A. Schedule
All NHL games used in this league will be played from Monday to Friday. Players will choose their teams on the weekends for the workweek coming up. The start of the season is in December. The regular season will end the last full week of February. There are 12 weeks utilized for the regular season. The month of March is reserved for the playoffs.
B. Playoffs
Eight teams qualify for the playoffs. The two conference winners will own the top 2 seeds. The two second place teams own the next seeds. The two third place teams own the next seeds. The last two teams qualify based on overall record- they can be from the same conference.
C. How To Play
Each week, a player must select 2 NHL teams to represent him/her. The records of those two teams during that particular week of play are given to the player's overall record. A win is worth 2 points and an overtime loss/tie is worth 1 point. The points you earned are compared to the player you are playing against that week. Your team earns a win, loss, tie based on those scores. There is no overtime! Once a player selects an NHL team, they cannot choose that team again for the regular season. On the main page is a listing of what NHL teams a player has not selected yet.
D. Forfeits
A forfeit is an automatic loss. Also, to make everything fair, you will lose two NHL teams from the teams you have available. The 2 NHL teams removed are those with the best records at that particular point in the season.
E. Playoff Season Play
Once the playoffs start, each postseason player's choices of NHL teams start over. All NHL teams will be allowed to choose from at that point. Once again, once a player selects an NHL team for the postseason, that team cannot be chosen again. Instead of the regular season rule of choosing 2 NHL teams per week, the playoff rounds will involve sets of 4 NHL teams each.
F. Home Ice Advantage
The player with the higher seeding will receive bonus points as part of being the "home team". The bonus points depend on the round and the seeds of the respective teams playing. In round one, the highest seed gets 4 bonus points, the second highest receives 3 bonus points, etc. In round two, the highest seed has 2 bonus points and the second highest seed receives 1 bonus point. In the final round, the higher seed obtains 1 bonus point. Higher seeds also own the tie-breaker, if needed.
G. Regular Season Tie-Breaker Rules
If teams are tied in the standings at the end of the season, the following criteria will be used to break the ties:
1- Team with most wins
2- Head-to-Head Record
3- Total Goals scored in regular season
4- Strength of Schedule
5- Record in common games vs non-divisional opponents
6- 1 Day Playoff (Pick the winners of all NHL games played on a day chosen by the Commissioner)