LEAGUE GUIDE

Mid-West Old Tyme Hockey League – LEAGUE GUIDE in PDF Form

1. Mission Statement

The Mid-West Old Tyme Hockey League (MWOTHL) is founded to foster friendships and fair competitive play utilizing the Action! PC Hockey Game.
The league features Continuous Ownership, conducts an Annual Free Agent Auction and has a Salary Cap.
Founded in the Winter of 2018 by Stray Corrado, with much help from John Niespodzianski & Bill Schindel.

MWOTHL Website: https://mwothl.straybaseball.com
Slack is the software utilized for Chatting & other conferencing.
Slack software is Safe, Easy to install, and Free.  https://slack.com/download

2. Best Interest of the League

All members of the league are expected to act in the overall best interests of the league. Missing deadlines, bending the rules for your team’s gain, collusion with other GM’s or any other activities not in the best interests of the whole league will be dealt up to and including expulsion from the league. Familiarization and adherence to the League Guide is also expected from all GMs.

3. League Organization

3.1. Officers

3.1.1. Commissioner

It is the Commissioners duty to direct the operations of the league to ensure the rules are balanced to allow every team an opportunity to succeed. All league officers will be appointed by the Commissioner and will serve at his digression. Any situations that arise that are not adequately covered by the league Constitution, the Commissioner is charged with implementing the solutions he feels will best address the issues at hand.

3.1.2. Assistant Commissioner

The Assistant Commissioner is appointed by the Commissioner and serves at the Commissioners discretion.
The Assistant Commissioners duties will include but are not limited to:
● Serving as Acting Commissioner any time the Commissioner is not available or when any conflicts
arise that may include the Commissioner.
● Keeping the Constitution updated with all approved changes, additions and deletions.
● Assisting the Commissioner as requested by the Commissioner.

3.1.3. League Statistician & Software Developer

The League Statistician & Software Developer is appointed by the Commissioner and serves at the Commissioners discretion.
The League Statistician & Software Developer duties will include but are not limited to:
● A list of responsibilities is still to be determined.

3.1.4. Other Officer Positions (to be announced as necessary)

3.2. Conferences

The league will be comprised of two Conferences.
● The Clarence Campbell Conference
● The Prince of Wales Conference

3.3. Divisions / Franchises

The Clarence Campbell Conference will host the Patrick & Smythe Divisions.
The Prince of Wales Conference will host the Norris & Adams Divisions.

Franchise Name Changes

Take care when naming your franchise. Franchise names can only be changed when a new GM takes over the team.
New GM’s are allowed a one-time opportunity to change the name of their teams at the beginning of their first new season.
The Commissioner reserves the right to approve franchise names.

3.4. General Managers

General Managers (GMs) control a single franchise.

3.5. Action! PC Hockey Game Version

The MWOTHL will utilize the latest version of Action! PC’s Hockey Game, unless that version is unstable or has issues that would impede MWOTHL play. In such case the Commissioner will publish the specific version of the game the MWOTHL will be using. All GMs are required to buy the game and buy EACH season disk the league will utilize. NOTE: The commissioner will attempt to get a league discount, so check first before you buy.

4. League Schedule

4.1. Regular Season

The Regular Season will consist of 80 games.  Each franchise will be responsible for playing their 40 home games. When Actual NHL season lengths change, MWOTHL will adjust accordingly.
Games will be played in weekly segments.  See Section 12 for GM responsibilities during the Regular Season.
The schedule will alternate year-to-year. 
Games within your Division – 4 Home and 4 Away (24)
Games with the other Division in your Conference – 3 Home and 3 Away (24)
Games with all teams in the other Conference – 2 Home and 2 Away (32)

4.2. Playoffs

The MWOTHL will have eight teams make the Playoffs. The four Division winners and then the next two finishers
in each Conference will be wild card teams.

Seedings will be Division Winners of each conference will be seeds 1 and 2 (best record is higher seed, see tie-breaker if needed).  Wild Card teams will be seeds 3 and 4 with Wild Card team with better record as seed 3, see tie-breaker if needed). Seedings will remain through-out the playoffs.  Championship Seedings will be team with the better record (see tie-breaker if needed) will be the top-seeded team.

The first round of the playoffs will be the Conference Semi-Finals. The Division Winners will be the home team for games 1-2-5-7. The Wild Card teams will be home team for games 3-4-6. The top seeded Division winner will host the lower seeded Wild Card team, the lower seeded Division winner will host the top seeded Wild Card team.
The second round of the playoffs will be the Conference Finals. The top seeded team will be the home team for games
1-2-5-7. The lower seeded team will be the home team for games 3-4-6.
In the Championship series the top seeded team will be the home team for games 1-2-5-7. The lower seeded team will be the home team for games 3-4-6.
See section 11 for Player Usage Limitations in the Playoffs.

4.3. Tie Breakers

When required to determine qualification for the Playoffs or for seeding the following tie breaking procedures will be followed:

  1. Most Wins.
  2. Points in Head-to-Head Games
    1. For comparing two teams: Use the points earned in the Head-to-Head games
    2. For comparing more than two teams: Points earned in the Head to Head games ÷ GP in Head to Head. This allows for the likelihood of having not played head-to-head and an equal number of games.
  3. Regular Season Goal Differential: (Team Goals Scored – Team Goals Allowed)
  4. If this is to determine Play-off eligibility, then a single game play-off at a neutral location with both coaches submitting COA files and the league playing the game with both teams set for Computer Control
  5. If this is to determine seeding, then a Commissioner monitored coin flip will be the final tiebreaking step.

