• Website
• Financial System
• Free Agency
• Coaching
• Farm System
• Trading
• Suspensions & Dismissals
• Regular Season
• Playoffs
• Allstar Tournament
• Future Seasons
• Important Dates
• NHL Player Status
• Board of Directors
• Final Note

Income

All teams will have 20,000 seat stadiums and a ticket price of $30. You can check your payroll as well as projected expenses and income on the finances link above your Roster. All teams are expected to break even or make money.

Blatant disregard for the financial rules could result in the GM being dismissed from the league.

HBHL teams should strive to have a positive bank balance at the end of the playoffs each season. Teams that are not positive at the end of the playoffs will have their protection limit reduced. The criteria for waiver protection lowering is (final financial standing --- reduction):

- $>0 ------------------------------ 9 players protected
- $ 0 to $-999,999 ----------------- 8 players protected
- $-1,000,000 to $-1,999,999 ----- 7 players protected
- $-2,000,000 to $-3,999,999 ----- 6 players protected
- $-4,000,000 or more ------------ dismissal from the league

No team can finish in the negative to any extent two years in a row. GMs will be dismissed from the league if this occurs. Once a team has ended a year in the negative, due to limitations in the sim funds will not be credited (or debited) for that team (i.e. no participation awards throughout the season). GMs who decide to go this route will have to get themselves back into positive finances before normal funds transfers will occur. Players may be traded to reduce payroll, and money may also be involved in deals to get the budget under control. A GM may only trade money that the team currently has in the bank.

Other Income

There are a number of ways teams can earn income in HBHL. Besides income from Game Revenue, money can also be obtained in Playoff Revenue and trades. Award winners will NOT be awarded any money from the league. There are also two programs administered by the league that can generate money for teams: Endorsements and Participation.

Endorsements - SUSPENDED FOR THE forseeable future
At the beginning of each HBHL season, teams will be giving the opportunity to earn funds through Endorsements. Funds will be paid out at the end of the regular season for this program. Teams will select one endorsement from a list of available packages for which they think their team will be able to achieve the applicable criteria. Each endorsement costs the team a certain dollar amount upfront - if successful at the end of the season, the team earns twice the money they anted up. Selections must be made at the beginning of the regular season and teams can only spend what they have in their bank account at the time.

Endorsement	Cost	Payoff	Criteria
Subway	$600,000	$1,200,000	At least 40 goals scored by named player on a team
Nike	$800,000	$1,600,000	At least 100 points scored by a named player on a team
CCM	$500,000	$1,000,000	Team earns a playoff berth
Molson	$500,000	$1,000,000	A named player earns 55 or more assists
Roto-Rooter	$300,000	$600,000	Team records a .350 record or greater during the season
The Probert	$500,000	$1,000,000	Highest PIM
CHL	$500,000	$1,000,000	Farm team ranks #1 through regular season
Tim Hortons	$500,000	$2,000,000	Team is #1 in conference through regular season
Ford	$500,000	$3,000,000	Team wins the Stanley Cup

Participation
Every 20 games of the regular season schedule, GMs will submit a Top 10 of the highest participating GMs (in their opinion). For submitting a list, teams will earn $50,000; the penalty for not submitting a list is you cannot win your awards, if you are deemed the winner. You cannot vote for yourself. The votes will be tallied and the Top 5 vote getters will get payouts of $500,000; $400,000; $300,000; $200,000, and $100,000, respectively. (total of $6,000,000 available during the year: $1,500,000 x 4 twenty game segments). No team will be able to earn more than $1,000,000/year from this program. If you reach the $1,000,000 cap, the award goes to the next ranked team. Monies will be paid out throughout the regular season. The number of lines teams submit per participation segment will also be added into their tally on a one-for-one basis before determining the winner. So the more lines GMs send in, the more influence they may have on the outcome of the voting.

HBHL Hockey Trivia Challenge
Throughout the season, there will be one hockey trivia question posted on the front of the webpage. All teams that submit a correct answer will get one point. At the end of the season, the GM in first place will receive $500,000, second $300,000, and third $100,000. For each correct answer submitted, teams will receive $10,000 which will get paid out at the end of the season.

