[Pittsburgh!!!!!!!]

-- updated January 01, 2009 by Pittsburgh!!!!!!!

I've long said and posted that the ITC Rules need to all be in one place on the site, rather than thrown around in multiple places and poorly organized and written on the main page. While some may dispute the clarity of my writing [which is, in all fairness, warranted], no one can dispute my organizational skills!

Sure, I stole the template and most of the index style from the EHSL [huggles for Cannibal!], but most of it was actually written by myself. Most of the crap from the actual ITC rulebook is horribly written and has no structure. I'm here to declare WAR ON UNSTRUCTURED RULEBOOKS!

Without further adieu...

ITC RULE BOOK

01. The Basics
-- 01.1 What is "In the Crease"?
-- 01.2 The Guys Who run The Joint
-- 01.3 Duties of the General Manager
-- 01.4 Simulation Information
02. Lines
-- 02.1 Hit and Grind/Neutral Zone Trap Limitations
.. -- 02.1.1 Punishment for Violations
-- 02.2 Positional Limitations
-- 02.3 Limitations on Goalies/Goalie Captains
03. Player Management
-- 03.1 Player Meetings
-- 03.2 Waiver Wire
.. -- 03.2.1 Waiver Draft
-- 03.3 Contract Limitations
.. -- 03.3.1 Minimum Salaries
.. .. -- 03.3.1.1 Punishment for Violations
.. -- 03.3.2 Maximum Paycuts
.. -- 03.3.3 Formatting Contract Offers
-- 03.4 Junior Players on the Farm
-- 03.5 Retirement System
-- 03.6 Career Ending Injuries
-- 03.7 Suspensions
04. Salary Cap
-- 04.1 Punishment for Violations
-- 04.2 Long-Term Injury Status
05. Trading
-- 05.1 Consistency Drops
-- 05.2 Low-CON Trades
-- 05.3 Trading Picks Not Yet In-Game
06. Entry Draft
-- 06.1 Draft Lottery
-- 06.2 Entry Level Contracts
.. -- 06.2.1 Punishment for Violations
-- 06.3 Signing an Undrafted Overage Player
07. Unrestricted Free Agency
-- 07.1 How to Send in Bids
-- 07.2 How to Type up a Bid
-- 07.3 Signing Bonus Limit
-- 07.4 Restricted Free Agency
-- 07.5 Free Agency During the Season
-- 07.6 Releasing and Re-Signing Players
08. All-Star Games
-- 08.1 All-Star Game Stages
09. AHL Playoffs
-- 09.1 AHL Playoff Eligibility
-- 09.2 Leadership Increases
10. Participation Point Reward System
-- 10.1 How to Get Participation Points
-- 10.2 Rewards
-- 10.3 Limitations on Rewards
11. The Three Strike Rule: Salary cap, lines, salary violations
12. Zero Tolerance Act

. 1. The Basics

...... 1.1 What is "In the Crease"?

Fantasy hockey league. Eastside Hockey Manager. http://www.fhockey.com.

...... 1.2 The Guys Who run The Joint

The league has one commissioner - that being Ari Schacter, whiner and utility programmer extraordinaire, who also doubles as Calgary GM. ITC sims will usually fall into the hands of Steve Lui [Atlanta GM], Jeremy Crowe [that's me, Pittsburgh GM], Peter Silny [Detroit GM], Thayne Bezanson [Philadelphia GM], Rob Ryan [New Jersey GM], who comprise a group known as the "G6" [or "G7" if we add another member].

Contact the commish or simmers with any questions about the league by sending a PM to them on the boards [FlamesGM, RedWingsGM, Pittsburgh!!!!!!!, krown, thayner, or DevilsGM]. All league business, including lines, and draft lists should be sent to itchockey@gmail.com , the official league e-mail.

...... 1.3 Duties of the General Manager

Send your lines, send your instructions for your team, send your sister's phone number. All of that stuff should be sent to the league e-mail at itchockey@gmail.com . It's all good. Participation points [see section 10] will be awarded for instructions sent. GMs also should be available for league-wide activities, including trade talks, entry draft participation, all-star game voting, awards ceremonies, and any other league-wide event that should come up. Frequent forum participation is not absolutely mandatory, but is strongly encouraged.

Should a GM be absent for a period of time, a post in the absence forum would be much obliged. A GM who "disappears" [ie. no posts on the forum, no sets of instructions, no notice to the league] for a length of time with no reasoning or time for return will be removed from his duties, with or without a notification via e-mail.

New general managers may have a "trade ban" placed upon them for the first phase of their ITC career. This can be thought of as a period of "probation", where a GM must show other ITC members that they are active both on the forums and with sending instructions/attending drafts. Once the ITC staff feel a GM has proven his worth to the league, the trade ban will be lifted. Bans have no set time length, and can be two days or two months or two years or anything in between. Any GM who is new to the game of EHM or new to online EHM play will be assigned a "mentor" to watch over their actions and provide guidance.

