Every team will have, at the very least, an Active Roster of 12 Starters:

• 6 Forwards
• 4 Defensemen
• 2 Goalies

Teams may also have up to 4 Reserve Players.

Players can earn points for you in every game they play when you have them on your Active Roster. Scoring will be on a weekly basis (Monday through Sunday). Reserve Players may be inserted into the Active Roster to replace Starters at the GM's discretion, although a Reserve Player may only replace a Starter of the same position. When you "activate" one of your Reserve Players to replace one of your Starters, you will begin to earn points for the activated player and cease to earn points for the "benched" player. Activating and Benching players always becomes effective on Monday, the beginning of the FHL week.

The following abbreviations are used:

GWG	Game Winning Goal
PPG	Power Play Goal
SHG	Short Handed Goal
PIM	Penalty Minutes
BlkS	Blocked Shot
OTL	Overtime Loss

1. FORWARDS

   Goal	1 Point
   Assist	1 Point
   GWG	2 Bonus Points
   PPG	1 Bonus Point
   SHG	2 Bonus Points
   PIM	1 Point for every 5 penalty minutes (or .2 points for every PIM)
   BlkS	.2 points per blocked shot

2. DEFENSEMEN

   Goal	1.5 Points
   Assist	1.5 Points
   GWG	2 Bonus Points
   PPG	1 Bonus Point
   SHG	2 Bonus Points
   PIM	1 Point for every 5 penalty minutes (or .2 points for every PIM)
   BlkS	.2 points per blocked shot

3. GOALIES

   Win	2 Points
   OTL	1 Point
   Shutout	2 Bonus Points
   Save	.1 Points
   Goal Allowed	-.7 Points

1. Roster Requirements

   Several weeks before the regular season begins, there will be an FHL Draft. By the end of the draft, each team will have up to 16 players, composed as follows:

   6 Forwards
   4 Defensemen
   2 Goalies
   4 Reserve Players

   During the draft, a GM can only have goalies from 2 different NHL teams on his roster. (NOTE: This rule only applies to the draft; when the draft has been completed, there are no such restrictions.)

   None of the 4 Reserve positions may be filled until the 12 Active Roster positions (6 Forwards, 4 Defensemen ,and 2 Goalies) have been filled. Teams are not required to fill their bench during the draft.

2. Salary Caps

   Each GM will have $700 with which to complete the draft. This $700 must cover the salaries of all 16 players.

   After the draft, the Salary Cap for each team remains at $700, however, teams may trade for salary cap money up to $850.

   Explanation:

   After the draft everyone will have $700. If team A is at it's maximum of $700, and they make a trade to get a player with an $80 salary and only send a $60 player, the team he's trading with would then have to send $20 to team A in order to make this trade legal - thus making team A's salary cap $720 - and the other team's salary cay $680.

3. Draft Format

   Each Round of the FHL Draft will consist of two parts, which are Part A and Part B.

   • Part A

     
     In Part A of each Draft Round, each GM will submit a list of players not exceeding the number of players (12) that he needs to fill his Active Roster. If no other GM lists the players that you listed, you will receive those players for the minimum amount of $20 each, which is then subtracted from your $700 Salary Cap. However, if 2 or more GMs list the same player, then no one is awarded that player. All players listed by more than 1 GM will then be auctioned off in Part B of that Round.

     After Part A of each Round, an updated register of players who were successfully drafted thus far will be sent to all GMs along with a register of all the players who were listed by more than 1 GM in Part A of that Round. Also noted with those multiple listed players will be the number of GMs who listed each player.

   • Part B

     In Part B of each Draft Round, all players who were listed by more than 1 GM in Part A of the same Round will be auctioned off to the entire league.

     You may bid on any available players (players who were included in the previously mentioned register of multiple-listed players from Part A), but only on the available players. Do not send in bids for players who aren't listed as eligible for Part B. You will have to wait until Part A of the next Round to try to acquire other players. Each GM sends in a bid on each of the available players that he wishes to bid on, and each player goes to the highest bidder. If a player receives two bids at the same price, then no one is awarded that player and that player goes back to Part A of the next round. You must put in at least a $20 bid on every player you are attempting to acquire.

