CTMHL Constitution

1.1) All rules of the NHL are as described within this constitution unless amended by the league as a whole and distributed as an official Constitution/Rules Update.

1.2) The league will consist of twenty (20) teams in two Conferences. There will be two Divisions of five teams in each Conference.

1.3) All NHL teams will play an unbalanced schedule of 82 games, playing teams in their own Division eight times (32 games), teams outside their Division in the same Conference four times (20 games) and teams in the opposing Conference three times (30 games).

1.4) All road games will be managed by the COACH module (strat files) on the home team's computer. Results of these games must be sent to the ENTIRE league.

2.1) Each team will consist of 32 players or more. This number may vary depending on trades.

2.2) 20 carded players must dress for each game (18 skaters and 2 goalies). Players must play the positions listed on their cards except for Power play and Shorthanded situations.

2.2a) Every November 15 , each team must cut down to 27 players. All players left over from these protected lists (and played at least 1 NHL game) shall be drafted. For 2000 , the draft will be 5 rounds.

3.2) All city names must be unique. For instance, only one franchise may use the city name Glasgow.

3.1) For CTMHL games, all players are restricted to playing their actual number of games played. Players must play their positions listed on the card except in power play and shorthanded situations. Defensemen are not limited to left side or right side. Goalies are limited to their total number of games played, which may in fact be more then their number of decisions (ie. W+L+T). *********See Note at bottom of page for the 2001 season.*********

3.3) If a player goes past his allotted NHL games, he is suspended for the remainder of the NHL season and playoffs. In addition, the team in question will be subject to further punishment from the league office. These penalties are at the discretion of the league office. Of course, the appeals committee can be used by the team in question.

4.1) Injuries will be used. Note: Injuries are for the current game only. No multiple game injuries will occur.

5.1) On November 15 of each year every team will be required to submit a protected list of 27 players, including prospects. (A "prospect" is defined as an NHL player who has once had a card, but doesn't have a card for the current season.) All players not protected , but have played at least 1 real NHL game that past season are eligible for the rookie draft.

5.2) A draft order based upon last season's standings will be generated. Order will be based on inverse order of the standings for each round. The first four draft positions in each round will go to the four teams who did not make the playoffs the previous year. (Note: it is possible for a team will a lower point total to draft later in each of the five rounds than a team with a higher point total that did not make the playoffs.) In the event of two teams having identical records they will be seeded according to goal differential (greatest differential drafting higher). The finalist from the previous year will pick 19th and the champion will pick 20th.

5.3) A draft lottery will be held to determine the draft order for the four non-playoff teams. The team with the worst regular season record will have a 60% chance of getting the #1 overall pick. The second worse overall team will have a 25% chance. The third worse team a 10% chance. And the fourth worse team a 5% chance. This lottery order will only be for the first round. Second to Fifth rounds will be the four non playoff teams followed by the lowest point totals of the playoff teams.

5.4) No draft picks may be traded from drafts beyond the upcoming one until the current draft has started.

5.5) If a GM cannot be available on a draft day/night, he must supply the Commissioner with Detailed draft instructions and understand that this system is imperfect and that the Commissioner is in no way responsible for draft mishaps.

6.1) All games must be reported to the league. All teams must wait for the league file to be sent before they start to play any league games for that month. I will hopefully be able to send them out on the 1st or 2nd of each month.

6.2) The season will consist of a series of two week play periods. Each team will play between 8 and 10 games (4-5 home, 4-5 road) every two weeks.

6.3) The stats from all of your home games must be RECEIVED by the League Office by the 1st and 15th of each month. Games not received by this deadline may be auto played at the discretion of the Commissioner. Repeated offenses will be grounds for disciplinary action or expulsion.

8.1) All road games will be managed by the Face-off Coach module. At the beginning of each block the roster files will be distributed. Please wait until you receive the NEW rosters before programming or altering your Coach file.

8.2) IMPORTANT: If the Coach file is not received by your opponents by the 3rd day of each block, permission is given to your opponent to play with the computer managing your team, which includes the computer selecting the starting roster. It is recommended you email your opponent first .If the roster files are ever late, this deadline will be adjusted accordingly.

8.3) Teams will be allowed to distribute as many coach files as they see necessary every month. If you plan to send more than one coach file, please send them DIRECTLY to your opponents to avoid confusion by sending them to the entire league or label them clearly within your strat as to which strat is for which team.

