Vintage Hockey League
Official Rules
January 6th, 2016
ABOUT THE VHL
Vintage Hockey League begins in the NHL year of 1990-1991, when the NHL
was compiled of less teams and much better talent. Every attempt will be made to
mirror how new expansion occurred and also how teams moved and rebranded
throughout the years. The 21 teams will start with authentic rosters and coaches for
the 90-91 season. New players will be introduced via Entry Draft, as they were in
the NHL. Farm teams will be active, although it will take a couple of seasons for
most to be filled completely. As commissioner, I will make every effort to ensure
an authentic “retro” experience for the GMs of the league.
GM RESPONSIBILITIES
Given the smaller # of teams we will be starting with, it is absolutely imperative
that GMs be very committed to actively contributing to the VHL in some or all of
the following ways...
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Sending in lines on a regular basis
Responding to messages in a timely manner
Maintaining a moderate presence on Skype
Participating in forum discussions
Volunteering for a league “job”
Maintaining a degree of respect for fellow GMs and the VHL
There will be little to no tolerance for any GM who fails to observe to adequate
levels, a combination of the above points.
STHS
The league will begin operations using the STHS Version 2. It has been my
experience that the V2 allows for much more customization of league options,
teams, and strategies which in turn reduces the randomness factor when compared
to the V1.
SETTINGS
- The league is run using the STHS simulator program version 2.2.3.1.
Extensive testing was done to get the settings in the most realistic outcome as
possible, however with rating changes from season to season those settings may
need to be changed to reflect realistic scoring. Our #1 goal in the VHL is to
produce realistic statistical outcome as possible.
VHL does use the waivers system. You are allowed to send players 30 years of age
or younger to the minor leagues without having to pass through waivers. However
once a player has appeared in at least 10 games in the pros, should he be sent down
to the minors you are responsible for his full salary not just the 50% that you are
usually responsible to pay minor leaguers.
PORTAL
League activity will take place primarily on our portal website @
www.vintagehl.net. GMs should post and participate in discussions regularly. Feel
free to introduce yourself to the league by writing a team article or posting on the
front page. All literature for the purpose of generating interest in the league – be it
for the 20 other GMs to read, or for a potential new GM checking out the league
for the first time will be awarded with $250,000 added to their sim account.
FRANCHISES
Each franchise will consist of an NHL team and an AHL team. NHL teams must
maintain a minimum of 18 players and 2 goalies to a maximum of 23 players
active at all times. AHL teams will not be required to maintain a minimum number
of players; however it should be noted that using “Unknown Players” will
significantly hinder the performance of your AHL team and adversely affect the
development of the players in your farm. It will be expected that all teams stay
above the league imposed salary cap floor of $3,000,000 and below the salary cap
ceiling of $39,000,000.
LINES
GMs are responsible to submit lines on a regular basis. Double-shifting is
discouraged but will be allowed in order to play a seventh defenseman or have an
extra forward. This means that one (1) forward may be permitted to play on
another line provided it isn’t the first two lines (ie. Forward can play on line 1 and
one of either line 3 or 4. Not line 2). Secondly, for power-play, only – one forward
may play defense and vise-versa. Failure to maintain complete lines (NHL team) or
to respect the “double-shifting rule” will result in reduced player and team
performance.
WAIVERS
Zero game minimum, age 30 and older must pass through waivers
The idea is to have teams use a 23 man roster and have to put thought into who
they send to and from the minors
GOALTENDERS START RULE
Starting netminders are permitted to play a max 65 games in the season. This will
require teams to play their backup goaltender at least 17 times. This rule is
effective in both pro and farm. Starters may enter a game in relief even if they have
played their max 65.
If you trade for a goalie who has played 65 games already or close to it, that does
not mean his number of games changes. There are no limits during playoffs.
POSITION CHANGES
All requests to change a player’s position must be sent to the league Commish via
email; slomo76@hotmail.com or via the portal. A supporting web link must be
provided from a reasonably reliable source. Positions indicated in the link must be
specific; “Forward” is not specific enough. Changes will be made exactly as
indicated by the link.
TRADING
GMs are free to trade players and picks as they see fit. However, should any deal
seem “suspicious” in any way the commissioner and two other GMs will review
the deal and possibly inquire about what the thought process is behind it. That
said, all attempts will be made to avoid having to do this. In the end, the integrity
of the league will be the mitigating factor in ever having to “investigate” a
potential trade.
