Federation of Calculated Hockey
RULEBOOK

To assemble a lineup of 28 players whose cumulative active NHL statistics during the regular season, compiled and measured by the methods described in these rules, exceed those of all other teams in the league.

A team’s active roster consists of the following 20 players: 3 Right Wings, 3 Left Wings, 3 Centers, 6 Defensemen, 2 Goaltenders and 3 extra skaters whose position is left to the discretion of the team’s owner.

A team will have a full roster size of 28 players. The 8 inactive players may be at any position.

A team will not be required to maintain the 28-man limit during the off-season. The team’s roster must be at the 28-man limit for the Draft, with the exception of those players listed on Retired or Injured lists.

A draft will be held with teams picking in reverse order of regular season finish. The first three rounds will consist of all teams. From the fourth round on, the highest seeded team remaining in the draft will be eliminated from the draft until the final round consists of only the last place team from the previous season. The team that wins the League championship playoffs will pick last in every round but will maintain its earned number of picks based on the previous regular season’s standings.

A team is under no obligation to use all of its draft picks and passing on a draft pick will not preclude the team from exercising any future picks.

The draft will take place on the weekend following the opening of the NHL regular season.

The draft can be postponed from that weekend for the following events:

• Wedding

• Birth

• Funeral

• Hospitalization

When a team drafts a player that puts them over the 28 man roster limit, that team must IMMEDIATELY cut a player OTHER than the player just drafted, and that player is eligible to be drafted by any team after he clears waivers. The exception to this rule is if the drafting team places a player on the Injured or Retired list.

Each team will have 3 minutes to make each selection.

Each team will have 2 timeouts during the draft. One will be 5 minutes in length, the other will be 10 minutes. When a timeout is taken, the full amount of time will be used regardless of the fact that the team which called the timeout may not need the full time. A unanimous vote can end the timeout at any time.

The draft will be scheduled for a certain time and will begin promptly at that time. Any team(s) not present when the draft begins will be subject to the following rule: The draft will continue, and the late team will make their pick when they arrive – accepting the possibility that their choice of player may have already been drafted.

A player may be drafted and played at the position at which he is listed in a league approved* publication. If the player is listed in a pre-season publication, the player must be listed at his position in a ROSTER as opposed to a STATS page. The player is not eligible to play any other position with the following exception:

The player is listed at a different position in an approved source. The player may be played at this position only for as long as he is listed at the alternate position in the appropriate source.

A player may be declared at a position on a minor league roster only if he is not listed on an NHL roster in an approved source. If a player is declared at a minor league position and a protest is raised, it is the responsibility of the team registering the protest to provide proof of the infraction.

* = A list of approved publications follows. This list is subject to change at the discretion of the league. If a source is not listed, the league can still approve it by a simple majority vote.

• NHL site – Team Sections

• NHLPA

• CBC Hockey Night in Canada – Roster Section

• The Sports Network – Roster Section

• ESPN – Roster Section

• Fox Sports – Roster Section

• CANOE NHL Team Sites – Roster Section

• USA Today Roster Page

• CBS Sportsline Players Section

• The Sporting News - Team Reports/Roster

• The Hockey News – Roster Section in Print Version

• Hockey Digest – Rosters only

• Forecaster Season Preview – Roster Section in Print Version

• The Hockey News Yearbook

• The Sporting News Yearbook

• USA Today – Printed version – Roster Section

Once a player is cut from a team, he loses his position restriction. His position must be re-established upon his re-entry into the league.

If a player is traded, the new team may determine a new position for the player by the method described above. If this player is later traded back to his original team, he must be used at the position at which that team initially declared him.

If a player was already in the league the previous season, he may be kept at his old position for a period of not more than one year.

If a player is listed at multiple positions in an approved source he may be declared at one and only one of those positions.