Free Agents

There are two types of free agents in the HBHL. Restricted free agents are players whose contract expires and are under the age of 31. The teams they are on have the right to match any offer given to them, or they have the right to compensation from the new team. Unrestricted free agents are players 31 and over whose contracts expire (ie. players age 30 in the current sim-year will become UFAs in following off-season). The team they are on may have the right to a small amount of compensation from the league. Free agents will be allowed to talk to other teams when the Free Agency period opens from about January to the trade deadline and again in the summer after the entry draft. During the January pre-signing period, teams are limited in the number of UFAs they can pre-sign. From the 2008-09 Season and ongoing, two (2) UFAs can be presigned per team (this will be reassessed from season-to-season to better encourage a viable Free Agency talent pool). During the summer period, the Player Agent (Shawn) will group certain Free agents together for offers. The players will have updated ratings after the Playoffs. The league maximum for contracts is $9,250,000 base salary per year (but can be exceeded if signing bonuses are included).

In order to maintain the "restricted status" of a restricted free agent, the original team must place a qualifying offer before the Free Agency period. All GMs will be notified when it is time to place qualifying offers on their Restricted Free Agents. This qualifying offer will be no less than 110% of the player's current salary and represents what the team is bound to pay the player if no other team bids on their services. If a team does not place a qualifying offer, then the player will be considered an unrestricted free agent. Teams that do not qualify said player, who is now unrestricted, cannot receive UFA compensation for that player should they sign with another team no matter their new contract value.  Also, if a team trades the rights to a UFA in the off-season, that team is no longer entitled to bid on the services of that UFA.

Compensation (RFA)

When a Restricted Free Agent signs an offer sheet, the player's current team has the right to match or to accept compensation. The team has a few days to decide on which option they are going to take. Compensation can either be negotiated between the two teams or if no agreement can be reached the compensation will be as described in the following table:

NEW CONTRACT VALUE = COMPENSATION:
$400,000 TO $600,000 = 3RD ROUND DRAFT PICK
$601,000 TO $1,250,000 = 2ND ROUND DRAFT PICK
$1,250,001 TO $1,750,000 = 1ST ROUND DRAFT PICK
$1,750,001 TO $2,250,000 = 1ST ROUND DRAFT PICK and 3RD ROUND DRAFT PICK
$2,250,001 TO $2,750,000 = 1ST ROUND DRAFT PICK and 2ND ROUND DRAFT PICK
$2,750,001 TO $3,500,000 = 1ST ROUND DRAFT PICK and 1 60-65 rated player
$3,500,001 TO $5,000,000 = 1ST ROUND DRAFT PICK and 1 63-68 rated player
$5,000,001 TO $7,500,000 = 1ST ROUND DRAFT PICK and 1 65-71 rated player
$7,500,001 AND ABOVE = 1ST ROUND DRAFT PICK and 1 68-74 rated player
*these values may change at any time. The player rating is only a suggestion - player potential and age will also be a consideration (this note applies to all ranges shown)

The player mentioned in the compensation will be decided upon by the Arbitrator(s). Both teams will make their case as to who they think should be involved for compensation and the Arbitrator(s) will make a decision based on all information available.

Signing Restricted Free Agents (RFAs)

I would just like to make sure that everyone understands exactly how Restricted Free Agency and Qualifying Offers work in the HBHL. There are two ways to go about signing your RFAs:

1. Negotiate and sign your RFA prior to the spring trade deadline. Going this route removes any risk to you as the GM but may require slightly higher priced contracts to get the deal done.

2. The second route involves negotiations in the off season during the Free Agency period. The Free Agency period is after the playoffs, the waiver draft and the entry draft. It should also be noted that the trading freeze has been lifted by this time. This second route or Qualifying Offer (QO) period is a little more complex. First you must decide if you want to offer your RFA a QO. A QO is a 10% raise for a contract length of one year, no negotiations required.

* If you do not offer your RFA a QO, he becomes an Unrestricted Free Agent (UFA) and is available to the highest bidder with minimal compensation to your team.

* If you decide to offer your player a QO, your player remains a RFA but will listen to other offers from the other GMs in the league. The player will take the best offer he receives and then you, as the owner of this RFA, get the option of matching the best offer or accepting the fairly lucrative compensation.

* If the player receives no offers better than the QO, then the player will accept your QO.

It should also be made clear that during the QO period, any GM including the GM who currently owns the players rights may bid on any UFA or RFA. In the case of a RFA turned UFA, you may be able to sign him for less than his current contract. In the case of a RFA receive a QO, this means that although you offered your player a QO of only +10% for one year, you may also offer a more lucrative contract for any amount greater and/or longer than the QO.

