LIFETIME HOCKEY POOL RULES

Last modified:  January 7, 2017

 

TEAM FORMAT

Players are defined as forwards, defensemen, or goalies. 

There is no distinction between C, LW, RW.  They are all considered forwards.

Teams will consist of 32 players. 

NOTE:  of the 32 total players, you must draft a minimum of 9 defensemen and a minimum of 3 goalies.  This rule is only enforced on draft day.  During the course of the season, there are no rules on player mix other than the active roster requirements (below).

Active Roster must contain:            12            Forwards

     6             Defensemen

     2             Goalies

    20             TOTAL

BENCH will hold 6 players (any position) and the remaining 6 players (any position) will be held in the MINORS

At any point during the season, the minimum total players per team is 30 (see rules on dropping players to free agency).

Only players who have been drafted, or acquired by an NHL team are eligible for the purposes of this pool.  Un-drafted junior players and players from other leagues other than the NHL are not eligible.  Also, players not in the NHL and/or not having yet played a single game in the NHL cannot be put on the active roster.

DRAFT DAY

Each season, the team owners will be asked to submit a list of players (* 18 max, 14 minimum) that he wants to protect (if it's less than 18, up to 2 prospect slots may be available).  The remaining players will go into the free agent market and the draft will occur with the draft order going in reverse order of the final standings from the previous year.  The teams finishing in last place, 2nd-last, and 3rd-last respectively will be eligible for the draft lottery.  The order of the first 3 picks in the draft will be determined lottery style.  A weighted ballot system will be used for the lottery (ping-pong balls in a pouch).  The lottery result is only applicable for the 1st round.  All subsequent rounds go in order of finish in prior year.  

* see Disparity Cap rules

TIMING & DATES

The league runs on a weekly basis.  A ‘week’ begins on the Monday and ends on the Sunday.  The deadline for submitting player transactions is 10:00 PM on the Sunday.  Any roster moves involving free agents, waivers, trades, etc., must be submitted by Sunday 10PM.  Final roster 'tweaks' will be accepted on the Monday until 10AM.  Transactions received after this time will not be processed until the following week. 

The first 4 weeks of the season are the "waiver-free" period.  No waivers fees or waiting periods during this time.  Rosters can be set using all players on your team.  Waivers will kick in after the four weeks, a reminder will be sent asking for finalized active, bench and minors prior to this.

The trade deadline is the same as the NHL trade deadline.

The halfway point of the season will be the half way point as per the NHL schedule (# of games).  This deadline will be announced prior to each season.

SCORING

Skating players (F & D) score 1 fantasy point per goal, 1 point per assist, and ½ point per +/- (up or down).

Goalies score 2 fantasy points per Win, ½ point per tie, and 3 points per shutout. 

Only players on the ‘active roster’ can contribute points to the team totals.  The points for players on the team ‘bench’ and ‘minors’ will be tracked, but will not be included in the team score for the week.

COST

Team cost will be determined by adding the salaries of the 18 most expensive players on each team, calculated immediately after the draft.

Player salary formulas.

F & D>>   Fantasy points per game plus $1.50 if FPPG is greater than or equal to 1, plus $1.00 is FPPG is less than 1

Goalies>>   FPPG plus $1.50 if FPPG is greater than or equal to .75, plus $1.00 if FPPG is less than .75

If a player is ‘unproven’ this means he played less than 10 games (6 games for goalies) in the prior season.  The default salary for ‘unproven’ forwards is $2.50 and for ‘unproven’ defensemen and goalies the default is $2.00.

If any player’s FPPG rises to 1.5 or greater, his salary defaults to $4.00.  If any player’s FPPG rises to 2 or greater, his salary defaults to $5.00.

TRANSACTION FEES

Trades – in a successful trade, each team owner involved will be charged a $1 transaction fee (single or multiple player trades).

Free Agents  – to drop a player from your team to free agency there is no cost.  To pick up a player from free agency, the cost of the transaction is the player’s salary

Player moves from bench to active roster (and vice versa) are free.