     Each GM is working under a $700 budget- you may not bid more money than you have available, nor may you bid on more players than you have roster space to accommodate. Once you have filled your 12 Active Roster positions, the minimum bid for each of your Reserve Players is as follows: $10 in Part A, $20 in Part B.

4. Draft Schedule

   Part A Lists and Part B Bids will alternately need to be in the Commissioner's mailbox by 10 PM CT each night. That way he can work everything out at night and have the results in mail boxes by the time everyone wakes up. The draft will begin on a date in September set by the Commissioner. You will need to have your original lists in to the Commissioner by 10 PM on the first day of the Draft. He will send reminders out on each of the 3 days preceding the Draft, so there are no excuses for missing the beginning of the Draft.

   The proper email format for all draft emails is as follows:
   Title: "FHL Round number, letter" (ex. FHL Round 2B)
   Text: player's last name, position, and NHL team (ex: 'Lemieux' would be an invalid bid)

   Any draft emails that are not in this format will be deemed invalid bids, and will be discarded; a message MAY be sent to the GM if the Commish is able. If the GM responds before the original deadline, the new bids will be accepted; if he fails to respond before the original deadline, he will forfeit that portion of the draft.
   

Free Agents are any players who were not taken in the draft. Each GM will have 8 Free Agent Pickups (simply called FAs) for the whole season. GMs also have a $700 regular season Salary Cap with which to work, which can be supplemented during the season through trades (see Section VII: TRADES).

1. Signing an FA

   To pick up a Free Agent you must email the Commissioner and inform him of whom you would like to pick up. He will then announce to the league that this player has been bid on as a Free Agent. All GMs will then have a 24 hour period in which to challenge that bid. If no one challenges your bid, then you receive the player at the minimum bid of $10. If someone challenges the bid, then you and the challenging GMs will each submit a bid to the Commissioner, with the player going to the highest bidder. All bids must be at least $10. Once you have informed the Commish that you wish to sign a Free Agent, you may not back out at any time during the bidding process.

   No free agents may be picked up the last two weeks of the season.

2. Topper Rights

   When more than one GM is trying to sign a particular Free Agent, the GM judged by the Commish to have been the FIRST to place a bid on that player will have "Topper Rights." This means that as the first GM to bid on that player, you will have the option of "topping" the highest bid by $5.
   When the bidding is over, the winning bid amount will be deducted from the winning bidder's remaining Salary Cap money. If the winning bidder does not have enough cap money to cover his winning bid, he must waive (drop) a player or players in order to free up the cap money needed to pay the Free Agent's new salary. Every time you successfully sign a Free Agent, you spend 1 of your 8 Free Agent Pickups (FAs). Once you run out of FAs, you can't bid on any Free Agents.

3. Waivers

   Anytime a GM drops a player for whatever reason, there will be a 3-day waiting period during which other GMs can notify the Commissioner that they want to claim the player at the salary he was dropped at. After the 3 days is up, one of three things will happen:

   1. If only one GM claims the player, then that GM gets the player for the salary the player was dropped at, at the cost of 1 FA.

   2. If more than 1 GM claims the player, then all GMs claiming the player will send in bids (the bids must be the same price or higher than the salary he was dropped at) and the highest bidder takes that player. Again, the winning bidder also spends 1 FA to acquire the player.

   3. If no one claims the player, he goes to the regular free agent pool, where the standard Free Agent rules apply.

GMs can make trades at any time during the season up to the NHL trading deadline, which is also the FHL trading deadline. Once the league is set, each GM will receive a list of all participants and their addresses. In addition to trading players, GMs may also trade FAs and salary cap money. To complete a trade, both GMs must email the Commissioner explaining every detail of the trade.

You may not make a trade that leaves a vacant spot in your Active Roster lineup. You may fashion a trade however you like, so long as when the trade is completed, you have at least 6 Forwards, 4 Defensemen, and 2 Goalies.

You also may not make a trade that causes your payroll (total player salaries) to exceed your available salary cap money ($700). To get around this financial restriction, cap money is tradable up to $150 total for each team. This means that GMs may exchange FHL cap money as part of any trade, but that no GM is permitted to receive more than $150 in cap money during any FHL season ($700 in standard salary cap + $150 in traded cap money = $850 in MAXIMUM salary cap.)

