Charter

League Committee
A League Combination Committee of seven team owners will be formed to over see the LaBatt Ice Cup Challenge Hockey League. All on this Committee will have equal power and a commissioner will be named to head the committee. The seven member committee will have the stats, keep track of the rosters, coach files, trades, handle all e-mail from the owners of the league, and any gripes or arbitration decisions. ALL TEAMS have a say in rules and structure of the LaBatt Ice Cup Challenge Hockey League as described within the rules.

To e-mail any of the League Committee members click a name:
Rick Cole
Andrew Cornelius Co-Commissioner & Statistician
Paul Gardner Jr Co-Commissioner & Web Page Designer
Rob Gallamore
John Lethbridge
Bryan Sakolsky
E-mail entire League Committee

The sequence of events for binding arbitration are:
1.League Committee makes initial rules interpretation.
2.One of the parties involved, or a third party makes a grievance to the League Committee.
3.The League Commissioner solicits the opinion of the parties involved.
4.The League Committee votes, with each member receiving one vote.
5.An appeal of the ruling may go only to a vote of the entire league if the League Committee cannot make a decision with the teams\owners involved in the grievance not allowed to vote.
The teams\persons involved in the grievance may not appeal the ruling. A grievance must be made within two weeks of the time of the incident or ruling to the entire league and the reason for the action. If one of the parties involved, or a third-party files a grievance and they are on the League Committee, they are not aloud to get involved or vote within the committee or if it goes to the league as a whole.

League Structure
All rules of the LICCHL are as described within this constitution unless amended by the league as a whole and distributed as an official Constitution/Rules Update. The league going into the third year will consist of twenty NHL (20) teams as it did the year before. All teams will play an unbalanced schedule of 82 games see Seasonal Play. The division winners and top six non-division champions from each conference will advance to the playoffs each year. The computer coach programmed by the STRATEGY EDITOR will manage all LICCHL road games. The text results of all games played will be sent to the entire league. The XXX.fot files (home game results) will be sent to the League Statistician. The Regular season will run November through the first week of April with the last three games of the season being completed the first week of April.

NHL/LICCHL Teams
Each LICCHL team will consist of a roster small as 36 players and may grow to 38 players maximum. The rosters are broken down into 32-33 "pro" roster and 4-5 "minor" roster. Each LICCHL teams NHL minor league/prospect rosters belong to that given LICCL team, IE: NHL Chicago Blackhawks minor league teams/prospects belong to the LICCHL Chicago Blackhawks. Franchises are allowed to protect prospects from their real-life minor league system with the minor roster once the said player has come up to his parent NHL team and plays. The owner of that LICCHL team has till the protected list is turned in to decide if he wants to protect this player(s) or the player(s) is free to be picked up by other teams in the league in the re-entry draft. If the LICCL team prospect plays for the mirror NHL team one year and is protected when protection lists are due then the following NHL season the player/prospect doesn't come up to the NHL at all that prospect doesn't have to be protected by that LICCL team unless he is traded in the NHL. Then the following happens. Traded NHL minor league/prospects result in a loss to his rights unless the player(s) is protected by the LICCL team at the point of the NHL trade, two weeks will be allowed. Unless this player is protected on the minor roster, the player rights to that LICCL team are lost, and the prospect becomes the property of his new LICCL team that mirrors that NHL team. If you protect a prospect that has been traded by your NHL team during the season you CAN'T drop him at the end of the year he is on your protected list. By dropping him at the end of the season the original LICCL team is keeping the new LICCL team from protecting their new potential prospect. Prospects as all other players are able to be traded.  In accordance with the game play in FACEOFF HOCKEY, 20 carded players must dress for each game (18 skaters and 2 goalies).