Player moves from minors to bench or active roster (see waiver rules) will cost $1 in transaction fees per player.  There is no transaction fee for sending a player down to minors, only for bringing them up from minors.  The $1 fee will be charged regardless of whether the transaction is later revoked (trade rejected). ** See Waiver Rules

Player moves to and from injury reserves are free (with a free call-up from minors for term of injury).  

Off-season or 'Summer' trades cost $0 each.

WINNINGS

There is a payout for the winners of each half (1st and 2nd place) and a grand total payout for the overall full year winners (1st, 2nd, and 3rd place).

Pool winnings are paid out as follows:

Payout at end of each half:

1st place – 10% of team costs plus 60% of transaction fees (less 10% - see below)

2nd place – 5% of team costs plus 40% of transaction fees (less 10% - see below)

 

Grand Total payout (at the end of NHL regular season) – 70% of total team costs.

1st place – 60%

2nd place – 30%

3rd place – 10% + 10% of transaction fees (both halves)

WILDCAT CUP

For each of the 6 months of the season (Oct thru March), there will be a $10 prize for the winner of the Wildcat Cup (most stud points for the month).  Stud points are awarded on a weekly basis as follows, based on FP scored for that week (active roster only).  If multiple players qualify as a stud, they will each be awarded the denoted stud points for the week.  Lima will calculate this stat weekly and will incorporate the scoring into the weekly Wildcat Cup review.  Funds for the prize will come from the transaction fees of each half respectively. (note this also affects the other winnings as they will be reduced by $30 per half, equally split based on existing prize rules)

1st stud - 3 points

2nd stud - 2 points

3rd stud - 1 point

TRADES

Any trade can be made between any team owners.  The only restrictions are the minimum player total (30 players) and the minimum active roster requirements (12 F, 6 D, 2 G).  Trades do not have to be communicated to the commissioner until they have been accepted.  Once a trade is accepted, the commissioner will announce the trade to the entire league.  There then is a 2-day trade veto period.  The trade will be processed immediately under the assumption it will pass veto.  If veto is enforced, the processed trade will be reversed immediately.  

Trading of draft picks is allowed.  You can trade the current year's draft picks and also the next season draft picks.  See draft matrix on the website for the latest info on what draft picks you have and which you have traded.

TRADE VETO

In order to avoid any collusion between 2 or more teams, there is a trade veto feature.  If a trade between 2 or more teams has been accepted, the team owners not involved in the trade can veto the trade by obtaining a 50% or greater vote for veto. 

DROPPING OF PLAYERS

During the course of the season, each team can have no less than 30 total players.  This means each team has 2 ‘free drops’.  This means that any player can be dropped from the active, bench, or minors to free agency.  If the player dropped is from the active roster or bench, a free call-up from the minors is required.  If the player is dropped from the minors, then he must really suck and nobody will care anyway.  There are no transaction fees for ‘free drops’.

INJURY RESERVES

There are 4 injury reserve roster spots.  Each injury reserve spot must be for a minimum of 4 weeks, Season-ending being the maximum length of I/R term.  When placing a player on I/R, the owner MUST specify the length of the injury term at that time.  Failure to provide this information renders the transaction void.  When a player is placed on the injury reserve, he must stay on the injury reserve for the full injury period, regardless of when he actually returns to action in the NHL.  Any points scored by a player on the injury reserve do not count towards the team total points.  A player on the injury reserve is not eligible to be traded and cannot be dropped from the team (to free agency) until after the injury term is complete.

When a player is placed on I/R, a free call up from the minors is required.  The call up does not necessarily have to play the same position.  The player that is called up can be used on the active roster, or on the bench.  He cannot however be involved in any player moves back to the minors and cannot be traded or dropped.  This means that the player called up must stay up for the complete term of the I/R.

FREE AGENTS

These are all of the players who are left after the draft.  A list will be provided (with stats) regularly as the season progresses.  Players can be picked up or dropped to free agency at any time during the season.  If there is a free agent in high demand, the rule is ‘First Come, First Serve’.  The timestamp on the email will be the deciding factor on who gets the free agent.  Depending on the status of your roster, a player may have to be dropped in order to pick up a free agent.  If a player is dropped to free agency, there is a 2-day waiver period on that player.  If more than one team wishes to sign him within that time, the pickup goes to the team that is lower in the LTP overall rankings at that time. 

