Welcome to the Blades of Steel Hockey League!!!
Blades of Steel Hockey League Rules:
***Rules are subject to change. Issues or concerns can be raised on the league forum.
League Setup:
The Blades of Steel Hockey League is a STHS sim rerate league that includes 22 Hockey Franchises that reflect the NHL franchises and alignment of the early 90’s, but with current players. It will have the Wales and Campbell Conferences, each comprised of 11 teams and 2 divisions in each conference, as indicated in the link below Expansion and relocation may be possible in the future.
GM Conduct:
The BSHL is designed for entertainment purposes only. The goal of the ODL is for every owner to thoroughly enjoy the experience of acting like a real NHL General Manager and Coach. However, if your idea of fun includes (but not limited to): team collusion, cheating, lying, running multiple teams or causing distress to any other GM via rude emails, threats, or not respecting another persons beliefs, you will promptly be removed from this league - no questions asked.
GM Responsibilities:
Another highly important rule that applies to Team Owners is activity. All owners must play an active role in managing their teams. No inactive owners will be allowed. In order to remain active, each owner must do the following:
If any owner cannot remain active, he will be removed. However, if an owner has a family, work, vacation, or school requirement, this owner will be excused from his or her requirement to remain active for the period of time that it takes to accomplish the out-of-league task. All that is need is to notify the commissioner in advance.
Sim Schedule:
BSHL will have two sim seasons per calendar year. Sims will occur every day, Monday through Friday, usually in the morning time. Most likely two per day.
Rosters and Ratings:
Initial player ratings will be taken from the 2008-2009 DVHL rating update. Pro rosters will consist of a minimum of 20 and a maximum of 25 players. There is no enforced minimum roster size for the farm teams; however, it would be in a GM’s best interest to properly maintain their farm roster. The maximum is the same as it is with pro rosters, 25. When a player is placed on farm team, 10% of his salary will count against the salary cap. The total payroll of a farm team may not exceed $10 million in order to prevent GM's from unfairly reducing their cap figure.
Enforced 50 player roster limit year round which means including off-season. - this will increase activity for GM's that what to sign a FA that are near the max, plus stop GM's from going over the roster limit.
Fantasy Draft/Protected Players:
Before the fantasy/dispersal draft, GM’s will be allowed to protect a total of 10 players or prospects (excluding 2008 draftees) from his team’s current NHL squad. For example the GM for the Boston Bruins may select 10 current, real life Bruins, to protect and be added to their BSHL roster, prior to the dispersal draft. For teams that have now moved cities in the NHL, they will be picking from the current franchise’s roster. For example Quebec would be protecting current Colorado Avalanche players, Hartford would take Carolina players, Winnipeg and Phoenix, and Minnesota and Dallas. All 2008 draftees will stay with their respective team and not count against the 10 protected player limit, except for those selected by the 8 teams not represented in the BSHL. Those players will be available in the Dispersal draft.
After teams have submitted their protected player list, we will do a dispersal draft that will be comprised of the players not protected by each team and the players of the 8 NHL franchises that aren’t included in the BSHL.
The fantasy draft will be 30 rounds. The order will be selected by random.org and done in a snake fashion.
Entry Draft:
There will a 5 round entry draft after every other sim season. Draft order will be determined by the average league standings of each team over the two seasons.
Salary Cap and Player Salaries:
Player salaries will reflect the current salaries as listed in the 2008-2009 DVHL update in both amount and length. The league will have a current salary cap of $60.0 million. GM’s who exceed the cap will incur penalties according to the severity of their offense in the form of player suspensions and or fine. During the off-season you are allowed to go over the cap by 10%, but once the season starts you must be under. bSalary Cap figures will be re-assessed if needed in the off-season
Trades:
All trades will be voted on by the 4 trade committee members plus 1 revolving outside GM.
Waivers:
Players age 25 and older who are sent from the professional roster to the minor league roster will enter waivers. They will remain on waivers 48 hours, during which time they may be claimed by another team. Waiver Priority will be last year's standings until day 20 of the current season has passed, then it will be based on current standings. If no claims are made, the player is said to have "cleared" waivers, and will be placed in the minor league. Claims are made on the forum; simply submit the name of the player which you are claiming. Only one claim can be made a time. You are not allowed to claim your own player off of waivers.