Choosing this QO route as opposed to the Spring Trade Deadline route allows you as a GM to take advantage of any possible compensation. The risk is you may lose the services of this player, but receive compensation, because you are unable or not willing to pay him what another GM is willing to.


Compensation (UFA)

When Unrestricted Free Agents sign a new contract with a new team the old team will be eligible for compensation from the league as follows:

NEW CONTRACT VALUE = COMPENSATION:
$ league minimum (currently $400,000) to $1,499,999 = NO COMPENSATION
$1,500,00 to $2,999,999 = 3rd Round Pick
$3,000,000 to $5,499,999 = 2nd Round Pick
$5,500,000 and above = 1st Round Pick
*This compensation may change at any time (and will likely change in upcoming season due to the UFA pre-signing changes implemented)

These compensatory picks will be for the next season's Entry Draft. These compensatory picks will be at the end of the round, in order of highest paid player lost to lowest paid player lost (tiebreakers for same yearly salary (in this order): longer length, higher base salary (ie. w/o SB), coin flip). These compensatory picks can only be traded after the completion of the waiver draft (leaving on average a two week to one month window during which they are tradeable). They cannot be used as part of the matching compensation due to an RFA signing.

Trading of newly signed UFAs

Teams are permitted to trade newly signed UFAs freely according to the following criteria:

Player OV rate	Restriction
60 or lower	none
61 to 66	cannot be traded until after Christmas
67 to 73	cannot be traded until one week before the trade deadline (variable date)
74 or higher	cannot be traded until after the playoffs

Non-Signees

Any unrestricted Free Agents that do not sign with a team (ie. receive no offers) will remain Unrestricted Free Agents until they are offered a contract that they choose to accept. Any Unrestricted Free Agent that does not sign with any team after a certain length of time will be retired from the HBHL with his rights belonging to the last team he was with.

Euro-Bound UFAs

In the rare situation where a pending UFA in HBHL is determined to be leaving the NHL for Europe, said player will be retired from the HBHL with 0 contract years remaining under the last known team of affiliation (on the HO/Ret List).  However, should said player return to the NHL (and therefore HBHL) at a later date, that player will be returned immediately to the HBHL after an open bidding auction to determine which team he will join (if he returns mid-season, otherwise the player will simply join the regular Free Agency available list - in either situation no former team will receive compensation for this player as they left the NHL originally and were UFAs)  The player will receive an appropriate one-year contract as determined by the Player Agent.

Euro-Bound RFAs

These players will simply sign for their qualifying offer, and therefore if/when they are re-instated to the league, they will have a one year contract.

Salaries

Salaries are shown on the player vitals page, as well as the length of their contracts. A player on the pro team will receive his full contract amount. A player on the farm team will receive 10% of his salary. When a player is called up to the pro league, you will pay him his full salary. The league minimum is $400,000 per year. The league maximum is tied directly to the NHLs highest played player (currently $9,250,000 not including signing bonuses).

Waivers

Some players are restricted in their ability to move between a team's Pro and Farm system (and may have to be put on waivers) according to the following chart:

OV rating	Can player go on waivers?	Can player go to the farm?
great or equal to 67	Yes	Never
63-66 AND salary +$2,000,000	Yes	Never
63-66 AND salary $2,000,000 or less	Yes	Yes, if clears waivers
Forwards/Goalies 62 or less; Defenceman 63 or less	Yes	yes anytime, no restrictions, waivers unnecessary
APed  (66 or less by default)	Yes	yes anytime, no restrictions, waivers unnecessary

To place a player on waivers, GMs must send an email to the league simmer, who will notify the league of the request.  GMs interested in claiming said player must send the league simmer an email requesting selection within 48 hours of the notification email.  A player on waivers may be claimed by any team according to the following priority: the team that is currently lowest in the standings (at the time of the notification email) has top priority when claiming players off waivers. Once a team has selected a player off the waiver list, they move to the bottom of the prioirity list for subsequent waiver offerings. Any player that is claimed on waivers must remain in the new team's PRO Roster, or clear waivers again. Any team claiming a player on waivers must pay the old team $50,000. Any player that clears waivers may be sent to the farm team (see table below for exceptions). Any player already on the farm roster who is placed on waivers may be placed on the new team's farm roster.