...... 1.4 Simulation Information

Three sims per week: Tuesday, Thursday, and a "weekend" sim, which could take place on Saturday night or sometime during the morning/afternoon/evening on Sunday. A sim generally will go through one week in-game, except during the off-season and the play-offs, where a schedule will likely be posted detailing the length of sim and what will happen in it. Usually a sim will be done around 10PM EST, although sometimes can be earlier or later. When a sim is completed, it will be posted on the main ITC website. Instructions can be sent whenever, however for safety purposes, we recommend sending instructions before 7PM EST on a sim day. Should a GM send in instructions sent after that on a sim day, he/she has absolutely no right to bitch if they somehow were excluded.

Play-off sims will be held nightly, from the start until the conclusion of the play-offs, in both the ITC pro league and the AHL [see section 09]. Two game days will be simmed per night, enough to sim one game per conference. During the off-season as many as ten days may be simmed at one time. The length of an off-season sim will usually be mentioned on the ITC website and/or on the forums a few days beforehand.

. 2. Lines

Lines files may be saved in EHM by clicking on the Save button in the lines screen. Please title your lines appropriately, especially if you're sending in multiple sets. Ideally, a title such as "BOS 03-28 vs DAL" would be excellent. Feel free to insult Ari in the titles, as well. If you are sending AHL lines, please title them with "BOS-farm" or, conversely, your AHL team's name along with your pro team's name; "PIT-WIL", for instance. Please refrain from sending any lines without your team's name in them [ie: "Pro lines", "farm lines", "lines"], as that's quite confusing for the simmer and may result in them being ignored.

Any sets of lines also must be sent in a .zip file to prevent problems from occurring. Corrupt lines are common, but oftentimes this can be avoided by zipping lines. Zip all lines into ONE ZIP FILE, not a whole bunch. Title it "[your team name]". Lines NOT sent in a zip file may be ignored, but generally a warning will be sent out for a first time offense.

...... 2.1 Hit and Grind and Neutral Zone Trap Limitations

Hit and Grind may only be used on the third OR fourth lines. Neutral Zone Trap can be used on any line, however only two lines may use it at any given time. Should a team use the H&G tactic on one line, NZT may also only be used on only one line. The combined shift length for both lines [one NZT/one H&G, or two NZT, or one H&G only, or one NZT only] may NOT exceed 100 at any time.

Finally, a team's longest shift length may not be for a line that is using H&G - this means that if the longest line shift is 60, the team's hit and grind line MUST BE UNDER 60.

...... -- 02.1.1 Punishment for Violations

Should a team violate these specifications for lines, they will have one sim to correct it. Failing to correct it after a second sim will result in their lines being CPU'd for the third sim, regardless of any instructions sent by the GM. Repeat offenses of this will be subject to harsher penalties, including loss of participation points.

It is the duty of a general manager to ensure that the simmer has not made a change to the team which would have an adverse effect upon some element of team management, whether it be salary cap or line violations. If the GM fails to fix an error that a simmer has inadvertantly caused within the time length of one sim, he will be subject to the same punishment. The simmer is not expected to check the alternate position of every player upon the team to see if a player would fit within that place. The GM is responsible for his own team. The simmer is not responsible for your team.

For more information on violation punishment, see section 11.

...... 2.2 Positional Limitations (PRO + FARM)

Forwards may only play their natural or alternate positions.

Defencemen are not allowed to play forward or goalie unless that is their alternate position. This is the rule for both even strength and shorthanded lines.

On the powerplay, forwards may play any forward position, and one forward is allowed to play the point per line. That means no five-forward power plays! Goalies are not allowed to play out of position at any time, unless they, for some reason, have an alternate position of forward or defense.

...... 2.3 Limitations on Goalies/Goalie Captains

Goalies are not permitted to play in more than 70 games during the season. Once a goalie reaches 70 games, the simmer will bench him for the remainder of the year, and play the back-up, regardless of a GMs instructions. AHL goalies have the same limitation, to help stir up at least a passing interest in the management of a GM's farm team.

Before 70 games are reached, any game that a goalie may enter due to a goalie fight or goalie injury will count against his 70 games played, no matter how short the length of his stay. However, once the 70 games plateau has passed, it will not matter.

Goalies can also not be named as the captain of a team.

. 3. Player Management

...... 3.1 Player Meetings

Players will occasionally get captain meetings during the season. When a meeting occurs, a GM is expected to copy and paste the meeting from the Team News section, and to make a post in the Captain's Meetings forum. The player will receive a CON boost of three points, to a maximum of 80.

Clashes with the captain do not result in CON points, so don't post them.

...... 3.2 Waiver Wire

When a player with a line through his name on the Farm Team tab is sent down, he must pass through waivers. When a sim is complete, a topic will be made in the Waivers forum mentioning which players were waived. GMs have until the next sim to make a post in the topic claiming the player. The claiming team who currently sits lowest in the rankings will get the player.

For the 2012/2013 season, a new pecking order for waiverclaims has been established. It is based on the previous season's rankings until 20, 40 and 60 games through the season, when it shifts to current season's rankings. When a team claims a player, they will drop to the bottom of the claims list. For example, if Edmonton [who finished 30th last year] claims Brad Boyes, they would drop to 30th and last for future waiver claims. Then, if Florida [finished 9th last year] claims Tomas Kloucek, they would drop to 30th and Edmonton would move up to 29th, etc. Should a team currently 30th in the league make claims on more than one player at a given time, they only have the "first priority" on one of those players, should another team lay a claim.

