ANNUAL HOCKEY POOL RULES

 

Participant(s) will be used interchangeably with the term team(s).

 

1. Entry Fees and Prizes

 

1.01 – The entry fee is $400 per participant.

 

1.02 – These fees are due by e-transfer 10 days before the Draft each year. Money collected from these fees will be put in full into the jackpot prize money.

a. The entry fee secures your spot into the upcoming pool. Failure to pay your entry fee by the due date may result in you losing your spot because a replacement participant will be sought after the due date for any participant(s) who have not yet paid.

b. Participation in the Draft can only be done in person. Your payment of your entry fee is your agreement that you alone will be coming to the Draft to make your draft pick selections. This explicitly means sending someone in your place or bringing someone to assist you is not allowed.

c. For those that can’t make it in person in a particular year (and therefore can’t participate that year) and they don’t want to lose their spot in the following years in the pool, let Nick know before the entry fee due date and you will be given this accommodation.

            i. This accommodation will only be given to participants who have at least a 7 year tenure in the pool.

            ii. This accommodation is not meant to be used regularly. It’s for those that have a difficulty in participating in person that particular year. The accommodation may possibly not be granted for individuals who request it more than “rarely”.

 

1.03 – There will be two cash prizes to be won and paid out at the end of each regular pool season to the participants who finish in the top two places (i.e. most points). The jackpot prize money will be divided so that the participant who finishes in 1st Place receives 60% of the jackpot, and the participant who finishes in 2nd Place receives 40% of the jackpot. (See Section 2.04a-f in cases of ties)

 

1.04 – The two participants who finish with the most points at the end of the pool season will be considered the WINNERS. The participant who finishes in 1st Place will be awarded the designation “Champion” and the participant who finishes in 2nd Place will be awarded the designation “Finalist”.  (See Section 2.04a-f in cases of ties)

 

1.05 –  Any costs associated with the pool, including (but not limited to) using online pool managers and our pool website hosting, will be paid for evenly between the two Winners at the end of the pool season. This will be done by deducting these costs from their prize money.

 

2. Scoring of Points

 

2.01 –  The top eight players (most points) on each participant’s team will be used to calculate total points for each team (i.e. two lowest point players will be dropped). In the case of a tie in points between two or more players on the same team, the first tiebreaker stated below (2.04a – prorated points) will be used to rank the players. If still tied, the player chosen first will count.

 

2.02 – Points will be awarded based on the following:

Goal = 1 point

Assist = 1 point

 

2.03 – Statistics provided by the NHL will be considered the official and final source for determining points.

 

2.04 – In the case of a tie between two or more participants in the overall standings, the following tiebreaker(s) will be used to determine the ranking of participants:

a.  Each tied participant’s top eight player’s points will be prorated over 82 games (i.e. a full season, or whatever amount of games constitutes a full season in a shortened season).

            i. If a player has played over 82 games (ex. he was traded to a team that had played less games at the time of the trade), his full points will be used, that is, his points won’t be prorated for a 82 game schedule.

Prorated points for each player will be rounded up to the nearest hundredth (ex. 72.1454 = 72.15) and one team must beat another by one full point (not rounded up) to be declared the higher standing team. If there is still a tie, then

b. Each tied participant’s two dropped player’s points will added to the participant’s total points. If there is still a tie, then

c. Each tied participants’ two dropped player’s points will be prorated over 82 games (i.e. a full season, or whatever amount of games constitutes a full season in a shortened season). Prorated points for each player will be rounded up to the nearest hundredth (example. 72.1454 = 72.15). The prorated points for the two dropped players will be added to the top eight player’s prorated points and one team must beat another by one full point (not rounded up) to be declared the higher standing team.

d. If there is still a tie between the participants’ teams after the tiebreakers, they will be considered as having finished in the same place in the standings.

e. If the participants’ teams tie for 2nd place, they will split the 2nd place prize money equally and they will be designated Finalists.

f. If the participants’ teams tie for 1st place, they will split the total jackpot prize money equally and they will be designated Champions. In this case, there will be no 2nd place Finalist(s).

 

2.05 – The following players may not be drafted:

- Wayne Gretzky

            - from 1st Annual (1985-86) to 10th Annual (1995); restriction lifted for the 11th Annual and onwards.

- Mario Lemieux

            - from 3rd Annual (1987-88) to 10th Annual (1995); restriction lifted for the 11th Annual and onwards.

            - from 17th Annual (2001-02) to 18th Annual (2002-03); restriction lifted for the 19th Annual and onwards.

- Jaromir Jagr

            - from 17th Annual (2001-02) to 18th Annual (2002-03); restriction lifted for the 19th Annual and onwards.

- Sidney Crosby

            - from 22nd Annual (2007-08) to 33rd Annual (2018-19); restriction lifted for the 34th Annual and onwards.