A player must only clear waivers on the way down to the farm. There is no re-entry waiver.
If you put in the winning claim for a player you must have room under the cap for that player.
Any player claimed must stay on your pro roster for at least 25 games or till the end of the season (which ever comes first).
Free Agency:
When contracts expire, a player becomes a Free Agent. Unrestricted Free Agents are those without a contract, aged 27 or older (during the season). Notice will be given to announce the official start of open free agency.
Restricted Free Agents may be tendered offers during the open free agency period. However, compensation must be given to the team that owned the players’ rights previously. (See chart below)
Their will either be two player agents, one for each conference. GM’s will submit offers to the appropriate agent/committee and the offer will either be accepted or declined with a counter offer.
Open free agency will be carried out on the league forum. GM’s will place bids on players, and FAs will sign with what is deem the best offer by player agent. Player agents look at Pro over Farm first then in most cases higher salary (sometimes a longer contract with marginal diff in salary may win depending on the player (player agent will notify on thread who has best offer). Players aged 36 and older may sign for less (750k) with a team that finished in the top 4 in each conference over another team that didn't finish in the top 4 in their conference, provided that the offer from the top 4 team is at a minimum of 3mil otherwise the player will sign with the best offer. If no other GM has bid on a player, you will be expected to create the thread yourself. Bidding for each individual free agent ends after 24 hours without a bid.
Maximum contract length is 6 years and the max contract amount per year is $10 million.
Proper bidding format:
Player Name:
Your Team:
Annual Salary/Total Years + Signing Bonus and/or No (Trade/Movement) Clause:
Role on Team:
In the case of European players coming over, like Fabian Brunnstrom, if they are over 25 years old they will be treated like a UFA, if they are 25 or under, they will be added to the next draft pool.
Any FA that were signed in the off-season cannot be traded until day 40 in the sim, roughly 20-25gms. But player can be placed on waivers at any time.
Restricted Free Agent Compensation:
| Salary | Compensation |
| $450,000 - $650,000 | 1 Years Salary |
| $650,001 - $1,000,000 | 3rd Round Pick & 1 Year’s Salary |
| $1,000,001 - $1,500,000 | 2nd Round Pick & 1 Year’s Salary |
| $1,500,001 - $3,000,000 | 1st Round Pick & 1 Year’s Salary |
| $3,000,001 - $5,000,000 | 1st Round Pick, 2nd Round Pick & 1 Year’s Salary |
| $5,000,001 - *$8,000,000 | (2) 1st Round Picks, 2nd Round Pick, 3rd Round Pick, 1 Year’s Salary |
All compensatory picks must be the original property of the team tendering the "offer sheet", and must be of the nearest draft.
Minimum salary - $450,000/year
Maximum salary - $8,000,000/year
Releases:
In order to release a player, GM’s notify the commissioner by e-mail. When releasing a player, 2/3 of his annual salary will be deducted from your funds and from your salary cap. Players that have been successfully released immediately become Unrestricted Free Agents and may be tendered offers by anyone in the Free Agency section of the league forum where other GM’s may also bid. The 24-hour rule applies.
Rerates:
Player re-rates will occur during the off-season, prior to the start of open free agency. GM’s will be given an option of challenging a certain number of rerates. This number will be decided in the offseason after the new ratings come out, but will most likely be 3-5. Also once the DVHL rating updates are released every other sim season, GMs will be allowed to convert the ratings of 3 of their players to the new DVHL rating. GM’s will be allowed to purchase 2 extra DVHL rerates if they wish for a cost of 1.5 million each. Rerate challenges must be email to the commissioner prior to the set deadline and must be in the following format.
Player Name and age:
Rerate ratings:
Prior ratings:
Season Stats:
Why you feel the rerates are unjust?
What rating categories you feel need to be changed and by how much?
Here is an example taken from an FHL league:
Derrick Brassard – 21 yrs old
Rerate ratings - 64 72 71 57 79 55 74 77 79 75 71 34 72 76
Prior ratings - 64 72 71 57 79 58 74 77 79 75 71 32 68 76
Stats – 62 games, 26 goals, 29 assists, 55pts, +14, 157 pims, also had 7 ppg’s, 2 shorthanded (both tops on my team)
Was leading the rookie scoring race for most of the season before missing some games and played with lesser linemates for much of the season.
