*************************** OFFICIAL WHL OWNER'S MANUAL *************************** This is the second release of the rules for WHL. All rules are subject to change, but all changes will be made public before being made official. ******************** DEFINITION OF TERMS ******************** Franchise -- corresponds to a WHL team. Owners -- consists of the GM, Coach and all others associated with a franchise. GM -- person responsible for roster changes of a franchise. NOTE: only this person's confirmation will be accepted for trades and other managerial duties. Coach -- person responsible for the construction of team lines/goalies. Pro Team -- these are the players which a coach can use to form an active roster. There is a limit of 25 players including injured players. Injured players from the pro team can not be moved to the farm team. Farm Team -- these players can not be used by a coach. Players on the farm team have a random chance of increasing or decreasing their abilities. Active Roster -- the 20 players who will play in a game. Lines -- there are 18 line combinations that need to be constructed by the franchise coach. There are 3 sets for each of the following categories: 5 on 5, 4 on 4, 5 on 4, 5 on 3, 4 on 5, 3 on 5. The format for sending lines to the league office is located in a different document. Age -- determined by Director of Player Personnel before season, after each season the age of a player is increased by one year. Retirement -- the point where a hockey player reaches the end of his career and quits. Contracts -- method of ensuring that a hockey player's rights services are understood and payment is distributed evenly. Contracts can vary from 1-4 years. ********************* A. CODE OF CONDUCT ********************* 1. Each Franchise GM is expected to respond to all trade inquiries as soon as possible. 2. Except where other matters make it simply impossible, each owner is required to respond to certain infrequent official business such as allstar balloting/award voting. 3. Each owner must inform the league of any change of address or of any significant absences. 4. Every Franchise owner is expected to manage his team professionally and in particular to promote the longterm well-being of his team. 5. When sending mail concerning the WHL, please start subject line with the header WHL:. ************** B. LEAGUE PLAY ************** 1. The league uses Hockey League Simulator 2 from Bethesda Software to run its games. The current player ratings are from the end of the 1994-95 NHL season with some adjustments due to farm team improvements/decreases. A thorough knowledge of HLS2 is not necessary to participate in WHL, however, it is helpful. 2. There are currently 24 teams who play an interlocked unbalanced schedule. Games will be played everyday by the Commissioner at 8:00PM EST. "Boxscores" of all games played will be sent to all franchise owners. There will be a 74 game schedule. 3. The franchise GM is responsible for conducting the roster movement business of the franchise. This involves negotiating trades, moving players between the pro team and the farm team, and conducting drafts. 4. The franchise Coach is responsible for determining a team's active roster and for sending in lines and goalie rotations to the Commissioner. 5. The waiver rule will be implemented. Please refer to Section G regarding the constraints involved. 6. If a injury should occur, a message will be posted to the mailing list explaining who was injured and for how long. The coach will be responsible for sending in new line-ups to accommodate the injury. If no update is submitted before game time, the commissioner will use his knowledge to add the "best" player(s) to the line-up of the injured team. 7. An all-star game will occur around game 37. ********************** C. EXPANSION ********************* 1. The number of teams in the league will never surpass the number of 24. 2. The waiting list will not be on a first come first serve basis. All prospective GM's will be asked a handful of questions by the Board of Directors and the most appropriate GM will receive the expansion club. ****************** D. TEAM FINANCES ****************** 1) Expenditures ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ i) PLAYER CONTRACTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ a) to establish contracts, that will take place from 1-4 years, GM' will negotiate with the players demanding price for the funds that will be paid. To cut down on oversizing GM's may not sign more than (3) 4 year contracts; (5) 3 year contracts; (10) 2 year contracts; and the rest have to be 1 year contracts. b) The last year of 3 and 4 year contracts is an option year. GM's have the option of giving the player a 5% raise or to release the player, and other GM's have a bidding war for the players services. c) the amount of money that is asked for by the player is dependent on the following factors: A) AGE (as determined Player Personnel