Herein, we will discuss the various details of our collective bargaining agreement. Proper understanding and application of these rules is essential to making this league a success. Your participation will help make the success of this league come to fruition. Thanks go out to the NEFHL for the format of the rules herein.

1. THE CMHL
 1.l About the CMHL
 1.2 Code of conduct
 1.3 Commissioners and League Officials (LOs)

2. General Managers
 2.1 Duties
 2.2 Participation
 2.3 Leave of absence
 2.4 Complaints

3. CMHL Simming
 3.1 Attributes Definition
 3.2 Game Results
 3.3 Statistics, Schedules, Standings and Boxscores

4. Season Schedule
 4.1 Season Length
 4.2 All Star Break
 4.3 Trade deadline
 4.4 Playoffs

5. Off-season
 5.1 Awards
 5.2 Retirement
 5.3 Entry Draft
 5.4 Offseason Contracts and Free Agency
  5.4.1 Restricted Free Agents (RFAs)
  5.4.2 Current Unrestricted Free Agents
  5.4.3 Pending Unrestricted Free Agents
  5.4.4 Free Agent Program

6. Players & Coaches
 6.1 Players
  6.1.1 Salaries
  6.1.2 Position changes
  6.1.3 Unassigned Player Signings
  6.1.4 Aging
  6.1.5 Rerates
  6.1.6 Prospects
  6.1.7 Injuries
 6.2 Coaches
 6.3 Waivers
 6.4 Contract Buyouts

7. Team Operations
 7.1 Trading
 7.2 Salary cap
 7.3 Rosters
 7.4 Lines
 7.5 Seats
 7.6 Ticket prices

8. The ICHF
 8.1 Farm Team League

9. Compensation Tables
 9.1 Offer Sheet Compensation
 9.2 Prospect Contracts

The CMHL stands for Cyber Management Hockey League. It was started in April 2004.  The league is a simulation based league which uses SimonT Hockey Simulator (STHS) software. A parallel farm team league, the ICHF, runs in conjunction with the CMHL.

League Website: http://www.cmhlhockey.ca

League Forum: http://cmhlrangers.proboards25.com

The CMHL code of conduct applies to both people in league management positions and General Managers. Everyone in the CMHL must act in an appropriate manner towards one another. Treat others how you would want to be treated. Be polite and courteous to other GM's and show them respect. Debates on the message board and team rivalries are by all means encouraged but know where to draw the line. Any racist, sexist or other disrespectful comments will lead to immediate dismissal. Any cheating or collusion will lead to immediate dismissal. Members who do not abide by the CMHL code of conduct will be subject to dismissal.

There is one Commissioner overseeing league duties for the CMHL, Dave (lightningbolt). He is supported by a group of 4 League Officials (LOs), Aaron (Stajanfan), Mathieu (Moll), Jay (Jay) and Greg (Gerg).

The LOs work together as a committee to ensure that the league runs smoothly. Each LO has an equal say. The LOs are in place to prevent any cheating or dictatorship, as well as to share an equal workload and make group decisions. The LOs are responsible for the operations of the entire CMHL.

As a General Manager in the CMHL you have some specific duties that should be done on a regular basis. The duties include but are not limited to:

• Having fun!
• Being respectful to your fellow GMs and the LOs
• Creating and Updating lines and rosters for both the CMHL and ICHF leagues
• Making trades to improve your franchise
• Signing players
• Ensuring your teams finances stay within the salary cap
• Keeping within the roster limitations
• Participating in the Entry draft and Free Agent process
• Responding to emails and messages in a prompt fashion
• Actively participating in message board discussion

If you do not fulfill your duties you will be subject to dismissal.

Being active and social around the league are a must and just as important as your GM duties. Reading and posting on the message board is mandatory. The message board is a very important communication tool which will often contain important information along with some great discussions. The message board is a huge part of the league and that cannot be stressed enough.