Should a claimed player then be demoted by their new team, the team the player was originally claimed from will have first priority of re-claiming. The original team will not affect their position on the claims list by re-claiming that player, however the player will still have to pass through waivers if they choose to demote that player to the AHL.

Waivers are suspended from the trade deadline until the end of pre-season, so any player may pass freely between pro and farm team. If a GM wishes to purposely and voluntarily waive a player, he still may do so by making a post in the waivers forum about said player[s], or by requesting it in a lines e-mail.

...... 3.3 Contract Limitations

While we generally allow players to be signed for whatever, ITC does have a maximum contract length of four years [including options]. A player may not be signed for more than four years with no options, three years with one option [player or team], or two years with both options. This is to help keep salaries rising and to prevent GMs from signing future superstars to minimal long-term contracts at a young age.

ITC also does not allow the use of no-trade clauses.

...... -- 3.3.1 Minimum Salaries

A player may not be signed for any salary under $400,000 per year. Two-ways may still be used on a minimum salary. As well, rookies who have minimums of over $400,000 per year are not permitted to be signed to a contract under their posted minimum [see section 6.2] at any time during their career.

...... .. -- 03.3.1.1 Punishment for Violations

Should a team violate these minimum salaries during the year, they will have a strike added to their Three Strike tally for the season. Continued violations will result in participation points being lost.

For more information on the Three Strike Rule, see section 11.

...... -- 3.3.2 Maximum Paycuts

A player who currently makes over $1 million per year may not be given a paycut of more than 10% of his current salary. Players making $1 million or less are exempt from this rule, but they may not be given a contract of less than $400,000 a year. As well, rookie minimums apply here - rookies may not accept any paycut that would put them below their rookie minimum, at any point during their career.

...... -- 3.3.3 Formatting Contract Offers

When sending in contract, please format them vertically, NOT horizontally.

Example:

Player Name
Amount of Years
Salary
Bonus
Options

DO NOT send them in horizontally, as I am typing this sentence right now. It pisses simmers off, especially me. Any offers sent horizontally may be ignored by the simmer until they are formatted properly.

...... 3.4 Junior Players on the Farm

Currently, ITC allows general managers to demote two [2] under-20 players per year to their farm teams to help develop them at a faster rate. Once two players are designated, that's it for the season. GMs may not designate more players due to trades, injuries, a birthday to one of their current under-20 farmies, or call-ups. Once a player is put on the club's farm team, generally at the end of pre-season, but in certain cases may be before, that player will officially be considered a junior for the year, and may not be changed for any reason.

If a junior farm player is called up at some point during the season, he is not permitted to be returned to the farm as an underager during that regular season, unless outstanding circumstances apply [ie: simmer calls up the underager without GM's permission, as an injury replacement or whatever]. Once a player is called up in-season, he must remain on the pro team, or be returned to his junior team. Underage farmies ARE eligible to be returned to the farm for the AHL play-offs, assuming they meet AHL play-off qualifications. Should an underage farmie be called up at age 19 and turn 20 while on the pro team, he ceases to be considered a "junior" player and may be recalled from and assigned to the farm at the GMs discretion, however another underage player may NOT be assigned to replace him.

...... 3.5 Retirement System

To help stave off the retirements of players who still may be extremely valuable to a team, ITC uses a percentage-based retirement system to determine whether or not a player will retire or not.

GMs are responsible for having players tested for retirement. A post in the "Retirement Roll Thread", found in the General Discussion forum, is all it takes.

The system uses a 100-sided die and is determined using the following percentages:

Players 34 years old -> 07% chance of retirement
Players 35 years old -> 17% chance
Players 36 years old -> 33% chance
Players 37 years old -> 50% chance
Players 38 years old -> 67% chance
Players 39 years old -> 83% chance
Players 40 years old -> 94% chance

The result of a player's retirement roll will be posted in the thread by the G6 member who rolls it.

As well, GMs are not permitted to have a retirement roll done on a player who that GM's team does not hold the rights to [ie: players on other teams, or free agents].

Players may only have one [1] retirement roll done on them per season. If a player fails once, that's it for the year... and his career! If they pass, they live for another season and may have one done next time they are set to retire.

...... 3.6 Career Ending Injuries

While rare, career ending injuries certainly do suck and, in some cases, could cripple a team for years. Therefore, in ITC we have outlawed such occurrances. Should a player happen to receive a career ending injury, he will immediately be unretired, but will have his injury flags set to IND. So, while he will still get to play eventually, his injury may cause his team a significant enough problem. See: Cody McCormick and Niklas Hagman.

...... 3.7 Suspensions

EHM's suspension system is abstract and oftentimes harshly punishes players for minor offences while allowing major injuries to go without justice. However, that's how it will be handled, so deal with it.

. 4. Salary Cap

The league currently has a $50 million salary cap.

...... 4.1 Punishment for Violations

After the first sim that a team goes over the cap, a post will be made in the Line Violations thread, found in the General Discussion forum, detailing the exact amount the club is over the cap. A G7 member may also get ahold of the offending GM through PM, MSN or e-mail, and inform him that the team is over the cap, as well as by how much. It is the responsibility of the offending GM to get under the cap by the end of the following sim. Should a G7 member not get in contact with the offending GM, that is not an excuse. GMs are responsible for their own teams, and while we tend to lend a hand when we can, a GM's failure to stay under the cap is their own problem, and not ours.