4.4. Playing Regular Season Games

The MWOTHL will play games in one-week blocks.
Each GM will have the opportunity to submit a new COA file before the start of each week’s games.
This will often be necessary to adjust for trades or player use limitations.
It is each GM’s responsibility to make sure your COA files are accurate and submitted on time.
The Commissioner (or his designee) will post a new League File prior to each week’s game play. (Note: if a trade occurs during a week, the COA can’t be updated until the Commissioner sends out a new league file reflecting the trade.)
It is also each GM’s responsibility update their game with the weeks new game file.
Each GM is responsible for playing their home games for the week and submitting their .wks file by the week’s published deadline.
Head-to-head playing of games utilizing the built feature of Action! PC Hockey during the regular season is encouraged but not required.

4.5. Playing Playoff Games

The MWOTHL encourages using Head-to-Head play for Play-off games, but it is not mandatory except as set forth in Rule 4.6. Head to head play allows each GM to make last minute changes to their line-ups and strategies in addition to calling the line changes and play action during the game.  When not playing head to head the visiting coach will be responsible for submitting a COA file. 

Play-off games should not be played out of sequence as player limitations might have a major impact on line-ups and tactics. 

4.6          Mandatory Head to Head Play in the Playoff

While Head-to-Head play for Play-off games is not mandatory, Games 5, 6, and/or 7 of any playoff series are required to be played Head-to-Head if either coach wishes to do so. If the visiting coach wants to play online and the home coach is not able to do so, given enough reasonable time options by the visiting coach, the home coach may find a sub to play for him or allow the visiting coach to make a public attempt to the league to find a sub. If there is no sub coach available 24 hours after the public attempt and the home coach is still unable to play Head-to-Head then the visiting coach may play the against computer. If there is a disagreement concerning the visiting coach playing the computer, please contact the commissioner before playing the game(s) in question.  Before any game 5, 6, or 7 is to be played with either team in auto mode, the commissioner’s office needs to receive the OK from BOTH coaches involved.

5. Player Classifications

All players rated by Action! PC Hockey will be classified as follows;

5.1. Active [A]

Active players are players who are rated in the current Action! PC hockey game and under contract to a MWOTHL Franchise.

5.2. Restricted Free Agent [RFA]

Restricted Free Agents are players on the current Action PC Hockey game season disk who appeared in fewer than 10 NHL games for the season in use AND they are not already under the control of any MWOTHL Franchise. These players may not be drafted and will NOT appear on the MWOTHL player disk for the current season. If a player of this type shows up on the season disk, contact the commissioner and he will be removed to avoid any confusions.

5.3. Unrestricted Free Agent [UFA]

Unrestricted Free Agents are players who are rated in the current Action! PC hockey game and who are NOT currently controlled by any MWOTHL Franchise and who are not classified as Restricted Free Agents. New players rated for the 1st time by Action! PC Hockey will be UFAs. Unrestricted Free Agents will be available to any MWOTHL Franchise in the Annual Free Agent Draft.

5.4. Not-Carded [NC] or Uncarded Players

Not carded players are players who were on the just played Action! PC Hockey season disk and do not appear in the next season to play (injured or sent to minors in NHL) and have not retired from NHL (they will appear again in NHL future. There are two restrictions concerning NC players:

5.4.1. Drafting – no player who is NC (not on the disk) can be drafted. Even if a player was on previous season disk and released and is not on the new disk, he cannot be drafted. When he reappears in a future season disk, he will be considered an UFA for drafting purposes with a Contract Year value of 1 (see section 7.1)

5.4.2. Retention – a player who is on the just played Action! PC Hockey disk and won’t be on the next season disk (injury or minor league assignment in NHL) and will reappear in a future season disk and is on a MWOTHL active roster for the just played season may be retained by the owning team subject to the following limitations:

5.4.2.1. Limit – A team may keep no more than one (1) player in this category

5.4.2.2. Roster Cut Down – A player kept in the NC status needs to be part of the 15 player keepers at Roster Cut Down.

5.4.2.3. Contract Value – A player kept in the NC status will have his Contract Year advance just like any other player and his Contract Value adjusted accordingly. (See sections 7.1 and 7.2)

5.4.2.4. Trading – A player in the NC status may be traded subject to MWOTHL trading requirements. His CY and CV will continue with the new team and the new team must have room for his NC status (i.e. no other NC players currently on his roster at the time of the trade).

5.5. Codes [C]

In the MWOTHL database all players receive a Code based on their position OR classification (Waiver Claim player). The following are the codes players receive:
1 – Goalies
2 – Defensemen
3 – Forward, Left Wing, Right Wing
4 – Center
6 – Waiver Claimed player (regardless of position)
7 – Not carded player (only players who were on your roster the previous season and are not on current season disk)

5.6. Retired [X]

Any player who has played at least 1 game in MWOTHL and is no longer rated by Action! PC Hockey and is retired from the NHL considered Retired.

5.7. Hall of Fame [HOF]

Only Retired players who have been voted into the MWOTHL Hall of Fame.

5.8. Rookie [1]

The Rookie classification is used only for MWOTHL AWARDS.
MWOTHL rookies will be players who have played less than 26 MWOTHL games (cumulative) in any preceding MWOTHL seasons. The player must be less than 26 years old on September 15th of the MWOTHL current season.

