ICE-X Cheat Sheet

What is a simulated hockey league?

A simulated hockey league, unlike the hockey pools that many of you are used to, uses attribute ratings to produce it's own reality. In a typical pool, what happens in real life (ie: injuries, who drafted/signed whom, who’s ‘on the up’, etc) means everything to the people involved.

A simulated hockey league may (or may not) start with attribute-approximations of real-life players, but all of what transpires through a season is a ‘fictional reality’. The degree to which a simulated league swerves from reality differs from league to league.

In this league, we began with attribute-approximations of NHL players and let things take their simulated course. What I mean is, the simulator re-rated (altered the attributes of) the players at the end of each season based on performance in ICE-X, not in the NHL. Similarly, the simulator decides which players in your farm system bloom into pro contributors during the course of each season. What happens, over time, is that you have a league that has unreservedly broken away from reality, with guys you’ve never heard of leading the pack in scoring, or winning the ‘Norris’ trophy.

To factor a little reality back into the mix, GMs are allowed 5 NHL rerates per season. In other words, if Gaborik has a bad ICE-X season and gets a poor re-rate by the simulator, you can always have an NHL re-rate done on him.

However, for the most part, a simulated league brews its own reality by using attribute ratings and such. It isn’t enough to know hockey inside and out. You have to know the sim. You have to know what your team needs based on how the sim works. Certain types of players will prefer playing with other types, and you must discover your own ‘style’ of team-building. Yes, there are many ways of doing this. I, for example, like young teams, and I like my top two lines to be packed with guys who can pass (high PA). I find that passing generates shots on goal. I like my third line to be packed with DF (defensive-minded players).

This is what I do, generally. But I’ve seen championship teams built around speed, or aggression, or anything a real-life championship team might be built around.

The point is, you have complete control over how you build your team. You can hire and fire coaches, draft whoever you want, trade whoever you want, dress whoever you want, scratch whoever you want, alter your farm coaching strategies to develop the types of players you want, alter your lines however you want, change forward player positions (ie: C, LW, RW) to whatever you want, waive whoever you want, claim from waivers whoever you want, sign whatever available FA you want, change the ticket prices in your stadium (and build more stadium seats) whenever you want, etc.

This is what it means to play in a fantasy Hockey League.

What the Player Ratings mean

Each player has 13 attribute ratings: Intensity, Speed, Strength, Endurance, Durability, Discipline, Skating, Passing, Puck Control, Defense, Scoring, Experience and Leadership. These ratings affect how a player performs in the sim, and how he performs in certain 'simulated' situations (such as on the power play, under playoff pressure, etc).

Condition: This is the players' physical health. A player with a condition score of 98 or 97 is fatigued, and therefore more prone to injury. When you see an entry like this: 49:3M, it means the player has a condition score of 49 and it will take approximately 3 months for him to be in game shape.

IT: Intensity. Intensity represents the players' work ethic on the ice. Players with high intensity increase the scoring chances of their line mates by creating havoc on the ice. High intensity also produces more minor penalties.

SP: Speed. The relative skating speed of the player. Fast skaters are able to take advantage of turnovers and therefore increase the offensive output of their line mates. For goalies, it is more a measure of reflexes than skating speed.

ST: Strength. Players with high strength scores are more likely to tip pucks past opposing goalies, and are more apt to win battles in the corners (on both ends).

EN: Endurance. The higher the endurance, the more minutes the player can play in a game without becoming fatigued. When a player becomes fatigued, his performance will drop and his condition score will lower.

DU: Durability. The physical 'toughness' of the player. Unlike strength, this statistic reflects how injury prone the player is. A player with low DU is more likely to get injured.

DI: Discipline. The lower the discipline, the more likely the player will take penalties (major and minor). However, low discipline also boosts your teams' intimidation factor.

SK: Skating. How well the player skates. Unlike speed, this reflects the players' agility on the ice and his ability to avoid being checked.

PA: Passing. How well the player passes the puck. Players with high passing (obviously) increase your teams' number of scoring chances by creating plays.

PC: Puck Control. This represents the players' ability to retain the puck in high traffic areas, or when checked.

DF: Defense. How well a player positions himself without the puck. Players with high DF decrease the offensive output of the opposing team.

SC: Scoring. How proficient the player is at scoring goals.

EX: Experience. Players with experience have a 'calming effect' on their line mates in tight games. Highly experienced players are extremely desirable in the playoffs.

LD: Leadership. Leaders also have a 'calming effect' over their line mates in tight games. Good leaders effect everyone on their team, not just their line mates.

OR: Players' overall offensive rating.

DR: Players' overall defensive rating.

League Rules

• All trades are subject to approval by a trade committee.

• All GM's are given a resonable amount of time to answer trade requests.  If the request is not answered, he/she may be fined or ejected from the league at the Board of Governors'  discretion. 

• In the event that you decide to make a web page for your team, you will be awarded one of two things, based on your preference:  (1)  $5,000,000 will go to your team, or (2) You will be given the opportunity to randomize a rookie player and name him whatever you wish (within reason :)). 