Special Injury Status Player (ISP)

Each team may choose to 'suspend' one player on their team if he has played less than 15 total regular season hockey games the previous NHL hockey season (note: other league games will count as games played as well - AHL, ECHL, Junior, European leagues, etc).  GMs will be required to send a link to the league simmer with proof that said player meets this games played requirement.  This suspended player will be given holdout (HO) status in the sim and placed on the team's farm roster and thereby will not be paid his salary.  The player will remain 'suspended' until the following waiver draft (once trading reopens) and the designation of this player as 'suspended' may only be made before the HBHL regular season begins (league management will request your choice before the season begins).  Also, this player will NOT count towards roster requirements for teams.  Trading of these players is however still possible at anytime (other than the usual trade embargo period).  

Other notes:
- teams cannot select the same player for the ISP two seasons in a row.
- recently signed UFAs are not eligible for ISP status (RFAs are fine) - ie. ISP player must have been on your roster (and/or under contract with another team) prior to the Free Agency period.  This is because the league would prefer that newly signed players are actually used by the team signing them rather than have them demoted to the farm all year.
- a list of the ISP players chosen by each team will be available on the website.

Buy Outs

Players that are given their outright release from a team will have to be paid 1/6 of their remaining contract.

Contract Negotiations

All players are represented by an Agent. Shawn will be the agent for all players (excluding Minnesota). After Christmas all teams may begin negotiations with their players and the Agents (one player at a time). Players in the last year of their contract may be offered contract extentions (voiding the current deal and signing a new one taking effect at that point) to a maximum of 5 years during this time. Players cannot extend their contracts unless they are in the final year of their contract. During the summer offseason, the maximum contract offered will be 4 years.

Negotiation Trends

Players who are having a good NHL season or UFAs may want to test the Free Agency waters. While players having poor NHL seasons or RFAs will tend to want to get a deal done before their contract runs out.
*Players will not negotiate with teams that are negative in the either the current or projected balances. Players will also not negotiate with teams who already have 50 players under contract.

Both Restricted and Unrestricted Free Agents will negotiate with any team that shows interest in them once Free Agency starts.

In general, Free Agents will sign with the team that offers them the most money. Generally younger players who have not had their "breakout" year will be looking for short term deals. Older players nearing the end of their career will be looking for longer deals. In most cases players will have a loyalty factor to their current team. This means if their current team offers them slightly less than the highest offer the player may consider staying put. Players may also be swayed by other situations than money in some instances. Like in the NHL, teams that are contenders may have an easier time signing certain Free Agents. Teams that have promising future may also have an easier time signing certain Free Agents. Basically, when making offers to the Agents on a certain player, besides the contract value and length, you may also want to include other reasons the player might want to sign with you!

Entry Draft Players will always sign for 3 years for the amounts shown for said player on the NHLPA website, if available. If it is not shown, they will be assigned the following: 1st rounder - $1,000,000; 2nd rounder - $700,000; 3rd rounder - $450,000.

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Rosters

Each GM must have 20 players on their PRO roster. The remainder will be SCRATCHES or on the FARM roster, for a minimum of 27 players and a maximum of 50 players (which may not be exceeded at any time according to the sim and because the HBHL does not employ the 'Prospects' feature in FHL at this time) in the system. Of these 20 on the PRO roster, a minimum of 3-Cmen, 3-LWers, 3-RWers, 6-Dmen and 2-Goalies (total=17) must be DRESSED, the remaining 3 may be of any position (except goalie). Teams must also have a minimum of 5-Cmen, 5-LWers, 5-RWers, 9-Dmen and 3-Goalies in their system, TOTAL=27. FAILURE TO MEET THESE REQUIREMENTS WILL RESULTS IN THE SUSPENSION OF YOUR BEST PLAYER UNTIL ROSTER REQUIREMENTS ARE MET. Holdouts do not count because they can not play! It is the coach's responsibility to add a player back in the lineup after an injury or a suspension has occurred. Player position changes will only be allowed if the player in question can be found listed at the new position under the player profile section of one of these webpages: www.nhl.com, www.nhlpa.com or www.tsn.ca . No other source or reason will be accepted for an official position change.