6. Franchise Rosters

Each MWOTHL Franchise will a 30-player roster. Requirements for this roster are noted below.

6.1. Active Roster Max. Size

MWOTHL Active rosters will be set at 30 Action! PC Hockey rated players. One player in an NC status is allowed within this 30-Player limit.

6.2. Roster Limits by Position

It is each GM’s responsibility to ensure that his 30-man roster has enough games to cover all his positions for a full 80 game schedule. See Goalie Drafting restrictions in section 8.5.

 

 

 

 

 

 

6.3. Playing Roster

Each week, each MWOTHL team is required to set an active Playing roster of 18 skaters and 2 goalies (20 players total). The playing roster will consist of 12 forwards, 6 defensemen, and 2 goalies.

7. Player Contracts and Contract Values

The MWOTHL rosters will be controlled by roster size (30 players) and contract value limits. All players will have a Contract Value (CV) based on Contract Years (CY). Contract Values will adjust annually based on playing time on rosters.

7.1. Contract Years (CY)

The term Contract Years refers to how many years a player has been on a MWOTHL team. CY is used to determine the players’ Contract CV (see section 7.2). All players begin with a CY of 1 when they are FIRST drafted. As a player continues in the MWOTHL and remains on an active roster, each year his CY will increase by 1. There are two limiting factors to Contract Years – maximum limit, and release readjustment. If a player is traded while under contract his CURRENT CY value remains with him when he goes to the new team.

7.1.1. Maximum limit and length of the contract.

The maximum limit for CY in MWOTHL is 7. After a player reaches 7, he is automatically released after that current MWOTHL season and returned to the UFA draft pool (provided he appears on the next season’s disk and played in 10 or more games in that season). This value of 7 for CY is total years for that player, even if he’s been traded. It is the total accumulation of consecutive years of a contract with one or more teams.

7.1.2. Contract Year [CY] length adjustments.

CY can be adjusted under the following situations:

7.1.2.1. If a player completes his 7th consecutive year under contract and is released to the player pool as a UFA, his CY entering the next draft reverts to 3 and his Contract Value [CV] is based on that CY.

7.1.2.2. If a player is released by a team at the roster cut-down point to the player pool as a UFA, his CY is reduced by an adjusted scale with a minimum CY of 1. The scale is:

    CY at Time of Cut                   New CY
            1 thru 4                                  1
               5 – 6                                     2
                  7                                        3
NOTE:  A player dropped in this manner MAY NOT be redrafted by the releasing team until the 2nd Round of the next player draft.  This protects against teams dropping players with the sole intent of resigning at a lower CV – but if no one wants the player in the 1st round, the releasing team is then eligible to redraft him if available with any pick the team may own in round 2.

7.1.2.3.  Values are based on the CY at the time of release. Example: Team A has a player on the roster with a CY of 5. He is released at the end of the season to the pool and is still eligible for drafting in the upcoming draft. His CY will be reduced to 2. And this CY of 2 will be used to determine his Contract Value [CV].
NOTE: A player dropped in this manner MAY NOT be redrafted by the releasing team until the 2nd Round of the next player draft. This protects against teams dropping players with the sole intent of resigning at a lower CV – but if no one wants the player in the 1st round, the releasing team is then eligible to redraft him if available with any pick the team may own in round 2.

7.1.2.4. A player who has been released to the draft pool, either a UFA, RFA, but is NOT DRAFTED during the upcoming season’s draft, will have his CY reduced to 1 the next year he is eligible to be drafted and is drafted. This will also be the case for a player who is released, and he was not on the disk in the upcoming season. If a player is not on a disk for a season and not on a roster as an NC player, his CY will be back at 1 in the next season he is eligible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

7.2. Contract Values [CV]

Contract Values [CV] are at the heart of roster management for MWOTHL. Each team is required to have a 30-player active roster. Each player will have a CV and that CV is based on the number of years a player has been under a contract on a team, CY. The contract values increase each year until the player undergoes a reset to his CY as noted in Section 7.1

7.2.1. Contract Values Allowed per Team

Contract Values are capped per team and there are three points in the season where the cap is implemented.

       Roster Cut Down (RCD) – The team will have a CV they have to be at or below at RCD.
       Draft CV Limit – At the draft teams will have a set CV that they cannot exceed during the draft.
       In-season CV Limit – After the draft, teams will have a great CV limit to allow in-season trade flexibility.

However, GMs must consider the RCD cap when acquiring new players, it might be a one-and-done thing if they can’t afford to keep them.

Contract Value – Team Totals

Each team will have a roster of 30 players with CV ranging from 1 to 12 per player based on their years under contract. Player values escalate as covered in section 7.2.2. Team owners need to base their RCD on the CV of the players for the next season – they will always CUT to 15 players at the end of a season and they have to do this within the RCD Team Contract Value. Teams will also be drafting 15 NEW PLAYERS each year.  If they draft 1st-year players – their CV will be 1 per player.  And cutting to the maximum RCD will work just fine.  But if you plan to draft any player in the pool who has a CV greater than 1, you will need to factor that into your cuts at RCD.  The lower your team’s CV at RCD, the more drafting flexibility you will have.