Rosters
The LICCHL rosters are 32-33 man "pro" roster and a 4-5 "minor" roster using the salary cap system. The salary cap for the 1999/2000 season is $47,000,000 see salary cap this includes the pro and minor rosters. Once a player is put on the minor roster at the beginning of the season or free agent pickup (see free agent rules) he can come up to the pro roster (if he has NHL games) but the player that is to go to the minors if over the 33 "pro" limit must clear the waiver wire. Any team wanting that player will have to purchase his contract. Teams have 48 hours to claim the player that is to be sent to the minors or the said player has cleared waivers. Once a player is waived he can not be pulled back and is lost if another team claims the player. No players can arbitrarily be dropped from a team unless it is due to the team going over the 33 pro/5 minor roster or if the team is over the salary cap. The 32-33/4-5 rosters must be set two weeks before the regular season and can not go over the 33/5 maximum rosters till after the championship. All players are considered on the pro roster at the end of the championship to the end of the exhibition season then 4-5 are sent to the minors two weeks before the regular season. No players going to the minors before the rosters are set at the beginning of the year can be claimed by any team. Rosters are frozen 5 weeks before the end of the regular season and open after the championship. Players dropped from teams two weeks before the beginning of the regular season to get down to the salary cap/33-5 rosters are not allowed to be picked up to end the domino effect of players being dropped and picked up. Once the rosters are set two weeks before the season any movement after then players can be claimed according to free agents.

Player Usage
All players are restricted to playing their actual number of games played. If a player goes past his allotted games, he is suspended for the remainder of the season and playoffs. In addition, the team in question will lose their lowest draft choice. If no draft choices remain, the player in question will be released into the immediately subsequent draft pool with the team losing the player not being able to re pick the said player till all teams have one change to take him.

Injuries
Injuries will be used for the game being play only. Once the game has been played all players are eligible to play again.

Annual Free Agent Re-Entry Draft
At the end of each season each team will be required to submit a protected list of players totaling anywhere from 29-33. No draft picks may be traded from drafts beyond the upcoming re-entry draft until draft day. Draft order based upon LICCHL last season's standings with the team that has the least amount of points drafting first through the top point team drafting eighteenth with the league runner up drafting nineteenth and champion twentieth. The regular draft will last 5 rounds and with all teams having all the picks they have acquired through out the season too. After the regular draft a supplemental draft will be conducted with the teams that protected less then 33 drafting a maximum 4 rounds or till their team reaches 38 players. Only carded players will be allowed to be selected in the supplemental draft. All non protected players are free agents along with the prospects of the San Jose Sharks, Los Angeles Kings, Boston Bruins, Calgary Flames, Tampa Bay Lightning, Nashville Predators, and Carolina Hurricanes that are not on a LICCL team. The re-entry draft will be held in late-October or early-November 1999. So some teams at the end of the re-entry draft may be over 38 players (see Rosters for cut down time). Teams not at the minimum of 36 players will draft additional players in the supplemental draft. These picks will be by lowest point total first and only to the minimum of 36 players. If a GM cannot be available for the draft, he must supply the League Commission with DETAILED draft instructions and understand that this system is imperfect and that the Commission is in no way responsible for draft mishaps.

1999 Free Agent Re-Entry Draft order
Drafting Order Pittsburgh, Anaheim, Phoenix, New York R, St Louis, Vancouver, Ottawa, Florida, Edmonton, Montreal, New York I, Washington, Dallas, Toronto, Colorado, Buffalo, Chicago, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Detroit

Salary Cap
The real salaries of the NHL players will be used in the LICCHL. Two weeks before the regular season, teams will be required to cut down to a salary cap. For the 1999-2000 LICCL season, no team would be permitted to carry a total salary over $47,000,000 during the season. This number was taken from the top 5 NHL team salaries and averaged out with the league approval. If a team exceeds the salary cap during the season the last player whether be from a trade or free agent pickup is dropped from the team. The only time a team may exceed the salary limit is from the end of the playoffs through the end of the annual re-entry draft. The league will alter the salary cap annually to keep within the spirit of the league charter, i.e. to keep the league from becoming too talent-rich.

Seasonal Play
The season will start with a 2 week Exhibition Schedule. These games and their stats will not count toward season records or statistics. The regular season will run the end of October to the middle of April with the playoffs to follow. Each team will play an average of 16 games every month, i.e. 8 home and 8 away games. The Auto Scheduler will be used in the Face-Off game with the following parameters: League Play (3), Conference Play (2), Division Play (2). The breakdown is as follows 28 games same division, 25 games opposite division same conference and 30 opposite conference games which comes to 83 games. To get to 82 the top to bottom finish teams in each division will have the bottom to top divison game of the opposite division game deleted. Each owner will play only his home games, the "computer coach" will play the away games. The league statistician must receive by the 28th of each month the XXX.fot file "ZIPPED" which contain home games stats for the given month. XXX.fot files not received by this deadline may be auto played at the discretion of the commissioner. Repeated offenses will be grounds for disciplinary action, which might lead to expulsion. see Incentives/Penalties

