THE FOLLOWING CONTEST IS INTENDED FOR PLAY IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AND THE FIFTY UNITED STATES, EXCLUDING ARIZONA, ILLINOIS, IOWA, LOUISIANA, MARYLAND, MONTANA, VERMONT, AND WASHINGTON (COLLECTIVELY, THE "ELIGIBILITY AREA") AND SHALL ONLY BE CONSTRUED AND EVALUATED ACCORDING TO UNITED STATES LAW.
DO NOT ENTER THIS CONTEST IF YOU ARE NOT LOCATED IN, AND A LEGAL RESIDENT OF, THE ELIGIBILITY AREA, AND AT LEAST 18 YEARS OF AGE AS OF THE TIME OF ENTRY.
OTHER ELIGIBILITY RESTRICTIONS APPLY; SEE ELIGIBILITY FOR PRIZES BELOW.
ENTRY IN THIS CONTEST CONSTITUTES YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THE Yahoo! FANTASY HOCKEY PRO LEAGUES ADDITIONAL TERMS OF SERVICE, AND THESE OFFICIAL RULES, WHICH ARE INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE. SEE ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS BELOW.
Hit the ice with Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Hockey Pro Leagues, a fantasy Hockey game that gives you the chance to run your own team of professional Hockey players from the first drop of the puck through the late-season battles for playoff positioning.
Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Hockey Pro Leagues (“Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Hockey Pro Leagues” or the “Contest”; each such league participating in the Contest is a “League”) is a game of skill where you compete against other users to win prizes based on your knowledge and skill in assembling and managing a fantasy hockey team over the course of the NHL regular season (your “Team”). Your goal is to get the best Team on the ice each day, since the better your players perform in real-life games, the more value they bring to your fantasy Team.
And, while you sit back and watch your Team's progress throughout the season, we do all the hard work of gathering statistics, computing point totals, and updating standings.
For the 2012-13 season, payment of an entry fee of either $20.00 for a “PRO20 League” Team or $100 for a “PRO100 League” Team is required to register.
If you are not an existing Yahoo! ID holder, you will also be asked to create a Yahoo! ID under which you will manage your Team. Follow the on-screen directions to completely fill out the entry form with your entry information. As part of your entry, you will be asked to provide valid contact information. This information is mandatory if you wish to be considered for a League prize at the end of the season. A user who has not provided valid registration information will automatically be deemed ineligible and will not be considered for a prize. A valid PayPal account is required to receive a prize.
Please note that individual Teams may only be played under the Yahoo! ID with which they were created, and may not be transferred to another Yahoo! ID or played by another person. Also, you may not share an account with another person or allow another user to play under your Yahoo! ID.
Your participation in Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Hockey Pro Leagues constitutes your acceptance of the Yahoo! Fantasy Hockey Pro Leagues Additional Terms of Service (the “Additional Terms of Service”) and these official Contest rules (the “Official Rules”), which are incorporated into the Additional Terms of Service by reference. Both the Additional Terms of Service and the Official Rules will be available at http://hockey.fantasysports.yahoo.com/hockey/proleague_rules (the “Contest Site”) during the entire term of the Contest. In the event of a conflict between the Additional Terms of Service and these Official Rules, the Official Rules will control.
The Contest is void where prohibited. To be eligible for a prize in the Contest, you must be at least 18 years of age and a legal resident of the District of Columbia or the fifty United States, except for residents of Arizona, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Montana, Vermont, or Washington.
In addition, the following groups of persons are not eligible to win prizes in the Contest: employees and agents of Yahoo! Inc. (the “Sponsor”), its affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising and promotional agencies, any other prize sponsor, and any entity involved in the development, production, implementation, administration or fulfillment of the Contest (all the foregoing, together with Sponsor, collectively referred to as “Contest Entities”), and the immediate family members and persons living in the same household as any of the above.
Sign-ups for the Contest begin on August 22, 2012, and continue through January 4, 2013, at 11:59 PM PST.
Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Hockey Pro Leagues run concurrently with the 2012-2013 North American major professional hockey regular season (the “2012-2013 Season”). As currently scheduled, the season starts on October 11, 2012, and concludes with the final day of games on April 13, 2013. Should the 2012-2013 Season be cancelled, delayed, shortened or postponed for any reason, Yahoo! will make an announcement describing how this year’s version of the Contest will be modified. Yahoo! reserves the right to cancel the Contest should the circumstances warrant it.
Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Hockey Pro Leagues offer two different scoring options – “Head-to-Head Scoring” and “Rotisserie Scoring”. See more details under Scoring below.
The 2012-2013 Season is divided into a series of 25 “Game Weeks.” Except for Game Weeks 1, 15 and 25, Game Weeks generally follow a standard seven-day Monday-Sunday schedule, beginning each Monday morning at 12:00:00 AM PT and ending the following Sunday evening at 11:59:59 PM PT, or at the conclusion of the last regularly scheduled game for that Sunday, whichever comes first. The exceptions are as follows: (a) Game Week 1 follows a ten-day schedule, beginning on Thursday, October 11, 2012, at 12:00:00 AM PT, and ending Sunday, October 21, 2012, at 11:59:59 PM PT, or at the conclusion of the last regularly scheduled game for that Sunday, whichever comes first; (b) because of the all-star break, Game Week 15 runs for fourteen days, beginning Monday, January 21, 2013 at 12:00:00 AM PT, and ending Sunday, February 3, 2013 at 11:59 PM PT, or at the conclusion of the last regularly scheduled game for that Sunday, whichever comes first; and (c) because of the end of the 2012-2013 Regular Season, Game Week 25 runs for six days, beginning Monday, April 8, 2013 at 12:00:00 AM PT and ending Saturday, April 13, 2013 at 11:59:59 PM PT, or at the conclusion of the last regularly scheduled game for that Saturday, whichever comes first.
For those Leagues that use Rotisserie Scoring, there are no playoffs offered in connection with the Contest; in those Leagues, the fantasy season ends at the conclusion of Game Week 25. For Leagues that use Head-to-Head Scoring, Game Weeks 1-21 constitute the “Fantasy Regular Season,” and Game Weeks 22-24 constitute the “Fantasy Playoffs.” Refer to League Standings, Playoffs and Winners below for more details.
Note: The real-life North American major professional hockey playoffs have no bearing on any of the Leagues in this Contest. Statistics from real-life playoff games, and from any makeup games that may be played after the scheduled end date of the 2012-2013 Season, will not be included in the scoring for any League in this Contest.
In Leagues that use Head-to-Head Scoring, if you sign up after a Game Week is already underway, your Team/League will not begin its season until the start of the following Game Week. Your League’s fantasy season will also be shortened accordingly.
In Leagues that use Rotisserie Scoring, your Team/League will begin its season on the next day following your draft.
In either case, please keep in mind that you will only receive fantasy points for professional hockey games that begin and are played after your League’s initial draft has taken place and your League’s season is underway.
There is no limit to the number or type of Fantasy Hockey Pro Leagues you are allowed to join. You may purchase as many Teams as you would like, each for either $20.00 (for a PRO20 League Team) or $100.00 (for a PRO100 League Team).
All Leagues in Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Hockey Pro Leagues are public leagues that use one of two standard scoring systems: Head-to-Head or Rotisserie. Within each scoring system, all Leagues use the same standard settings. In each League, you are competing against a group of fantasy fans from around the country. When you sign up, you will be randomly placed in a League with other managers who have chosen the same type of League (i.e. PRO20 or PRO100), scoring system (Rotisserie or Head-to-Head), and draft time.
While other Yahoo! fantasy hockey games allow different league sizes, all Fantasy Hockey Pro Leagues have exactly twelve managers per League. A League will not conduct a draft or begin League play until all twelve slots have been filled. If your League does not fill up before its scheduled draft time, the League will be cancelled, and all managers will be issued a credit that may be applied towards another Team in a different League. If you do not use your credit before Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Hockey Pro Leagues registration closes, you will be automatically issued a refund.
Once all twelve manager slots have been filled, your League is eligible to conduct a live online draft to determine the rosters for each Team.
In a live online draft, each manager selects a squad in a real-time, round-robin online meeting with the other managers in the League. During his/her turn each round, a manager selects one player to add to his/her squad, until the Team’s roster is full. The draft order reverses each round, so the manager that starts the first round ends the second, and the manager that ends the first round starts the second, and so on.