If a GM fails to get under the cap by the end of the second sim, and fails to provide a reasonable excuse, the simmer will release a pro team player at the beginning of the third sim that would bring the club back under the cap. Any instructions sent for this third sim by the GM detailing how to get under the cap will be ignored by the simmer. A GM has one sim to send instructions on how to get under the cap, and that is it.

If a GM then goes over the cap at another point during the season and fails to get under after the second sim, he will be subjected to harsher punishment. The punishment for a first repeat offense is both a pro player being released, as well as forfeiture of their next third round pick. Should a team not have any third round picks in the next four drafts, they will forfeit their next second round pick. Any subsequent violations will be subject to similar, but increasingly harsher, penalties.

It is the duty of a general manager to ensure that the simmer has not made a change to the team which would have an adverse effect upon some element of team management, whether it be salary cap or line violations. If the GM fails to fix an error that a simmer has inadvertantly caused within the time length of one sim, he will be subject to the same punishment. The simmer is not expected to check the alternate position or salary of every player upon the team to see if a player would fit within that place. The GM is responsible for his own team. The simmer is not responsible for your team.

Remember that your team's current player salaries are NOT the same as your team's player budget [which can be viewed on the Team Info tab in-game]. Your player's salary total can be viewed by going to the Finances tab in-game.

A team that violates the cap will have a strike added to their Three Strike tally. Once a GM reaches three strikes, any additional violation - be it cap, line, or minimum salary-related - will result in the loss of one participation point, as well as the regular punishment for the violation.

For more information on the Three Strike Rule, see section 11.

...... 4.2 Long-Term Injury Status

If a player on your pro team suffers an injury that will sideline him for one month or more, that player's salary will not count towards the cap, in order for it to be possible for a replacement to take up that player's spot. Once a player recovers, his salary will be added to the team's cap situation again. It's up to the General Manager of the team to sort out their financial stance at this point.

There is no maximum to the number of players on LTIR for a team.

. 5. Trading

While there is no "trade committee" in the league, the G7 oversee the league to ensure that the rules are followed. They also may step in and veto any trade which is deemed too unfair for one side. Blatant tank-job trades also may be overruled, as that's just not fair. Mentors assigned to tutor new GMs also have the final say on their protege's trades.

...... 5.1 Consistency Drops/Raises

When a player is traded to another team, he can sometimes receive a CON drop. ITC allows CON drops to the extent of 10% of the players original consistancy. This is why we ask that the players' consistancies be included in the trade post. However, in any trade that happens during the off-season, players are exempt from the 10% CON drop, and will have their CON restored to normal. In the case of a CON drop on a player on your team, please post the drop in the Captain's Meetings/CON Drop Restoration forum, with both current [dropped] CON, and former CON to restore to.

Junior players are entirely exempt from CON drops.

Any player may receive a CON boost from a trade.

...... 5.2 Low CON Trades

Players with low CON may not be traded back and forth between two teams. Once a team deals a low-CON player, that player may not return to the original team in a trade for at least one full ITC season. This is to prevent teams from trading players back and forth in hopes of a consistency boost. Not happening.

...... 5.3 Trading Picks Not Yet In-Game

GMs are not permitted to trade draft picks that are not yet available in-game. ie: If the final set of draft picks listed for a team in-game are in 2019, GMs are not permitted to trade picks in 2020! Once those picks are actually visible and available to trade in-game, they may freely be dealt. But, until then, no dice!

. 6. Entry Draft

The entry draft is held every season concurrently with the ITC Play-Offs. The draft is, of course, a fantastic five-round affair, full of fun, fanaticism and fjords.

The draft will take place on the ITC forums, starting either at the same time as the play-offs, or shortly thereafter. Once the draft's first/second/third/fourth or fifth round topics have been opened, a GM has a limited time to make his pick, before the highest-CSB choice will be made for him. A GM can choose to make this pick over e-mail through a list, in case of unavailability, or on the boards themselves. Generally, time contraints will lessen with every passing round, and start with 24 to 48 hours for the first round, and will be cut in half for subsequent rounds.

Drafts will go in the order of regular season standings, outside of the first round draft lottery. Play-off finishes will have no effect on the draft order. This includes the Stanley Cup winner.

GMs will have plenty of time to send draft lists, and will receive participation points for their picking of players within posted time constraints, or for sending in draft lists or requests. Should a GM fail to make picks within posted time constraints or send a draft list, they will not receive participation points. There are no excuses for this! Rules for the draft will be posted, sometimes in BIG LETTERS, in every thread of the draft. It is a GM's responsibility to adhere to them.

...... 6.1 Draft Lottery

Generally occuring at the beginning of the play-offs, a draft lottery will be held for the upcoming entry draft. This is used to prevent teams from tanking to ensure the first over-all pick. The winner of the lottery moves up a maximum of four spots, and all other teams lose a maximum of one spot. All non-play-off teams are involved in the lottery.

