Additional Rules

You may list 14 starters and up to 15 backups on each depth chart (see the enclosed sample). However, your team's roster can become larger than 29 players- you do NOT have to cut players when you pick up free agents. (You can also make unbalanced trades, such as trading two players for three. There is NO roster size limit, just a limit on how many players you can list on the depth chart.) Unlisted players on your roster will be used as final backups, and will be used in player number order. This is useful for recently drafted free agents, and for plugging holes if you are particularly thin at a position. You are permitted to list free agents on your depth chart in hopes of actually acquiring and immediately playing them. However, these players will only play for you if you actually receive them in the draft - otherwise they'll simply be skipped over on game day.

All depth chart changes, trades, and free agent pickups are free! You must send in (postmark, fax or e-mail) your depth chart/draft list by/before 4 PM (Pacific time) the Monday of the week you want it used - meaning you send it in BEFORE any NHL games begin that week. (A Scoresheet week runs Monday thru Sunday.) This is a game where you PREDICT how your players will do - you need to set your starters and the line they are on before you see how they do that week in the NHL. However, you are NOT required to turn in a new depth chart each week. Once you submit a depth chart it stays in effect until you make a change. There will be more explanation of free agents and postmark deadlines with a final preseason letter accompanying your draft results. (Even if you are just turning in a free agent wanted list but not changing your depth chart you still must have your list submitted by Monday to have it used in that week's draft - predicting who will have a good week is a big part of the game!)

Trading of players is allowed through mid-February. However, you can NOT trade away future free agent draft rights. (Once you draft a player you can of course trade him, but you can not trade future free agent picks!) We do monitor all trades for fairness. Naturally, we need to receive trade approval from BOTH owners involved before we can put a trade into effect.

A 12 team league is split into two 6-team conferences. In each conference the top 3 finishers make the playoffs. Regular-season games that are decided by 0.20 points or less will be declared ties. The standings are determined just as in the NHL; wins are worth 2 points, ties are worth one point. (Ties for conference winners and playoff spots are broken using the season's game points scored.)

Playoffs consist of 3 game series. The first week of the playoffs the second place finisher in each conference plays the third place finisher in that conference - with the 2nd place team at home games 1 and 3. Week 2 the conference winner plays the survivor of that conference's wild-card game, with the conference winner at home games 1 and 3. The finals are then played between the playoff winners from each conference - the team with the better record gets home ice in games 1 and 3, except that a conference winner has preference over a wild-card team. The home team is given a 0.3 point home ice advantage in each playoff game!

In addition to the home ice advantage, we also award 'bonus points' to the team in each playoff series which has the better regular season record. Rather than having the playoffs based solely on what happens just that week in the NHL, we feel there should be some additional importance to year-long records. So, in each playoff matchup, the team with the better Scoresheet regular season record will get an additional .03 'bonus points' for each standings point that team finishes ahead of the team it is playing. (A standings point is figured just as in the NHL - a win is worth 2 points, a tie is worth 1.) So, if you finish 20 standings points ahead of the team you are playing that series you'll get .6 bonus points in each of the three games. These bonus points are combined with the home ice points - in the example above, a team finishing 20 standings points ahead of its opponent would have a total advantage of .9 in games 1 and 3 (.6 for the bonus points plus .3 for home ice), and an advantage of only .3 in the second game (.6 bonus points minus the .3 home ice advantage the lesser team gets in game 2.) This rule means that every regular season victory matters, even if you have your playoff spot clinched, since your bonus points get bigger with each win!

The one league winner with the highest game point total in all of Scoresheet (not counting the playoff games) wins a free year's memberships in all four Scoresheet Sports games: football, baseball, basketball and hockey. (Only teams in leagues with at least 12 teams are eligible for this prize, though trophies are awarded in all leagues. All conference winners not winning their league will also receive certificates.)

Please follow postmark deadlines for draft lists. If possible, we do appreciate you mailing in lists a couple of days before the deadline. And please call as soon as possible if for some reason you've missed a draft deadline.

Unfortunately, we can not do anything about Scoresheet-bound depth charts that become lost in the mail - once games are played they are final. However, if the Postal Service loses your weekly results, we'll gladly mail you a new copy. If you have any other questions or comments, please let us know - Our goal is to make Scoresheet Hockey as fun and rewarding as possible. Have a great season!