1 ... General

1. The main thing is that you should have fun in our league - remember, it's just a game.
2. Treat other HWL and HW members with respect.
3. You should respect the Commish Team's decisions without whining, bitching, complaining or throwing a tantrum. If you disagree, do so respectfully and privately.
4. You should regularly visit our site and forum. The more active you are, the better it is for the league,
5. Every form of cheating will result in an immediate removal from the HWL. As I said before - it is just a game and there is no need for cheating.
6. You need a valid e-Mail address and it would be also good if you have an instant messenger like Yahoo! Messenger, MSN or ICQ. If not, it is no problem to communicate with the other users in our forum (PM).

2 ... League Commission

1. Commish - Tony
2. Co-Commish - Trizzak
3. Trade Commission - Habitforming, Macaskill
4. Draft Guru - Seb
5. Simmers - revvvrob, nhfarber, jetsniper, goalerexpert86 and Fanpuck33
6. HW Administration - sakiqc

1. You need to be active to keep the privilege of managing a HWL team. If you are inactive, we assume that you do not want to manage your team and that we can pass it to someone else. If you do not do the minimum, the league office is entitled to fire you.
2. You have to give team instructions via headquarters at least every 3 sim; and/or
3. You have to post on the forums at least every 10 days.

4 ... Simulations

1. During the regular season there will be 2 simulations a week, Sunday and Wednesday.
2. One simulation = one EHM week.
3. For all sims, the deadline is 20:00 PM (8:00 PM) EST.
4. During the playoffs there will be a simulation every day, covering 1 game in each series.

5 ... Headquarters

1. You can submit all your changes (contract offers, lines, etc.) for your NHL & AHL team at the headquarters.
2. Do not forget to submit your GM and team name every time you send a HQ file.

6 ... Lines

1. You have to upload your NHL & AHL lines at the headquarters.
2. The Hit & Grind tactic is allowed only once and for a max. of 60 seconds, and there must be a minimum of 60 seconds of line time which cannot be either Hit and Grind or Neutral Zone Trap.
3. GMs are to report line violations in the Watchdog's Corner. Violations will result in 4 X 60 RG + CPU lines for the next sim.
4. If you do not submit lines, your lines will be used as they appear in the latest update.
5. If you send one line file for the whole sim, you must name it as follows (using Anaheim as an example):
   ->ANA_AHL
   ->ANA_NHL
6. If you wish to send multiple lines, you have to ZIP them and name the zip file as mentioned in point 3. As for the individual line files contained in the zip file, you have to name them by date. Obviously, since we do not sim 2-3 months at a time, you only have to write the day and not the month. Using Anaheim as an example:
   ANA_NHL.zip (in the HQ NHL slot)
   files contained in this zip:
   -> ANA_NHL_03_05_06 (lines to be used on the 3rd, 5th and 6th day of the month)
   -> ANA_NHL_08 (lines to be used on the 8th day of the month)
7. If your lines have a problem in them (injury, suspension), the simmer will try to replace the player without screwing your lines. However the simmer is not entitled to do that and is allowed to use CPU lines in the following situations :
   - the problem is too complicated and cpu lines would seem to serve you better;
   - the problem is obviously your fault and you didn't bother or were too careless to fix it;
   - any other situation at the simmer discretion.
8. The HQ is like a hard drive as far as lines are concerned. If you send lines called ANA_NHL... and two minutes later you send lines ANA_NHL, this "new" set of lines will overwrite the first, without the usual windows message asking whether you really want to erase the old lines... So if you wish to overwrite the lines you just sent cause you think they are the wrong lines... Make sure to resend lines using the exact same name... This way you don't have to bother the simmer about it and mix him up with your problems.

7 ... Position Rules

1. A goalie will not be allowed to play more than 72 total games in any circumstance, counted with the stats tab in EHM, no matter what, even if your own backup played 10 times already, the key is that no goalie can play more than 72 games. There will be a 2 million fine per game for every additional game.
2. The simmer will try his best to enforce that rule and put your backup in goal for the remaining games of the season. This penalty will be continued into the playoffs at the pace of 1 game penalty per game played after the 72nd.