Worst Record 00.00-25.00 (25.0% Chance)
Team #29 25.01-43.80 (18.8% Chance)
Team #28 43.81-58.00 (14.2% Chance)
Team #27 58.01-68.70 (10.7% Chance)
Team #26 68.71-76.80 (8.1% Chance)
Team #25 76.81-83.00 (6.2% Chance)
Team #24 83.01-87.70 (4.7% Chance)
Team #23 87.71-91.30 (3.6% Chance)
Team #22 91.31-94.00 (2.7% Chance)
Team #21 94.01-96.10 (2.1% Chance)
Team #20 96.11-97.60 (1.5% Chance)
Team #19 97.61-98.70 (1.1% Chance)
Team #18 98.71-99.50 (0.8% Chance)
Team #17 99.51-100.00 (0.5% Chance)

...... 6.2 Entry Level Contracts

Following the 2008 ITC Entry Draft, the following rookie minimums were implemented:

01st Overall - $1 200 000
02nd Overall - $1 100 000
03rd Overall - $1 050 000
04th Overall - $1 000 000
05th Overall - $1 000 000
06th Overall - $0 950 000
07th Overall - $0 950 000
08th Overall - $0 925 000
09th Overall - $0 925 000
10th Overall - $0 900 000
** Rookies drafted between 1st and 10th may not have a two-way clause on their contract

11-20th Overall - $800 000
21-30th Overall - $700 000
2nd Round Picks - $600 000
3rd Round Picks - $525 000
4th Round Picks - $400 000
5th Round Picks - $400 000

These rules apply to any player drafted from the 2008 ITC Entry Draft onwards. Players drafted before the 2008 ITC Entry Draft are not eligible for these rules.

After the 2008/2009 season, 4th and 5th round picks had their entry level minimums increased to $400 000 to comply with the league's new minimum salary policy.

Rookies may not be offered a contract at any point during their ITC career that would pay them less than their rookie minimum.

...... -- 6.2.1 Punishment for Violations

Should a team violate these minimum salaries during the year, they will have a strike added to their Three Strike tally for the season. Continued violations will result in participation points being lost.

For more information on the Three Strike Rule, see section 11.

...... 6.3 Signing an Undrafted Player

To put it bluntly, a player must have passed through a draft at least once without being selected before he can be signed from the draft pool by any team.

. 7. Unrestricted Free Agent Period

The greatest time of the year for those who desperately want that extra cog in their hopeful run to the Stanley Cup is the free agency period. Free agency begins on August 29th, in-game.

Players who are retiring may only sign a deal of one year, with no options.

Weak teams are allowed to offer bids to a UFA at any given time.

Players who are testing the market may NOT be given an offer by the team they just left, so long as the game forbids it. If a market-tester remains unsigned long enough for their previous team to offer a contract in-game, it will be allowed. No file circumvention will be used to alter this rule.

Before the next sim, the highest bid will be calculated based on base salary multiplied by contract length [PO adds a year, TO does not] plus signing bonus. Should two bids be the same after that, the better team in the previous season will win the right to offer the contract.

It should also be noted that the 10% paycut rule does not apply to free agents.

...... 7.1 How to Send in Bids

E-mail all bids to itchockey@gmail.com, preferably in one e-mail titled "[your team] UFA Bids".

Before the next sim, the highest bid will be calculated based on base salary multiplied by contract length [PO adds a year] plus signing bonus. Should two bids be the same after that, the better team in the previous season will win the right to offer the contract. As well, should two offers be tied, and one has a two-way stipulation while the other does not, the offer without the two-way will win.

Also, keep in mind that no player can be signed for under $400k/yr, or their rookie minimum, as per the contract minimums outlined above.

...... 7.2 How to Type up a Bid

Player name
Years
Salary
Bonus
Clause/s

FOR EXAMPLE

Martin Cibak
3 years
$10,000,000/yr
$4,666,600 signing bonus

This goes for ANY contract, whether it be UFA, or re-signing players, or signing prospects, or whatever!

For the love of god, use that format! Do not type them horizontally, as this text is being typed right now! It's a PAIN IN THE ASS for the commish or simmer to enter the bids. It's horrifyingly annoying. If *I* ever have to do it, well I'll probably just void your bid. So beware.

...... 7.3 Signing Bonus Limit

A signing bonus for a free agent may not exceed the base salary of the contract. Because we said so. For clarification, this rule only applies to free agents, and not players currently signed to a team, or junior players.

...... 7.4 Restricted Free Agency

Any player listed as a Restricted Free Agent can be signed by any team but there must be compensation paid to the team holding his rights, which is:

· $0 000 000 - $0 400 000 - None
· $0 400 000 - $0 550 000 - 3rd round pick
· $0 550 000 - $0 650 000 - 2nd round pick
· $0 650 000 - $0 800 000 - 1st round pick
· $0 800 000 - $1 000 000 - 1st & 3rd round pick
· $1 000 000 - $1 200 000 - 1st & 2nd round pick
· $1 200 000 - $1 400 000 - Two 1st Round picks
· $1 400 000 - $1 700 000 - Two 1st round & one 2nd round pick
· $1 700 000 - $2 699 999 - Three 1st round picks
· Each Additional Million - Additional 1st round pick up to five

Keep in mind that EHM takes into account both the contract offer PLUS the signing bonus when factoring in draft picks. So, a contract of $1m/yr, with a signing bonus of $700k, would be equal to an offer of $1.7k, and would thus result in the forfeiture of three 1st round draft picks.

Yes, the compensation is nuts, but alas, that's what we're sticking with.