I would be happy with a decent increase in his scoring and an increase in some other offensive categories and other categories for his high PIM’s. Basically I would like an increase of 2 for IT, SP, ST, SK, and LD and an increase of 4 to his SC. Also to point out that his high PP total came from the 2nd unit and he had a couple of shorties as well.
Prospects:
Anyone not rated in DVHL at the start of our league will be considered a prospect, i.e. they haven’t played in an NHL game prior to this season. Once the DVHL updates come out…I will upload the ratings and activate any prospects that now are rated by DVHL.
Any prospect that has a rating will get created and signed to a 3 year entry level deal. Prior to signing the entry level deal the GM will have the chance if they wish to release any prospects instead of having to sign them to an entry level deal and allow the player to become a UFA at no cost. Once player has signed then the same rules apply when releasing a player.
Position Changes:
Players may have their positions changed so long as proof is provided that they play the desired position. TSN is the ideal source, but others will be considered. Requests should be submitted by e-mail to the commissioner.
Retirement:
Players age 38 and older are subject to potential retirement. Retirement occurs at random -- the older the player, the greater the odds they retire.
Finances:
Managing team finances is an important responsibility for all GM’s. Revenue is earned primarily through ticket sales, but cash prizes can also be given for events such as hosting the all-star game and entry draft. Ticket prices may be adjusted at any time by adjusting from the client program. Cash may also be used to purchase rerates, and training camps. Teams will start out with $15 million sim dollars. Prior to the start of season 3 and going forward, If a team at any point gets to 5 mil in the red they will get a reminder/warning, and once they reach 10 mil in the red the GM will be fired.(existing teams that are in the red will have there funds reset to 0) Every season each team will get 3.3 mil in funds from TV/Other revenue. (team like van that had funds reset to 0 will have 3.3mil to start with)
Training Camps:
During the offseason, GM’s will have the opportunity to send 3 players to training camp for a fee. Only players who are 25 years of age or younger and have a rating of 64 or under or under are allowed to partake in these training camps. These camps will promote certain player characteristics at the minor cost of others in order to more clearly define player identity. The costs for these camps are listed below and the attribute details are listed below that
| Camp | Cost |
| Offensive Awareness | $3,000,000 |
| Defensive Awareness | $3,000,000 |
| Speed Skating | $3,500,000 |
| Goaltender Training | $3,500,000 |
| Playmaker | $3,500,000 |
| Sniper | $3,000,000 |
| Scoring | $3,000,000 |
| Passing / Puck Control | $3,000,000 |
| Enforcer | $3,500,000 |
| Disciplinary | $2,500,000 |
| Leadership | $3,000,000 |
| Power Forward | $3,500,000 |
Teams can use up to 3 of the 12 camps. Players can attend only 1 camp per offseason.
Offensive Awareness Camp
Attributes: SK (2), PA (2), PH (2), SC (2), ST (1)
Defensive Awareness Camp
Attributes: CK (1) SK (1), ST (1) PA (1), PH (1), DF (3), LD (1)
Speed Skating Camp
Attributes: SK (4), ST (2), DU (2), CK 1
Goaltender Training Camp
Attributes: AG (2), RB (2), HS (2), RT (2), SK (1), SC (1)
Playmaker Camp
Attributes: SK (1), PA (3), PH (3), DF (1), FO (1)
Sniper Camp
Attributes: SK (2), ST (2), SC (3), PH (2)
Scoring Camp
Attributes: SK (2), PH (3), SC (4)
Passing / Puck Control Camp
Attributes: PA (4), PH (4), ST (1)
Enforcer Training Camp
Attributes: FG (4), SP (-1) ST (3), DU (2), CK (3), DI (-2)
Disciplinary Camp
Attributes: FG (-1), CK (-1) DI (6), LD (3), DU (2)
Leadership Camp
Attributes: LD (6), EX (3)
Power Forward Camp
Attributes: CK (2), ST (2), DI (2), SK (2), SC (1), DF (1)