8 ... Suspensions

1. As EHM rarely gives out suspensions, the league will enforce suspensions on players who injure an opponent and receive an "attempt to injure" major penalty. If EHM does give a suspension, the league will not over-write it.
2. The injury length will be determined at the end of the sim in which the injury happens. PlayerScout allows us to know exactly how many days the player will be out.
3. The number of games the guilty player will miss due to suspension will be equal to one fourteenth of the number of days the player he injures is out for, rounding down to the nearest whole number. The minimum length of injury to warrant a suspension is 42 days.
4. Any suspension notifications need to be made via their own thread in the Violation Corner
5. The player being suspended needs to be reported exclusively by the GM of the injured player before the next sim in order for the suspension to have full effect. If the GM of the injured player refuses to exercise his suspension right, it must notified in the Violation Corner forum within the same time delay previously stated.
6. If the GM of the injured player reports it late or if another GM decides to report it following the first sim after the injury, the suspension will be reduced by 50%. The suspension will be voided altogether if it's not reported after two sims have passed or i if the GM of the suspended player refuses to exercise his suspension right.

9 ... Salary Cap

1. Player salaries for every team may not exceed 50 million during the season. That is for NHL & AHL players only (the "Player salaries" line of the Finances tab in EHM).
2. During the off-season, teams my not exceed 55 million in player salaries.
3. If through a trade, a call-up or a signing, or any other roster move, you burst the cap:
   --> a 1 million fine is imposed for the first offense
   --> a 2 million fine for the second offense
   --> a 3 million fine for the third offense.
   --> after the third offense, the criminal GM will see his personal cap decreased by 2 million for the following season. This new cap will be reset if the GM has a clean record for one full season.
4. The same process will be followed if a GM goes over his reduced salary cap.
5. The only excuse for bursting the cap is if the simmer acknowledges he made a mistake with one of your roster moves and he also attests that you did send instructions in time that would have put your team under the cap. There are no other excuses. You just have to make sure that you do not burst the cap at any moment.

10 ... Finance

1. At the start of the 2009-2010 (and subsequent) seasons, teams will be reset to 5 million and the budgets will not be reset. Teams who get budget raises will earn more money during the season than teams with lower budgets.
2. Teams may go into negative finances, though after you go negative, your owners will stop letting you spend money until you get back into positive figures.

11 ... Contracts

1. Player and/or staff contracts for people already on your team have to be offered via the headquarters.
2. The maximum number of years that can be offered is 4 years, including the player and/or team option. (So if you offer a TO, the length must be no greater than 3 years.)
3. A no-trade clause is only allowed for players who are 32 years or older.

12 ... UFA's

1. If you want to sign a UFA, you have to post a valid bid in the HWL UFA & RFA sub forum.
2. You have to post the full details about the offer in a readable manner : position, name, age, salary, signing bonus, contract years, team option, player option, no-trade clause and/or two-way contract of the UFA.
3. The subject of the thread has to contain the UFA status, position and name of the player or staff member.
4. If there are two or more teams who bid equally the maximum amount on a staff member or a player, there will be a lottery (held by the League Commission) to determine whose bid is offered to the player. This is the only time a tie/matching bid will be allowed.
5. The bidding for any UFA will be active until no bids have been made for 48 hours.
6. The winning bid will always be the contract that offers the player the most guaranteed money, whether that money is in salary or SB form - is of no consequence.
7. You cannot trade someone you've just signed as a UFA before 3 EHM months have passed.

13 ... RFA's

1. If you want to sign a RFA from another team, you have to post it in the HWL UFA & RFA sub forum and follow the same description rules as for the UFAs.
2. If you want to sign a RFA from another team, you will have to pay a compensation as listed below (hence, me calling you crazy):
   -400.000 $ or below - nothing
   -over 400.000 $ to and including 550.000 $ - 3rd round pick
   -over 550.000 $ to and including 650.000 $ - 2nd round pick
   -over 650,000 $ to and including 800.000 $ - 1st round pick
   -over 800,000 $ to and including 1.000.000 $ - 1st and 3rd round pick
   -over 1.000.000 $ to and including 1.200.000 $ - 1st and 2nd round pick
   -over 1.200.000 $ to and including 1.400.000 $ - 2 1st round picks
   -over 1.400.000 $ to and including 1.700.000 $ - 2 1st rounders and a 2nd rounder
   -over 1.700.000 $ - 3 1st round picks
   -For each additional million one additional 1st, up to a max. of 5 1st round picks.
3. Teams who do have the rights of the RFA, have a chance to match any offer giving.
4. Teams can't give offer sheets to unsigned RFA's until the day before the start of the regular season.
5. The bidding for any RFA will be active until no bids have been made for 48 hours.

