous year's winning
percentages will be used.
Any
player signed as a free agent must be dressed for a minimum
of six of his team's games in the following biweek. A
player that does not fulfill this requirement will be
immediately released to the free agent pool. As a corollary
of this rule, a player must have at least six games' eligibility
remaining in order to be signed as a free agent,
All
players signed as free agents become full and permanent
members of the franchise that signed them, with the exception
that players signed after the trade deadline will be returned
to the free agent list immediately following the Farley
Cup Finals.
3.3.3. PLAYER RELEASE
At any point during the regular season and off-season, a
franchise may release any of their players. To release a
player, an owner must notify the Commissioner by the final
Monday of a biweek in order for it to appear in the following
newsletter. If applicable, the player will then be added
to the free agent pool.
4 PLAYER USAGE
4.1. REGULAR SEASON (amended 2007)
During the NSHL regular season, players are permitted to play
no more than 110% of their NHL games played. Any games played
over this limit will result in the forfeit of the game by
the player's team. Limits may be verified by any owner, although
the honor system will be the primary method of enforcing this
rule. The maximum usage rule is designed to prevent abuse
of players with low playing time.
The
Commissioner has the option to assess draft choice penalties
for franchise owners who overuse their players in the preceding
season.
In assessing
these penalties, the Commissioner will use judgement and
take into consideration previous violations as well as the
number of games overused. Penalties may be appealed to the
Review Board.
4.1.1.
INJURIES
At the conclusion of each game, the Commissioner will
randomly select one player per game (not per team) to
potentially suffer an injury. Each player's chance of
injury will be linear with respect to ice time (goaltenders
will have their injury chance cut in three for this procedure).
For this player, the Commissioner will then roll on the
NSHL injury chart to determine any further games missed.
Injuries
will be reported in the biweekly NSHL newsletter.
4.1.2.
GOALTENDER FATIGUE
In addition to injuries, goaltenders are limited to a consecutive
number of games as determined by their fatigue rating, and
may not play more unless they are maintaining a "hot
streak" (per Strat-o-Matic rules).
4.2.
POSTSEASON (amended 2007)
No player may play more playoff games than he played in
the previous NHL regular season. Goaltender fatigue is normal
with these exceptions:
-
a goaltender with a fatigue rating of five or more may
play in every game while they maintain a "hot streak"
subject to the restraints of maximum usage, and
-
if
a team wins its playoff series in fewer than the maximum
number of games (eg, six or fewer games in a seven-game
series), its goaltenders' number of consecutive starts
resets to zero when the team's next series begins.
The
only players that may appear in the NSHL postseason are
those that have been "carded" by the Strat-o-Matic
game company; that is, either a regular card, or an additional
player card. "Computer-only" players can only
appear in the playoffs with approval of both the Commissioner
and the opposing owner.
5 THE
NSHL ENTRY DRAFT
5.1. NSHL PLAYER ENTRY PROCESS (amended 2007)
The NSHL player entry process will consist of parallel drafts
of the following type:
(a)
An entry draft of an indefinite length (until the pool is
exhausted).
(b) A waiver draft of four rounds in length.
Eligible
players for the entry draft include players who have never
been previously drafted by an NSHL franchise and who have
never played an NSHL game (regular-season or postseason).
All other players will enter the league through the waiver
draft.
One
month prior to the NSHL entry draft, all teams must have
a roster size no larger than twenty-six players (skaters
plus goaltenders).
The
entry draft will occur on the second Saturday in September,
live via the NSHL chat room. Teams may draft in as many
rounds as they would like until the pool of eligible first-year
players is exhausted. The first-round draft order will be
determined by a lottery similar to the NHL system, with
each non-playoff team having the opportunity to move up
(up to five positions) by a system to be determined by the
Commissioner.
The
waiver draft will occur on the third Saturday in September,
via draft lists. These lists will be submitted by individual
owners between the end of the entry draft and the day before
the waiver draft. Any owner not submitting a list is considered
to have submitted a "no selections" list.
The
waiver draft order will be determined on the basis of the
previous regular-season standings, with lesser teams drafting
before stronger teams. (No draft lottery will be used to
modify the first round of the waiver draft). The previous
season's Farley Cup winner would draft last in each round.
Waiver draft choices may not be traded.
Immediately
following the release of the waiver draft results, teams
may claim players from the free agent list. The free agent
list is comprised of players who were not selected in their
respective drafts as well as any players released between
the drafts and Opening Day.
Teams
must have a roster size no larger than thirty-six players
(skaters plus goaltenders) as of Opening Day.
6 REPORTS
6.1 COMPUTER MANAGERS
By Wednesday evening of each biweek (or thirty-six hours following
the newsletter release); each owner is required to release
a Computer Manager to their road opponents.
These
computer managers must be created and exported using the
official NSHL league files, and must conform to all NSHL
rules and regulations.
Lock
codes are permitted on computer managers, but lock codes
must be sent to the Commissioner in the event that it is
needed (for verification or other purposes).
6.2
GAME REPORTS
At the conclusion of each home game, and by the end of the
biweek period, all games must be reported to the Commissioner,
the road opponent, and the games report mailing list. This
report shall include:
-
the
box score of the game played (in plain text format)
-
the (compressed) export file of the game played.