Faceoff Configurations Options
The following are to be set in the options for the game:
Skaters Limit: 18
Goalie Limit: 2
Modern Day Fatique
Injuries: Random
Overtime: 5 minutes
End on A Goal

Visitors Instructions (STRATEGY EDITOR)
The Faceoff Strategy editor will manage each teams road games. At the beginning of each month each team will wait until the NEW league files are sent before programming or altering their Strategy file. Each owner is responsible for sending out their XXX.fot file zipped to the league by the 8th of the month or permission is given to your opponents to play with the computer managing your team, which includes the computer selecting the starting roster. If a problem arises that a XXX.fot file can't be sent you must notify the League Commissioner of this for other arrangements to be meet. Teams will distribute one zipped XXX.fot file each month to the league every month or the previous coach file will be used.

The Playoffs
The division champions and top six non-champions in each conference will advance to the playoffs. The first round will be 1-8, 2-7, 3-6, 4-5. Home ice will be awarded to the top seeds using a HHAAHAH format. The lowest surviving seed in each round will be paired against the highest seed left in each round. The tie breaker is as follows for regular season, wavier wire, playoffs, and re-entry draft: 1. most wins 2. divisional record 3. team goals for 4. team goals against 5. record within the division 6. a one-game playoff For determining playoff eligibility the following formula will be used. Players are allowed to play each round according to the following.

Trades
Roster moves take effect on the 28th of the month when all player movements are due. All GM's are REQUIRED to use the official roster files provided by the League statistician. These files will be e-mailed to each team by the 8th of every month and also put on the league web page. Each team must announce the trade to the commissioners for it to take effect then if they wish to announce it to the league. All trades are subject to review to the league committee. NO TRADE(S) shall be voided by the League Committee unless a 2/3 majority of members agree that the trade is NOT in the best interest of the league. If a League Committee member is involved in the trade that member is not allowed to vote.

Player-to-be-Named Trades
Player-to-be-named later deals are allowed, but the League Commissioners must know and agree to the terms of the deal in advance. For player to be named trades to work the following must be adhered to. The two teams will work out the week or what part of the season before the re-entry draft that the player to be named will be announced and traded to complete the trade. Conditional re-entry draft picks (next years reentry draft only) will be spelled in full. The re-entry draft pick(s) will be announced at the time of the trade along with the conditions. The league commissioners will ask each owner as to the status of the player to be named two week before the trade is to be completed or the player to be named that is to be sent to finish the trade. If teams can't come to a conclusion at this time the league committee commissioners will be notified as to the problem. Which in turn he will notify the other committee members. The commissioner will notify both teams that a list of four players and there position as to who should be sent to end the trade shall be submitted with in 2 days to the league committee. The league committee will meet as soon as the two teams have sent the players to them and a decision will be made by the committee no latter then 2 days after they met at that point the committee with render there decision on the player(s) that will be sent. If one or both teams DO NOT submit players to the arbitration committee it the committee shall have the power to make the necessary moves of player(s) to complete the trade. The league committee has final word on this matter.

Trade Deadline
Trades will end with 5 weeks to go in the regular season and may not start again till the conclusion of the Labatt Ice Cup finals. This way no team can attempt to load another team for the playoffs.

Free Agent Pickups
Players left over from LICCHL re-entry draft will form the base of the free agent pool. There are no monthly free agent pickups allowed in the LICCHL. The only time a free agent may be taken is when a teams minor roster drops below 4 players with the following restrictions. IF the player you want to send to the minor roster is taken by another team, then you will be allowed to pickup a pool player (players listed in the draft pool only, no prospects) for the minor roster. If the team who lost the player drops to 4 on his minor roster it is this teams option if they wish to pick up 1 player. The said team doesn't need to though. If the team drops to 3 players on their minor roster then the team must pickup at least 1 player to get back to the 4 minor roster minimum. If an uneven trade is made and a teams minor roster drops below 4 then only the minimum will be allowed to be picked up to get back to 4. The rating of the new picked up player from the player pool the team selects shall be no higher then 2/2 defenseman or forward or a goalie with a .890 percentage. Additionally the player(s) picked up are not allowed to be kept after the season, the player(s) will be returned to the draft pool. Minor roster size of 5 players and the salary cap cannot be exceeded. The team with the lowest point total has priority if more than one team needs players. If a team wishes to select more than one player they will choose the additional players by round which is based on a reverse order of the standings. Player pickup will be at the time of the trade due to multiple trading in months so teams will know who is available. All pickups will be completed by the 25th of each month with notification done to the commissioners and the statistician.