Picks from any year up to 4 years forward can be traded with the exception of 1st
round picks which can only be traded in the same year they are to be used.
Future considerations can be made, although it is up to the GMs involved to
follow-up on them.
UNASSIGNED PLAYERS
Unassigned players can be signed by any team at any time on a first come, first
served basis. Offers should be made directly via the portal. For season one, it’s
very likely there will be no unassigned players.
FREE AGENCY
Players must be signed to a contract extension by the end of the regular season or
will be subject to free agency (unless arbitration eligible, see arbitration). Even if
the player is an RFA, if they are not signed to a contract by the end of the regular
season you risk losing that player.
CONTRACTS
Contract amounts and lengths (up to 4 years) are to be negotiated using the VHL
Web Portal.
You will have 1 to 3 chances to sign a player. Should you fail to reach an
agreement with the player, he will break off negotiations and you will be unable to
make him an offer until he becomes a UFA.
Contracts may be bought out at any time by paying 50% of the amount owed in the
remaining years of the contract, excluding the season in progress. Players may be
released during the final year of their contract at no cost to the team.
NO TRADE CLAUSES
Teams may only have a total of four (4) players with a NTC in their organization at
any given time
The plan is to limit the thought of locked in deals holding back trading and player
movement
ARBITRATION
Players under the age of 27 who are in the last year of their contract are considered
RFA. If you are not able to come to terms with the player in the 3 contract offer
chances you have to sign them you still have an option to keep their rights by
offering the player arbitration.
 To offer arbitration you must email the Commissioner’s office by the end of
the regular season.
 You must have exhausted all 3 contract offers to the player.
The Commissioner’s office will take many different factors into account when
deciding an arbitration contract including, current contract, salary of comparable
players, overall rating, potential, player statistics in pro or farm and even take into
account GM activity.
The team will have to decide whether to accept or deny the given salary for that
player. If they elect to accept the salary awarded they will sign the player to that
salary for 1 year. If they chose to deny the awarded salary the player will become a
UFA and no compensation will be given for the team losing the player. The league
gives a specific amount of time for the teams to make the decision and it needs to
be completed before the Free Agency bidding can begin.
AMATEUR DRAFT
Prior to the start of each season an amateur draft will be held where GMs will be
able to select prospects to join their teams. There are 3 rounds per draft and each
team has one pick per round. Picks may be traded from any year at any time. The
draft order will be determined by the reverse order of the regular season standings.
Newly drafted prospects will be assigned a 3-year contract based on the round each
was selected:
 Round 1 = $300,000
 Round 2 = $250,000
 Round 3 = $200,000
JUNIORS
The VHL is unique in that it has a junior league that runs concurrent with it. The
“J” is a 12 team league stocked with draft eligible players, non draft eligible
players, as well as drafted prospects.
 Eligible players – Those who will be available to select in that year’s VHL
Entry Draft
 Non-Eligible players – Players who are one year away from being draft
eligible
 Drafted prospects – These are players who have already been drafted and are
the property of their parent VHL club.
The J will always be compiled of two draft classes at any given time (Eligible and
Non-Eligible).
All draft eligible players are real one time NHL’ers selected in that year’s real life
NHL entry draft.
Only the players with the most games played in their NHL careers will be selected
to round out each VHL draft class, thus allowing for all three rounds to be stocked
full of exceptional talent.
Junior aged players may only play up to a max of 4 seasons in the VJHL or until
the age of 20. Upon completing their 4th VJHL season, the player must be signed
to a contract and placed on the active roster.
Prospects may only be placed on active rosters 2 times per season. Those times are
the offseason, and during the regular season up to the game 41 mark (allstar break).
Prospects may not be sent down to the VJHL after being placed on the active
roster.
SPENDING MONEY
Each franchise will start out with $5,000,000 as their starting bank roll. This
money is intended to keep the franchise on stable footing. With profits from home
game ticket sales along with any other cash incentives (ie- writing articles, holding
down a league appointed position etc), building bank should be a definite
possibility. So what can you spend your money on?