•  If you choose the 'active trades' option on the trade page, any of your players' individual statistics may be augmented (20% chance) higher or lower (50% chance for each) by a number of points. The number of augmentation points are determined randomly. Mathematically, the program works like this: Check each stat (20%) for the possibility of augmentation. Determine the number of augmentation points (1-10).

• Re-rates:  There are two types of re-rates in ICE.  You may ask for an NHL re-rate on any 5 players in between seasons.  Re-rates will be based on NHL performance. Furthermore, all players are re-rated based on their performance by the simulator (such re-rates are usually not harsh, but could be over multiple seasons if the player is not performing).  NHL rerates can be used to counter detrimental ICE performances.

• Free Agency: There are two types of free agents:  Restricted and Unrestricted.

  A restricted free agent is a player whose rights are owned by a certain team, whether he has a contract with that team or not.  If that player signs a contract with another team, then the team who owns his rights is entitled to compensation.  For all intents and purposes, this transaction is similar to a trade, albeit a forced one with the players' best interests in mind (the players' agent  determines which team to do business with, not the team holding his rights).  Both teams must agree to what constitutes 'fair compensation', and the team holding the players' rights always has the option to match an offer. If the teams involved cannot agree on 'fair compensation' (three rejected offers, or 72 hours-- whichever happens first), then the matter will be resolved by the BOG.   The BOG will follow the compensatory guidelines below to the letter. As is the case in the NHL, ALL DRAFTPICKS PAID AS COMPENSATION MUST BELONG TO THE OFFERING TEAM, AND THEY MUST BE SUCCESSIVE PICKS.  That means if you sign an RFA for $3,000,000, you MUST already be in possession of your 1st rounders for the next three drafts .
 If you are not in possession of the necessary assets and your RFA offer escalates to the BOG, your offer will be considered illegal and the BOG may fine you (proceeds going to the team holding the rights).  Going after an RFA is very dangerous business and should only be attempted after much deliberation.  Going after more than one per simulation (therefore not knowing where you stand with your assets) is stupid, generally very annoying, and will likely be punished.

Salary Compensation Guidelines

Under $551,076 None
$551,076 - $757,729  1 3rd Round Choice
$757,730 - $895,498  1 2nd Round Choice
$895,499 - $1,102,152 1 1st Round Choice
$1,102,153 - $1,377,689 1 1st & 1 3rd Round Choices
$1,377,690 - $1,653,227 1 1st & 1 2nd Round Choices
$1,653,228 - $1,928,765  2 1st Round Choices
$1,928,766 - $2,342,071 2 1st & 1 2nd Round Choices
$2,342,072 - three 1st Round Choices
Each Additional $1,377,689 One additional 1st round choice (5 max)

  An unrestricted free agent is a player without contract and ownership.  He essentially can sign and play with whatever team he/she wishes.  Any player thirty (30) years of age or older automatically becomes an unrestricted  free agent when his current contract expires.  Unrestricted free agents can differ in what sorts of things they are looking for in a contract.   If the UFA's statistics have declined over the last two years (if no ICE stats are available, then NHL stats will be used), he will be motivated by money over a long-term contract ( i.e.:  $2,000,000 over 3 years is greater than $4,000,000 over one year).  A UFA whose statistics have stayed similar or increased over the last two years will be motivated by money over a short-term contract (i.e. 4,000,000 over one year is greater than $2,000,000 over three). 

• Free Agency.  Players who clear waivers (ie: do not have their contracts picked up by another team) automatically become UFA's. Players who become UFA's in this manner are generally cheaper to sign.

• Salary Caps:  $45,000,000 pro roster only. If a team exceeds the cap, we will know immediately. I’ve written scripts on the webserver that notify me as soon as this happens. Teams who exceed the cap have 48 hours to get under it, otherwise we will step in and make the necessary adjustments for you. Since it is your responsibility to remain under the cap, I will not listen to any sort of appeal on this matter. If you go over the cap, and you receive an email stating you have 48 hours to get under the cap, and you do not fix the problem within 48 hours, someone (either myself, Charles, or the assistant Commish) will fix it for you. If you don’t like how we fix it, that’s your problem.

•  Player Stadiums:  GM's may set their ticket prices or increase the number of seats in their stadiums.  An NHL stadium may have up to 22,000 seats.

• Awards and Voting:  Teams will receive cash as follows:

Additionally, teams will receive the following cash awards at the end of the season.

The Draft

Offseason is a time for signing free agents and retiring players who can no longer contribute to the league. Additionally, it's also a time for scouts to travel around the world and find those players who are ripping it up elsewhere. It costs $200,000 to 'scout' a player in the XOHL. Essentially, if you chose to scout a player, you will receive that players' game attributes (ie: IT, SK, etc, etc). Email me whenever you want to scout a player.

First round draftpicks come to your ICEX team (ie: leave the XOHL) immideately. Second round draft picks arrive when they turn 21, OR when they play their first NHL game. Third round draft picks arrive when they turn 23, OR (again) when they play their first NHL game.

It is every GM's responsibility to keep track of their draftpicks. If you see that one of your prospects belongs with your ICE-X team, let me know and I will promote him.