The league has a minimum participation rule which is as follows:

• Every GM must update their lines due to injury or trade prior to the next simming day. Unless otherwise announced on the forum, Regular Season simming regular is done every weekday, excepting major holidays (ie Christmas, New Years) that may fall on a week day. Unless otherwise announced, simming is not done on the weekend.
• After each sim day, a new sim file is created so that current trades, position changes and injuries are available for line changes.
• GM’s will always be notified of the daily sim, as well as provided with the injury link, via PM from the simmer on a daily basis.
• A strike system is employed for failing to submit complete lines for both your CMHL and ICHF teams (and maintaining that lines are complete) prior to each game played. Noncompliance will result in a strike being issued against that GM. GM’s receiving 5 strikes during the course of a season will be subject to dismissal at the League Official’s discretion.
• Throughout the regular season GMs are rated on their forum activity levels. Based on a comparison grading of combined quality/quantity of GM activity between the forum and articles on the main web page, teams will either be rewarded with bankroll, remain the same, or lose bankroll (See 7.3 Bankroll)

To the credit of the CMHL, the league has a history of being able to retain her GMs. The League Officials realize that the CMHL is for entertainment and sometimes real life does intervene. We understand the time and effort that our members commit to making our league what it is, and as a result there will be exceptions made to GM duties and participation as long as notice is given.

If a GM is studying for exams, is experiencing increased work loads short term, is going on vacation, is injured, getting married, death in the family and so on, they may not be able to fulfill their duties during that time period. By letting one of the League Officials know what is going on, and for how long, the Los will help the GM out in managing his team for that time frame. If a GM is gone for a lot longer than they stated, have disappeared for a while without any notice, or is frequently too busy and not able to be active, then each case will be looked at individually and they may be subject to dismissal.

To file a complaint about anything going on in the league you can e-mail or PM the Commissioner, or contact a League Official. If you have any concerns they will be dealt with professionally and privately.

Player performance is based on their ratings in a variety of skills. All numbered attributes are on a scale from either 40 or 50 to 99 unless otherwise noted. The abbreviations are as follows:

FOR ALL PLAYERS:

PO - Position - Indicates the position the player plays.
CD - Condition - How healthy the player is. "OK" indicates 100%. Players typically recover at a rate of one CD point per game day.
SUSP - Suspension - How long the player is suspended for.
EX - Experience - The amount of experience the player has.
LD - Leadership - The player's leadership skills.
MO - Morale - The players overall attitude and morale. The importance of this attribute is minimal in the simulator.

SKATERS:

CK - Checking - Hitting, fore checking and intensity.
FG - Fighting - The likelihood of a player getting into a fight.
DI - Discipline - The player's tendency to get penalized.
SK - Skating - Player's ability to stop, turn, accelerate and skate.
ST - Strength - Indicates the player's strength and power.
DU - Durability - The player's endurance on the ice and tendency to get injured.
PH - Puck Handling - The player's ability to control the puck.
FO - Faceoffs - The player's ability to win a faceoff.
PA - Passing - The player's ability to pass the puck.
SC - Scoring - Player's shooting and goal scoring ability.
DF - Defense - Ability to back check and play defense.

GOALTENDERS:

SK - Skating - Ability to move around in his crease, side to side movement.
DU - Durability - Same as above.
ST - Strength - Same as above.
SZ - Size - The goalie's physical size in net, how much of the net he occupies.
AG - Agility - Goalie's flexibility and ability to make acrobatic saves.
RB - Rebound Control - Goalie's ability to control rebounds in his crease.
SC - Style Control - Goalie's ability to stay calm under pressure and maintain his style of play.
HS - Hand Speed - Goalie's ability to make quick glove and stick saves.
RT - Reaction Time - How quickly a goalie responds to a shot or offensive attack.

Immediately prior to Season 7 (2009-10), we removed the OV (Overall) rating as the league felt it provided a misleading representation of the player’s abilities.

Game results will be displayed on the league website. Full NHL-Style boxscores are provided including detailed play-by-play game summaries for both CMHL and ICHF games.

The league standings, statistics, schedule and boxscores will be updated with minimal delay following the simming of a game day. All of this will be presented at the league website.

STHS version 1.1.11 will be used to simulate the games and run the league. All GM’s will be provided with the latest version of the GM Editor in order to take care of their rosters and lines along with instructions on how to use the software. The GM Editor and League Files are available for download on the league website.