9.1) The CTMHL trading deadline is one month prior to the end of the regular season. For the upcoming season, no trades will be allowed after a yet to be determined date.

9.2) All trades will take effect at the beginning of the next block of games. Trading will resume after the conclusion of the CTMHL finals.

9.4) Roster moves take effect at the beginning of each block. All GM's are REQUIRED to use the official roster files provided by the Commissioner. These files will be e-mailed to each team on the 1st and 15th of every month.

9.5) EACH team must announce the trade to the commissioner for it to take effect. Player-to-be-traded later deals are NOT allowed in the CTMHL.

10.1) In each Conference, the two Division Champions will be seeded #1 and #2 respectively based on their regular season point total. Should a second, third, fourth or fifth place team have a better overall record than a Division winner they will still finish no higher than third in the Conference standings. In addition, the top six remaining teams in each Conference will also make the playoffs, regardless of which Division they come from. Thus, in each Conference, it is possible for all but three playoff spots to come from the same Division.

10.2) Playoff games must be played out in full by a human coach, NO quick play games are allowed. If you have to quick play a game for any reason, the game will be quick played on the Commissioner's computer. If a quick play game is detected and/or pointed out to the league office, the game will not count, the game will be replayed on the commissioners computer and for the rest of that series in question all home games that the violating GM has left in that round will also be quick played on Commissioner's computer. A 2nd offence of this rule will call for a league hearing and further punishment.

10.4) The team with the best overall record in each Conference will meet the playoff team with the worst record (within the Conference) and so on. (Keep in mind that the two Division Winners are seeded 1-2 respectively.) All series will be best of 7, with a 2-2-1-1-1 format. Home ice advantage in each series will be determined by regular season point totals. All teams in each Conference will be re-seeded after each playoff series.

10.5) All games will be played by the home manager as per the regular season unless agreed upon otherwise to play by phone or modem.

10.6) For determining playoff eligibility, all players with 50 or more NHL games played will be allowed to play every game of each playoff series. (All totals will be based upon the stats on a player's card.) Should a player not qualify to play throughout the playoffs, he will be limited to 10% of his actual games played (on his card) for each playoff series, rounded up. For instance, if a player played 38 games, he will be allowed to play in 4 games of every 7 game series.

10.7) If a goalie played more than 41 NHL games (posted on his card) he is eligible to play every game in each playoff series. If he did not play in 41 games, he is limited to the same 10% rule.

10.8) A player/goalie must have more than 10 GP (NHL) to be eligible for the playoffs.

11.1) There will be no free agent pick-ups allowed once the Rookie Draft has been completed. Thus, before the Rookie Draft every team should ensure they have enough players at each position to make it through the year. Players are required to play their positions on their cards except for Power play and Shorthanded situations as stated in the Face-off Game rules. Otherwise they will have to trade for additional players to make up games at certain/all positions.

12.1)The purpose of the CTMHL is for people from around the world to have fun acting as a GM of a hockey team, and interacting by playing the Face-off Hockey Computer Game. Each owner should strive to develop friendships and act in an honest manner at all times. Having fun is an important feature of this league. Trading and drafting is an enjoyable feature of the CTMHL. Any trade offers are binding unless you state in your offer than you must confirm the trade as you have offered the same players to others.

12.2) As in real life if you are spoken to it is considered polite to answer someone. Same rule will apply to owners in this league in terms of trade offers and emails. All emails should be answered and not ignored. Violation of rules 12.1 and 12.2 could result in expulsion from the league.

13.1) Any league member can propose a new rule or rule amendment in July. The league then votes on all proposed rules. If there is a 75% majority, the rule change will be adopted. All proposed rule changes must be submitted in July and will be voted on in August.

14.1) The appeals committee is a 7-member panel appointed by the commissioner to rule on any trade and rules disputes. The sequence of events for a appeal to be heard is as follows:

3.The committee chairperson solicits the opinion of the parties involved and the commissioner.

5.A gripe must be made within two weeks of the time the entire
league is informed of the action. The Commissioner's responsibility is
merely to ensure that the rules are understood ,he does not vote in the appeals issue

Section 15B
The commissioner may invoke the "For the good and prosperity of the league" clause. This simply allows the Commissioner to exhibit absolute control in order to save the integrity of the league. It is not a Card Blanche to rule, the league ha to be put first in all rulings. If for some reason the Commissioner can't not function as commissioner for a period of time the Vice president of Hockey operations will take over until the Commish can resume his normal duties.