|
1.01 | The Miracle Hockey League (MHL) will consist of two conferences, the Campbell and Prince of Wales. The Campbell conference will have the Patrick and Smythe divisions of 4 teams each. The Prince of Wales conference will have the Adams and Norris divisions of 4 teams each. |
1.02 | Franchise names will be at the discretion of owners. Once selected, they may not be changed in order to keep an accurate and simplified league historical database. |
1.03 | The inaugural season will begin with the 1979-80 NHL season stats and ratings, and continue forward with the next NHL season in perpetuity. |
1.04 | Joining and playing in the league is free; there are no dues or other charges. |
|
2.01 | MHL is a 100% Action PC Hockey computer league. Teams are required to upgrade to the latest version annually. |
2.02 | No owner can own more than one franchise at a time. |
2.03 | Each game will have 3 20 minute periods. If a game is tied after 3 periods, a 5 minute sudden death overtime will be played. This OT will be played 5v5. If still tied at the end of OT, the game results in a tie. |
2.04 | A team is awarded 2 points for a victory in regulation or OT; a team is awarded 1 point for a tie at the end of OT. |
2.05 | In 1999 the OT loss point will be introduced. In 2005 the shootout will be introduced. |
|
3.01 | Teams will have a 30 man roster size. |
3.02 | A team must have at least 2 goalies, up to a maximum of 3. These goalies must be able to cover the entire 80 game schedule without penalty. |
3.03 | Each team must ensure they have enough forwards and defensemen to cover the entire 80 game schedule. 12 forwards x 80 games = 960 forward games. 6 defensemen x 80 games = 480 defenseman games. |
3.04 | All players can be used up to 110% of their actual NHL games played, with standard rounding. For example, a player that appeared in 64 games can play in 69 games: 64 + (64 * .1) = 70. A player that appeared in 65 games can play in 71 games: 65 + (65 * .1) = 71. |
3.05 | Forwards may play out of position but is discouraged as the game imposes a minor performance penalty. If a player is rated at a specific position (LW, RW, C, LW/C, F, etc) they have no penalty imposed by the game. But a LW playing RW will suffer the penalty. |
3.06 | In-season no team can have more or less than 30 players at any time; in the off-season teams may be over or under due to trades and draft picks. |
3.07 | All teams will be forced to cut to 30 before the start of an MHL season. |
3.08 | Players who did not play in the current season (previously carded players) may be retained. These players will be designated with "DNP" (Did Not Play) on the website. They may not be used in games under any circumstances. DNP players count against the 30 man roster limit. A maximum of 2 DNP players may be retained. |
3.09 | There are no waivers or free agent pickups in MHL; new players are acquired via the draft and/or via trade. |
|
4.01 | APC will be used to manage all player limits, based on actual NHL games played in that season. Once players reach 110% of their actual games played, a 50% penalty will automatically kick in. |
|
5.01 | The regular season will be 80 games, with the following breakdown: Divisional (8 games): Every rivalry is a "Season Series" of 8 games (4 at home, 4 away); Conference (6 games): Each series is 6 games (3 at home, 3 away); Inter-Conference (4 games): Each series is 4 games (2 at home, 2 away). |
5.02 | The league will play games in blocks on a 2 week cadence (12 days to play games, 2 days to make coach changes). For example, Block 1 would have games scheduled from Oct 1 - Oct 15. Block 2 would have Oct 16 - Oct 31, etc. |
5.03 | There will be a 2 day period between blocks to send in a new COA file. |
|
6.01 | No salary cap will be used, so owners must be diligent in their drafting and trades to avoid exceptionally dominant teams. |
|
7.01 | Injuries will be disabled. |
|
8.01 | Each manager must provide a Coach file (.COA) at the beginning of the season, designating team depth charts, forward lines, defense pairings, goalie schedule, and any specific strategies they want to choose. |
8.02 | Each team must have 20 players active for a series; 12 forwards, 6 defensemen, and 2 goalies. |
8.03 | Managers must email their.COA changes or .HBX results to the mhl.dm.groups.io email account in a timely fashion upon game play or between blocks. |
|
9.01 | The 4 division winners automatically make the post-season and have home ice over any wildcards throughout the playoffs. In addition, the 2 best non-division winning teams in each conference make the post season as wild card teams. |
9.02 | The format of each series will be 2-2-1-1-1. |
9.03 | Home ice each round is determined in this order: 1) Division winners will always have home ice unless playing another division winner; in this case the better regular season record gains home advantage, 2) Wild cards will only host games at home vs. other wild card teams, with the stronger record receiving home ice. |