An Injured List exists, and for a player to be placed on this list requires that he be listed as injured in an approved source, or other verifiable proof be presented. If an active player is placed on this list, a replacement player must be added to the active roster. The player on the injured list will not count against the size of a team’s 28-man roster. The player on the injured list must remain on the list for a minimum of 3 weeks.

In addition to the requirements listed above, a player may be placed on the injured list only if he is currently playing in the NHL.

When the player is no longer listed as injured in an approved source, and has returned to active status for his NHL team, he MUST be taken off the team’s injured list (with the exception that the player must serve 3 weeks on a team’s injured list). This may put a team over the 28-man limit. If this is the case, then the team has to announce a cut effective at the start of the next scoring week. If no cut is announced, then the player who came off the injured list will automatically be considered cut. A team can specify when the player is placed on the injured list, which player will be cut once the injured player is required to be removed from the injured list, thus avoiding the penalty of having the injured player become the player cut. Until the cut is announced, the player coming off the injured list may NOT be placed on the active roster. * = Since the HOCKEY NEWS is almost two weeks behind on injury moves, a team may challenge any injury moves based on HOCKEY NEWS information.

A player may be placed on the injured list before the start of the season, as long as proof of injury is provided. This player will be required to miss the first three weeks of the regular season.

The following criteria are used to measure performance:

• Total goals scored

• Total assist points (assist * 0.6)

• Total adjusted +/- rating

• Composite goalie points

Composite goalie points are to be determined as follows:

(1-a team’s composite save percentage) * 145 = goalie points.

The teams are ranked from first to last and given points in the following manner:

1st = 10 points

2nd = 8 points

3rd = 6 points

4th = 4 points

5th = 2 points

6th = 1 point

7th= 0 points

8th = 0 points

If two teams tie for a position they will each get the average number of points of the positions they are tied for. The exception is that a tie for 5th and 6th or a tie for 6th and 7th will give each team only 1 point. The season will consist of 20 regular season weeks.

The regular season will begin the week after the opening week of the NHL season and will conclude 6 full weeks prior to the conclusion of the NHL season.

FOCH will not score weeks in which a “full complement”* of games are not played. Scoring is the only function that does not take place during a non-scoring week as determined by the league.

* = Full complement will be determined by the league at the start of the season.

A playoff will be conducted in the 5 weeks following the end of the FOCH regular season. The final week of the NHL regular season will not be used due to teams resting players during the last few games of a season.

If teams are tied for a position at the end of the regular season then the tiebrakers used to determine the final positions will be as follows:

1. Cumulative points

2. Most 1st place finishes

3. Most 2nd place finishes

4. Most 3rd place finishes

5. Most 4th place finishes

6. Most 5th place finishes

7. Most 6th place finishes

8. Coin flip

During the playoffs each team will be allowed 7 personnel moves.

Each team will receive 3 free moves to setup their playoff roster at the end of the regular season. These moves are only valid for the initial week of the playoffs, whether or not a team has a bye. If the 3 moves are not made then they are lost. Any moves over 3 will come from the aforementioned 7 player personnel moves.

The playoffs will be conducted in the following manner:

Week 1: Teams 3 and 6 are in head to head competition, as are teams 4 and 5

Week 2: Team 1 plays the lowest remaining seed in head to head competition. Team 2 plays the higher remaining seed in head to head competition.

Weeks 3 – 5: Winners of Week 2 play head to head for three weeks in a best 2 out of 3 series, with the winner being declared the league champion.

If there is a tie during any of the playoffs, the winner will be the team with the greater number of goals minus goaltending points.

During the playoffs no team may remove a player from, or place a player on, their injured list. There will be no free agent nominations, signings, waivers, waiver claims or trading during the playoffs. This applies to non-playoff teams as well as to the playoff teams.

Scoring is done on a weekly basis and all numbers in the following formulas are to be considered the player and/or teams numbers for the week.

Position players receive points in the following categories:

Goals, Assists and Adjusted +/-

1 point per goal

.6 points per assist

Adjusted +/- =

0.26 *((player +/- -((((team +/- * 4.95)/((team gp * 18) – player gp)) * player gp))

where all the player and team numbers are numbers for the week.