Penalties System
The Penalty system is set-up to be fair to those General Managers that consistently meet deadlines. At the same time this point system will reflect a non-subjective opinion of a General Managers qualifications for this league.
The "Point System":
· Send protected list in on time and receive 3 points
· Create a XXX.foc file and is sent to the league on time receive 3 points
· Finish monthly games and send in XXX.fot files on time to the stats keeper and receive 3 points
· Total points for a full season is 39 due to 13 chances to get 3 points

Penalties:

· total point between 33 and 39: NO penalty in re-entry draft pick
· total point 30 less then 33: penalty lost of 3rd round re-entry draft pick
· total point 27 less then 30 penalty lost of 2nd round re-entry draft pick
· total point score less than 27: Board decides on possible FORFEIT league of membership

NOTES:
If a team loses a draft pick it does not have because of a trade then the lost pick reverts back to a 1st round pick. If that same team does not have a 1st round pick then the penalty will be a 3rd, 4th and 5th round pick. The point system will be updated weekly along with the updated League files for continuing league play. Team performance for peer review will be shown on our League News and Trades 1999/2000
web page.

If a team continually misses deadlines, then the co-commissioner/opponent reserves the right to simulate the games using the default computer manager settings. No exceptions to the rule. In the event a General Manager is on vacation or will be away for an extended period then, that owner must find a replacement General Manager within the league or use the one of the co-commissioners to operate their team. If a new owner takes over a team that has lost it picks due to the previous owner not complying with the point system that the new owner will get the pick(s) back at the position the team should have drafted.

Annual All-Star Game
 1. There will be a best out of three series (a team needs two wins) to win the all-star series. For the 1999/2000 Season the Western Conference will play the first and third game (if needed) at home. The Western Conference will play the second game.
 1.2 The owners of the teams', which lead their own conference, will play the home games. The owner who has coached his team to the best road record in his conference will create the strategy file for the road-game(s). But all the players in the team will have to get the same amount of ice-time (not exactly the same but pretty close anyway).
 2. Both all-star teams will consist of 18 skaters and three goalies, every team will get two players to the game, one team in each conference will get three players to make it a total of 21 players per team.
 2.2 The two teams who get three players into the game will have a goalie, defenseman and an attacker. Ten teams (5 in each conference) will get an attacker and a defenseman to the lineup, the rest of the teams (4 teams in one conference) will get two attackers.
 2.3 Only the players and the goalies who are able to play at least 10 games are allowed to play in the all-star game.
 3. Every owner will send a list of the players they want to the all-star game to a designated owner running the all-star voting (at least a player in each position and maximum 2 at one position and a total of 8 players). Once the commish has the lists he will send the lists to the owners who'll take care of the teams (the owner of the team, which leads the conference). Then they choose eight players for each position and send this list to the league. Then every owner will vote numbering one to three with three rated the player highest at that position for the starting-lineup for both conferences. After the starting lineup is chosen, the two owners will choose the rest of the players in the best interest of the team. Then the owners will send the final rosters to the designated owner running the all-star voting and the "all-star league" will be setup.
 4. As mentioned earlier, every player must get to play, you can't play just 12 guys for the whole game, everyone will have to get to play evenly. One goalie will play only one period, if the game goes to over-time, the goalie who played in the first period, will play the first over-time period and so on.
 5. The game settings. No game injuries and the overtime ends to a goal. Otherwise the same settings as in the league play.
 6. The home games played in the Western Conference will be played using the strat which is made by the owner who has the best away record (ending January) in the Eastern Conference. The home game played in the Eastern Conference will be played using the strat which is made by the owner who has the best away record (ending January) in the Western Conference.

New Rules
Any member can propose a new rule or amendment from the period after the season until the beginning of the Exhibition season the following year. The league then votes on all proposed rules. If the majority of the league doesn't vote for the rule then the change in the charter or rule is dropped.