To participate in a draft, first, make sure you’ve signed up for a League whose draft is scheduled for a date and time when you know that you’ll have a couple of free hours to spend at an internet-enabled computer selecting your Team. You’ll need a Flash-enabled browser in order to participate.
If you know you will not be present for your League’s entire draft, you can pre-rank players that you’d like to draft if they are available. To do so, log in to your Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Hockey Pro Leagues account using the Yahoo! ID with which you registered, go to the Contest Site, and choose the “Pre-Draft Player Rankings” link. You can pre-rank players at any time from the time you registered for your Team right up until 45 minutes before the start of your League’s draft. If you can't make a selection at any time during the live draft, your pre-ranked players will be used, in the order you selected them, for as long as they are still available and you have roster spots for them on your Team. If you run out of pre-rankings, or choose not to pre-rank, Yahoo!’s default rankings will then be used to populate your roster. See the Autopick Draft Details section for more information.
Shortly before the beginning of your League’s draft, go to your League page and select "Enter Live Draft." Please arrive 10 minutes ahead of your scheduled time, as the draft will start promptly at the scheduled time and might go rapidly if only a few managers are logged in.
Depending on the speed of your Internet connection, it can take up to five minutes for the draft applet to load into your browser. If you access the Internet from behind a firewall, you might be unable to participate in a live draft; check with your system administrator if you are having problems. Yahoo! recommends that you test your connection prior to the start of your scheduled draft by visiting http://hockey.fantasysports.yahoo.com/hockey/testdraft. If your connection meets the requirements for the live draft applet, you will see a message indicating that your connection was successful. If you get an error message, or are unable to view or access the test draft site, you may need to change your browser or firewall settings, or log in from another location.
During the draft, you can view any Team's roster by selecting the Team’s name from the Drafted Players pull-down menu. A list of the players that have been drafted at each position appears in a column to the right of the roster.
In addition to your pre-rankings, you can also set up a draft queue for yourself. This list of players, which supersedes both pre- and default rankings, is used to make a selection if you don't draft a player during your allotted 90 seconds. To add a player to your queue list, select a name from the list on the left side of the screen. The chosen name appears in the draft box and the player is added to your queue when you click the small arrow to the right of the player’s name, or drag-and-drop the player into the queue.
You can also see all of your pre-rankings by changing the sort criteria (which can be found in the pull-down menu) from “Yahoo! Rankings” to “My Pre-Rankings.”
During the draft, you’ll see a number of indicators when it's your turn to draft. Your Team’s name will appear in the yellow box in the upper-left corner of the screen, and both your Team icon and the player selection box will turn yellow.
To draft a player, select his name from the list on the left side of the screen. The chosen name appears in the draft box and the player joins your Team when you click "Draft." You have 90 seconds to select a player. If you don't draft within the allotted time, the computer will automatically give you a player based, first, on your queued list, if any, and then your pre-rankings, if any. If you haven’t queued players or submitted your own rankings list, the computer will use Yahoo!’s default rankings to select a player for you. See the Autopick Draft Details section for more information. Once you click "Draft," you cannot "undraft" a player, even if there's time remaining in your allotted 90-second selection period.
To see which player Yahoo! Sports would recommend based on our default rankings, click "Suggest." The player's name will appear in the draft box. Click "Draft" if you wish to select that player.
To chat with other managers during the draft, type your message in the entry box on the lower-right hand side of the draft window, and click "Send." All messages appear in the chat box. Draft choices are also shown here.
When the draft is complete, you will see a message telling you the draft is over. Click "OK" to quit and close the applet. To see the complete draft results, go to your League page and select "Draft Results." All of the selected players will be listed under the name of the Team that drafted them. If there are any discrepancies, be sure to send us feedback.
If you are unable to draft for yourself for any reason during the live online draft, our computer will attempt to make intelligent choices for you. This can happen if you aren't present for all or part of your live draft, or if your connection to our servers drops for any reason.
The Autopick system initially selects the highest-rated available player (based first on your queued players, if any, then your pre-rankings, if any, and then our default rankings) that can fill one of the open starting positions on your roster. After all of your starting positions are filled, the system determines a list of bench positions based on the number of starters at a position vs. the overall roster size. The system then selects the highest-rated available player (again, based first on your queued players, if any, then your pre-rankings, if any, and then our default rankings) that can play one of the bench positions.