Each team will play 82 games - 41 games at home and 41 away from home. Games will be simulated on a regular basis - typically 5 days a week, Monday-Friday. The CMHL season generally commences around the 3rd week in October, with playoffs wrapping up the end of June/first week of July. A full summer offseason allows for the Draft, Free Agency and preparation for the coming season.

Each season, the CMHL and ICHF will hold an All Star Break. The starting lineups for each team will be determined through a polling of all 30 GMs. The League Officials will determine the players for each poll and there will be one poll per position per team. The remainder of the roster and the lines will be determined by the GM’s of the Eastern and Western Conference leading teams at the time of the All-Star game.

The trade deadline will occur at 80% of the season schedule. Trading will resume after the playoffs, once all rerates have been completed.

The playoffs will follow the NHL format.

Awards will be given out at the end of the playoffs. They will be the same as the NHL awards. The League Officials will choose 3 finalists for each award. The 30 GM’s will then be polled to choose the winner of each award.

Players will be retired at one of the following trigger points. Player retirements are never done during the season, but rather, at the first offseason opportunity. In other words, players are immediately retired at any point in the offseason if a trigger is met, or at the start of the offseason if the trigger is met during the season. The trigger must be corroborated by a legitimate media source.

Triggers:

• The player announces his retirement from professional hockey.
• The player signs a contract to play hockey outside North America (i.e Europe).
• The player has been inactive from professional hockey for one full season.

At any time, if a retired player returns to the game, the team that lost him to retirement has the option to reinstate his previous contract, as it stood. If that team declines, the player becomes an unrestricted free agent.

The Entry Draft will be held shortly after the end of the playoffs, once rerates have been completed and trading has been reopened. The Entry Draft will hold 7 rounds. GM’s must select players who have been drafted in the most recent NHL draft or any unsigned prospects from 3 years previous. Players selected in the Entry Draft will be assigned to their respective teams prospect list. Trades can occur before and during the Entry Draft. The order of the entry draft will be determined by last year’s standings and a lottery for the teams that didn’t make the playoffs exactly like the NHL.

No Contracts will be allowed if it makes your team surpass its Salary Cap. Contracts are reduced and players are aged immediately after the Stanley Cup is awarded. If a players contract expires at the same time as he turns 29 years old or younger, that player is deemed a Restricted Free Agent (RFA). If a players contract expires at the same time as he turns 30 years old or older, that player is deemed an Unrestricted Free Agent (UFA).

RFAs have limited rights as free agents. They are free to negotiate with their own team as much as required, and can negotiate with other teams on a restricted basis.

In order to retain the rights to an RFA, teams must make the RFA a qualifying offer of their current salary + 10%. If this offer is not made by the specified date (date varies in-season), then the RFA becomes a UFA and is no longer the property of said team. Once the player becomes a UFA, he is no longer obligated to receive any minimum salary and may in effect, sign for less than his original qualifying offer. Once the qualifying offer is made however, the team holds that players rights for the remainder of the upcoming season. Should the player receive but not accept the qualifying offer, he remains an RFA and retains all RFA rights. The GM can continue to negotiate with this player but cannot offer him less than the qualifying offer. Should the team and player not reach an agreement by the start of the season, the player is said to be in holdout and cannot play. Players who have not reached agreement by the midway mark of the season are prohibited from player in the second half of the season, even if an agreement is reached.

Another team may make an offer (named an offer sheet) to an RFA that is not their own. The GM who owns the rights to that player must review the offer sheet and must either match the offer or allow the offer to be made. If the offer is made, and the player accepts, the player signs with the new team, and the team which the player is leaving receives a compensation award as outlined in Table 9.1. The team offering the offer sheet must be capable of providing the appropriate compensation in order for the offer to be considered and processed.

GM's will have a small time window (usually around 5 days) during which they have sole negotiating rights with the player. During this time window, the qualifying offers are made at minimum, and other teams cannot make offer sheets to players.

UFAs have full rights as free agents. They are free to negotiate with any team.

GMs can start making offers to all UFAs at the date specified in-season. UFA offers will be processed once a week at the same time until no more offers are sent in. If more than one offer is sent for a specific player, the highest monetary offer will be processed. If two or more equivalent monetary offers are sent, the offer from the team that was worst in the standings in the previous season will have their offer sent in.

