************************ OFFICIAL WHL RULEBOOK ************************ 03-22-04 Rewrote outdated definition of Prospect 09-10-03 Added point 6 under N. Free Agents 07-29-03 Change to L. Waiver Draft: Added prospects to exemption 07-15-03 Replaced the now empty L. Special Free Agent Draft with L. Waiver Draft, with the rules as announced to the league 07-15-03 Added provision under H. Retirement about single Farewell season 07-10-03 Renumbered section I. Rerating Players 07-10-03 Rewrote I. Rerating Players, 2. Prospect Rerating 07-10-03 Rewrote Special Provision under I. Rerating Players, First Criteria to conform with BOD Issue #5 ruling 07-10-03 Remove exception under I. Rerating Players, Second Criteria, as this is now already handled by the Retirement procedure, and rewrote the description to be more accurate. 06-24-03 Update: Reworded section D. Trading points 3 and 7 to remove Assistant Commissioner references 06-05-03 Update: Inserted point 4 under E. Lines to disallow double-shifting as well 06-03-03 Update: Renamed E. Line Changes to E. Lines, and reworded the whole section 05-05-03 Update: Added "The Chairman's Cup" under Q. Awards 04-13-03 Update: Added point 4 under E. Line Changes 03-27-03 Update: Added point 6 under K. Entry Draft 03-10-03 Update: Replaced H. Retirement and L. Special Free Agent Draft with new procedures *********** CONTENTS *********** Definition of terms A. Code of Conduct B. League Play C. Expansion D. Trading E. Line Changes F. Streaks, Slumps and Random Farm Rerates G. Playoffs H. Retirement I. Rerating players J. Position Changes K. Entry Draft L. Waiver Draft M. Waivers N. Free Agents O. Reserve Team P. Dispute Resolution/Arbitrator Q. Awards R. All-Star Game/Series S. Hall of Fame ********************** DEFINITION OF TERMS ********************** -GM -- person responsible for the roster management of a team. NOTE: only this person's confirmation is accepted for trades and other managerial duties. -Coach -- person responsible for the construction of team lines/goalies. -Pro Team -- these are the players who can bu used by the coach 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. -Reserve Team -- these are players who are owned by a team but aren't active. The number of players on the Reserve Team can never exceed 10. -Organization - refers to all teams that together make the roster of a team: the Pro, Farm and Reserve. -Active Roster -- the 20 players who are dressed and 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 line template is available at www.webhockeyleague.ca/txt/Lines.txt. -Rookie -- A player/goaltender who has less than 15/5 regular season games played in his career in the WHL, and has been in the league for 4 years or less. -Prospect -- Status of a player who has been drafted as such (see K. Entry Draft), for the following 2 seasons. -Day -- Any day when a group of 12 games are played. -Reverse Standings Order -- Also refered to as "reverse regular season overall standings order", this is the list of the WHL's 24 teams from the team with the lowest win pct. to the team with the highest win pct. In case of a tie, the following are used as tie breakers: Points, then Wins, then GF-GA Differential, then GF, then GA, then record between the 2 teams in the current season. -WHL Ratings -- The updated set of ratings created by our Ratings Committee every year. It is based on the NHL, and used for the WHL rerates and new draftees. ********************* 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 GM is required to respond to certain infrequent official business such as All-Star balloting/award voting. 3. Each GM must inform the league of any change of address or of any significant absences. 4. Every GM 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 ***************** B.1 General 1. The league is using Hockey League Simulator 2 from Bethesda Software to run the games. A thorough knowledge of HLS2 is not necessary to participate in the WHL, however, it is helpful. It is also using Timothy Chan's League Manager for complementary functions and features, as well as some utility programs from Platinum Computing. 2. Games are played roughly every 2 days by the Commissioner. Results, stats and other related documents are emailed to all GMs and Coaches, and posted on the web site. 3. GMs are responsible for conducting the roster movements of the team. This involves negotiating trades, moving players between the pro team, the farm team and the reserve team, conducting drafts, and voting for the All-Star Game/Series and Awards. 4. Coaches are responsible for determining a team's active roster and for sending in lines and goalie rotations to the Commissioner. 5. An All-Star Game/Series is held after Day 42. B.2 Schedule 1. A 10 game Preseason takes place before the Regular season begins. The Preseason consists of 2 games against each of the 5 teams in the same division. 2. The Regular Season consists of 84 games. Each team plays 6 games against the teams in their division, and 3 games against each of the other 18 teams. B.3 Injuries and Suspensions 1. An Injuries and Suspensions report is sent to all GMs and Coaches after each Day. Players can get injured for 1 to 12 games. 