Lines

The HBHL is using the FHL simulator. The GM Editor is provided on the GAMES section of the web page. The League Files are also provided in the GAMES section of the web page. Both of these are required to make lines. PLEASE SEND A DIFFERENT E-MAIL FOR GM ROSTER MOVES (promotions to pros or demotions to the farm, trades) OR ANY THING ELSE YOU WANT US TO KNOW. Line changes must come in on a SEPARATE email.

Coaches

Coaches are set to 'NOT' affect team play in FHL. Therefore the only affect of a coach is for looks.

Backup Goalies

In the HBHL, backup goalies must be used for some of each teams' regular season starts. This rule is designed to prevent GM's from relying solely on their starter who may have excellent EN/DU rates and could be capable of starting >95% of a team's games. The rule states that upon completion of the regular season, each team's starting goalie cannot appear in more than 75 games (i.e. the team's backup(s) must start a minimum of 7 games). After 75 games, goalies cannot start or backup any more games during that regular season and the league simmer will force that team to play their backup for the remainder of the regular season (the starter will be made a HO or "holdout" for the remainder).

Also, there will be penalties for teams that are negligent in monitoring their starter/backup status. For each game that the league is forced to use a team's backup due to the above criteria, that team will be subject to a $100,000 per game fine. This fine will be up to a maximum of $700,000 for 7 games of the regular season (games 76 thru 82, inclusive). This fine is a disincentive for teams to play their backups with the goal of resting a starting goalie prior to the playoffs (teams should have done that throughout the regular season) or to 'throw' games hoping for a better entry/waiver draft position.

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The Farm system is a place where a player may be sent for conditioning. Any player may have his stats increased or decreased randomly by the simulator (although with the current FHL version we are using, these random 'bumps' or 'popups' seem to be dramatically reduced from previous sim versions). A player may be recalled to PRO at any time the Coach/GM chooses to do so (or sent to FARM). The Farm team plays games against other farm teams in the HBHL. Farm standings and leading scorers are kept. This might help coaches determine which players to recall or send to farm.
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Trading will be permitted throughout the season up to the trade deadline of the 82 game schedule. All email addresses of the owners are provided in the "Team Sites" section of the website. Besides email, the HBHL has a chat room in IRC. All GMs are encouraged to show up on IRC whenever possible. The HBHL IRC channel is #hbhl on the Undernet. Information and help with IRC can be provided by the league Commish. ICQ/MSN/'Google Chat' are also frequently used and every GM should be registered. All trades will be sent to Trevor, to be confirmed. If any trade seems like a "rip-off" or is questionable, it will be reviewed and decided upon whether the trade is made to "stack" an individual team, which is unfair to the rest of the league. Any league member may submit a trade review if they feel that a trade is lopsided. The league will also keeps close tabs on 'weak' trades. If too many weak trades are made by any one GM, they may be asked to leave the league. Strong GM's make for a strong and competitive league.

A team may choose to trade an ENTRY draft pick. In this case, the team may ONLY trade the CURRENT season's ENTRY draft pick. The GM may choose to trade the ENTRY draft pick(s) from his/her team from rounds 1-3. An entry draft link on the "Trades" section of the website will keep track of the draft picks traded. Occasionally, HBHL may include a 4th round in the entry draft. 4th round picks cannot be traded.
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Owner suspensions may occur if the HBHL Committee feels that a particular Owner has failed to do an important task (i.e. does not run their respective team in a proper manner). If this occurs the Owner will serve the suspension by his "Star Player" receiving a multi-game suspension! (length of suspension will vary). If this becomes repetitive, a new owner will be brought in to replace the failing organization.

There are also some monetary penalties for non-participation during the off-season. For non-submission of a waiver or entry draft list without just cause and notification to the commishes, teams will be penalized $750,000 for each missed list. For non-submission of an awards ballot at the end of the regular season, there will be a $250,000 fine. There is also a "3-strike" policy during the offseason with regards to participation. Failure to send in tallies for the awards ballot, a waiver draft list, or an entry draft list without just cause and notification to the commishses will each individually count as one strike against that particular GM (in addition to the fines). Three strikes during the offseason will result in immediate dismissal from the league.

(SUBJECT TO CHANGE DUE TO EXPANSION AND REALIGNMENT)

HBHL uses FHL V1.5.444 so has the NHL-like 2 conferences with 3 divisions in each conference. It also uses the modern scoring system of 2-0-1-1 pts (W-L-T-OTL). Each team will play a total of 82 games.
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The top 8 teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs. The first place team will play the eighth place team, etc. Division winners are seeded 1-2-3 regardless of point totals. All seeding for the playoffs in each round is based on regular season finish. Series will be a best of seven format.