With respect to a team's own upcoming UFAs, the team can obtain sole negotiating rights for a specified time period for up to 2 UFAs prior to the opening of the UFA period, for a given cost - these UFAs are known as Loyalty UFAs. In the summer of 2010, all teams received 3 offseason 'points', each of which is worth negotiating rights with 1 Loyalty UFA, or 1 NHL Rerate, or 1 contract buyout. No more than 2 offseason points can be claimed for any of the above uses. This rule will be reviewed and amended prior to the summer of 2011.

All free agents are represented by a player agent, who is assigned at the beginning of the free agent period each offseason. This player agent is a GM in the CMHL and has been appointed to the position by league management. The agent may not negotiate contracts for his own team or teams in his conference. Player agents and GMs work together to come to agreements regarding player contracts.

Player salaries will be provided on both the Rosters page. When a player is on the Pro team, he must be paid his full salary. A player on the Farm team receives 10% of his salary, as long as he has not played 20 Pro games. After 20 Pro Games, the players full salary counts against the cap regardless of whether he is on the Pro or Farm team. The minimum player salary is $300 000 and the maximum is 20% of the team cap being $10 000 000.

A player making a salary of $2,500,000 may not be sent down to the farm.

You may switch a player’s position at anytime. However, during the season, a $1,000,000 fee must be paid out of the team's current funds for each position change. A player playing out of position will see his performance reduced by the simulator. The position change should be a player’s valid position as shown on one of the following websites:

• www.tsn.ca
• www.sportsnet.ca
• www.hockeydb.com
• www.nhl.com
• www.forecaster.ca/demo/hockey/index.cgi

Unassigned players signings refers to the in-season signing of free agents. Unassigned players come in two shapes and sizes:

• Players on the Unassigned Players List

Any player in the FHLSim database who is not on a member of a CMHL organization by the start of the season joins the Unassigned Players List and is eligible to join a team at any time during the Unassigned Player Signings Period. To sign these players, the GM must make a formal offer including salary per year and number of years.

• Players not on the Unassigned Players List

Any player who is not a member of a CMHL organization and who is not on the Unassigned Players List - this would essentially include players that were drafted or signed by NHL teams but that were not drafted by a CMHL team. The player must have been drafted or signed by an NHL team in order to be signed into the CMHL. A player in this category does not require a formal offer, rather, he is awarded a CMHL rookie contract based on his NHL draft position. If the player was not drafted into the NHL, a standard 3 year, $500,000 contract is awarded.

To sign an Unassigned Player, the GM should make an offer through the website. Such offers will be processed on a weekly basis. Unassigned players can be signed at any point during the season up to the Trade Deadline.

All players age 1 year at the end of the season.

Ratings are redone for all players at the end of each and every season by habsfan93 and a selected committee of assistants. Rerates are conducted based on either NHL or CMHL statistics (depending on the players status) and general player knowledge. Whether the rerate is conducted according to NHL or CMHL statistics is determined as follows:

# of Pro Games Played	Rerate Basis
20 or More	CMHL Statistics
19 or Less	NHL Statistics

Each attribute is individually rerated. The OV is not rerated, nor is it controlled by the league. The OV rating is simply a function of the individual attributes and is calculated independantly by STHS. The basis for each attribute is as follows:

Attribute	Rerate Basis
CK	Hits Per Minute Played
FG	Major Penalties Per Season
DI	Penalty Minutes Per Game
SK	General Player Knowledge
ST	Player Weight
DU	Minutes Played Per Game
PH	General Player Knowledge
FO	Faceoff Percentage
PA	Assists Per Game
SC	Goals Per Game
DF	General Player Knowledge - NOT Based on +/-
EX	Players Begin at 25, Receive 3 Attribute Points for each season and bonus points for playoff progression (CMHL only)
LD	Mimics EX unless otherwise justified
Goalie Attributes	All Goalie Rerates are completed on a subjective basis at the judgemend of the Rerater

Each team has the opportunity to appeal the rerates process in two distinct ways:

• GM's may elect for up to two players, who were originally rerated based on CMHL statistics, to have their rerates redone based on NHL statistics. GM's may only NHL rerate players that were on their roster at the end of the prior season. In the summer of 2010, all teams received 3 offseason 'points', each of which is worth negotiating rights with 1 Loyalty UFA, or 1 NHL Rerate, or 1 contract buyout. No more than 2 offseason points can be claimed for any of the above uses. This rule will be reviewed and amended prior to the summer of 2011.
• GM's may bring up to 3 players to Rerates Arbitration, where they may argue the subjectively based ratings of their players. A 3 GM Rerates Arbitration Committee is formed each year to oversee this process.