Training Camps-
Each GM will be allowed to send up to 3 players to training camp in the off
season. The purpose of these camps is to improve specific skills for these
players. Only players with a potential (PO) rating of 79 or less may be sent
to a camp. The cost of each camp is $1,000,000 and a player can only be
sent to one camp per year. The player will gain +3 in a primary skill, +2 in a
secondary skill, and +3 EX, LD, and PO.
Forwards and Defensemen
Camp Type
Speedster
Magician
Sniper
Playmaker
Defensive Specialist
Primary Skill (+2)
SK
PH
SC
PA
DF
Secondary Skill (+1)
EN
FO
PS
DU
CK
Primary Skill (+2)
SK
RB
SC
HS
RT
Secondary Skill (+1)
PC
DU
EN
AG
PS
Goalies
Camp Type
3rdDman
Black Hole
Technician
Gunslinger
Battler
Sponsorship Deals-
Earn money by reaching goals established by the team’s/player’s sponsors
as described below...
Team (max 1)
Sponsor
MOLSON
COORS
FORD
COKE
PEPSI
Goal
.500+ WINNING %
.650+ WINNING %
REACH PLAYOFFS
250+ GOALS FOR
-200+ GOALS AGAINST
Investment/Reward
$100,000/$200,000
$100,000/$300,000
$100,000/$250,000
$100,000/$225,000
$100,000/$225,000
Goal
Avg. 1+ Point per Game
90+ Points
35+ Goals
50+ Assists
30+ Wins
2.70- GAA
Investment/Reward
$50,000 / $100,000
$50,000 / $150,000
$50,000 / $125,000
$50,000 / $125,000
$50,000 / $150,000
$50,000 / $150,000
Player (max 1)
Sponsor
CCM
UNDER ARMOUR
BAUER
MISSION
EASTON
NIKE
Team Poularity-
STHS has a new feature called Team Popularity. It will influence how much
attendance your team will get. To determine your teams popularity there will
be a so called 5 year standing table. In this table there will be determined
how many points every team won the previous seasons.
For example:
The average team earned 85 points per season the last 5 seasons. Your team
earned an average of 90 points. Your team popularity will now be
90/85*100=105.88
The raining Stanley Cup champion gets an extra 4 points and the finalist
gets 2
Expansion teams receive the average league points for years they did not
play.
Team with the first overall pick gets an extra 1 point
Private Clinic-
A GM may be faced with injuries during the season. In order to limit the
damage of those BIG loses, the VHL has implemented the option of using a
private clinic in hopes of speeding up the healing process. Every VHL
franchise will be given a default clinic token. This will allow the GM the
option of taking a “roll” via random.org to see what type of healing will be
permitted if at all. Additional “rolls” may be purchased up to a total of 3
(default + 3) to the tune of 5,000,000 per “roll”. Listed below is the
breakdown of the random.org numbers.
1-10 STATUS QUO
11-20 +5 CON
21-30 +10 CON
31-40 STATUS QUO
41-50 +15 CON
51-60 -5 CON
61-70 STATUS QUO
71-80 -5 CON
81-90 STATUS QUO
91-100 -10 CON
Season Ending Injuries
Any player suffering an injury leaving said player with a CON rating of 25 or less
will be subject to a “season ending roll”
1-50 STATUS QUO
51-60 50 CON BOOST
61-90 STATUS QUO
91-100 SEASON ENDING INJURY
PLAYER RATINGS
In-season Rerates-
Player ratings can change during the season depending on the player’s
performance.
Training Camps-
Some players will be allowed to be sent to training camp to hone various
skills (see Training Camps section above)
Rerate Points-
These can be used in the off-season to improve the ratings of players at the
discretion of the GM. A maximum of 2 points can be attributed to any one
category with a maximum of 5 points to any one player. Each team will start
with a base of 5 rerate points. Rerate points cannot be used on a player that
is also being sent to a camp.
AWARDS
At the conclusion of every season the league will hand out awards to teams and
individuals for various accomplishments. In some cases these awards come with
cash and/or rerate bonuses.