2. If a player receives 15 or more PIM during one game, he is automatically awarded a 2 game suspension. Every additional suspension to the same player during the season and playoffs is worth an extra 2 games. (2nd suspension = 4 games...) 3. Coaches are responsible for sending in new line-ups to accommodate the injury or suspension. If no update is submitted before game time, the commissioner will use his knowledge to add the "best" player(s) to the line-up. 4. There are injuries, but no suspensions, during preseason play. 5. If a player happens to get suspended and injured on the same day, and the injury is longer than the suspension, then the player only has to miss the number of games of the injury. In other words they are not cumulative. B.4 Goalies Every team must have a minimum of 3 goalies in their organization at all times except the offseason. *************************** C. EXPANSION AND NEW GMS *************************** 1. The number of teams in the league is currently 24, with no plans for expansion as of right now. 2. GMs for available or expansion teams are chosen by the Commissioner. 3. A team can only be renamed during the offseason. Once the preseason has started, the name is set for the whole year. New GMs taking control of a team while the season is in progress have to wait until the offseason to rename the team. ************* D. TRADING ************* 1. Trades may only involve players/draft picks, and future considerations. However they may consist of any number of players in any combinations. Rerates CANNOT be traded. If it is known that a trade is made with the purpose of getting players rerated by another team and traded back, the trade will be nullified. 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, confirmed and processed by the league, it is assumed that all GMs have full knowledge of the status of the traded players. 2. Draft picks from the next 2 drafts only may be traded. 3. Trades are made by both teams submitting a trade confirmation to the Commissioner, either by email or ICQ message. If the trade looks grossly lopsided, and it is judged that it is absolutely hurtful to the general well-being of the league, then the Commissioner has the right to go back to the 2 GMs and ask for their reasoning, or a reworking of the trade. Otherwise, the Commissioner processes the trade and sends out the league-wide confirmation. Players are moved to their new team. 4. By default, traded players proceed to the farm team, unless indicated otherwise by the GM. If the farm team is full, and the GM does not indicate roster moves, players will be chosen to report directly to the pro team. 5. Trading deadline is Day 70 and no trades are processed by the league after midnight on the day that the games have been played. 6. New GMs joining the WHL will be under "trade supervision" for half a season (42 Days). A Trade Watch Committee, composed of 3 experienced (and undisclosed) GMs, is allowed to review and veto any trade that is obviously lopsided. This will prevent unscrupulous GMs to take advantage of the ignorance of a new GM. This grace period will allow the new GM to learn the WHL-specific intricacies, rules and factors involved in judging players value. In the case that a trade is actually voted down, the GMs will be made aware of the reasons behind the decision. The GMs will then either explain the reasons behind the trade, rework it, or cancel it. 7. The Commissioner reserves the right to submit highly unfair or unsportmanlike trades to a Committee as well. *********** E. LINES *********** 1. Lineups must be sent to the Commissioner before every Day's games. A lineup is comprised of any roster moves, followed by the Active Roster, and then the line combinations. 2. Lineups must be in jersey number format, and can be made either by hand, or using LineMaker or any other linemaking utility, as long as the lineup is valid. 3. Only very simple changes can be sent in text, for example: "Please replace MacInnis (injured) with Zubov in all spots". 4. No double-shifting of any player is allowed on even-strength lines (5on5 and 4on4). Double-shifting is defined by having a player on 2 of the 3 lines in a line set. There must be 15 different players in the 5on5 line set, and 12 different players in the 4on4 line set. Double-shifting is allowed on PP (5on4 and 5on3) and SH (4on5 and 3on5) line sets. 5. No triple-shifting is allowed on any of the 6 line sets. Triple-shifting is defined by having a player on all 3 lines in a line set. 6. If a lineup received by the Commissioner does not comply with this rule, the lines will automatically be computer-generated. ********************************************* F. STREAKS, SLUMPS AND RANDOM FARM RERATES ********************************************* F.1 Streaks and Slumps The Streaks and Slumps option is used at all times but with the following restrictions: 1. After the Preseason they are reset. However, they do carry from the regular season to the playoffs. 