Given this system, it's important to remember that all starting positions are filled before any bench players are chosen. Additionally, keep in mind that the system determines a maximum number of players to draft per position (starters plus bench) so that no roster ends up with an inordinate number of players at any single position. In other words, even if the next ten best available players are all goalies, the Autopick system will not overload your Team with players for a particular position when your roster doesn’t have slots for them.
Regardless of how certain you are that you’ll be available for the live draft, it's a good idea to pre-rank players in case you miss any part of the draft for any reason. To do this, just go to your team page (your “Team Page”) by clicking on the “My Team” link at the top of any Yahoo! fantasy sports page, then select "Edit Pre-Rankings."
Once your draft is complete, your Team will have a full roster of starting and bench players for the first game of your League’s fantasy season. If you make no changes, your Team’s first matchup will be played with the players you chose as starting players in the League’s initial draft. Throughout the season, it’s up to you to make adjustments to your roster based on your knowledge and skill in evaluating how your players are performing in their real-life games.
To move players between starting and bench positions, go to your Team Page and click-and-drag players from starting positions to bench (“BN”) positions, and vice versa. When you have finished making adjustments to your roster, click the “Submit Changes” button to save them.
All intra-roster moves (switching players between active and bench spots) can be made until the start of each player's real-life game, if there is one scheduled for the player’s real-life team, on that day of the 2012-2013 Season. For purposes of these rules, each day of the 2012-2013 Season in which at least one real-life game is scheduled is referred to in these rules to as a “Game Day”. None of the players involved in an intra-roster move can have already played or started their game for that Game Day.
You don't have to start a player at every roster position, but fantasy points (described in Scoring below) and statistics will only be accumulated by those players that are active on your starting roster each week (that is, players who are not on your bench).
Players are only eligible to play at the positions designated by Yahoo! Sports. Some players might be eligible to play at more than one position. The list of positions for which a player is eligible is shown in parentheses below his name on your Team Page.
You can also make changes to your roster through the waiver system, free agency, and trades with other managers. Refer to Waivers, Free Agents, and Trading Players for more details.
As manager, you can set a planned roster for each Game Day. To set your future rosters, go to the proper Game Day on your Team Page and select the players you would like to make active for that Game Day. However, all future lineups are lost if a current player is dropped or traded, or if a new player is added to the current roster.
Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Hockey Pro Leagues use one of two scoring formats: either Head-to-Head or Rotisserie. All Leagues within each scoring format using the same standard settings for that format.
Head-to-Head Scoring
In a Head-to-Head League, your Team squares off each Game Week against another manager's Team in a weekly matchup. During that Game Week’s real-life games, the fantasy players on each Team earn fantasy points for their performances in a variety of real-life statistical categories (“Fantasy Points”; each statistical category is a “Category”). There are ten Categories in Fantasy Hockey Pro Leagues. Each Category has a standard Fantasy Point value. Refer to Standard League Configuration Settings below for details.
Every player in an active position slot on your roster will earn Fantasy Points for all of your League’s applicable categories. Again, you do not receive points for players on your bench; we keep track of statistics for players in bench spots, but you will not receive any scoring that counts toward your Team totals for the performance of those players.
A new weekly matchup begins on the Monday of each new Game Week. In a Head-to-Head League, the two Teams in each matchup will compete in ten fantasy “games,” one for each Category. For example, if the fantasy players on your Team collectively score 20 goals in the real-life games they play in a given Game Week, and your opponent’s players only score 18 goals in that Game Week, then your Team will be credited with a win for the “game” associated with that Category. Similarly, if both Teams record 19 goals in a week, then each Team earns a tie for the game associated with that Category. At the conclusion of the Game Week, if your Team won six out of ten Categories against your opponent, and you and your opponent tied in one Category, then you are 6-3-1 for the week.
The win-loss-tie total for each Game Week is added to a cumulative season record. The season record is used to determine the League’s standings and playoff seedings. So, to win the League championship in a Head-to-Head League, you must first qualify for the championship bracket of the fantasy playoffs based on your League’s regular season standings, and then win all of your fantasy playoff matchups. Refer to the League Standings, Playoffs and League Winners section below for more information.