7.2.2. Contract Value Chart – Players

 

 

 

 

 

 

7.3. Contract Lengths:

As noted, the contract year for each player retained increases by 1 every year and therefore their contract value increases accordingly. Players released at Roster Cut-Down [RCD] have their CY value reduced as noted in section 7.1.2.2 down to a minimum of 1. Since each team has a cap, it does limit the number of players you may keep over a longer period. This is further discussed in Section 9.2.

8. Annual Player Drafts

Each year, at a date established by the commissioner, the MWOTHL will conduct a 15-round draft to rebuild the team rosters. The method for conducting the annual draft will be established each year and announced by the Commissioner. Below are the procedures for the INITIAL MWOTHL draft and the subsequent season’s Annual Draft.

8.1. Initial MWOTHL Draft

  1. The initial draft will consist of 6 live rounds conducted via SLACK CHAT and 24 rounds via an interactive internet tool developed for MWOTHL. Time frames for the 24 rounds will be released by the commissioner as the draft approaches.
  2. The initial draft will be conducted in a Serpentine fashion. 1st team to pick in round 1 will pick last in round 2.
  3. The Commissioner will use a Random Generator to seed the draft pick order for the initial draft.
  4. Once the Initial Draft is over, official MWOTHL Trading can commence – see Section 9.2 for trading rules.

8.2. Annual Draft Process

Each year the MWOTHL will conduct an annual draft to restock each team’s roster. The draft will occur at a time determined by the commissioner and after the annual Roster Cut-Down date. The format for each year will be announced at the appropriate time.

8.2.1. Annual Draft Order

The Annual draft will be determined by the previous season’s standings and by a Lottery.
The basic draft order will be the inverse order of the previous year’s standing except for round 1. Round 1 will use a Lottery System to determine the order of the non-playoff teams from the previous year.
The Lottery will only impact the weakest teams from the previous season.
Team with the Lowest Points will receive 8 Balls
Team with the Second Lowest Points will receive 7 Balls
Team with the Third Lowest Points will receive 6 Balls
Team with the Fourth Lowest Points will receive 5 Balls
Team with the Fifth Lowest Points will receive 4 Balls
Team with the Sixth Lowest Points will receive 3 Balls
Team with the Seventh Lowest Points will receive 2 Balls
Team with the Eight Lowest Points will receive 1 Ball

The Lottery will only impact the 1st Round of the Annual Draft. Team winning the Lottery will pick 1st in Round 1, the Team winning 2nd will pick 2nd, and the Team winning 3rd in the lottery will pick 3rd in round 1. The picking order for draft picks 4 through 8 in the first round will then be based on team with the lowest points picking first.
The remaining order for the playoff teams will be as follows:
Pick 9 – Quarter final loser with fewest points
Pick 10 – Quarter final loser with 2nd fewest points
Pick 11 – Quarter final loser with 2nd highest points
Pick 12 – Quarter final loser with highest points
Pick 13 – Semi-final loser with lowest points
Pick 14 – Semi-final loser with highest points
Pick 15 – Stanley Cup loser
Pick 16 – Stanley Cup winner

For all subsequent rounds the order of the draft will have the weakest 8 teams drafting 1 through 8 and the picks 9 through 16 will be as in round 1.

8.3. Tie Breakers

When required to determine draft order positions for teams that finished tied with the same points the following will be applied (for either teams in position out of the playoffs or teams in the playoffs): or for seeding the following tie breaking procedures will be followed:

  1. Fewest Wins
  2. Points in Head-to-Head Games
  3. For comparing two teams: Use the points earned in the Head-to-Head games – fewest points gets earlier draft position
  4. For comparing more than two teams: Points earned in the Head to Head games ÷ GP in Head to Head. This allows for the likelihood of having not played head-to-head and an equal number of games. Fewest points gets earliest draft position
  5. Regular Season Goal Differential: (Team Goals Scored – Team Goals Allowed) – team with the lowest number gets the earlier draft position. If there is still a tie and this is to determine draft order position, then a Commissioner monitored coin flip will be the final tiebreaking step.

8.4. End of the Draft

The Annual Player Draft will end when all MWOTHL Franchises have reached maximum roster size of (30).

8.5. Drafting Goalies

Goalies in MWOTHL have game for game player usage, and there are often limited numbers of goalies available. Therefore, there are a few extra parameters to consider when drafting goalies. Remember that each team can have 2 or 3 goalies and that the minimum actual games played for the team’s goalies need to be between 85 and 100*.

A. INITIAL DRAFT – only 1 goalie with actual games played of 40 or more may be drafted in the first 25 rounds.
B. ANNUAL DRAFTS – if a team has 1 goalie on their roster with 40 or more actual games played for the upcoming season, no goalie with 40 or more actual games can be drafted during the first 5 Draft rounds.
C. ANNUAL DRAFTS – if a team has 0 goalies on their roster with 40 or more actual games played for the upcoming season, they can draft 1 goalie with 40 or more games played during the 5 Draft rounds.
D. ANNUAL DRAFTS – Rounds 6-15. Any team may draft any available goalie with the only restriction being TOTAL ACTUAL GOALIE games is limited to 100 games played. Slight variance (10-15% max) will be granted, but this is not an excuse to abuse. If you end up with 2 or 3 goalies (or any amount) that exceeds 115, you will be required to drop the last goalie acquired and replace him on your roster. This may occur at the end of the daily session where it is discovered or at the end of the draft. And if dropping this goalie puts you below the minimum # of games played by goalies, you will be required to replace the dropped goalie with another goalie.