- Alexander Ovechkin

            - from 23rd Annual (2008-09) to 26th Annual (2011-12); restriction lifted for the 27th Annual and onwards.

            - for 28th Annual (2013-14); restriction lifted for the 29th Annual and onwards.

- Evgeni Malkin

            - from 24th Annual (2009-10) to 25th Annual (2010-11); restriction lifted for the 26th Annual and onwards.

            - from 27th Annual (2013) to 28th Annual (2013-14); restriction lifted for the 29th Annual and onwards.

- Steven Stamkos

            - for 28th Annual (2013-14); restriction lifted for the 29th Annual and onwards.

- Patrick Kane

            - for 34th Annual (2019-20); restriction lifted for the 35th Annual and onwards.

- Connor McDavid

            - from 32nd Annual (2017-18). Restriction still in place.

- Nikita Kucherov

            - for 34th Annual (2019-20); restriction lifted for the 35th Annual and onwards.

            - from 36th Annual (2021-22). Restriction still in place.

- Nathan MacKinnon

            - from 34th Annual (2019-20). Restriction still in place.

- Leon Draisaitl

            - from 35th Annual (2021). Restriction still in place.

 

3. Team Composition/Draft

 

3.01 – Each participant’s team will be composed of players he selects at the Draft, which will be held preferably on the first evening that the NHL regular season starts, or if not possible, then the evening before.

 

3.02 – The Draft will consist of ten rounds.

 

3.03 – The order of selection will be based on a draw to be held before the Draft. The order of selection reverses for each subsequent round (i.e. “Snake Draft”).

 

3.04 – Participants will sit at a table (or sequence of tables) in the exact order of the Draft selections. No exception will be allowed to sit outside this table area or to sit outside your spot in the Draft order.

 

3.05 – Each participant gets a three-minute time limit for each selection.

a. If a participant says an active player’s name when it is their turn to make a selection, that said player will be their selection for that pick if that player wasn’t already selected. This will be enforced for any mention of a player’s name, inadvertently or not, even if the participant is asking about the player’s availability.

b. If a selection is not made within this time limit then the delinquent participant forfeits his pick and the next participant in line would get to pick (if the delinquent participant has another pick after the forfeited pick, the next pick would go to a different participant). Once the next participant makes a pick then it would go back to the delinquent participant to make a selection, but with half the time limit that was given before.

 

3.06 – Once the Draft commences, saying an active player’s name (who has not been selected yet) when it is not your turn to select is explicitly not allowed. The player’s status (healthy/injured, point projection, linemates, etc) is not relevant.

a. If a participant says an active player’s name when it is not their turn to make a selection, inadvertently or not, they will receive a warning the first time. If they do it again, they will lose their last round pick that year. Each subsequent violation will result in another pick lost, starting from the lowest round.

b. If the participant does it when they have already selected all their picks, they will lose any player they’ve already selected, starting from the lowest round.

 

3.07 – Once the Draft commences, player assistance between participants is explicitly not allowed. This includes, but not limited to, the sharing of player draft lists/names (sharing your list/names and/or seeking to look at someone else’s list/names) and/or sharing player information/status.

            i. Sharing the same sheet of paper of names, a magazine, online device, etc. will be considered as sharing a list of players and/or player information, no exceptions made.

            ii. The onus is on each participant to bring their own resources to the Draft and do their own research (if needed) during the Draft.

            iii. The integrity of any Draft in fantasy sports starts and ends with each participant selecting their own players. In the spirit of this and overall fairness, this includes no help from others during the draft. In addition, the significant entry fee to join this pool and win significant prize money is jeopardized when someone assists another participant during the draft.

a. If a participant is deemed to be assisting someone else and/or seeking assistance, they will receive a warning the first time. If they do it again, they lose their last round pick that year. Each subsequent violation will result in another pick lost, starting from the lowest round.

b. If the participant does it when they have already selected all their picks, they will lose any player they’ve already selected, starting from the lowest round.

 

3.08 – Flagrant disregard and violation of the rules in this pool will result in removal from participation in that pool and all future pools.

 

4. Shortened Season

 

4.01 – At least 50% of the scheduled regular season games in a season must be played for our pool to be valid and winners to be declared that season.

a. Scheduled regular season games are whatever the NHL declares before the start of the season. It is currently 82 games per team, however the NHL may announce and plan a reduced scheduled for an upcoming season. If for example, the NHL announces a 48 game per team schedule, then 50% of that schedule must be completed for our pool to be valid that season.

b. Calculation of the 50% is multiply number of games scheduled for each team by number of teams in the league, then divide this number by two for the first total. Add the number of games each team actually completed, this total must be equal or higher to the first total (or higher to next whole number up if the first total is a fraction) for the season to be considered valid for our pool.