During the playoffs, the league will also conduct a Playoff Pick Pool. GMs will attempt to predict the winners and length of each HBHL playoff matchup. They will get points for each correct prediction throughout the four rounds of the playoffs (point system subject to change). At the end of the playoffs, the winner will receive $500,000, second place $300,000, and third place $100,000. The ongoing results of the Pool will be updated on the website.

There may be a "7 Game All-Star Series" each year where all the elite players will meet in a East vs. West. Each HBHL team will be represented by at least one member. GMs will be able to cast votes on which players they would like to see.
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Player Reratings

Player reratings will be based on that individuals last NHL season performance. This will be posted soon after the HBHL & NHL season ends and will be available for discussion. If a GM feels that a players ratings are too high or too low, they will be discussed and changed if seen fit.

The Waiver Draft (picks cannot be traded)

At the end of each season, each Team will protect any 9 players of his/her choosing (depending on their financial situation - see Finances, above). Any players that are HBHL rookies will be automatically protected, but those on a teams 'Holdout/Retired List' will not (and consequently, unless protected, these players are eligible for selection in the Waiver Draft). HBHL rookies are players that are 24 years old or younger (current year) or have OV ratings of 66 or less ('rookies' entering HBHL with OVs 67 or greater will always immediately lose their AP status, irrespective of their age when drafted - AP rookies whose rates are reassessed in subsequent season at 67 OV or above will also lose their AP status but not until after the completion of the Waiver Draft). A list of all HBHL rookies can be found in the "NEWS" section of the web page. Players who are 25 and still rookies at the time of the waiver draft will remain protected, but lose this final rookie status protection immediately following the waiver draft. All unprotected players will be eligible for that season's WAIVER draft including a team's retired and/or holdout players (if they aren't still an autoprotected rookie at that time). The WAIVER draft will consist of 1 round. Each team will pick once and each team will lose one player. Players not picked up in the WAIVER will return to their original teams. The order of the waiver draft will be based on the final HBHL regular season standings and NO waiver picks can be traded. The point of the waiver draft is to allow the weaker teams to pick up some depth in the off season.

The Entry Draft (picks can be traded - other than 4th or 5th rounders, if applicable)

The entry draft will be held after the HBHL & NHL regular season. Players available for the entry draft are any players with NHL experience and are not in the HBHL player pool. A list of available players will be posted in the "NEWS" section of the website. This means that newly drafted NHLers will not be available until they actually play at least one game in the NHL! The non-playoff teams will draft first and the order that they draft will be decided by a lottery. The teams remaining will draft according to the win% at the end of the regular season. The Stanley Cup champion picks last, the Stanley Cup final loser will pick 29th; the Conference final losers will pick 27th and 28th, in the order of points earned by each of them in the regular schedule of the next preceding season starting with the Club having the lowest total points and followed by the Club having the next lowest total points. Typically 3 rounds will take place on the ENTRY DRAFT day, but occasionally if the talent pool is large enough there will be a 4th round in the entry draft, but these 4th round picks cannot be traded. These 4th rounders will be available for $250,000 each per team and will be allocated based on the previous season's final regular season standings (worst team gets highest 4th rounder if they choose to buy the pick). Teams can purchase only ONE 4th rounder per draft and the picks are available for purchase until the available talent pool (remaining undrafted rookies from the draft list) is exhausted (it is likely some teams will not get a 4th rounder in an average year).

The Entry Draft Lottery

The non-playoff teams will get a chance to move up in the order. The winner of the draft lottery is based on the NHL winner (same year), where the team rank that wins in the NHL is the same one that wins the HBHL Lottery (ie. if 30th worst team in NHL wins the lottery, the 30th worst team in HBHL wins the lottery). There is only one lottery winner and this team can move up a maximum of four picks and no team can fall more than one pick. The rest of the draft order is based on the winning % for the previous end of regular season.  Also, the winner of the Stanley Cup will pick 30th in the first round, regardless of regular season standings. Note: The Draft Lottery results only affect Round 1.
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League Schedule

