IFHL RULES

• Must have ICQ and Email.

• Must install the GM Editor for submitting lines.

• Must respond to Commissioner requests, for example; All-Star Ballot, Regular Season Awards, Entry Draft, etc.

• Must be respectful of other GMs and be interactive.  Try to respond to all email and ICQ messages.

• Should notify the Commissioner if you are going to be unavailable for a week or longer.

• Should submit lines at the beginning of the regular season and after trades, injuries and returns from injury.

• The IFHL uses the FHL Hockey Simulator.

• There will be 16 teams divided into two conferences each with 4 divisions.  The top four teams from each Conference will meet in the playoffs with the Division Champs being seeded one- two in each Conference.

• Each team will play 82 games per season, 8 against each division rival, 6 against remaining conference rivals and 4 against each non-conference rival.

• Games are run daily:
  M-F at approximately 4:30pm CST
  S-Su at approximately 9:30am CST

• After each season, we will hold a 3-round entry draft followed immediately by the next regular season.  The playoffs immediately follow the completion of the regular season.

• Player rerates are compiled in July of each year and will be implemented at the beginning of the next IFHL season.

• There are no finances used in the IFHL (i.e., salaries, contracts, payroll caps, etc.).

• Free-agency and Waivers are not part of the IFHL.

• Trading of Draft Picks is not allowed in the IFHL.

• Player ratings are revised at the end of each NHL regular season and are usually complete by the end of July.

• Player ratings are calculated based on actual NHL performance, with the exception of the following subjective ratings: SP & SK.

• After the rerates are released and the subsequent entry draft held, GMs have two-weeks to submit any position changes they would like.  Position changes are typically accepted, but require you email the Commissioner a player link from a major source justifying this position change.
  NHL.com
  Yahoo Sports
  ESPN
  NHL Players Association
  CBS Sportsline

• Players will only have ratings if they played in at least one NHL regular season game.

• Players that previously had ratings, but do not in the latest rerate will be placed on the team's prospect list and will be available to that team if they show up in later rerates.  This happens due to Player Holdouts, Season Long Injury, or being Inactive during a complete season.  There is no limit to the number of players held on your prospect list.

• The combined total of your Pro team and Farm team shall not exceed 40 players.

• Players that are released by a GM automatically get added to next season's draft pool.  Again, there is no Waiver-Wire to consider in the IFHL.

• You can have between 20-25 players on your active (non-farm) roster, however, exactly 20 players will play each game.  Those 20 players shall consist of exactly 18 skaters and 2 goalies.  The 18 skaters must include a minimum of 9 forwards and 6 defensemen.

• The simm will auto your lines if you do not send your own in after a trade, injury or return from injury.

• The GMs are responsible for roster management and may dress any player at any position with the exception of goalies who must always play between the pipes.  Keep in mind though that the simm penalizes players out of position.  Although not official, the simm effectively drops each rating, 5 points, when a player is played in the wrong position (e.g., LW played at Center, Defenseman at RW, etc.).  Note: this is not 5 Overall points, but instead the worse situation of each rating dropping 5 points (i.e., SP, SK, PC, PA, DF, SC, etc.).

• Your farm team will consist of all remaining, non-active players.  There is no minimum, although this is subject to change.

• The IFHL uses an Active Farm League meaning that farm games are played daily, mirroring their Pro counterpart.  Also important to note is that the simm will adjust farm players during the course of the season.  There is no distinct formula, but in general, young players get better and old players get worse.  Keep in mind that a player that has farmed up or down will keep that rating until the next rerate or until the simm makes another farm adjustment.  For example, the last person I would want to put on my farm team is Mario Lemieux.  You would risk the potential of Super Mario turning into a run-of-the-mill, 74 rated player overnight.

• Each team has one coach.  That coach can be fired and a new coach hired at any time.  Coaches are available on a first-come, first-served basis.  Coaches are also rerated each season, however, significantly later than player rerates.  Coaches will be rerated as soon as the rerates become available.  This is usually during the middle of a regular season.

• Coaches do affect team performance, however, not to any great extent.

• Eight teams will reach the playoffs each season (4 from each Conference).

• Each Division Champion will be seeded one-two in the Conference Playoff with the top seed going to the team with the better record.

• Each series will be a best-of-seven race.

• One thing worth noting is that the simm uses the EX & LD ratings to some extent in the playoffs.  During the regular season, these ratings are insignificant.

• GMs should negotiate trades in private with no submittal made until the deal has been finalized.

• Trades need to be submitted by each party separately (i.e., no forwarding of emails allowed).  Alternately, ICQ confirmation is allowed assuming at least one of the parties has emailed in the trade specifics.

• Trades should be sent to the Commissioner.

• Trades may only consist of rated players and/or prospects.  Trading of draft picks is not allowed in the IFHL.

• Any GM may challenge a trade that he feels is grossly unfair for the lesser team.  This has been called the no rip-off clause.  The process for making such a challenge is to anonymously email the Commissioner with the details of your complaint.  Include stats and as many facts as possible that support your challenge.  The Commissioner will evaluate the trade, add supporting information and rationale as to why the trade should be allowed to stand.  He will then route the details to at least 5 GMs for their thoughts on whether the trade should stand or be rejected by the league.  In general, we will be objective and make every attempt to allow the trade to stand.  This isn't about a trade being won by a GM or not, it's about trades that are bad enough to damage a team's ability to compete or trades that impact the spirit of fair play for the league.

• Any GM found to be acting as a feeder to another team will be removed from the league.

• No trades are allowed after the trade deadline, which is set at 65 games played.

• The trading block will be reopened during the entry draft.

• A three-round entry draft will be held each season, immediately following the playoffs.

• The draft order will be worst-to-first based on the overall standings of the previous IFHL regular season.

• The draft pool will consist only of rated players not currently owned by a team.

• Trading of draft picks is not allowed in the IFHL, so the draft order will always be worst-to-first for all three rounds.

• A team is allowed to exceed the 40 player roster limit during the entry draft.  The GM will have one week after completion of the draft to drop players in order to maintain the 40 player limit.  Plenty of warning will be given to the GMs over the limit.  However, if a GM has not responded by the deadline the lowest rated player(s) will be dropped from your team until the 40 player maximum is reached.  In case of at tie, the older of the two players will be released.

• The IFHL does not use financials of any kind.  Therefore; waivers, free-agency, salaries, contracts and salary caps are non-issues in this league.

• Each Team has its own Trophy Room located on the IFHL site.

• Most awards are given out at the end of the regular season with the final awards given out at the end of the playoffs.