8.6. GM Attendance

GM attendance is expected at the Annual Player Draft. If a GM is unable to attend the Annual Player Draft, it will be his and only his responsibility to submit a priority list of players he wants to draft. Since this is a very complex decision-making process the Commissioner and the League will not be responsible to make changes to the submitted list.
Another alternative would be for the missing GM to appoint another GM to make his picks. If you wish to assign another GM as your Proxy, you must notify the Commissioner by E-Mail at least 24 hours prior to the start of the Draft.

9. Roster Cut-Down [RCD] and Contract Value [CV]

The Roster Cut-Down is one of the most important elements each year in building your franchise. The RCD occurs after the playoffs. The RCD is also designed to foster team building turnover that ensures opportunities for each franchise to develop winning teams. It also allows for coveting your favorite player – but at a cost – as well as allowing for multiple opportunities for a star player to be owned by more than one player over the course of his career in MWOTHL.

9.1. Roster Cut-Down Requirement

Each team will be required to cut exactly 15 players from his roster after the season at time designated by the Commissioner.

9.1.1 Not-Carded [NC] Players

Any player may be cut, including players on your roster who are in an NC status (as they count against your 30-man total requirement).

A. Player on current roster in NC status who is not on the next season disk – you can do 2 things with this player:

1. Release him (cut him) – he goes off your roster and is not eligible in the upcoming draft. His draft eligibility returns when he next appears on the disk (at which time he will have a CY of 1 when/if drafted).
2. Keep him again as NC player. His CY will increase by 1 and his contract value will increase accordingly making him more expensive to keep.

B. Player on current roster who was active in the just completed season but not on disk for the next season – if you have a player on your end-of-season roster who DID NOT play in the upcoming season AND you want to KEEP him, he will have to be retained at the RCD in order to keep him, and he becomes an NC player (limit 1 per team). His CY increases and his CV increases accordingly. If he is cut, and is NOT on the upcoming season disk, he will not be eligible for the draft.

9.2. Contract Year and Contract Value Increases

At the end of each season, all players on rosters will have their CY increased by 1 and their contract value increased according to the Contract Value Chart (Section 7.2.3). This determines the new CONTRACT VALUE for your roster. You need to use this new total contract value as you decide who to cut and who to keep. As you will be drafting 15 new players and retaining 15 existing players, these values go hand in hand. Each team has a set TOTAL CONTRACT VALUE going into the draft. This value is determined by the MWOTHL season year (1, 2, 3, 4-and beyond) and is the same for all teams whether or not they were in the playoffs.

Since a team will be drafting 15 NEW PLAYERS each year, as a minimum your team’s combined Contract Value at the end of RCD needs to be at least 15 less than the total CONTRACT VALUE allowed for your team. HOWEVER, if you plan to try and draft any players who were released by other teams, you need to consider how much more you might need in order to draft them since their CV in the draft may be greater than 1. And because there are total CONTRACT VALUE limits, it also affects who you can keep and for how long. The following chart shows a possible combination of players who can be retained by value. Of course, there are variations – especially in how you draft MWOTHL veterans in the draft pool. But remember the basic requirements: We cut our roster in half EACH YEAR, and we draft 15 NEW players EACH YEAR.

The below chart is a sample. In league files provided every team, there will be an interactive version of these tables for your use in determining who you can retain or need to cut at cut-down point. The important thing to remember is what you ROSTER VALUE needs to be (at minimum at RCD time).

                                    RCD CHART for All Teams

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Max Team Contract Value Limit is based on CAP at the time of the draft.

Roster Cut-Down Procedures
The Commissioner will provide annual directions on the process to follow for Roster Cut-Downs. And at or about the same time, the Commissioner will provide the next year’s season disk and scouting files.

10. Player Transactions

Player Transactions include Trades, and Injury Call Ups.

10.1. Trades

  1. MWOTHL Trades are the transfer of contracted players (Active Roster) and the next season Draft Choices between two Franchises.
    Trades CANNOT be made for “Future Considerations”, “Players to be Named Later” or for draft picks beyond the next upcoming season.
  2. Trades will be allowed in two separate time periods:
    1. Pre-season from the completion of the Annual RCD through the Annual Draft.
    2. In-Season trading – which starts at the completion of the Annual Draft and continues until game 60 of the Regular Season. The commencement of this will start shortly after the Annual Draft when the commissioner has finished compiling the draft results and announces the opening of in-season trading.

10.1.1. Pre-Season Trading

Pre-Season trading is open from a date set by the Commissioner or his designee, after the end of the previous season’s championship game, and after the new season’s Contract Year and Contract Value increases have been assigned and the Annual Roster Cut-Downs are completed.

  1. Pre-Season Trades ARE constrained by Team Total Contract Value limits in place prior to the Annual Draft.
  2. Trades can involve picks for players and picks for picks. However, the only provision is that after a trade, each team will retain the ability to finish the Annual draft with 30 players. You can trade player for player, or player for pick, or players for players and picks but the final combination must keep each team on the 30-player goal AND within the total CV at the end of the draft. EXAMPLE: Team A could be at Total Contract Value 55 with 15 players 15 picks available and trade one of their picks for a player with a CV of 6 or less and still be able to draft 14 new players each with a CV of 1. The team that traded the player has reduced their TEAM TOTAL CONTRACT Value by 6 and now has 16 picks in the upcoming draft.