1) Trade deadline will be approximately around the beginning or middle of March each season.
2) Renegotiations of contracts will begin in mid to late January and will end at the trade deadline.
3) Payouts for Endorsements (if applicable) will occur at the end of the regular season. (April sometime)
4) Playoffs will commence immediately after the regular season.
5) The end of the Playoffs is the deadline for having a positive projected balance - or teams will have their waiver protection limit reduced accordingly (June sometime)
6) Rerates will be made public a few weeks after the end of the playoffs (late June sometime usually).
7) The waiver draft will begin shortly after the playoffs. As much as possible will be conducted via email, then a live draft to finish at a set time/date. (early/mid July)
8) Trading will reopen immediately after the waiver draft.
9) The entry draft will be held shortly after the trading reopens. As much as possible will be conducted via email, followed by a live draft (end-July, early-August)
10) Free Agency will commence soon after the entry draft. Submission of qualifying offers to RFAs will be required prior to the start of Free Agency.(early/late-August)
11) Endorsements will be signed up for prior to the beginning of the regular season, if applicable.
12) New season begins in October.
13) The Participation program will be conducted throughout the regular season, with 4 quarters per year (20 games each).
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If a player retires from the NHL or is a holdout, that player will be removed from the HBHL rosters. A clear, undeniable, public declaration and/or filing papers with the NHL is required to remove a player from the HBHL due to retirement. If that player returns from retirement or resigns, he will be reinstated on the team that last held his rights. All players, whether they have retired, are playing or holding out, need to be protected or risk the chances of losing them in drafts. On the same note, their rights can be traded freely. *Retired players will only be removed from the database as soon as the current season ends and before the next regular season begins.

***In a NUTSHELL, watch a player's age, if he is 40, there is a good possibility he may actually retire next season.

If a player is an NHL holdout, that player will not play in the HBHL until he resigns. During the holdout, that player's rights are held by his HBHL team and his rights may be traded. His rights must be protected before the waiver draft, if left unprotected he may be lost in the waiver draft.

***In a NUTSHELL, watch a player's NHL contract. If he is a free agent or grossly underpaid there is a good possibility he may holdout.

If a player has an hockey related injury, that injury will not greatly affect his game play in the HBHL. It will probably lower his DU stat next season if he comes back during the year. If a player in the HBHL player pool has a non-hockey related injury (eg. Saku Koivu a couple of years ago - it was possibly that he would retire due to Cancer and although he did not officially retire from the NHL, it was possible that he would not play in the NHL again) the following will occur. Players in these situations will be removed from the HBHL player pool if they miss a full season, their rights will remain with the HBHL team that owned them and they will have to be protected. If that player returns, they will be put back on the team that owns their rights. If no team owns their rights, they will be put into the ENTRY draft. John Cullen was an example of this a few years ago. He was added to the entry draft because he made a comeback for the 98/99 season. If a players sits out of the NHL due to a hockey related injury for 2 consecutive seasons, that player will be removed from the HBHL player database. The player will be reinstated into the HBHL the season after they return to the NHL (if they do).

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There are 3 Directors in this league, Trevor Scoffield, Shawn Pedersen and Ross Litchfield.

Trevor's Responsibilities:
- Represent the league as a whole.
- Update and Post the web site, if necessary.
- Total and full control of the league and website (as much as I can anyway, hehe). 
- Backup game simmer, if necessary.

Shawn's Responsibilities:
- Represent the league as a whole.
- Player Negotiations
- Control of the free agency period.
- Total and full control of the league.

Ross's Responsibilities:
- Represent the league as a whole.
- Control of the Waiver Draft and Entry Draft.
- Total and full control of the league

Jamie's Responsibilities:
- Represent the league as a whole.
- Game simulation and other simulator functions.
- Confirm player transactions.
- Update and post the website.
- Total and full control of the league and website. 

For more info on the League Committee, check out the website under "Directors". This committee is formed for passing rules/polls or destroying old rules. And also in matters of Owners concerns on various issues on the League.
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BUT despite all of the above the most important rule of all is TO HAVE FUN (while following the rules laid out), letters of flaming owners are encouraged as long as they are not directed personally to the owner but rather to the league instead. This is usually done through email(Press-Releases) or a website set up by a particular team. Writing News/Press releases are deeply encouraged by members when finishing a trade or when the season has begun, or before/after a game is played, or players available on a team. The Press Releases may be of realistic nature or parody...or whatever.

*** After all, Press Releases are what makes this league fun *** Top