Director) B) HLS2 recommended salary C) FINAL STANDINGS (1st in Div. = 1pt.) (2nd in Div. = 2pts., etc.) D) IMPROVEMENT OF TEAM (as determined by the Internal Director) E) POSITION ON TEAM (30,25,20,15,10,5pts) = ln1, 2, 3, 4, 5, minors F) LENGTH OF TIME WITH TEAM (1pt for 1 year) G) LOYALTY that each player has with the team they are playing with. (10 being excellent and 1 being unloyal, as determined by Internal and Player Personnel Directors from publications, line-ups, etc.) Payment asked for by the player will be determined by the following factor... [(A + C + D +({F - G >=1}) * 10,000] + B = || F-G can has to be greater than or equal to 1 Example of Salary...NOT FACTUAL!! Mark Messier A=20; B= 622,000; C= 4; D= 5; E= 30; F= 1 G= 10 [(20 + 4 + 5 +({1-10 >=1}) * 10,000] + 622,000= [(29 + 1) * 10,000] + 622,000 300,000 + 622,000 = $922,000 per year That means that the team who owns Mark's rights (The GANGSTAZ) can negotiate with Mark. With Mark wanting $922,000 per year. If the offer from the GM is below the price asked for by the player then for every $5,000 dollars less then the players chance of accepting is decreased by 1%. Then, by random number selection, the Commissioner decides whether the player accepts the contract. d) the # of offers given by the GM is dependent on the # of years the player has been involved with the team. 0: 1 1-3: 2 4-6: 4 7-8: 5 9-10: 7 10+: 10 e) If the number of offers is exceeded any GM can place an offer on the player and he goes to the highest bidder as a "Unrestricted" FREE AGENT. ii) ARENAS ~~~~~~~~~~~ There are six arenas that can be bought and their capacity has an influx on the tickets sold and thus the extra income. Capacity Arena A: 30,000 15.0 Million B: 25,000 12.0 Million C: 20,000 10.0 Million D: 15,000 8.0 Million E: 10,000 5.0 Million F: 7,000 3.0 Million Pond: 0 0 iii) MAINTENANCE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The first year is free.. Second Year= 1% of the arena cost Third Year = 2% of the arena cost...etc... iv) TRAINING CAMP ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. DURING THE OFFSEASON a GM can send a player to training camp. While at training camp the GM can improve a players total skills by 1 number per $50,000. The GM does not have any control over what number is improved and the attribute raised will be decided upon by random number selection. II) Revenue ~~~~~~~~~~~ i) BUSINESS CONTRIBUTIONS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1st Season: 15 Million After 1st : 5 Million ii) TV CONTRACTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Every Team: 5 Million Cup Finalist: 6 Million Cup Winner: 7.5 Million For Every Round Advanced In Playoffs: 250,000 iii) TICKETS ~~~~~~~~~~~~ NOTE: The tickets will be calculated at the end of the playoffs. Even though the tickets are $40.00 the money is calculated for the entire season. Ie. The 40.00 is for a season ticket package plus 5.00 is added for every round the team advances in the playoffs. The number of tickets sold = Percentage of Stadium Filled * Capacity = (Home Winning Pct. *100%) + Promo. Points (to a max. of 30) * Capacity Ex.: (.500 * 100%) + 24% * 25,000 = 50% + 24% * 25,000 = 74% * 25,000 = 18,500 Ticket Prices: $40.00 in regular season (+ $5.00 for every round advance in the playoffs) Ex.: 18,500 * $40.00 = $740,000 regular season alone! iv) PROMO. MONEY (points decided upon by Promo. Director) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Points gained by the amount, and length of press releases...and any other. 10 points = Supreme Contribution 0 point = No Contribution (GM might also be asked to leave the league!) 10 points = 7 million 8-9 points = 6 million 6-7 points = 5 million 5 points = 4 million 4 points = 3 million 2-3 points = 2 million 1 point = 1 million 0 points = $1 ***************** E. BIDDING WARS ***************** 1. In the event that a player is released by a GM, either by choice or by failure to grant a fair contract, the GM's will be able to semi-silently bid for the players services by submitting the size of contract the GM would pay for the player's services. 2. All bid's will be send to the applicable Finance Director. (ie. Wales Conference teams will send their bids to the Wales Financial Director). 3. The Finance Directors will send their bids to the other Finance Director before bidding takes place so that all GM's are able to make a bid on a player. 