2. Any player who is +/- 1 for 10 consecutive games will have his streak/slump reset to 0 3. Any player who is +/- 2 for 5 consecutive games will have his streak/slump reset to +/- 1 (doesn't apply to Preseason) F.2 Random Farm Rerates 1. Random Farm Rerates that happen during the Preseason are reset before the beginning of the regular season. 2. All Random Farm Rerates that happened during a season and playoffs will be reset prior to the Rerating Procedures in the off-season. 3. A Random Farm Rerate will be immediately reset if it is a double farm rerate. In other words, a player|goaltender is allowed a change of +/- 11|9 but not +/- 22|18. ************** G. PLAYOFFS ************** 1. The top eight teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs. 2. Top 2 seeds in the conference are granted to the division leaders, and the last six based on regular season standings. 3. Every playoff series is a best of seven games. 4. First round matchups are done like this: Series 1 8th seed vs 1st seed Series 2 7th seed vs 2nd seed Series 3 6th seed vs 3rd seed Series 4 5th seed vs 4th seed **************** H. RETIREMENT **************** 1. The following procedure will be used in the off-season to determine retirements: -If a player has officially retired from the NHL, the GM of his WHL team is given the choice of retiring him right away, or allowing him a farewell season. A player is only allowed one farewell season in their career. If a player retires and makes a comeback (Lemieux, Hasek) and has already used his farewell season, the next time he retires from the NHL he will retire right away in the WHL as well. -If the GM chooses retirement with no farewell season, and then trades the rights to this player, the GM of the receiving team CANNOT reverse the retirement. This now automatically covers the previous death/disability clause. -If a player has 0 NHL games played in the last season, but has not officially retired: use the following rule: -player retires if he hasn't played in the NHL in the last 3 years, or -player gets a 1 point decrease in each rating category if he did play in last 3 years, unless he is 25 years old or younger, in which case he stays on his team with his rating unchanged. -Exception will be made for a player who didn't play in the NHL because of a contract dispute, holdout or injury, as long as it is widely accepted that he should be back the following season. A player in this situation will have his injury rating set to 0, while his other ratings will remain unchanged. Proof of player's NHL status may be asked. 2. When a player retires, his last WHL team retains that player's rights. These rights are tradable. The commissioner will keep and make available a list of retired players rights for each team. 3. A player returning to the NHL will be allowed to return to the WHL team holding his rights, unless he announces his retirement after that season. He will come back during the off-season following his NHL return, and with his new counterpart ratings. 4. Above and beyond the procedure in (sec. 1), GMs are encouraged to retire any non-NHL player on their team during the off-season. This is what is referred to as a "Voluntary Retirement". ********************** I. RERATING PLAYERS ********************** I.1 General Rerating After the end of the Playoffs and before the next season's entry draft, the following rerating procedure will be used: Criteria Factors #pla. effect Pro/Fa Method Range ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Team Perf. NHL 4-6 up both WHL Ratings unlimited NHL Counter. NHL, luck 2* up/down both WHL Ratings unlimited Notes: 1.Players can't be rerated twice: if a player gets rerated, he is not eligible for the next criteria. 2.The age on December 31st of the current year will be used. For example, for the WHL9 rerating (in 2003), a player born any day in 1978 will be considered 25. 3.Players with the Prospect status are not eligible for General Rerating; see Prospect Rerating. * At least 1 of these 2 rerates must be down. First Criteria - Team Performance -Factors: player's NHL counterpart -Number of Players: 4-6 -Effect: up -Description: one player is chosen by the GM. A player rerated under this criteria will take the current WHL Rating of his NHL counterpart. Only a player who has a new rating to take can be chosen. Number of players is determined by a team's performance in the previous season. It is based on the points a team earns. In the event of a tie between the 6th/7th and 18th/19th placed teams, placement will be determined on; Wins, Goals Differential (GF minus GA) then Goals For. Standing/Points | Number of Rerates ----------------+------------------- Top 6 teams | 4 Middle 12 teams | 5 Bottom 6 teams | 6 ***SPECIAL PROVISION*** For WHL9 Rerates only, as a special one time event, the GMs will have the option or rerating more than one of their goalies at the cost of only 1 rerate. Second Criteria - NHL Counterpart -Factors: player's NHL counterpart, randomly chosen -Number of Players: 2 -Effect: up or down -Description: All *rated* players are eligible, except for players who have already been rerated (Team Performance rerates, Prospect rerates, and special retirement status players M/F/I/E). A player rerated under this criteria will take the current WHL Rating of his NHL counterpart. At least 1 of the 2 players selected must be rerated down. I.2 Prospect Rerating 1. Prospects' original rating in the Entry Draft cannot be higher than 70. 