10.1.2. In-Season Trading

After the Annual Draft and Rosters are confirmed, In-Season Trading Opens and continues until the Trade Deadline at Game 60. After the Annual Draft the Total Contract Value Cap increases for in-season trade purposes (Chart is in Section 7.2.2. In-Season trades may involve players and the next season draft picks, but the players involved must be on a 1 for 1 basis and the traded picks must be on a one for one basis. Teams receiving players must ensure the CV values of the players involved in the trades keep the teams within the in-season CV cap ($51 for year 2 and $85 for year 3 and $95 for year 4 and beyond).

10.1.3. Trade Approvals

All Trades must be approved by both GM’s by e-mail to the League Commissioner or his Designee. The Commissioner must review and approve all trades before they are finalized to insure the trade is balanced and will not substantially alter the balance of play in the league. Trades submitted, confirmed and approved by the end of the GAME PLAYING will go into effect for the upcoming week’s games. The Commissioner will move all players involved in trades. Therefore, trades submitted and confirmed AFTER the Game playing cycle will not go into effect until the following week.  Take note of this deadline.

10.1.4. Trade Appeals
Any Trade that is not approved may be appealed. The Commissioner will appoint a three-member committee to review the trade. If the Commissioner’s franchise is involved in the appeal, the Assistant Commissioner will appoint the three-member trade review committee. The Trade Review committee will make their decision on the appeal within 48 hours.

10.1.5. Trade Talks 

The MWOTHL does not limit, rather it encourages, coaches to communicate and talk trades. However, no formal agreements can be made and submitted to the League except during the two Open Trading Periods.

10.1.6. Player Usage Call Ups

Generally speaking if teams properly fill out their rosters, the team should be able to complete the season with the 30 players they have. However, it is possible that poor player game management may deplete your roster to the point where you are not able to field a full 20 player Game Day roster. In these cases, you will be able to Call Up a player or players from the existing Free Agent Pool. This will only be a temporary replacement. The player will be coded 6 (Waiver Claim) in the DB on your roster and you will not retain the rights to this player. As soon as the season is over, the Called-Up players will be released back into the Free Agent Pool.

Player Usage Call Ups can be made when:
10.1.6.1. You have only 12 or fewer forwards eligible to play.
10.1.6.2. You have only 6 or fewer defensemen eligible to play.
10.1.6.3. You have only 1 goalie or fewer eligible to play.
10.1.6.4. 10.1.6.4. There are no restrictions on who may be called up from the free agent pool for Usage Call-Ups EXCEPT that the player called up needs to fill the position gap that exists.

10.1.7. Roster Updates

Rosters will only be updated at the beginning of the next scheduling block. It will be the GM’s responsibility to make sure they have submitted an update COA file reflecting the roster changes.

10.2. Player Usage Limitations

Player usage limitations will be factored on the number of NHL games played in the previous NHL season.

10.3. League Injury & Usage Settings

The MWOTHL will set Injuries to “ON” – game only and Suspensions to “OFF” for Skaters and Goalies. The Games Usage Penalties setting will affect player performance (downgraded as they exceed their usage parameters).  The settings are:

 

 

 

10.5 Skaters

Most Skaters will be limited to 110% of the NHL games played for the Regular Season.
Most Skaters will be limited to a prorated amount of the possible 21 play-off games

10.5.1 Skaters Max Usage Chart [Regular Season/Playoffs]

10.5.2 *Low Rated Skaters Usage

Low rated skaters are an exception to the above player limitation chart.
Low rated skaters are any skater who has a combined OFF + DEF rating of less than 8.0 and who played in 40 NHL games or more.
These Low rated skaters can play up to NHL GP * 1.25 and they can play in all playoff games.
These Low Rated Skaters will allow Franchises more roster flexibility but only with players of marginal ability.

10.6 Goalies

All goalies will be limited to their actual number of NHL games played for the Regular Season. In the playoffs any goalie who played in 41 games or more can play in all 21 possible Play-off games. Goalies who played in less than 41 NHL games will be allowed to play in 1/3 of their NHL games in the playoffs. As an example if Goalie A played in 24 games in the NHL he would be allowed to play in 8 of the 21 possible Play-off games.

10.6.1 Goalies Max Usage Chart [Regular Season/Playoffs]

See chart displayed in rule 10.5.1.

10.6.2 Low Rated Goalie Usage

Low rated goalies are an exception to the player Limitation chart.
Low rated goalies are any goalie with a Goalie Rating of 5 or less and who played 20 games or more.
The low rated goalies can play up to NHL GP * 1.25 and they can play in all playoff games.
This will allow Franchises more roster flexibility but only with players of marginal ability.

10.6.3 Goalie Consecutive Games Played

Action! PC Hockey tracks how many consecutive games a goalie plays. Each goalie has a consecutive games played rating. If a goalie plays more than his rated number of consecutive games played, his in-game rating will be decreased. The more games he plays consecutively the more his in-game rating will be decreased.

10.7 Over Use Penalties

It is the GM’s responsibility to monitor his player’s usage and make sure he adjusts his lineups to comply with the rules in Section 10.

Player Usage and Tracking – MWOTHL uses the Games Usage rules to monitor the playing time of our players.  The MWOTHL Usage that is in the DB files for your players is STILL the guide for how much playing time your players have. However, we will NOT be penalizing you for exceeding them – THE GAME WILL! [See note below regarding goalie overuse.]