When a player is drafted by a CMHL team, that player is placed on the team's Prospects List. These players do not occupy a roster spot and do not receive a salary. Players may remain on this list for up to 3 years, before they must be signed to a rookie contract or released. Released players reenter the draft, where they may be reselected by a team and they may then return to the Prospect List for a 2nd 3-year stay. At the end of this 2nd 3-year stay, the player must be signed or released to the UFA pool. Prospects may be signed to a rookie contract at any time prior to the end of their 3-year term, at no expense to the GM.

All players are subject to injury including goaltenders. After every day of games, a CMHL Update is sent to all GM's with an Injury Report, which displays the type of injury and the expected amount of time a player will miss. Players that are injured will have to be replaced in the line up before the team’s next game - if they are not, the GM will receive a strike. Players that are at 95 CD or over are just fatigued and not injured. They do not have to be replaced but just need some rest. Injured players cannot be sent to the minors. They must stay on the Pro Roster and their full salaries will continue to count against the cap. If a situation occurs where you are over the cap, I will tell you by PM that you have until your next game to get under the cap. If you don't, I will attempt to modify your lines myself such that you get under and you will receive a strike.

Every CMHL and ICHF team will be allowed one coach who will be assigned with a set of ratings. Coaches can be fired and hired at any time during the season. All coaches receive a base salary of $300,000. Coaches are rerated each offseason based on their team's performance.

The Waiver cut-off mark is 20 Pro Games. In other words, any player that is sent down to the farm team, and that has played 20 or more Pro CMHL games, must pass through waivers. This only applies to players aged 23 years of age or older (players 22 and younger are exempt from waivers, however, their full salary will still count against the cap after the 20 game mark has been passed). Players on waivers must reside there for 48 hours. Waiver listings are announced in the Waiver Wire thread in the Team Activities board. Players on waivers can be claimed by any other team in the CMHL - that CMHL team then assumes the players full salary and contract. If more than one team places a claim, the team highest on the waiver list will obtain the player. That team will then be moved to the bottom of the waiver list.

Note that a player making a salary of $2,500,000 or more may not be sent down to the farm.

A player may be bought out of his contract at any time. This can be done via a post in the Team Activities board. During the regular season, bought out players must pass through waivers first; in the offseason, this is not necessary. Bought out players that are not claimed on waivers immediately become UFAs and can sign with any other team.

In the summer of 2010, all teams received 3 offseason 'points', each of which is worth negotiating rights with 1 Loyalty UFA, or 1 NHL Rerate, or 1 contract buyout. No more than 2 offseason points can be claimed for any of the above uses. This rule will be reviewed and amended prior to the summer of 2011. Regarding contract buyouts at all other times of the year, a system is currently being developed for this purpose and will be released with minimal delay.

Teams in the CMHL may trade players, draft picks, and future considerations. If a team trades future considerations, they must clearly be stated in the deal and can be in the form of draft picks or players.

Once two GMs reach a deal one of the GMs should post on the Pending Trades forum with the title of the thread indicating that a deal has been reached. The other GM should reply to the message and accept the trade.

Once a deal has been posted and accepted by both parties, it cannot be reversed or modified unless both parties restate their agreeal to the new deal.

Trades are reviewed by a League Official and either approved or sent to the Trade Committee.

The Trade Committee is composed of 3 core members – the Commissioner (habsfan93) and Assistant Comissioner (Marty), as well as mikeyevil - as well as 10 additional members - lightningbolt, Stajanfan, hgimn, Oilerfan4life, AsmodeanReborn, Canucks, ATLSimon, tetreault29, Gerv, and Spicy McHaggis. Using a random number generator, 2 of the 3 core members and 3 of the 10 additional members are chosen to vote Yay or Nay on the deal, with the majority decision becoming the rule. Trade Committee members who are involved in the deal or are a member of the same division as a team involved in the deal are ineligible for selection. Trade Committee members are long standing GM's, and are asked to evaluate the deal on its merits with regards to its impact on both the teams involved and the league as a whole. If a trade is denied by the Trade Committee, the GM’s involved in the deal may rework the deal and resubmit it.

