Welcome to the V League. I would like to thank you for your interest. Please feel free to contact Roger Vetsson if you have any issues with the sim or feel something in these rules is missing or unclear.
Please enjoy the league. We hope to create a realistic hockey league that all can enjoy. The league is run from Calgary, AB and times will be based in MT. (Mountain Time)
  Code of Conduct
·  Every GM is required to be a member of the message board.
·  Every GM must have a MSN/Trillian/WindowsLive account and post that address so that other GM's may contact them.
·  Every GM must post extended absenses (72 hours or more) on the message board to avoid your team being revoked.
·  Every GM must respond to ALL trade offers. Even "No thanks" is acceptable.
·  All GM's are to manage their teams for the long-term benefit of the team, and more-so the league.
·  All trades are to be posted in the Pending Trades section of the message board using the correct posting procedure listed.

League Play
·  The league uses FHL Sim version 1.5.3 beta to simulate the games.
·  Each franchise GM is responsible for the everyday actions of the team (rosters, lines) as well as other tasks such as entry and waiver drafts.
·  If an injury should occur to your team and you do not send in lines then your lines will be done automatically by the simulator - usually by attempting to play the injured player.
·  The league consists of 24 teams, with 6 divisions, and 4 teams in each division.
·  The season is 82 games per franchise, and one game day will be simmed each day. Each team will play 10 games against division rivals, 4 games against the other conference rivals, and 4 against the team in the other conference teams.
·  Simultaions will be completed after 9PM MST. Once a day - 7 days a week - with announced hiatuses throughout.

Franchise Finances
·  No team is allowed a negative money balance. Either Current finances OR Projected finances MUST be in positive figures.
·  If a team is caught with a negative balance then their highest OV player(s) will be auctioned off to the highest bidder until the balance is covered. The team losing the player, or any other team in debt is restricted from bidding.
·  There will be performance bonuses paid to each team for making the playoffs.

·  Additionally there will be bonuses paid to GM's who go above and beyond the call, acting as analysts, or help out the league in some form to be determined at a later date.

Salary Management Plan
·  The Salary Number is $64.3M for Pro players.
·  Teams are expected to be under this number twice a year, once at the start of the season, without penalty, and again at the Trade Deadline.

·  At the Trade Deadline, teams in excess of the $64.3M amount will be fined 100% of the excess for the full 82 Game season, (as well as having to pay the remaining salary).
Lines / Lines Changes
·  Lines are to be submitted from the GM editor only. If for some reason your lines do not work, or were not submitted in time then the commissioner will auto your lines. (Using previously submitted lines, normally).
·  Each team is required to dress 20 players with a minimum of 3 at any forward position, minimum of 5 defensemen, and a minimum of 2 goalies. Your lines will not work unless you have met these requirements.

Players
·  All players will re-rate based on their NHL performance.

·  Players in the league will retire automatically at the age of 40.
·  Players 35 years of age and older will be only able to sign or re-sign one year deals.
·  Existing players that do not play in the NHL for 1 (one) season, will move to prospects, but can still be traded, and their rights are held by the last rights holder. These players can also be used in the “OptOut” so they can play for a period of 1 year. Provided they are signed.
·  Positions can be changed at any time, but do not abuse the privilege. RV gets tired of constantly changing positions. A few times a year is great; before every game is not.
·  Player vitals will not be changed unless it is a total error. (Height, weight, age)
·  No team is allowed to have over 50 players combined on their roster. This will crash the simulator.
·  Teams must have at least 4 forwards at each position, 8 defensemen, and 4 goalies combined on their pro, and farm roster incase of injuries.
·  No goalie is permitted to play more than 3600 minutes in a season, which works out to 60 full 60 minute starts. Once this number is exceeded the goalie will be suspended until the playoffs. (What is the use of mandating a backup goalie/4 goalie system, if you don’t play them?)
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Trading
·  Trades may involve players, draft picks (current year, and up to two years in advance) and money. Teams have a duty to provide all information necessary to a GM to analyze a trade. This includes the injury status of all players involved. However, once a trade is finalized, it is assumed that all GMs have full knowledge of the status of the traded players.
·  Trades are submitted to the league by using the pending trades forum in the message board. Both parties are required to submit the particulars in order to have the deal considered. Once the deal has been submitted it will be considered official and no changes will be accepted.
·  Once a GM submits a trade confirmation, line/roster changes will be required.
·  The League Commissioner reserves the right to veto any trade if, in the belief of the commissioner, the trades violate the spirit of competition and goodwill of the league.
·  The Deadline for incoming trades is set near 80% of the Regular Season. The deadline will be set once the regular season schedule is released.
·  Trades will completed FOLLOWING the next "Day's" games.