 

The League Usage Rules are set to match the league bonus of 10%* for Skaters and Actual Games Played for goalies. Goalies are given a 3% boost to cover games they enter as injury or blowout replacements, but you still need to monitor your goalie’s use – and the Games Started should never exceed 100% of your goalie’s actual GAMES PLAYED. At the end of the season, we may still review Games Started for Goalies and if they exceed their actual Games Played – postseason and other penalties may be handed out.

 

MONITORING your player USAGE: When you open your Roster, you will notice a USAGE Tab. This gives you a breakdown of how your players are being used in the league compared to their real-life performance. It shows the real-life use and the pace at which your player is being used. And it shows the % of the Pace. Anything up to 110% is OK for Skaters (and about 103% for goalies). If the PACE% exceeds this, you need to be sure you are building in some OFF DAYS for your players. Because, once you reach a point where you can’t get back to or below 110% (or 103%) your player(s) will be limited in performance – in big ways, and the greater the overage in percentage, the greater the detriment to the player. Early in the season, these numbers will be higher than expected (especially for guys who NEED time off). For example, if you play a guy in all 4 of your first 4 games, and he has a season total of 40 actual games played – his percentage will show 200% since you haven’t given him any days off yet. Using the Game Usage monitoring features has also eliminated the additional playing bonus for low-quality players.

 

In general, overuse penalties during the season will be handled by the game.  Post-season penalties will only be used for gross overuse of players during the regular season AND for all known instances of Goalies starting more games than they actually played in the NHL.

NOTE:  any player who is severely overused during the regular season may warrant removal of the player from a team’s roster and reverting him to the Free Agent Pool as an Unrestricted Free Agent. 

Specific penalties will be adjudicated on a case-by-case basis. 

  • Overuse Penalties – Guide and Specifics

When it is deemed necessary, the following penalties will be used as the guidelines for players who are severely overused during the regular season. For overuse purposes, the Games Allowed total in the League Database is the figure used to determine player overuse and penalties, if any.

  1. PLAYERS –
    1. For Post Season – players whose team qualifies for the post season and are in an overuse situation as noted in Section 10.7 above, will be suspended for that post season for the same number of games they were overused in the regular season. And the suspension begins with the beginning of the post-season. These players MUST be in the IA status for the corresponding post season Coaches files.
    2. For OVERUSAGE of players for MORE than 10 games in a season – they will be removed from the team roster as SOON as it is discovered, and the player will become a UFA and available for drafting during the next season. His CV in the next draft will be valued according to his playing time at the time of removal from a team’s roster.  Teams will be able to make a waiver claim from a designated player pool to fill the roster vacancy for the remainder of the season.  THIS RULE GOES INTO EFFECT with the 1980-81 MWOTH Season.
  2. GOALIES –
    1. Goalies are on a game for game usage basis. However, they may end up being used ON the ROAD in blowout situations that were beyond the control of the GM.  So, the goalie usage will be determined based on Total Games played – minus Road Game blowout usage.  The MWOTHL offices will do reviews, but again, it is the team owner’s responsibility to monitor their players usage. For any Goalie who is found in an overuse situation during the season, he will be suspended for the rest of the regular season and will need to be placed in In-active (IA) status on the team roster for the remainder of the regular season.
    2. For Post Season – Goalies whose team qualifies for the post season and are in an overuse situation as noted in Section 10.7 above, will be suspended for that post season for the same number of games they were overused in the regular season. And the suspension begins with the beginning of the post-season. These players MUST be in the IA status for the corresponding post season Coaches files.
    3. For OVERUSAGE of Goalies for MORE than 5 games in a season – they will be removed from the team roster as SOON as it is discovered, and the player will become a UFA and available for drafting during the next season. His CV in the next draft will be valued according to his playing time at the time of removal from a team’s roster.  Teams will be able to make a waiver claim from a designated player pool to fill the roster vacancy for the remainder of the season. 
  3. APPEALS – GMs may appeal a decision on suspensions. The appeals will need to justify why they suspension is not warranted, and it must be specific.  Personal GMs not monitoring usage will not be considered a valid excuse for overuse of players.  Specifically, the overuse of Goalies is the most probable for consideration as the game will use Goalies in blowout situations when Computer controlled that is beyond a team’s control. HOWEVER – and this is a big consideration to the Appeal – if a team’s GOALIE is near the limit of games allowed, it is prudent to NOT include him in an active status in a Coaches file for upcoming games – even if he is NOT scheduled to start.  You can then set him as your GOALIE for home games if he still has usage left.  The game logs will be reviewed in the appeal process.
    1. GMs RESPONSIBILITY – it is the GMs responsibility to monitor and adjust his rosters on a regular weekly basis. The Commissioner’s office will send out reminders periodically about GMs checking their usage. The reminders could be general or specific, but the absence of these reminders does NOT remove the GMs responsibility to monitor their players usage. And how the commissioner’s office becomes aware of over usage is not a factor either. It can be discovered by Commissioner’s Review, own team GM’s review, or even another GM’s noticing and reporting it. Self-review is  best and will receive the biggest consideration during appeals.
    2. The magnitude of the abuse will be one consideration. The quality of the player who exceeds his playing limits will be another consideration.  Finally, the impact of the abuse may have had on the rest of the league.