4. After 24 hours the highest bid will be announced and the GM's will be granted another 24 hours to place a bid. After 48 hours from when the bidding war begins the player's contract will be granted to the team that offered the most for his contract. *************** F. RETIREMENT *************** 1. a. Players from the ages of 17-30 have a 100% chance of returning for the following year. b. Players between the ages of 30 to 34 lose 5% off of their percentage chance of returning for the following year. c. Players between 35-38 years of age lose a 10% chance of returning for the following year. d. And; players between the ages of 38-40 lose 20% chance of returning for the following year. 2. The decision for retirement will be decided upon by a random number selection by the Commissioner. The random number will be between 1-100 and will be decided upon by a computer program. If the random number is higher than the player's chance of returning to the league then the player will retire. ************ G. TRADING ************ 1. Trades may only involve players/draft picks, Future considerations, and money, as long as the teams involved to not go into debt as a result of a trade. However they may consist of any number of players in any combinations. The League Offices will not rule on any external factors unless sufficient proof of wrong doing is provided. Teams have a duty to provide all information necessary to a GM to analyze a trade. This includes the injury status of all players involved. However, once a trade is finalized, it is assumed that all GMs have full knowledge of the status of the traded players. 2. Trades are made by submitting e-mail to the League offices. Both GM's must submit a trade confirmation to the commissioner. When the second confirmation is received the players proceed to his traded team. Also, line changes will be required whenever a trade confirmation is submitted. 3. After a trade new players are sent to the farm team. If you wish them to be on your pro team you must send a request to the commissioner. 4. The League Commissioner reserves the right to veto any trade if, in the belief of the commissioner, the trades violates the spirit of competition and goodwill of the league. 5. The GM's also agree when making a trade to accept the length and cost of a players contracts. When the players switch teams the length of there contract and the fiancees paid will remain the same. 6. Trading deadline is game 64 and no trades will be made after game 64 has been played. ***************** H: LINE CHANGES ***************** 1. Changes must be in by the time the game is to be played. You may want to send them early, due to network lag and possible confusion due to time zone differences.) Note: The League Commissioner is located in the CST time zone. Here is a chart of time zone differences from CST: PST MST CST EST AST NST -2.0 -1.0 0.0 +1.0 +2.0 +2.5 2. Send all line/roster changes with subject "WHL: "Team Name" Changes. 3. To make a line change, send the changes ONLY (in point form if possible) to the league commissioner. If changes are great, or you wish to send many line changes, please use the format defined in Lines Format. Example (of line change in point form): Put M. Recchi on RW 5 on 5 Line 2 Put P. Housley on RD 5 on 5 Line 3 Make S. Burke starting goaltender for game against Detroit then put Vernon back in for the game against Montreal. 4) If changes are to be made they must be sent in following every game. I.E. Don't send in goaltending/line changes for games in advance as they will likely not be used. ************* I. PLAYOFFS ************* 1. The top eight teams in each conference will qualify for the playoffs. The top two teams in each conference will be granted the top two seeds and the following six will be granted their position on total points. Every playoff series is a best of seven game series. The first place team in the conference will play the eighth place team, the second will play the seventh, the third will play the sixth , and the fourth will play the fifth. The team with the highest point total will have home ice advantage. The playoff tree will follow the following format. ************** J. ENTRY DRAFT ************** - This draft will include all 24 teams. - Draft Order will be the: 1 - Reverse Regular Season Overall Standings Order - Number of rounds in draft is dependent on number of players in draft. GM's will be notified in advance of the number of rounds. - Players involved in the Entry Draft will be rookies from the previous years rookies as well as any other player who returns to the NHL and is not currently listed in the WHL. *********************************************** K.1 WAIVERS- SENDING PLAYER TO FARM TEAM *********************************************** 1. Any player sent from the pro to farm roster must first pass Class I waivers. The Class I waiver draft list consists of the overall standings in reverse order. A team must decide to acquire a player from waivers before their next game. A player acquired on waivers will proceed to a franchise's farm team roster ONLY upon all lower ranked franchises passing on their option. 2. Each team must send an e-mail to the commissioner regarding whether they wish to acquire a player from waivers. If a team claims a player on waivers he is sent directly to the teams farm team. 3. If the player sent to the farm team goes unclaimed , then he reports to the farm team of the team that sent him down to the farm roster. 