9.04 | In the event that two division winners or two wild cards finish with identical records, the first tie-breaker will be head to head play. If still tied, these categories will be used until the tie is broken: Total Goals scored, Fewest Goals Allowed, coin flip. |
9.05 | In the event that three or more wild card teams finish with identical point totals, the first tie breaker for post season qualification will be wins, the second will be head to head results. If still tied, these categories will be used until the tie is broken: Total Goals scored, Fewest Goals Allowed, coin flip. |
9.06 | Player fatigue from the regular season will carry over into the playoffs. |
9.07 | Playoff rosters will be 20 players and must be declared before the start of the playoffs. |
9.08 | Active playoff rosters may be changed between series. |
9.09 | This playoff usage chart will dictate player usage in the post season. Playoff limits are based on the entire playoffs, not by series. Exceeding these limits in the post season is grounds for game forfeit, so plan carefully. |
|
10.01 | If an awards volunteer steps forward, we will vote on the following trophies: Hart, Norris, Vezina, Calder, Lady Byng, and Conn Smythe. The Art Ross trophy will automatically be assigned to the league's leading scorer. |
|
11.01 | An annual draft of available players (unowned carded players) will be conducted each year on a date determined by the commissioner. |
11.02 | All unowned players on the Action PC season disk are eligible for the draft. |
11.03 | The draft will be held via the league draft website and will be at 6 rounds in duration. |
11.04 | The draft order will be set in the inverse order of the final standings. The Stanley Cup winner will always draft last in the 16 slot, and the Stanley Cup loser will always draft second to last in the 15 slot. The conference final losers will slot in at 13 and 14, and the first round losers will slot in at 9-12. The non-playoff teams slot in 1-8. |
11.05 | In the event of ties for any position, the previous year's standings will be used. If still tied, we go back another year as much as necessary to break the tie. |
11.06 | Since we are a retro league decades behind the current NHL season, we will advance to our next season and being drafting within a month of the MHL Stanley Cup finals conclusion. |
11.07 | Instructions, draft order, and a list of eligible players will be distributed prior to the draft. |
|
12.01 | Trades can take place at any time during the season or off-season, with the exception of short roster freeze periods that will be announced by league management. |
12.02 | No trades are official until reported by both managers to the League Management for confirmation. Trades will be reported to the league in a timely manner via the website and mailing list. |
12.03 | The trade deadline will be at the end of Block 8 (around game 60). |
12.04 | Draft picks for the next upcoming draft may be traded. During a draft, picks for the next year's draft may be traded along with picks in the current draft. |
12.05 | In the event that collusion or other unfair/unethical is suspected, League Management will form a Trade Committee of 5 owners (picked at random) to review the trade in question. If a majority of the Trade Committee feels that there is a breach of ethics and fair play the trade will be overturned. The Trade Committee will be instructed to only consider foul play and an obvious attempt to cheat; the trade being subjectively uneven is not grounds in and of itself to nullify the trade. |
|
13.01 | League Era: Current Season/Year |
13.02 | Max Roster Size: 30 players, 18 dressed skaters, 2 dressed goalies. |
13.03 | Injuries = OFF |
13.04 | Standings Scoring: Standard 2-1-0. No point for OT loss. |
13.05 | Computer Auto-Lines: Always + Faceoffs. |
13.06 | Penalties: Minor 2 min, ends on goal, double minors, sub on coincidental minors. Major: 5 min, does not end on goal, sub on coincidental majors. |
13.07 | Misconduct, Suspensions, Match = OFF |
13.08 | Offsides: Immediate. Icing: No Touch. |
13.09 | No Fighting is OFF; Fight Frequency = 3 Realistic. |
13.10 | Misc Rules: Only checked options are Two Line Pass Not Allowed, Timeouts Allowed, and Allow Offensive Zone Play Calls. |
13.11 | Usage: Skaters/Goalies suffer major penalties for exceeding 110% usage. This should never happen with proper planning. |
|
14.01 | All rule changes to the MHL Constitution must be approved by a two-thirds majority of the voting managers. |
14.02 | New additions to the constitution must receive majority approval. |
14.03 | Any league manager may submit rule proposals. |
14.04 | Voting on rule proposals/charter modifications for the following season will take place within 30 days after the playoffs are completed. No in-season modifications to the charter will be permitted. |
