August 16, 1999

With the summer moving right along, it must be time for another EFHL summer newsletter. Despite the NHL continuing to make a joke of itself, hopefully everyone is in for another exciting season. Since only two of you responded to my e-mail last month I will assume that everyone is in. Please let me know very soon if you are not.

Isn’t it ironic that the man who first called the NHL a garage league now owns a team at a time when the league has never more resembled a garage league. But Lemieux still deserves a lot of credit for once again saving the Pens. If he really wants to sell tickets, he needs to suit up.

The NHL got what it deserved with the idiotic crease rule. I guess they were able to deflect some criticism with their lame explanation about Hull having possession of the puck. Even that point was debatable. I am sure if you look at the videos of the hundreds of disallowed goals in the last few years, you would see some very similar goals that were disallowed. It is very hard to believe everything that was said at the time from the memo regarding exactly that type of situation supposedly sent to teams in March to that the play was even reviewed at all right after the goal was scored.

Then there are the rule changes. The video replay for crease violations was eliminated the day after the deciding cup game. It had been coming for a long time but don’t make it look too obvious that the rule sucked. And the point awarded to each team after a tie game ending in regulation. That should make the last few minutes of tie games really exciting as each team sleepwalks through the end of the game, preserving their sure point and saving their energy for overtime. It could make OT more interesting though, when teams will have nothing to lose by trying to get an extra point.

OK, enough NHL bashing for now. Let’s review the playoff pool, since half of you wimped out. Yes, it’s true, I won the playoff pool, completing a sweep of the regular season and playoffs. That gives me two firsts and two seconds in four playoff pools. Now I promise I won’t mention that again until next season’s playoffs. The key for me was the Avs defeating the Wings in the second round, giving Sakic, Forsberg, and Roy and extra round of play, and eliminating Yzerman, Shanahan, and Osgood from Mike’s team. Tony edged out Mike by one point to get his money back. As it turned out the bidding war between them for Nieuwendyk was huge. Tony has a pretty good playoff record as well, something like a first, two seconds, and a third in four seasons. Charlie needed Hull’s Cup winning goal to finish fourth and participated despite not being present at the playoff auction. He left a list of players and auction values and filled out his roster from the leftovers not chosen. He lost four forwards and all four defensemen in the first round. On the other hand, if Ottawa and Phoenix would have won a couple of rounds, he would have looked like a genius. Last again was Chris, who should have known by now that drafting a team of superstars doesn’t necessarily work in the playoffs.

Not much will change for the upcoming EFHL season. The only thing that might is the entry fee, which we will vote on auction night whether to leave it at $100, or go to $110 or $120. Hopefully no one is concerned that they will soon be priced out of the league (I assume we all have jobs), but I can’t see the entry fee going past $120 for at least two seasons after this one. The auction/draft procedures will be the same as last season. Each team will have $100 to fill any 10 of its 14 roster spots in the auction. The remaining spots will be filled draft style. We will choose numbers before the auction for draft position and division.

Please note that the festivities will begin at 8:00, with a very brief discussion of the fees, rules, and other administrative stuff. The auction will begin after that and if it is 8:15, it will begin regardless of who is or is not present. It is not the end of the world if you miss out on the first few players, but please be on time anyway.

The preliminary rules, including scheduling information, are posted on the web site. The web site address is http://www.geocities.com/colosseum/3533/efhlhome.htm. Proposed new rules (nothing major) are highlighted and will be discussed before the auction. Note that the weekly match up and period dates could change if the league goes to the Internet, which remains a possibility. But I don’t want to do that if we have to change the format too much.

Since I am bored now I will review a few of the proposed new rules and the reasoning behind them.

Rule #7. No moves for the current week will be accepted after the first game begins. Reason: A few times in the last few seasons I have allowed moves that were an hour or so late. No, it wasn’t always my move and the move was allowed only if both players involved had not begun play for the week yet. Anyway, no exceptions this season.

Rule #12. Ties in the first two rounds of the playoffs will go to the higher seed. Reason: I think the previous rule (points from reserves) was stupid. It is hard enough to keep track of you team without having to worry about your reserves’ points too.

Rule #14. Also, the commissioner retains the right to hold a vote among non-involved teams regarding the fairness of any trade or transaction. If a majority vote against it, the trade or transaction will be vetoed. Reason: I think we all know why this rule is needed.

Rule #15. A player dropped after the trading deadline is not eligible to be picked up by any other team through the remainder of the season if he is ranked among the top 30 forwards, top 20 defensemen, or top 10 goalies. Rankings will be based on average EFHL points per game for all NHL players. Reason: I think this rule should work. The main purpose is to prevent someone near the bottom of the league from being a jerk by dropping a star player at the end of the season, allowing another team to pick him up. And, unlike last season, it won’t prevent teams from picking up players who are dropped legitimately.

Rule #16. All teams must make a reasonable attempt to remain competitive regardless of their team's outlook. It is expected that players injured for any length of time will be replaced and then returned to the line up when appropriate. A lot of time is spent maintaining this league and I am sure no one appreciates having league results affected by someone who can't maintain a full team. Reason: This is not that difficult to do.

Also posted on the web site now is a recap of the past season and an update of some of the historical information. I like to keep a historical record of the league on this site. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time or the knowledge to keep it updated on a weekly basis. However, one of my goals is to learn enough about web page authoring to turn it into a more attractive site. Whether or not that actually happens remains to be seen. One thing on the web site that may actually be useful in your preparation for this season is the results from last season’s auction.

See you next month.

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