...... 7.5 Free Agency During the Season

Any team may bid on free agents during the regular season. However, free agents who are planning to retire at the end of the season may not be signed after January 1 of that current season. A team may also not request a retirement roll be done on a free agent, or any player they do not hold the rights to.

Any unrestricted free agent signed after January 1st of the current season may not be dealt until the following off-season.

...... 7.6 Releasing and Re-Signing Players

Players may not be released from a contract and immediately re-signed to a new contract by the same team, lower or higher. A team who releases a player may not re-sign that player until the following free agency period. This is to prevent teams from releasing a player [either voluntarily or forced] and immediately re-signing them to a lower contract.

. 8. All-Star Games

Beginning with the 2012/2013 season, ITC has decided to run their own All-Star Game, as well as a Young Stars Game. The teams will be comprised of Eastern All-Stars vs Western All-Stars, and consist of players voted for by ITC GMs.

The rosters for the All-Star Game will consist of 15 forwards, eight defencemen, and three goalies. One line of the bunch will be a line designated a "defensive" line. For the Young Stars game, the rosters will include 15 forwards, eight defencemen, three goalies, and all players must be under the age of 22.

Players are not permitted to play in both the All-Star Game and the Young Stars Game in the same year, and Young Stars may only be nominated and voted into the Young Stars Game once.

The 2013/2014 season did not have an all-star game, and 2014/2015 may also not hold one.

...... 8.1 All-Star/Young Star Game Stages

There are three stages of the All-Star/Young Stars Games. The first is the nomination stage. GMs are required to nominate players from their own Conference only, consisting of: five forwards [one of which is specified as a "defensive" forward], three defencemen [one of which must be a physical/stay-at-home/"defensive" defenceman], and two goalies for the All-Star Game, and five forwards, three defencemen and two goalies for the Young stars Game. As well, GMs will nominate an "All-Star/Young Stars GM" from their own Conference - the best GM of the year for the All-Star Game, and the best non-play-off/"rebuilding" GM for the Young Stars game. A GM must include both the names of their nominated players, as well as a reasoning for each nomination. Why should this player go to the All-Star/Young Stars Game? Nominations, as well as reasonings for nominations, will earn a GM three participation points.

The second stage is the voting process. GMs will simply choose a specified amount of players that were nominated for the game, and send in their ballots to the All-Star Game e-mail address. The players who receive the most votes will be voted on to the All-Star/Young Star Games. A GM who sends in their ballot in a timely matter will be rewarded with two participation points.

The third stage will be the actual playing of the games. The games will be run as a seven game series, however all seven games will be played, regardless of the series score.

Various rewards will be doled out to players who participate in the All-Star/Young Stars games. This includes both CON and LE increases for valuable players during the series. For a detailed explanation, it's recommended that you head over to the All-Star Game forum, and read the "Rules" topic, which is stickied.

For reference, the All-Star Game e-mail address is itcasg@gmail.com . All nominations, and votes, can be sent to this address.

. 9. AHL Playoffs

We also simulate the AHL playoffs along with the ITC playoffs. A separate saved game file will be made and participants in the AHL playoffs will use this file to send in lines and instructions. And so on and so forth.

...... 9.1 AHL Playoff Eligibility

A player who has played 48 games or more in the AHL that season, or has been on an AHL roster [due to injury, age, healthy scratching, etc] for over 48 games in the AHL that season, is eligible for AHL Play-Offs. Players who have played in under 48 games that season, or were not on the AHL squad for more than 48 games that season, are ineligible. Goalies must have either played more than 40 games with the club, or been on the roster for more than 48 games during the season. Waiver eligibility does not factor into these decisions, so sending waiver ineligible rookies to the farm who've been on the pro team all year is forbidden.

Waiver ineligible players who have played under 48 AHL games but have not played an ITC game that season are eligible for the AHL play-offs. This includes 20 year-old rookies who may have been signed just before the AHL play-offs begin.

During the play-offs, teams can demote/promote players as they wish between their pro play-off team and farm play-off team. However, of course, players can only play in one set of play-offs at a time. Should an ITC team be eliminated while their AHL team remains active, only eligible players may be demoted.

...... 9.2 AHL Attribute Increases

Attribute increases, as well as leadership increases incurred in the AHL file will be transferred to the main ITC file at the completion of both sets of play-offs. This is the reward for having a strong AHL team. Any complaining that it's unfair to non-AHL play-off teams will be ignored or made fun of.

. 10. Participation Points Reward System

In the ITC, we reward GMs for being active in the league with participation points. During the season, they can be collected in a variety of ways, and at the end of the year may be put towards rewards for their players.

...... 10.1 How to Get Participation Points

Getting participation points requires GMs to send lines, attend league events, and write articles about their teams on the forums. Participation points can be earned for the following tasks:

* Sending instructions for a sim earns a GM one point per sim.
* Posting an article in the Breaking News forum, to a maximum of 28 articles, is worth one point per article. Articles must be at least 300 words in length, not including copy and pasted material straight from the game.
* Posting an article in the Breaking League News forum, to a maximum of 10 articles, is worth one point per article. Articles must be at least 300 words in length, not including copy and pasted material straight from the game.
* Posting the results of the latest sim, along with at least a two paragraph [around 200 word] description of their personal "Game of the Week", is worth one point. This is done on a first-come, first-serve basis, with only one point being handed out per sim.
* Participating in an ITC Entry Draft or sending detailed instructions for it earns a GM five points. Should a team be forced to autopick a selection at any point in the draft, the maximum number of points earned is three. Should a team be forced to autopick more than one selection, no points will be awarded.
* Participating in both the nomination and voting stages of the ITC All-Star/Young Stars Games will earn a GM five points. Three points for the nominations, two points for voting.
* Recruiting another GM to the league who stays in the league for one FULL season is worth five participation points.