KHL DEFECTORS

If a player takes off to the KHL, the team that owns that player can place him on the Defectors list.  That player is removed from their team leaving an empty spot (if the minimum roster is affected, a FA may need to be signed to accommodate).  If that player signs a contract to play again in the NHL, the team with rights to that player must decide to add the player to their team at that time, and if necessary, a player may need to be dropped to accommodate.  If the player signs back in the NHL during the summer, that team will have to include that player as part of their protections if they wish to retain the rights to the player. 

WAIVER RULES

After the first 4 weeks of the season, waiver rules are in effect.  From this point on, in order to send a player to the minors, he must first clear a one-week waiver period. 

If a player is placed on waivers, it will be announced to the league on the immediate Sunday.  At this point, the waiver period starts.  An owner wishing to claim the player must communicate this to the player’s owner and the commissioner by 6:00 PM on Wednesday.  The claim for the player must also include a list of players from your active roster or bench.  If the player being claimed is a goalie, the list must include at least 1 goalie as well.  Depending on the player's class (the player being sent down) the claims are subject to the following rules:

        Class A player (rookie or prospect):  claim must include list of 8 players from your bench/active.  The owner can reject the claim.

        Class B player (established players):  claim must include list of 5 players from your bench/active.  The owner can reject the claim.

        Class C player (veteran players):  claim must include list of 5 players from your bench/active.  The owner MUST accept a trade for the player.

Once the claim has been made, the player’s owner has until 6:00 PM on Friday to either accept a player from the list as a trade for the player on waivers, or revoke his original player transaction (keep the player on the bench or active roster).  If no response is received by this time, it is assumed that the owner wishes to revoke his original transaction.  If the player is class C, the owner must accept a trade by Friday, 6PM deadline.

If a claim(s) is made and the owner accepts a trade, the player he receives can be placed in the minors (player he originally wanted to bring up, will be brought up) or he can choose to use the new player in the place of the waived player.  Applicable transaction fees for a trade will be charged, and the $1 waiver fee is dismissed.

If a claim(s) is made and the owner rejects a trade, the player on waivers will remain on the bench or active roster and the original transaction will be cancelled.  The $1 transaction fee will be charged to the transaction originator.

If no claims are made, then the player transaction will be processed and the $1 waiver fee will be charged.

Class P waivers:  if a class P player is put on waivers he cannot be claimed. They still go through the 1 week waiver period however this transaction costs $2 instead of the normal fee. The purpose of this rule is to provide some greater protection for class P players who teams may be waiting to see if they make their NHL team rosters or not.  

IMMEDIATE WAIVERS:  if a team wishes to call up a player from their minors for immediate use in their active roster or bench (to skip the 1 week waiver period) they can specify the immediate waiver option at the time of placing the player on waivers. The LTP will be made aware of this. In exchange for this privilege the waived player - if claimed - must be traded. The right to refuse a trade is negated. By default, this rule means that all class C waiver transactions are "immediate" as class C players must be traded if claimed. Class A or B players can be placed on immediate waivers if desired.  Class P players are not eligible for immediate waivers.

Classification Details:

Class P - prospect:    players who are 25 years old or younger and have played 25 NHL games or less

Class A - rookie class:    players who have played less than 120 career games (70 GP for goalies)

Class B - established players:    players who have played less than 420 career games (200 GP for goalies)

Class C - veteran players:    players who have played 420 or more games (200 or more GP for goalies)

DISPARITY CAP

Disparity calculation is as follows:  (avg of 1st thru 3rd FP Total / avg of 9th thru 11th FP Total) -1.

Protection maximum is 18 players, minimum is 14 players. Final disparity figure will determine the # protected for the following season, based on the following:

If final disparity figure is 40% or greater, # protected reduces by 2 from previous season

If final disparity figure is 30% or greater, # protected reduces by 1 from previous season

If final disparity figure is 20% or greater, # protected stays the same as previous season

If final disparity figure is less than 20%, # protected increases by 1 from previous season