10.8 In-Game Player Usage

There are times in a game or a series of games where you will need/want to play a player out of position. When you play a skater out of position his skills will be downgraded by Action! PC HOCKEY.

10.8.1 Skaters Playing Out of Position

You can play players out of position. Keep in mind playing a forward on defense or a defenseman at forward will be a big downgrade in skill.

10.8.2 Power Play & Penalty Kill Exceptions

You often see a forward play one of the point positions on the Power Play. Action! PC Hockey seems to make this a minor defensive skill down grade.
On Penalty Kill units playing a forward out of position also is a minor defensive downgrade.

11. Game Play

11.1 Action! PC Game Version

The MWOTHL will be using the latest version of Action! PC Hockey unless the Commissioner determines that the current version is unstable, and he identifies a different version for league use. It will be each GM’s responsibility to upgrade to the MWOTHL authorized for the season.

Each GM will purchase their game and annual updates for Action! PC Hockey from DKS Sports. The MWOTHL is working with DKS Sports to establish a discount program for league purchases. If you play in multiple Action! PC Hockey Leagues you may purchase your Game/Upgrades from them, but all GM’s are expected to purchase the game and upgrades from DKS Sports.

11.2 Action! PC Game Settings – Regular Season

These in-game rules settings will be determined and published before the season starts.
The Commissioner will be responsible for creating all these settings and they will be included in the League File.

11.3 Action! PC Game Settings – Playoffs

The settings for the Playoffs will be determined and published prior to the start of the playoffs. The Commissioner will be responsible for creating all these settings and they will be included in the League File.

11.4 GM Set-up Responsibilities

It is each GM’s responsibility to set the Action! PC Hockey game files prior to the start of each season. This includes loading any new version of the Action! PC Hockey game authorized by the MWOTHL. It also includes creating sub folders for the MHWL files.

11.5 GM In-Season Responsibilities

First and foremost, it is the GM’s responsibility to meet all league deadlines. Failure to meet deadlines not only affects the league administrators (Commissioner/Statistician/Website Manager) but it also impacts all 15 of the other GM’s.

• GM’s will be expected to communicate concerns and issue to the Commissioner in a timely manner.
• GM’s are responsible to submit new COA files when their Game Day roster changes.
• GM’s are responsible for loading and using the weekly league files. Playing with old League files will impact other GM’s player usage.
• GM’s are responsible to monitor their player usage and adjust his line-ups.
• GM’s are responsible for attending the Annual Free Agent Draft – the date is set well in advance.

12. Abandoned Franchise

Franchises that are abandoned in Mid-season will continue to play games under the direction of the league.
The Commissioner will attempt to find a replacement GM. The Commissioner may seek a volunteer to temporarily take over the control of the Franchise until a new GM can be identified. The abandoned franchise games will be simulated with both teams being controlled by the computer.

12.1 Multiple Abandoned Franchises

If the MWOTHL has multiple abandoned franchises at the end of the regular season, the Active Rostered players on the abandoned franchise rosters will be combined into a dispersal draft pool and a dispersal Draft will be conducted for the new GM’s/Franchises. The teams will draft a minimum of 15 players from this pool up to a maximum of 30. They will then be required to perform roster cut-downs in accordance with RCD procedures in Section 9 and subject to Total Roster Contract Values.
Rated Players who are not selected in the dispersal draft will automatically become Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA) and be eligible to draft in the upcoming Annual Player Draft. Their CY value will be adjusted in the same manner as any player released at RCD (see Section 7.1.2.

99.0 League Guide Changes

Over time changes to this League Guide will be required.

99.1 Commissioner Authorized Changes

The MWOTHL Commissioner has the authority to make immediate changes to the League Guide if he feels the changes are necessary and important and for the best interests of the league. Commissioner changes are immediate and do not require GM approval.

99.2 GM Proposed Changes

General Managers may also propose changes to the League Guide. The proposed changes will be voted on by all the active GM’s.

99.2.1 Proposal Submission

GM proposed League Guide changes must be submitted using the League Guide Proposal tab on the League website.
Each proposal must include:

  1. (1) A brief overview of the change.
  2. A detailed step by step listing of the change citing the specific League Guide sections affected this section of the proposal must be clearly written so that all GM’s will understand the changes requested.
  3. A list of the reasons this proposed change will benefit the league.
  4. A list of possible issues or concerns this change may pose to the administrators or to the Franchises.

99.2.2 Proposal Review

Each League Guide change proposal will be reviewed by the Commissioner and any other designees he appoints.

Key items to remember are:
• Adding more work for the Commissioner and/or the Statistician will need to be justified.
• The proposed changes need to be balanced and not allow for any franchise to have a unique advantage.
• Adding more work for GM’s in-season takes away from playing and enjoying the games.
• The league seeks to bring as much reality to the league as possible without adding additional burdens and lowering the ability to have fun.

99.2.3 Proposal Vote & Approval Criteria

For GM proposed League Guide changes voting approval must have greater than 60% of the active GM’s at the time of the vote. An example: with 20 GM’s active it will require 12 positive votes for approval.

99.2.4 Veterans Committee

{Rule Placeholder for potential future implementation.}

99.2.5 Approved League Guide Implementation Process

After a League Guide change has been voted in, the process to implement the change(s) will be directed by the Commissioner or his designee. They will likely require an implementation plan to identify all the changes required. Some changes may have such major impact they may not be able to be implemented in the current season. They may require a phased in implementation or a delayed implementation.