...... 10.2 Rewards

Once the play-offs are over, participation point totals will be calculated and posted, and GMs can choose how they'd like to spend their points.

Participation Points may be dispersed as follows:

00 to 09 points - you're fired for inactivity
10 to 19 points - no reward, you may be removed due to inactivity
20 to 29 points - you have 10CON to spend on a maximum of five players
30 to 39 points - you have 20CON to spend on a maximum of five players
............... - you may change one forward's alternate forward position
40 to 49 points - you have 30CON to spend on a maximum of five players
............... - you may boost one player's height by one inch
............... - you may change two forwards' alternate forward positions
50+ points..... - you have 40CON to spend on a maximum of five players
............... - you may boost two players' heights by one inch each
............... - give one player, currently 6POT or less, a 10POT boost
............... - you may change three forwards' alternate forward positions
............... - you have 20LE to spend

...... 10.3 Limitations on Rewards

For clarity sake, only one choice may be made from the above every year. Getting 50 points does not entitle you to all options under the 50-point window, nor can you choose one option from under 20pts and one from under 30pts. You may just choose one.

With consistency, no skater under the age of 31 may be boosted over 74CON. If a skater is 31 or over, he may be boosted to a maximum of 85CON. For goalies, they may be boosted to a maximum of 85CON at any age.

With leadership, the maximum a player can reach is 70. Also, a player may not be awarded more than five [5] leadership points per season. Leadership can be spread to as many players as a GM desires.

With potential boosts, a team may only use one [1] boost during a five year period. Teams who have already used their boost must wait another four full seasons before receiving the ability to boost another player. To find out whether your team has used a boost, you can check the Participation Points thread in the General Discussion forum. Once a team has reached their five-year plateau, their POT boost section will be erased and they will be permitted to use a POT boost on another player. The five-year period starts when a team uses a POT boost.

With height boosts, only players under the age of 20 may be boosted, and players may be boosted one time only.

Position switches may only be used on forwards, and only may switch a player's alternate to left wing, center, or right wing. Players may not be switched to goaltender or defenceman. Defencemen and goaltenders may not have their positions switched. Only one position may be switched per season, so a player with RW as a position and no alternate may not be switched to C/L during the same off-season.

Participation points and rewards are NOT eligible to be dealt in a trade. So don't even try it.

Participation points expire at the end of the play-offs, so GMs may NOT use a previous season's remaining points on players signed as UFAs/drafted/traded for after the trade deadline.

. 11. The Three Strike Rule: Salary cap, lines, salary violations

While we all want to just relax and have fun with the league, the G7 and other general managers do not look kindly upon those of us who wish to attempt to circumvent certain rules, whether it be with malicious intent, or just out of outright laziness.

So, beginning with the 2013/2014 season, the Three Strike Rule was implemented. Should a team have three violations [salary cap, lines or minimum salaries] during the course of an ITC regular season/play-offs, that general manager will face additional punishment to the punishment suffered for the violation itself.

For every violation after the second [ie: your "third strike" and onward], a team will forfeit one participation point per violation. This includes salary cap violations that are not fixed in an orderly manner [ie: resulting in the releasing of a pro team player], line violations that are not fixed promptly [ie: result in lines being CPU'd and back-up goalie inserted for the following sim] and, beginning in 2015/2016, any strikes incurred for the forced fastsigning of a farm player for any reason. As always, reasonable excuses may result in the violation being overturned, however they should probably be good ones. No "my dog ate my lines checker" crap.

Hopefully this will help crack down on the number of violations suffered throughout the year.

. 12. Zero Tolerance Act

ITC is a place to have fun, not disrespect and insult your fellow GMs. Playful ribbing is not deterred, however serious barbs against a GMs character, family, or dog will result in a warning, followed by a stiff penalty, and perhaps expulsion from the league without notice. Other such things, such as reneging on posted trades, attempting to join the league as a "second account", and various other shenanigans may be dealt with in the same manner. There will be no second chances for GMs fired due to breaking the Zero Tolerance Act.

And with that said, we're done!

[Pittsburgh!!!!!!!]

Updated on November 4, 2007.

-- changed the salary cap violations
-- added the rule regarding a "trade ban" on new GMs
-- added a new rule for signing retiring free agents during the season:

Quote

...... 7.5 Free Agency During the Season

Any team may bid on free agents during the regular season. However, free agents who are planning to retire at the end of the season may not be signed after January 1 of that current season. A team may also not request a retirement roll be done on a free agent, or any player they do not hold the rights to.

This was something that has been in effect in previous seasons, but had never been posted, and was exploited this season. This will hopefully put an end to it.

[Pittsburgh!!!!!!!]

Updated November 14, with AHL play-off eligibility rules, based on this thread.