Goalies will reduce a teams point just as they do in real life. All goaltenders start with 0 points and their score is determined as follows:

(Save % -1) *145

Each team must specify a certain percentage of its goalie points to come from each goaltender. The maximum % a goalie can carry is 75%. If neither goaltender plays during the week then the team is credited with a Save % of .800.

EXAMPLE

Goalie % Assigned Shots Saves

Goalie 1 70 35 31

Goalie 2 30 67 65

Team Total = (0.7 * 31 + 0.3 * 65) =41.20 /

(0.7 * 35 + 0.3 * 67) =44.60 = .924

A team’s goalies cumulative games played must be greater than or equal to 2. If a team’s goalies cumulative games played is not greater than or equal to 2, that team will be assigned a Save % of .800 for the week.

The players on a team will be placed on lines and their stats shall be weighted accordingly. For forwards, there will be 4 lines. Each line will default to 25%. The maximum value for a line can be 35% while the lowest value can be 15%. The extra line must be the lowest value of all 4 lines (or tied for lowest value). The players’ scores will be computed by dividing the line percentage by 25 and multiplying their stats for the week by that number.

EXAMPLE

Player 1 posting a week of :

1G, 3A + .2 at 35% would currently give a score of 3.0 (1 + 1.8 +0.2). Under the line format, Player 1’s score would be:

((1 * 1.4) + (1.8 * 1.4) + (0.2 * 1.4)) – (1.4 + 2.52 + .28) = 4.2

For defensemen there will be 3 lines and the default value is 33%. The maximum line value is 45% and the minimum value is 20%.

A goaltender will not be eligible to be listed at the “extra” position. A player declared as a goaltender can only be listed as a goaltender.

If a player is active and hasn’t played for 2 full weeks, the 3rd active week he will be assessed penalty points if he does not play.

The same rules apply to a goaltender and the penalty for a goaltender is that he will be assigned 28 shots and 22.4 saves for 2/3 of his NHL team’s games played for the week.

All rosters for a week are to be set before the start of the first NHL game of the scoring week. Any transactions must be reported to the league by posting them on the league web site or via email.

A player’s statistics will be compiled for each week, but will not affect a team’s performance in those weeks where the player is not on the active 20-man roster.

In the case where a team submits a weekly roster which does not have the lines add up to 100%, the following criteria for altering the percentages will be applied:

If the total exceeds 100% and the week is underway when discovered, then subtract the offending amount from the top line until it reaches the minimum value of 15%. If the percentage still exceeds 100% then the second line begins having percentage subtracted in the same manner. This continues until 100% is reached.

Ex: Lines given are 35%, 30%, 25%, 25% for a total of 115%. Since 15% needs to be removed it is subtracted from the top line, which gets reduced in value to 20%. The resulting line percentages are: 20%, 25%, 25%, 20%.

If a team is at 100% but exceeds the maximum value for a line, use the maximum value but do not add the rest anywhere. The result will be a total under 100%.

Ex: Lines given are 40%, 25%, 20%, 15% for a total of 100%. The top line would be reduced to the maximum of 35% but the 5% would not be redistributed. The resulting line percentages are 35%, 25%, 20%, 15% for a total of 95%.

If a team is under 100%, no penalty is applied, but correction can not be made.

Ex: Lines given are 30%, 30%, 20%, 15% for a total of 95%. This stays as is.

If a team is under the minimum for a line, subtract from the top line the amount needed to get the line to the minimum.

Ex: Lines given are 35%, 30%, 25%, 10% for a total of 100%. However 10% is below the 15% minimum allowed. The needed 5 % is taken from the top line. The resulting line percentages are 30%, 30%, 25%, 15%.