If you have an Injured Player you may do a couple of things.

• If the injury is long-term, you may want to drop the Injured Player and pick up a free agent.

• If you have a Reserve Player who is of the same position (forward, defenseman, or goalie) as the Injured Player, your only option is to place the reserve player in the Injured Player's spot on the active roster, where he will begin to earn points for you the following week. The only exception to this rule is if the Reserve Player(s) is/are also injured.

1. Injury Replacements (IRs)
   The Free Agent (Injury Replacement, or IR) that you pick up will assume the Injured Player's salary and begin to earn points for you the following week. If the IR should become injured also, you may immediately drop him and pick another Free Agent, who will again begin to earn points for you the following week.
   Once the Injured Player starts playing again you may either drop the IR or, if the IR is playing well, drop the player who was originally injured. However, the replacement player's salary will remain the same as it was while he was an IR. This will then cost you an FA. However, if you drop the IR when the Injured Player returns, you will be charged with nothing.
   1. You may pick up an IR ONLY if you have TWO injured players of the same position and no eligible bench player replacement. This means that if one of your d-men gets injured, and your bench is made up of 3 forwards and a goalie, your only options are to drop the injured player and sign an FA, or to keep the injured player on your active roster. All GMs are STRONGLY ENCOURAGED to maintain a fully-stocked, diverse bench.) This rule applies only to forwards and defensemen (i.e., if one of your goalies is injured you can pick up an IR if you have no goalies on your bench).

   2. You must email the Commissioner and tell him which unsigned Free Agent you would like to temporarily replace the Injured Player with. No IR pickup goes into effect until the deadline for roster changes. In other words, if you e-mail the Commish on a Wednesday that you wish to pick up a certain player as an IR replacement, that player is still eligible to be bid on as a FA by any other GM up until the roster deadline for the next week. However, the Commish will not announce that you're trying to pick up an IR, so as not to tip-off the other GMs. IR moves will go on a first come, first serve basis.

   3. If the Commish gets emails from two different GMs, requesting the same player as an IR in the same week, the Commish will not say anything to the "second" GM in line for that player until the end of the week. That way, that GM cannot place an FA bid on the player in question. However, the second team will be given time to pick another IR for the coming week.

2. Trading Injured Players or Their Replacements

   If you want to trade an Injured Player who is being covered by one of your extra players, ordinary trade rules apply. However, if you want to trade an Injured Player who is being covered by an IR, there are different rules based on one simple concept: THE TWO PLAYERS ARE INSEPARABLE. If you trade one of them, you must include the other in the same trade. The injured player will then take the same Injured Reserve spot on his new GM's roster, and when the player is again healthy, that GM must make the same decision regarding dropping the IR or the (formerly) Injured Player (still at the charge of 1 FA.)

1. Qualifying for the FHL Playoffs

   The FHL Playoffs will involve the 2 Division Champions, plus the remaining top 3 teams in each conference. This means that there will be 5 teams from each conference and a total of 10 teams that make the Playoffs. In case of a tie at the end of the regular season between qualifying teams of the same conference, both teams will advance into the playoffs. Of the tied teams, the team with the higher point total in the last week of the regular season will have preference in the Playoff Draft. The FHL Playoffs will begin when the First Round of the NHL playoffs does, and each FHL Playoff Round will coincide with each NHL playoff round.

2. Playoff Rosters
   1. Carryover Players

      The 10 GMs who make the FHL playoffs will have the option of keeping some or all of their players who make it to the NHL playoffs. The remaining roster spots, if any, can then be filled through the Playoff Draft. Prior to the Playoff Draft all playoff-bound GMs will notify the Commissioner of the players they wish to keep going into the playoffs. But if you protect someone from your regular season roster for the first round - that player must remain on your playoff roster through all FHL rounds until he is eliminated from the NHL playoffs. (NOTE: The only exception to this rule is if your protected player fails to complete the final game of the series; in such a case, the GM would have the option of not protecting that player for the next playoff round.)