2. Prospects automatically get a NHL Counterpart rerate the following 2 years. These rerates are totally independent of the other Team Performance and NHL Counterpart rerates (they do not take away any other existing rerate). ********************** J. POSITION CHANGES ********************** 1. Changes of position are allowed only during the offseason and the All-Star Break. Here the preseason is considered part of the offseason. 2. Any position change has to be justified (ie PRINTED proof must be supplied for the adjustment to reality to be accepted). 3. Same rules apply for Handling (H) changes. 4. Jersey number changes can be done anytime. ***************** K. ENTRY DRAFT ***************** 1. This draft includes all 24 teams. 2. The order is reverse regular season overall standings order, except for the first 3 picks overall (first round), which are awarded according to a weighed draft: First pick: 24th team has 50% chance (3/6) 23rd team has 33% chance (2/6) 22nd team has 17% chance (1/6) Second pick: if 24th team got 1st pick: 23rd team has 66% chance (2/3) 22nd team had 33% chance (1/3) if 23rd team got 1st pick: 24th pick has 75% chance (3/4) 22nd pick has 25% chance (1/4) if 22nd team got 1st pick: 24th pick has 60% chance (3/5) 23rd pick has 40% chance (2/5) 3. Number of rounds in draft is dependent on number of players in the draft. GMs will be notified in advance of the number of rounds. In the eventuality that there isn't enough players for 5 rounds, the BOD and/or Commissioner will decide how to handle possible traded picks who are not available. 4. Players available in the Entry Draft are divided in 2 groups: - NHLers: the players who made their NHL debut in the previous season and are not in the WHL. Their original rating is their counterpart WHL Rating, or if there isn't one, a rating reflecting their abilities will be created. - Prospects: players who have just been drafted in the NHL and are thought likely to make it to the NHL. Original ratings that reflect their abilities are created by the Director of Drafting and Player Rerating 5. Teams are not allowed to pass on their selection (a player must be selected every time). 6. A new GM taking over a team in the WHL will be awarded a compensatory draft pick in the following entry draft according to the winning pct of the team at the time he takes over: - .400 or lower -> draft pick between 1st and 2nd round - between .401 and .500 incl. -> draft pick between 2nd and 3rd round - between .501 and .600 incl. -> draft pick between 3rd and 4th round - above .600 -> nothing The extra draft pick will be awarded at draft time, or in other words is not tradable. ****************** L. WAIVER DRAFT ****************** 1. Waiver Draft specifics: - held during the offseason, starting summer 2004 (WHL10) - GMs can protect 9 forwards, 5 defenseman and 2 goalies, plus all rookies and prospects (as per our WHL definitions) are exempt - the draft will consist of two (2) rounds rounds - each team can only lose a maximum of two players - draft order based on reverse order of standings - waiver draft picks are not tradable - if a team claims a player, they must unprotect a player - teams have the right to pass, or select their own player. 2. Summer 2003 (Original - WHL9) Waiver Draft only specifics: - preferably held before the entry draft - GMs can protect 7 forwards, 4 defenseman and 2 goalies, plus all rookies and prospects (as per our WHL definitions) are exempt - the draft will consist of two (2) rounds rounds - each team can only lose a maximum of two players - draft order based on reverse order of standings - waiver draft picks are not tradable - teams have the right to pass, or select their own player. ************* M. WAIVERS ************* 1. Players can be moved freely between Pro and Farm during the off-season (including Preseason). 2. Any player sent from the Pro to Farm roster must first pass waivers (see 6. and 7. for exceptions). The waivers order consists of the current reverse regular season overall standings order. A team must claim a player from waivers before the next Day's games are played. A player acquired on waivers reports to the franchise's Pro Team. 3. To claim a player from waivers, a team must have at least 1 free spot on its Pro Team (i.e. 24 or less players). If not, then another current Pro player must be sent to the Farm for the claimed player to be allowed to report to the Pro Team. If a team's GM claims a player off waivers with a full Pro Team and fails to satisfy this condition before the next Day's games, the claimed player will be put back in waivers. 4. 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. 5. A team can claim more than one player off waivers on a particular day, but they will be in the last position of the order after a first player has been claimed. 