14 ... Trades

1. You have to post your trades in the HWL - Trades sub forum and it has to be confirmed by both members.
2. You have to post position, name, age, salary, contract years, offensive, defensive and OA of the involved player(s) and provide reasons as to why the trade is a positive move for your club.
3. You must list the CON of each player so that if a CON drop happens, it can be fixed.
4. The TC (Currently Habitforming and Macaskill) reviews all trades and either accepts or rejects them. If a trade is rejected, a detailed reasoning will be listed as to why a deal can't go through.
5. No players shall be dealt manually via players.ehm editing due to an injury. If a player is injured, he has to be traded when back to health and his salary counts towards the cap for the whole duration.
6. No players switch is allowed. There is a 3 months in game limit before you can re-trade a player to his team of origin.
7. No player rental is allowed. If a trade that has happened soon before the trade deadline is "reverted" or if a trade that has the effect of reverting such trade after the season is over, the Commish or the Trade Committee officer is entitled to void it without further argumentation.

15 ... Waivers

1. If a player has to clear the waivers (for e.g. AHL demotion), you have to post it in the HWL - Waivers sub forum. If a player has a strikethrough in EHM, then he needs waivers to be demoted.
2. You have to post position, name, age, salary, contract years, offensive, defensive and OA of the player.
3. Teams with worst record in the previous season have waiver priority until October 31. After that, priority is determined by winning percentage.
4. The player has cleared waivers after 2 days (in real life).
5. When you claim a player, you drop to the bottom of the priority list. The list is reset based on winning percentage every EHM month.
6. If and only if there is no claim on a player, he can be removed from the waiver list in order to be traded or released or reinstated on the NHL club while he is "on waivers".
7. Players claimed on waivers may not be traded for a period of three EHM months.
8. The team who loses a player on waivers (including the Waiver Draft) has top priority (for the remainder of the season) to claim that player if he is waived by the team that claimed him.

16 ... Waiver Draft

1. At the end of each pre-season, a waiver draft will be conducted.
2. Every GM must submit a list of protected players which includes 18 skaters and two goaltenders.
3. Some players are exempt from the waiver draft according to the following guidelines:
   -All players under 21 years old are exempt
   -Players aged 21 are exempt if they have played under 125 career games
   -Players aged 22 are exempt if they have played under 100 career games
   -Players aged 23 are exempt if they have played under 75 career games
   -Players aged 24 are exempt if they have played under 50 career games
   -All players over 24 are subjected to waivers regardless of games played
4. Each GM must post protected list AND the players who'll be available in the annual Waiver Draft thread.
5. Draft order is based on the reverse of the previous season's standings.
6. The waiver draft will be held via a YIM Conference. If you are unable to attend, please send either a pick list or let it be known that you wish to pass on your picks.
7. If a team claims a player in the waiver draft, it must unprotect a player to make the 2+18 limit again and must pay a fee of $50 000 (again, this is a game rule).
8. A team may lose at most two players in the waiver draft.

17 ... Entry Draft

1. There will be a draft lottery for all the non-playoff teams. One of these teams can move up for a maximum of five spots.
2. The first round will be held live at a chat room.
3. The last 4 rounds will be held at the HWL - Draft sub forum.
4. If you are not able to join the draft, you can submit a list with the players you want to draft.

18 ... Tanking

1. Definition: anyone deliberately losing games in order to gain a better draft position.)
2. Don't do it! In real life, teams that lose too much fire their GMs.
3. If entire Commish team thinks you are tanking, you better watch yourself. You'll have a mini trial. We give a first solid warning. If we have to give a 2nd warning, your 1st rounder becomes 30th OA and you might lose your team.

19 ... AHL Playoffs

Simply for fun for the time being.