-
any
further detail at the owner's discretion.
6.3
STATISTICS
Now that the computer game is keeping a large number of
team statistics, the only statistics an owner must track
manually are game-winning and game-tying goals.
In a
game with a victor, a game-winning goal will be awarded
to the player, on the winning team, who scores the goal
which gives the winning team one more goal than the losing
team's final score.
In a
tied game, a game-tying goal will be awarded to the player
scoring the final goal of the contest. Note that only one
game-tying goal is awarded per tied game (not per team).
7 PROTESTS
A road manager may protest to the NSHL Review Board any
outcome which he/she feels results directly from negligence
or maliciousness on the part of the home manager. Managers
should try to settle all protests by mutual consent prior
to filing a formal protest with the Board.
If a
member elects to protest the results of a game, the member
must send to the Commissioner, Vice-Commissioner, the Review
Board members, and the home manager an explanation of the
protest as well as supporting documentation regarding the
protested game.
Protests
must be filed by the Monday following the newsletter reporting
the game result (although all efforts should be made to
protest a result as soon as possible following the outcome).
The Review Board shall request a statement from the home
manager regarding the incident, and then review all evidence
and vote on the protest. If a Board member believes that
negligence or maliciousness did occur, and that there is
reasonable doubt that the outcome would have been different
if it had not occurred, the member should vote in favor
of upholding the protest.
A unanimous
vote is required to uphold a protest. The Review Board shall
issue a ruling on a protest within two weeks from the date
of the protest. No league member may rule on a protest involving
his/her own team. If a Board member is involved in a protest,
he/she shall be replaced first by the Vice-Commissioner
and finally the Commissioner.
8
PLAYING RULES
All rules of hockey and the Strat-o-Matic Super Advanced
Hockey game will apply, with exceptions listed within this
Constitution. It is the feeling of the league that the Strat
Hockey game should be left intact as much as possible.
8.1
LINE PLAY AND SHIFTS (amended 2008)
Each shift will be scheduled to last three actions cards,
with forwards and defensemen changing at the same time.
All
dressed skaters must be scheduled for a minimum of five
shifts (15 AC) per regulation game, not including overtime.
In the case of computer managers, these shifts must be scheduled
within the first eight shifts of each period.
In the
first two periods (and in postseason overtime), forwards
may be scheduled for a maximum of four shifts (12 AC) total.
Defenseman may be scheduled for a maximum of four shifts
(12 AC) total. No player may be scheduled for consecutive
shifts.
In the
third period (regular season), forwards may be scheduled
for a maximum of four shifts (12 AC) total. Defenseman may
be scheduled for a maximum of six shifts (18 AC) total,
but each defenseman must be scheduled to play one shift
within the first three shifts. No player may be scheduled
for consecutive shifts.
In regular-season
overtime, teams can schedule players in any manner of their
choosing, so long as players are not scheduled for consecutive
shifts.
During
playoff overtimes, the fourth line must be scheduled to
play one shift before the overtime period is 3/4th complete.
You must also play/rotate your three/four defensive lines
equally, barring penalties.
8.1.1
SPECIAL TEAMS SHIFTS (clarified 2003)
Since the Computer Manager reverts to PP1 and PK1 at the
start of each period even if PP2 and PK2 haven't touched
the ice, the home team will be allowed to do the same.
8.2
PENALTY REPLACEMENTS
As of SOMH 2.0, the computer lines will use the best player
possible in the event that a player for an active line is
incapacitated, i.e. sitting in the penalty box. However,
for human controlled special teams lines, the player to
be played in place of the penalized player should be one
that is not listed on either of the special teams lines,
unless there is no other option. (example: If Lidstrom is
on PK#1, he can not play on PK#2 unless the team's #5 and
#6 defensemen are also ineligible to play).
The
above rule does not count if the game is quick-simmed, but
if you play the game as human controlled, or computer lines/human
decisions, you should be required to make the appropriate
changes.
For
even-strength play, penalty replacement players must be
chosen in such a way as to equalize shifts, at the discretion
of the owner involved.
8.3
GAME ROSTERS
All teams must dress a game roster of eighteen skaters and
two goaltenders, including no more than seven defensemen.
8.4
PULLING THE GOALTENDER
Teams may pull their goaltender at any point in the game.
8.5
POINTMEN WITH MAN ADVANTAGE
Forwards rated as "POINT **" are allowed to play
on either the first or second power-play unit. Forwards
rated as "POINT *" are allowed to play on the
second power-play unit.
8.6
SHOOTOUT (added 2006)
There will br a three-skater shootout following the conclusion
of tied regular-season games.
8.7
GOLDBERG PASSING SYSTEM (added 2007)
The NSHL will adopt the Goldberg passing system as implemented
in the computer game. For further notes on the Goldberg
system
go to http://members.shaw.ca/wgallamore/strrules.htm#03
8.8
OPTIONAL PENALTY RULE (added 2007)
The NSHL will adopt the "optional penalty rule"
as implemented in the computer game. According to Strat-o-Matic,
"with this option selected, seldom-penalized skaters
will be penalized less often".
|