Team Awards
Stanley Cup (+6 Rerate Points + $500,000); playoff champion
Calder Cup (+3 Rerate Points + $500,000); farm champion
Prince of Wales Trophy ($250,000)
Clarence Campbell Trophy ($250,000)
President’s Trophy ($250,000); best overall regular season record
Player/Coach Awards
(rerate points attributed to award winner)
Hart Trophy (+1); most valuable player
Art Ross Trophy (+1); top point scorer
James Norris Trophy (+1); best defenseman
Calder Trophy (+1); rookie of the year
Vezina Trophy (+1); best goalie
Conn Smythe Award (+1); playoff MVP
ARENA EXPANSION
I have created a building concept that lends itself to the 1990’s arena boom that
took over the NHL. The first thing I did was look at the cost of the buildings that
were built over this time frame, as well as the size of building and a rough look at
how STHS would interpret their attendance into a sim. With that in mind I have
created an easy method for GM’s to build a new arena.
First off to get things started a $25M fee must be paid. This would be for the
proposal, land purchase, admin fees, and all of those other bothersome things one
must go through to get a building off the ground. This is an upfront fee that must
be paid regardless of any situation that may come later (i.e. Municipal help).
Next up is a basic chart with a minimum and maximum capacity per STHS
section. Under this model, a team could build a new arena anywhere from small
(14,600) to large (21200). While the small number is really low for a team to be
successful, it does give some building leeway. It should also be noted that the Bell
Center has a capacity of 21288. Once capacity is determined then simple math is
used from this point. Each seat is worth a dollar figure so math will dictate where
the final price tag will go from there. It should also be mentioned that a 2%
inflation (which can be adjusted over time) will be added year over year to keep
the costs in line with real builds. With a new build, obviously popularity of the
club and its attendance will increase. I propose a five year build, with +25 the first
year, +20 the second, then +15, +10, +5 the following years.
Chart:
Level 1: 5000-7000 ($12000/seat)
Level 2: 4000-6000 ($8000/seat)
Level 3: 1500-2500 ($5000/seat)
Level 4: 3500-4500 ($4000/seat)
Luxury Box: 600-1200 ($30000/seat)
Obviously it takes a little while to build a new building, so don’t expect it to be
done right away. In fact the wait will have to wait at least one season for it to be
built.
To add a wrinkle and maybe have some fun with this, I also propose that via
a random.org draw teams can ask for municipal funding. The draw will be simple,
there is a 50% chance the local government will give you $0. However there is a
5% chance you will get half paid, 10% chance a third gets paid, 15% chance a
quarter gets paid and 20% chance one-fifth of the cost is covered. Where this gets
interesting is you can only ask once a year, and for those that want to relocate, you
have to have been denied local monies to even consider it. For those that want to
relocate a $25M cheque will have to write to the league to even apply for
relocation. This means you better have a rock solid proposal to go to the league
with.
For teams that don’t want to rebuild, I have also thought up of arena improvements
that will be lead to a higher team popularity or team morale. Item’s like new seats
($500/seat), scoreboards ($3M), and lobbies ($3.5 M) will make for better fan
interaction and there for offer up a small boost in team popularity (max 5). While
improved dressing rooms ($5M), training rooms ($3M), or ice factories ($1M) will
give the players a better morale (max 5).
By doing this we have an additional avenue for us to spend money or save money.
I assure you the costs to build a building will be close to accurate to what was
actually spend in real life. Also with this the leagues avenue to relocation is
clearly defined.
CONCLUSION/INTEGRITY STATEMENT
The league and Commissioner’s office will always act with league integrity in
mind.
If a particular GM is not actively participating in tasks, for instance attempting to
sign their own free agents, the league can step in, remove the GM and sign the
players to contracts through the website to maintain the integrity of the league.
To maintain league integrity the “Newbie Rule” was implemented that states that
all new GM’s will be in a probationary period of 2 weeks, during this time any
trades made will be subject to review from league members that if 3 GM’s feel the
trade is not in the best interest of the league, it can be revoked. All GM’s must put
league interest ahead of personal team interest.
It is in the league’s best interest to have 21 functional and competitive teams. The
league will not attempt to add players to teams without owners, but will attempt to
keep their rosters intact by signing their own free agents and drafting quality
players.
This CBA was created for use starting season 1 of the VHL. If any important facts
are missing or the league needs to make adjustments to any rules in this CBA it is
within the right of the league to do so without prior notice.
All GM’s need to dedicate themselves to reading and understanding the complete
CBA and doing their best to take the time to follow each rule to the best of their
ability.
If you have any questions about any rule in the CBA feel free to contact the
Commissioner at slomo76@hotmail.com.