Yay, now Ekroth is eligible!

[Pittsburgh!!!!!!!]

Changed some stuff...

-- waiverdraft stuff removed, replaced by the new waiver system
-- rookie minimums clarified, regarding giving paycuts below rookie minimums
-- free agency season clarified slightly, in regards to two-way contract values in bidding wars

I think that's all I did.

[Pittsburgh!!!!!!!]

Updated the rules section on March 20 with a boatload of changes and clarifications heading into the off-season.

The following NEW RULES will be implemented for the 2013/2014 season:
-- Long-Term Injury Status has been lowered from three months to one month. Also, there is no maximum to the amount of players eligible for long-term injury status. See section 04.1 for more.
-- When a player is released by a team, that player may not be re-signed by the same team until the following season's UFA period begins. This includes any player forced to be released thanks to a cap violation, or any player voluntarily released by a GM. See section 07.6 for more.
-- Added a section outlining the All-Star/Young Stars game, as well as the procedure for nominating, voting, and simming of the games. See section 09 for more.
-- GMs now have "three strikes" in regards to violations: line violations [pro and farm], salary cap violations, and minimum salary violations. Should a GM garner more than three violations of any combination, they will forfeit a participation point for each additional violation, in addition to the normal punishment [CPU lines, pro player release, or draft pick forfeiture]. See section 11 for this.

Other clarifications and minor changes:
-- Changed the wording in the "Duties of the General Manager" section, as well as added a blurb about trade bans, and a bit about mentors for new GMs. See section 01.3 for more.
-- Changed wording in the H&G/NZT limitations, now clear that H&G line must be shorter than the longest shift length on the team, rather than just the first line's shift length. See section 02.1 for more.
-- Removed the rule stating that a team's "best players" may not play on a hit and grind line. See section 02.1 for more... even though I erased it... the limitations section is still there... so maybe that makes some sense?
-- Clarified waiver claim procedure, including that forced waivers are suspended from trade deadline until end of pre-season. Also added that a team re-claiming a player claimed from their team will not compromise their claims list position in doing so. See section 03.2 for more.
-- Clarified that a player may only have one retirement roll done on them per season, so if they fail, they fail. See section 03.5 for more.
-- Clarified section on cap violations, in regards to forfeiture of draft picks for repeat offenses. Changed it to repeated releases will bring on draft pick forfeiture, rather than just repeated violations which are fixed before a pro player release takes place. See section 04 for more.
-- Staying with cap violations, changed the sentence that states that a G7 member must inform a GM of a violation. If a GM fails to notice that they are over the cap themselves - or by viewing the Line Violations thread - then it's their own fault. We take no responsibility for the failure of a GM to keep his finances in order. See section 04.1 for more.
-- Entry Draft is now based solely on regular season standings, not on play-off finishes/Stanley Cup winner. See section 06 for more.
-- Updated wording in the Restricted Free Agency section to reflect that EHM's engine sees that an offer on a player includes both the base salary AND the signing bonus when calculating compensation. See section 07.4 for more.
-- Added that between three and five PP will be awarded to GMs who participate in the nominating and voting for the All-Star/Young Stars Games. See section 10.1 for more.
-- Clarified the section on Participation Points Limitations, as well as added that points may not be used after the play-offs have ended, including on any player traded to a team after the trade deadline [ie: in a trade that cannot be processed until the off-season]. See section 10.3 for more.

That's all.

If a GM fails to read this, and fails to comply with any of these rules - posted both in the Rules section as a new post, and as a new topic in the General Discussion forum - it is their own fault. It's here for all to see, and all to read.

[Pittsburgh!!!!!!!]

Updated on September 6th, 2008.

Only one new rule that I've followed for many a season but was only written in the book in the wrong section.

-- Contract offers must be sent vertically, not horizontally. Horizontal contract offers will be ignored until they are typed out properly. Section 03.3.3.

I changed the wording of quite a few sections, as well, but did not add any other new rules.

[Pittsburgh!!!!!!!]

Quote

. 11. The Three Strike Rule: Salary cap, lines, salary violations

While we all want to just relax and have fun with the league, the G7 and other general managers do not look kindly upon those of us who wish to attempt to circumvent certain rules, whether it be with malicious intent, or just out of outright laziness.

So, beginning with the 2013/2014 season, the Three Strike Rule was implemented. Should a team have three violations [salary cap, lines or minimum salaries] during the course of an ITC regular season/play-offs, that general manager will face additional punishment to the punishment suffered for the violation itself.

For every violation after the second [ie: your "third strike" and onward], a team will forfeit one participation point per violation. This includes salary cap violations that are not fixed in an orderly manner [ie: resulting in the releasing of a pro team player], line violations that are not fixed promptly [ie: result in lines being CPU'd] and, beginning in 2015/2016, any strikes incurred for the forced fastsigning of a farm player for any reason. As always, reasonable excuses may result in the violation being overturned, however they should probably be good ones. No "my dog ate my lines checker" crap.

Hopefully this will help crack down on the number of violations suffered throughout the year.

[Pittsburgh!!!!!!!]

February 17th
-- added a new rule: 05.3: no picks not tradable in-game may be dealt on the forums, in future trades or not.
-- clarified that any players signed after January 1st of a season may not be dealt until the following off-season