If there is an error in scoring, the error must be found and the official scorer notified by Noon Monday, 2 weeks from the time of the error. Any error found after this 2 week period will be considered irreversible. During playoffs and at the end of the regular season when playoff matchups are determined, any error must be found and brought to the attention of the scorer within 72 hours. Any error not discovered before all rosters for the next round are submitted will be considered irreversible.

Teams are free to make trades at any time, with the exception of the period of time when 4 full weeks* remain in the regular season until the end of the playoffs, and from the period of midnight of the day before the opening of the NHL regular season until the beginning of the draft.

*= A week is considered to begin at the beginning of the first NHL game of the scoring week, which starts on Monday.

If a trade were to put a team over the 28-man roster limit then the team must make its cut or move part of the trade. No trade will be official unless and until any relevant cuts are announced at the time of the trade.

Any and all trades must be announced to the league within a reasonable period of time by a separate email either as noted in Section 8 above or in a separate email later in the week.

Each team will receive $30 for free agent acquisition during the course of the regular season.

Free agent eligibility is defined as only those players currently on an active roster in the NHL. Players listed on the injured list of an approved source cannot be nominated for free agent pickup

Teams may sign free agents at any time during the regular season. All free agents must be nominated by the start of the first NHL game of the scoring week, which starts on Monday. All free agent nominations will be submitted by email. Bids will be made via email to the league Free Agent Monitor by midnight on Thursday.

Once a free agent is nominated all teams may submit a bid for the player. The player will go the team with the high bid, and in the case of two teams both submitting an equal high bid, the player will go to the team which nominated him. If the nominating team is not one of the high bid teams, then the player will go to the team with the lower position in the standings.

A team that nominates a player automatically bids $1 for that player. Bids must be made in whole dollar amounts.

If a free agent acquisition puts a team over the 28-man limit then that team must cut down to 28 by the start of the following scoring week (provided they have been informed of the acquisition) by notifying the league. If they do not specify a cut then the free agent will be considered to be the player cut, AND the team will still assume the cost of the free agent signing. Until the cut is announced, the free agent may not be activated.

If the player is automatically cut due to complete and total inaction by the start of the next scoring week on the part of the team which acquired the player, then the player is awarded to the team which had the next highest bid, which can then activate him the following scoring week.

No players signed as free agents are eligible to be kept by the signing team for the following season and are eligible for the following year’s draft.

All players must clear waivers.

Teams are allowed to claim players in reverse order of standing. For the first three weeks of the season, the finish from the previous season is used to determine claiming order. Beginning in week 4 the current season’s standings will be used.

The team cutting the player will not be able to claim that player.

Players cut during the season must be claimed by midnight of the following Thursday or they return to the available player pool.

All transactions, league notifications and communications, with the exception of private trade talks, Waiver claims and Free Agent bids, will take place at the website. Waiver claims and Free Agent bids must be submitted to fochfa AT gmail.com.

The Federation of Calculated Hockey will adhere to the following deadlines. These are described in various other locations in the rulebook, but are being placed together here as a matter of convenience.

Trading Deadlines

Teams are free to make trades at any time, with the exception of the period of time when 4 full weeks* remain in the regular season until the end of the playoffs, and from the period of midnight of the day before the opening of the NHL regular season until the beginning of the draft.

Scoring Week

The scoring week begins on Monday and ends on Sunday.

Rosters are considered to be frozen on midnight of the day before the start of the NHL regular season.

The league is governed by a Committee of the Whole consisting of all team owners. The Committee may designate league officials as it deems appropriate. The committee will also vote on all rule changes.

Any dispute will be resolved by a vote of all teams not involved therein. For an existing rule to be modified, the League requires approval of 66 % of all votes cast at the rules meeting. For an existing rule to be overturned, the League requires 75% approval of all votes cast at the rules meeting.

Once a rule has been proposed, the only way that the proposal may be changed is with the approval of the author of the proposal.

In order for a new rule to be implemented, a majority of league members present at the rules meeting must vote in favor.

A rule approved at a league meeting will go into effect beginning the following season unless otherwise specified.