6. A player/goaltender who played 20%/10% or less of the games in the current season can be sent to a team's Farm Team without going through waivers. For example, if a team has 35 games played, a player with 7 or less games played, or a goalie with 3 or less games played can be sent down freely. 7. Any player drafted in the current season's Entry Draft is free to play 9 games without having to clear waivers. 8. During the Playoffs, no player can be sent down to the farm team. Players can only go up to the Pro team. ***************** N. FREE AGENTS ***************** 1. At any time a GM can release players from his team. Released players become Free Agents and join the Free Agents list. Players released during the offseason will either join the Free Agent list (if they have played at least 1 game in the NHL during the previous season and haven't announced their retirement), or be retired with the voluntary retirement status otherwise. 2. The Free Agents list is composed of released players and undrafted players from the last Entry Draft. At the end of the season all the players on the Free Agents list automatically retire. 3. Free Agents can be signed anytime except during the playoffs. 4. If a Free Agent is offered a contract by more than one team on the same day, the team with the least players in its organization gets him. In case of an equal number of players, the team who signed a player last will let the other get the player. 5. If a team offers a contract to more than one Free Agent on a particular day, after signing a first player the team moves to the bottom of the priority list. 6. The time window for signing a Free Agent is typically a game Day (2 days = 48 hours) during the preseason and regular season, and 7 days in the offseason. ****************** O. RESERVE TEAM ****************** The players who are owned by a team but aren't active. The maximum number of players allowed on the reserve team is 10. Once the regular season has started, players cannot be added to the reserve team in any way. The only moves permitted involving the Reserve Team then are: 1. release a player from Reserve: he becomes a Free Agent 2. promote a player to farm team The Reserve Team is a place to put new draftees or extra Farm Team players owned by the organization. Also, players on the Reserve Team are protected from farm team rerates, since they are not controlled by the simulator. *********************************** P. 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 GM to act as Arbitrator with the teams in dispute having the right to request that certain GMs 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 GMs. ************ Q. AWARDS ************ The following trophies are awarded every season based on voting by each WHL team (either the GM or the Coach votes): - James Norris Trophy (Best Defenseman) - Vezina Trophy (Best Goaltender) - Hart Memorial Trophy (League's Most Valuable Player) - Calder Memorial Trophy (Rookie of the Year) - Lady Byng Memorial Trophy (Sportmanship) - Frank J. Selke Trophy (Best Defensive Forward) - Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy (Dedication to the Game by a GM: League Involvement) - Jack Adams Award (Coach of the Year) - Executive Trophy (GM of the Year) - The Chairman's Cup (To be awarded to the Player deemed to have the greatest potential on a non-Playoffs participating Team. Donated to The WHL by: Montgomery Python, Chairman of Slithering Communications Inc.) - 1st & 2nd Team All-Stars - All-Star Rookie Team Note: Nominations for Hart Trophy are selected among the 24 Team MVPs chosen by each team's GM. The following trophies will be awarded by the League based on the regular season stats: - Alka Seltzer Trophy (Best Plus/Minus Record in the regular season) - Art Ross Trophy (Most Points in the regular season) - Maurice Richard Trophy (Most Goals in the regular season) - Presidents' Trophy (Best Team Record in the regular season) - William M. Jennings Trophy (Fewest Goals Against in the regular season) The following trophy is awarded by the League based on the playoffs stats: - Conn Smythe Trophy (Playoffs M.V.P.) ************************** R. ALL-STAR GAME/SERIES ************************** coming soon ****************** S. HALL OF FAME ****************** 1.A retired player becomes eligible one year after his retirement. 2.A maximum of 5 players and 2 GMs/Coaches will be introduced each year. 3.The Hall of Fame Committee selects a maximum of 15 players and 5 GMs/Coaches, and then all GMs in the league vote for the 3 most deserving in each category (players and GMs/Coaches). 4.The vote by itself does not guarantee entrance into the Hall of Fame. The final decisions are made by the Committee, based on the results of the vote and on career achievement. 5.If a player has been made eligible 3 times and has not been accepted, he is permanently removed from the list of potential inductees. 6.Members of the Committee currently are: Michael Hebert, Jon Lemoine, Kris Pongratz. 7.For the first year only, there will be 5 honorary inductees, 20 nominated players to vote on, vote on 5 most deserving players, and up to 8 players inducted. ©2004 Web Hockey League