The trade deadline is 80% into the season. No trades are permitted after the deadline has passed. Trades will be allowed again after the end of the playoffs prior to the entry draft.

The CMHL salary cap is 50 million dollars and cannot be surpassed by any team at any point during the regular season. At no time during the season will the salary cap be raised. The CMHL salary floor is 25 million. Every team must have at least that much salary at all times. The league will decline any signing or trade, which would cause the cap to be surpassed. In the offseason, a 15% cap overage is permitted, amounting to an offseason salary cap of 57.5 million dollars.

Due to the economics of the league, and the absence of inflation, the salary cap is not anticipated to change over time, however, it will be reviewed at the end of each season.

Teams must have 20 active, non-injured players on their pro club at all times. At all times there must be at least 2 goalies, 6 defencemen and 3 forwards at each position. A team’s combined farm and pro roster can never exceed 50 players.

GM's are also expected to maintain a minimum farm roster of 20 players - 2 goalies, 6 defencemen and 3 forwards at each position. Should a player be required to be called up to the pro level or be injured at the farm level, the GM may substitute said player with an Unknown Player in the GM Editor, or use another farm player to replace him as the farm team can carry up to 30 players.

All lines should be done using the GM Editor and the lines file sent to the commissioner using the Upload Lines utility on the website. Teams must use the GM Editor to submit lines. Everyday, hand-typed lines submissions by PM will not be accepted. As mentioned previously, exceptions will be made for GM’s who are unable to be present. The GM Editor will indicate whether lines are complete and acc

Teams must set 4 Lines, 3 Defence pairings and Power Play and Penalty Kill lines as well as a starting and backup goaltender. A goaltender must be changed when he is fatigued or his performance will drop considerably. A GM must submit what he believes are the best lines. Any team caught using lines that considerably hurt their team’s chances of winning will be grounds for dismissal. The commissioners will monitor team’s lines and make sure GMs aren’t throwing games. Players may play out of position but their performance will be decreased.

The ICHF is a 30 team farm league. Each CMHL team has its own ICHF affiliate where its prospects and depth players will play. Players can be called up and sent down to the ICHF as per the waiver and roster rules stated above. Full standings, statistics, boxscores and schedules will be provided for the ICHF. ICHF games will be simmed with every CMHL game. Injuries can occur in the ICHF. ICHF Awards and All-Star game will proceed in the same manner as the CMHL. In essence, all rules that apply to the CMHL equivalently apply to the ICHF.

The team making the offer sheet must have, at the time the offer is made, the appropriate compensation for the offer. The picks must be available for the next available entry draft, except in the case of multiple picks coming from the same round. In that situation, picks may come from future years after picks from the current year have been expended. However, the team which is relinquishing the player and receiving the compensation also receives the right to choose the draft picks from the other team and may choose to select a pick from a future year, even if the team making the offer sheet has a pick from an earlier year.

Offer (Salary per Year)	Compensation
$660,000 or below	None
Over $660,000 to $1 million	Third Round
Over $1 million to $2.0 million	Second Round
Over $2.0 million to $3.0 million	First Round and Third Round
Over $3.0 million to $4.0 million	First Round, Second Round, and Third Round
Over $4.0 million to $5.0 million	Two First Rounds, Second Round, and Third Round
Over $5 million	Four First Rounds

All prospect contracts are for a duration of 3 years.

Round Selected	Salary
1st round (1-15)	$950 000
1st round (16-30)	$900 000
2nd round (1-15)	$850 000
2nd round (16-30)	$800 000
3rd round (1-15)	$750 000
3rd round (16-30)	$700 000
4th round (1-15)	$650 000
4th round (16-30)	$600 000
5th round (1-15)	$550 000
5th round (16-30)	$500 000
6th round (1-15)	$450 000
6th round (16-30)	$400 000
7th round	$350 000
8th round	$300 000