Roster Balancing Procedures

The purpose of these roster-balancing rules is to fill all of your starting positions before you receive any less important backups. In each Scoresheet Hockey game (your team will play 3 each week), you'll use 3 centers, 3 left wings, 3 right wings, 4 defensemen, and 1 goalie. Along with these 14 starters, you'll draft 12 backups. These backups take over in case a starter is injured, or if you trade or demote your starter.

Normally, you'll receive 14 starters in the first 14 rounds, then 1 backup at each position, then a second backup at each of the 5 positions, and finally two "extra" backups (which can be from any position). During the draft, we proceed down your list, giving you your highest ranked, available (undrafted) player. Once you get a full complement of starters at a position (this is 3 centers, or 4 defensemen, etc.) we skip over your other listed players at that position, until we get to a player you have listed that plays a position at which you still need a starter. We do the same thing in the 'backup' rounds - once you get a backup at a position we skip over other players listed at that position and go down your list drafting players at those positions at which you still need a backup. Once you get your first backup everywhere, we go back to the top of your list and start down again, giving you a second backup at each position (and go back to the top again once you get a second backup everywhere).

Since you start 3 players at each forward spot, and 4 defensemen each game, a position on your team is not considered 'filled' with starters until you have that many players at that position. For instance, you could get 3 centers before you get any players at other positions, or 3 right wings before you get any left wings. We just go down your list, giving you the highest listed available player until you have enough starters at that position.

However, you may override the roster balancing rule by putting a plus sign (+) next to a player's number. This tells us that you want that player, even if you already have filled the position. (For instance, you might want a 4th center, even if you haven't gotten all of your starters at other positions yet.) Once you draft a player (even with a +), he is counted at his specific position. Also, plus signs will only override roster balancing for ONE extra player at each position. You will not get a 2nd backup at a position before you have all of your starters, nor will you receive a 3rd backup before you have at least 1 backup at each of the 5 positions.

Instead of listing a player on your ranking sheet, you can also list a position with a plus (+). This tells us to try drafting any of the players that you've ranked above that point as an extra player at that position. That is, it's the same as relisting everyone you've already ranked at that position, except this time with a plus after all of their names. For instance, let's say you rank 30 centers in your top 70 players, and then put "C+" in the 71st slot. As soon as you get 3 centers (filling your starters at center), we'll skip over the other centers you've listed and instead give you players from other positions that you do not yet have all your starters at. Then when we get down to your "C+", we'll see if any of your centers ranked above that point are still available. If so, you'll get the top one as your 4th center. If not, we'll ignore the "C+" and keep going down your list. So putting C+ does NOT automatically give you a center at that spot no matter what - it just means we have now added a plus to all the centers on your list above that spot, meaning if one is still available you can now get him as an extra.

We suggest that you not get carried away with these "+" options. The option has been created to allow you to draft a key backup before you have all of your starters (the 'best available athlete' theory). But we do stress that it is to your advantage to draft a balanced team - it is recommended that you do not list more than 10 plusses on your ranking sheet. Also, if you put the plus next to the player number it is more certain to be seen and typed in! The "plus option" is the reason that some teams may not have all of their starters exactly at the end of the 14th round. A warning - if you use a lot of plusses, you may end up with extra backups at some positions and only one backup at other positions.

It is possible to have a player that you did not put on your ranking sheet assigned to your team. This occurs if you still need a player at a position, but there are no more available players on your ranking sheet who play that position. The order in which players are assigned by default is based on the total number of points earned last season - the same order as the player lists. To avoid having a player assigned to your team that you did not list, your ranking sheet should include many players from all positions. A draft list should contain approximately: 50 centers, 50 right wings, 50 left wings, 55 defensemen, and about 35 goalies. Your list should use some combination of these to total 245 players - the exact numbers of players listed will depend somewhat on how often you use the "+" options.

In summary, once you get a full complement of starters at every position we go back to the top of your list and start back down again, filling out your backups. And once you have 1 backup at each position, we go back to the top of your list again and go down giving you your second backup at each position.

IMPORTANT HINT: You do NOT need to group players by position on your ranking sheet. You should just list players in the order you think they will be most valuable in the upcoming season; our roster balancing procedures will then ensure you get a reasonably balanced squad. And you should remember these are one-year leagues, so draft based on what you believe players will do this season!

In addition, each week of the Scoresheet Hockey regular season, we'll hold a free agent draft among teams who've submitted a free agent draft list that week. Teams will pick in reverse order of the standings, and each team that submits a new depth chart/free agent list that week will receive 1 new player. (Teams that chose not to submit a depth chart that week will just be skipped over for that week's free agent draft.) *NOTE: There is NO free agent draft the first week. Instead, teams are drafting 26 players in the pre-season draft, instead of 25, as in year's past. Each week's free agent draft is held before that week's games are played - so that you can use the free agent that week if necessary. (Free agent rules and procedures will be discussed more fully when you receive the draft results and the depth chart explanations.)