4. Players can be added to the pro team in emergency circumstances (ie. injuries) for three games and the player can be passed back down to the farm team without passing waivers. 5. These rules will be implemented after game 5. At this time, the GM's will hopefully have a feel for who they wish to be in the "MAIN" Starting Line-up. 6. If a player is claimed off Class I waivers they have to accept the charges on the players current contract, pay the team that he is being claimed from 50,000, and the player has to stay on the pro team for the duration of the season...or can be placed back on their farm team for an additional 25,000. Thus, players only claim guys off waivers if they are REALLY needed. 7. These rules will be implemented after game 5. At this time, the GM's will hopefully have a feel for who they wish to be in the "MAIN" Starting Line-up. **************************************************** K.2 WAIVERS - RELEASING AND CLAIMING PLAYERS **************************************************** Releasing a player: Entails the GM's decision to remove a player from there farm team roster because the player is of no purpose to the GM. 1. a) CLASS I Free Agency: Occurs when a player is sent to the farm team. OR is the first step that a released player must proceed through. Time Frame: Occurs between 1 game once the teams have been notified of the players on waivers. A Class I Free Agent is claimed the claiming team must release a player. NOTE: Rule K.1.6 b) When a GM claims a player off Class I waivers the charges on the players current contract must be accepted, the GM must pay the team that the player is being claimed from 50,000, and the player has to stay on the pro team for the duration of the season, unless the GM pays 25,000 for the player to be placed on the farm team. 2. CLASS II Free Agency: If he goes unclaimed, he becomes a CLASS II Free Agent. Which follows the same principle as Class I Free Agents except no player need be released by the claiming Team. The reverse standings order will be used as the priority list. The contract need be accepted for Class II free agents changing place but no other funds need be transferred. 3. CLASS III Free Agency: If he goes unclaimed between another series of games (3 games), he becomes a CLASS III Free Agent. The contract need be accepted for Class III free agents but no other funds need to be transferred. No player need be released by the claiming team and the first team to claim the player will receive him. We'll use First Come, First Serve Basis. 4. RELEASED PLAYERS: He CANNOT be claimed by the Releasing Team. All players unclaimed will be put in a free agent list and will be available to be signed at any time in the regular season. No free Agents may be signed after the regular season's schedule is over. Released players can have their contracts re-negotiated but $25,000 must be paid to the team that released the player. 5) TERMINATED PLAYERS: After a released played goes unclaimed, The GM of the releasing team has the option of releasing him to the league. In other words, he's free to be claimed by anyone on a first come first serve basis. If claimed, no extra releasing is required. If he goes unclaimed for 24 hours after this final release, he will be terminated from the league. ********************************** L. DISPUTE RESOLUTION/ARBITRATOR ********************************** Where two or more teams are in dispute over some matter, like a trade, and these rules do not cover the matter in dispute, the league has successfully used the following procedure for resolution of the problem: 1. The Commissioner will ask an anonymous owner to act as Arbitrator with the teams in dispute having the right to request that certain owners not function as Arbitrator. 2. Each team makes its case to the Commissioner. 3. The Commissioner communicates the relevant facts to the Arbitrator and gives the Arbitrator a list of possible decisions. 4. The Arbitrator makes a decision and communicates it to The Commissioner without having to offer any justification for the decision. 5. The Commissioner communicates the decision, which is final and not subject to further negotiation, to the owners. *********** M. AWARDS *********** The following trophies will be awarded based on voting by each WHL participant: - James Norris Trophy (Top Defenseman) - Vezina Trophy (Top Goaltender) - Hart Memorial Trophy (League M.V.P.) - Calder Memorial Trophy (Top Rookie) - Lady Byng Memorial Trophy (Sportmanship) - Frank J. Selke Trophy (Best Defensive Forward) - Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy (Dedication to the Game) - King Clancy Memorial Trophy (Leadership On & Off the Ice) - Jack Adams Award (Top Coach) - Executive Trophy (Top GM) - 1st & 2nd Team All-Stars The following trophies will be awarded based on game stats by the commissionary: - Art Ross Trophy (Most Points in the Season) - William M. Jennings Trophy (Fewest Goals Against) - Conn Smythe (Playoffs M.V.P.) - Presidents' Trophy (Best Record in Season) ©Web Hockey League 2000