   2. Playoff Draft

      The Playoff Draft will be a more conventional draft than the Regular Season Draft. Salaries will not be taken into consideration. Draft order will be as follows: the 4 division champions will hold the first four draft positions, based on their end-of-season point totals; the remaining 6 teams will likewise be seeded 5 through 10, based on their end-of-season point totals. The best overall team will draft first in each round. Each playoff-bound FHL team will draft from the rosters of whatever NHL teams are remaining in the NHL playoffs. Players obtained in any playoff round draft cannot be protected for the next round - only players you protected from your regular season roster may be carried over from one round to the next.

      If a playoff GM fails to participate (ie: doesn't respond to league notices, and fails to submit a draft list), his team will be drafted for him, but he will be ineligible to advance to the next round. If this situation arises prior to the start of the playoffs, his playoff spot will be surrendered to the next highest team in the standings (same conference). The GM will also be permanently banned from competing in the FHL in the future, extenuating circumstances excepted.

   3. Playoff Roster Regulations

      Playoff rosters consist of the 8 active players. There will be no reserve players on the roster.

3. Playoff Format
   1. Round 1

      In Round 1 of the FHL Playoffs, the 5 teams from each conference (barring ties) will compete in the same format as the regular season. That is, each team will compete with the other 4 qualifying teams from its conference. The First Round ends when the NHL's first round ends. The top 4 First Round teams in each conference will advance to Round 2.

   2. Rounds 2-4

      After the first round, the teams in each conference will be reseeded based on Regular Season Standings, with #1 (the team of those remaining with the most Regular Season points in that conference) playing #4 (the team with the least Regular Season points in that conference), and #2 playing #3. These series' are head-to-head, with the highest scoring team taking the series. The winning teams in each conference will play each other in the Conference Finals. The winners of each Conference Finals series will meet each other in the FHL Stanley Cup Finals series.

4. Playoff Scoring

   Playoff scoring for defenseman plus/minus and for goalie save percentage will be done on a game-by-game basis. For example, if your defenseman goes -2 in Game 1 and +2 in Game 2, you will receive 3.0 FHL playoff points for his +2 effort.

At the end of the FHL season, all GMs are permitted to protect some of the players on their Regular Season roster, so that the GM may keep those players on his team for the following season. Any players that you do not protect will be available to all GMs in next season's Draft.

1. You may protect no more than 8 players. The maximum number of players per position is as follows: 6 Forwards, 4 Defensemen, and 2 Goalies. All these players must have been part of your roster, or another GM's roster, as it stood on the last day of the regular season.

2. The first year you protect the player, his salary increases by $15.

3. If you protect a player for a 2nd season, his salary increases by $30.

4. If you protect a player for a 3rd season, his salary increases by $60, and so on.

5. If a player that has been protected gets traded, the new GM can protect that player for the next year for an increase of $15. And the "new" GM may protect that player for a second season at the $30 increase as well, and so on.
   As player protection pertains to the FHL Draft, when you submit your Draft list in Part A of the Round 1 of the Draft, rather than listing 8 Active Roster players you submit that number minus the number of players you protected.
   You have until two weeks before the FHL Draft to inform the Commissioner that you're protecting a player or players. If GM decides not to participate in the coming season, his team will remain intact for a new GM to take over. GMs taking over a defunct team will be held to the same protection rules as everybody else. If there are no new GMs to take over a defunct team, that team will be dissolved and its players will be entered into the FHL draft.

On a VOLUNTARY basis, each GM can contribute $10 to a jackpot prior to the start of each season. At the end of the season, the winner of the President's Trophy will receive 30% of the current jackpot, and the winner of the FHL Stanley Cup will receive 70% of the current jackpot. YOU MUST CONTRIBUTE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SEASON IN ORDER TO WIN PART OF THE JACKPOT AT THE END OF THAT PARTICULAR SEASON. Any money left in the jackpot at the end of the season will be rolled over into the following season's jackpot.

I realize how confusing this can be so if you have any questions email me and I will do my best to answer them. If you need to, you can call me at (618) 258-0098. If I'm not there, please leave a message on the machine with your name and number and I will call you back as soon as I can. Please ask for John.