Waivers
·  Players sent to the farm team may or may not have to pass waivers.
·  Players 24 and older that have played 35 V League games (for that SEASON) must pass waivers. All other players do not have to pass through the waiver system.
·  No player has to pass waivers during the preseason and offseason.
·  Players remain on waivers for a period of 24 hours.
·  The Current Waiver Priority List will be posted in the Message Board, as the Sim version can be troublesome.
·  Waiver claims costs the acquiring team $50,000, payable to the league office. The acquiring team is responsible for the full terms of the contract remaining on the players. The waiving/former team is responsible for half of the remaining season salary. Future season salaries are the responsibility of the acquiring team.
· The acquired player MUST be on the pro roster, or be subject to waivers again.
·  Players 23 and under do not need to clear waivers.

 Players
·  The top 8 teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs.
·  Every playoff series is a best of seven game series.
·  The first place team in the division will host the eighth place team. The second place team will host the seventh place team, etc. The winners will then play for the Division Championship, etc.

Awards
·  Each year there will be an Awards gala during the V League Finals for many different aspects in the Simulator.
·  Each GM is requested to vote for each category of the V League Awards when they are activated.
Free Agents
·  When a player's contract expires, he will become a free-agent.
·  A team may only pre-sign 4 players per year and a maximum of 3 unrestricted free agents (UFAs). These players will avoid free agency. In order to sign these players GMs must offer "respectable" offers to the Players' Union. From there, the GM will be given a counter offer or a contract extension sheet. The whole point of this is to create the same type of atmosphere for player's signings that there are in the NHL.
·  Free agency will last for a set amount of time (perhaps 3 weeks in the off-season) in which teams can propose offers to players, with the player taking the best offer at the end of this time frame.
·  A player may be offered a contract that lasts no longer than 4 years.

·  Round One will be open after the season end and before the entry draft at a time determined. This time frame will be posted.
·  Round Two = TBA.
·  Round Three = TBA, then free agency will be over.
 
·  VLeague Free Agency is comprised of 2 main phases, Pre-sign & Bidding.

·  The highest 5 bids move on from round 1 to round 2, and the highest 3 bids move on from round 2 to round 3. You cannot bid a lower amount in any subsequent rounds that you move on to. You can however bid the same amount, or cancel your bid entirely. If your bid is determined as the highest, then you MUST take that player at the salary you have stated. Participation in the bidding process is indication enough that you are willing to pay for the player. In the case of a tie bid at the end of round 3 (ie.. both bids are tied in value and length ($7.5 mill / 1 year) or neither team will pay anymore) then one of two things will happen:
·  If the player being bid on is RFA, the original team is given a chance to match. If he decides to release the player, then tied teams (tied bids) send in a compensation package to a contact on the Free Agency Committee. Once the Free Agency Committee has determined which package is better (while conferring with the original team) the player will be awarded. THESE BIDS ARE TO BE PRIVATE AND SENT ONLY TO THE FREE AGENCY COMMITTEE.
·  If a tie involves in the case of an unrestricted contract then a random draw will determine which team gets said player. Once it's determined that a team has won a contract, the player becomes signed. An unrestricted free agent automatically becomes a member of the new team. Restricted free agents are considered to be signed an offer sheet, the player's original team has the option to match this offer and thereby retain the player. Otherwise, they can release the player in return for the appropriate compensation. The original team has 48 hours to decide on which option they are going to take. Should the owning team choose not to match the offer for their restricted player, then the new team now has 48 hours to work out compensation with the player's old team. If an agreement can not be met within the 48 hours, the Free Agency Committee will use the following guideline and award what is listed.
·  Each team is allowed a bidding cap of 10 Million dollars out at any one time.
·  Teams may bid on as many players as they wish. (that they can afford, & MAX 5 RFA's/free agency)
·  Teams can sign a player to a contract of up to 7.5 million dollars per season.
·  NO Team may have more than 10 million in bids out at any one time. If a team exceeds their 10 million cap, all their team bids will be removed immediately and the owner will be disqualified from further bidding for the current season.
·  NO team may bid on their own RFA during the bidding process, but do have the right to match the highest bid or accept compensation. *Matching a bid for your own player does NOT count towards the 10 million cap.
·  You are eligible to bid on UFA's on your team. Once a player is signed during FA, then the salary is no longer considered a "bid" therefore more bids can be laid.
  Example..
  The LA Queens submit the following:
  Ian Laperriere – 3 mill / 4yrs
  Steve Begin – 1.2mill / 3yrs
  Luc Robataille – 1.8mill / 4yrs
  Pavel Bure – 3.2M / 4yrs
  Joel Hulbig – 800K / 2yrs
 
  This would mean that the Kings now have a total of 10 million in BIDS out. Bids will remain until the end of the current round in order to be confirmed into contracts (explained previous) Once ANY one of those bids becomes a contract, the Kings now can use THAT money towards other bids. If they sign Laperriere, then they can go make another 3 million worth of bids.
 
  Important points to remember:
·  Contracts can range between 1 – 4yrs
·  Contract values can range from $500,000 (league minimum) – $7,500,000 (FA bidding cap)
·  You can NOT jump in the bidding for a player in subsequent rounds if you had not made an initial offer on said player and that player made it to the next round with no bids.
·  A player will accept a shorter contract over a longer one when they are worth the same amount.
·  Once the maximum bid has been reached ($7,500,000), the only way to outbid for a player is then to reduce the years on the contract.
·  If there are unrestricted free agents that no team has interest in signing, even for the league minimum, there will be a window of a couple of days to make offers. If there are no offers, they will remain on the Unassigned list until they are acquired.
·  If a FA Committee member bids on a free agent, the bids will be sent to another individual for verification purposes.
 
  RFA COMPENSATION:
·  Teams bidding on players MUST have adequate compensation to bid. Bids will not be processed if the offering team does not have the minimum compensation in one of the next 3 seasons (as the draft takes place during the offseason).
·  Compensation can either be negotiated between the two teams or if no agreement can be reached, the compensation will be as described below:
  RFA Compensation – values listed are REQUIRED prior to placing a bid
Compensation:
  $5,000,000 +
  3 x 1st round picks
 
  $4,000,001 - $5,000,000
  1 X 1st round pick + 1 x 2nd round pick
 
  $3,000,001 – $4,000,000
  1 X 1st round pick
 
  $2,000,001 – $3,000,000
  1 X 2nd round pick
 
  $1,000,001 – $2,000,000
  1 X 3rd round pick
 
  $150,000 – $1,000,000
  1 X 5th round pick
 
  *If a team has more than one applicable draft pick (like 3 1sts in a particular season, then they will offer whichever is perceived highest in the draft order at the time of the compensation.)

  Rookies
·  Rookies will maintain their rookie status until they meet particular criteria.
Any player who is 26 years old, or greater, at the start of the V season
Any player playing 25 or more games in any 1 season 
·  During the off-season if any of the triggers have been met, the player will be converted to Veteran status.
  Coaches
·  Coaches can be hired/fired/created at any time, provided the qualities are submitted to the commissioner in a timely manner.
·  Coaches will NOT affect a team's play.
·  Firing a coach will cost the team half of the coach's remaining contract.

  All-Star Game
·  Will be played at approximately Game 40.
·  All-Star starters will be voted upon by all team owners on the message board.
·  The Commissioner reserves the right to the final determination.
·  Each Franchise will be represented.
·  Involved players will represent the conference / division they played within their last five games before the All-star Game, because choosing up sides will be determined earlier.
·  The team that host the All-star Game will receive $5,000,000 (from ticket sales & concessions).
·  There will be an All-star MVP Award with an additional $2,500,000 awarded to his team. The player will win a car.
·  Voting will take place approximately game #30 – game #35.
·  In addition to the All-star game, there will be an All-star Skills Competition for Farm, Pros and Rookies.

Entry Draft
·  After each season the V LEAGUE will have a prospect entry draft. The length will be determined by the number of new players in the draft. The number of new players devided by 24 will determine the length of the draft.
·  Players available in the draft will be posted before the draft.
·  Players will be signed to 3 years entry-level contracts based on OV. This will be posted along with the player ratings.

  Waiver Draft
·  Each team can protect up to 25 players, not including draft picks. The V Waiver Draft will involve Farm players only.
·  Waiver Draft will occur following Day 1 of the regular season.
·  The Waiver Draft will consist of 2 rounds where each team, according to reverse order of finish in the previous season, may make a selection of a player from another team's farm roster. In the case of season one, it will be the reverse order of team selection at inception.
·  A third round will be included for any team that loses two players..However, they cannot acquire their old player in this manner.
·  Teams that have a selection may trade the selected player at any time, or choose not to select at their own choosing.
·  No team is permitted to lose more than 2 players in any waiver draft.
·  Rankings for the waiver draft will be in reverse order of finish of the previous season.
·  Acquiring teams are obliged to the contract of the player. Remember, the player salaries in the minors are posted at 10% of actual pro salary.
·  Players 23 and under are waiver exempt and not available for the Waiver Draft.

OptOut Reratings
·  Will occur each off-season, after the new players ratings are released.
· Three (3) players can be 'OptOut'ed per franchise. 
·  The OptOut rating lasts for one season.
·  GMs get the opportunity to Opt Out of the new player ratings for any player on their current roster or protected lists.
·  Players retain all of their previous ratings from before, except their age still advances.
·  OptOut rerates will not be available for unsigned players, players 40 or over, or players who in real life are deceased.
·  Player must be under contract before the OptOut ratings period.
·  Players listed as a prospect because of inactivity are allowed to be OptOuted if they are not 40 years old.

Example of an OptOut rerate: 

                     IT SP ST EN DU DI SK PA PC DF SC EX LD OV
  Player, Season A – 67 77 70 83 94 93 78 59 63 79 64 94 84 75
  Player, Season B – 67 76 70 77 41 93 78 53 53 79 53 96 84 69
Here, it would make sense to ‘Opt Out’ of the new ratings for the player and keep the old ratings for a period of one year.