Rotisserie Scoring
In a League that uses Rotisserie scoring, each Team in the League is ranked throughout the fantasy season from first to last in each of several statistical categories (a “Category”). Rotisserie points are then assigned to each Team based on their ranking in each Category (“Rotisserie Points”). The Team ranked first in the League in a Category will receive 12 Rotisserie Points, while the Team ranked last in the League in that Category will receive 1 Rotisserie Point. The sum of your Rotisserie Points in each Category equals your “Rotisserie Total Score,” which, in turn, is used to determine your place in the League standings.
The most important thing to remember about Rotisserie scoring is that while the League standings are based on cumulative, season-to-date statistical totals, your Rotisserie Point totals – and your Rotisserie Total Score – are not cumulative.
Let’s consider an example: At the end of the first Game Day of the season, suppose your Team is ranked first in all ten Categories. That is, your Team has gained the most goals, assists, shutouts, and so on, of any Team in your League. Based on your position as the top scorer in each Category, you would earn 12 points for each of the 10 Categories, for a Rotisserie Total Score of 120 after the first Game Day of the Season.
Now suppose that at the end of the second Game Day, though, your Team has been overtaken by another Team in every Category. That other Team’s players, for example, over the course of the two days of the season played so far, have now cumulatively gained more goals, assists, shutouts, etc., than your Team. As a result, you are in second place in every Category in the League. You now only have 11 Rotisserie Points per Category, and your Rotisserie Total Score drops to 110 points.
This process will continue each day throughout the season, with your Rotisserie Point total rising and falling based on the relative strength of your Team’s performance versus the other Teams in your League.
Rotisserie Total Scores and the League standings are refreshed each night at approximately 2 AM PT.
There are no playoffs in Rotisserie Leagues. So, to win the League championship in a Rotisserie League, you simply must finish the season with the highest Rotisserie Total Score among all the Teams in your League.
You can play Fantasy Hockey Pro Leagues using either Head-to-Head or Rotisserie scoring. All Leagues within each scoring format using the same standard settings, as follows:
| Teams in a League: | 12 |
| Maximum Roster Size Per Team: | 17 (including injured reserve) |
| Maximum Player Acquisitions per Season: | No maximum |
| Maximum Player Acquisitions per Game Week: | 4 |
| Maximum Trades: | No maximum |
| Trade Rejection Time: | 2 calendar days |
| Trade Deadline: | March 7, 2013 |
| Waiver Period: | 2 calendar days |
| Playoffs: | Weeks 22, 23, & 24 (6 teams) |
| Starting Roster: | C, C, LW, LW, RW, RW, D, D, D, D, G, G |
| Bench: | 4 players (any position) |
| Maximum Games per Position: | No maximum |
| Trade Offers Expire in: | 10 calendar days |
| Yahoo! Sports Trade Review: | Yes |
| Stat Categories (Forwards/Defensemen): | Goals (G), Assists (A), Plus/Minus (+/-), Penalty Minutes (PIM), Powerplay Points (PPP), Shots on Goal (SOG) |
| Stat Categories (Goaltenders): | Wins (W), Goals Against Average (GAA), Save Percentage (SV%), Shutouts (SHO) |
| Teams in a League: | 12 |
| Maximum Roster Size Per Team: | 17 (including injured reserve) |
| Maximum Player Acquisitions per Season: | No maximum |
| Maximum Trades: | No maximum |
| Trade Rejection Time: | 2 calendar days |
| Trade Deadline: | March 7, 2013 |
| Waiver Period: | 2 calendar days |
| Playoffs: | Weeks 22, 23, & 24 (6 teams) |
| Starting Roster: | C, C, LW, LW, RW, RW, D, D, D, D, G, G |
| Bench: | 4 players (any position) |
| Maximum Games per Position: | 82 |
| Trade Offers Expire in: | 10 calendar days |
| Yahoo! Sports Trade Review: | Yes |
| Stat Categories (Forwards/Defensemen): | Goals (G), Assists (A), Plus/Minus (+/-), Penalty Minutes (PIM), Powerplay Points (PPP), Shots on Goal (SOG) |
| Stat Categories (Goaltenders): | Wins (W), Goals Against Average (GAA), Save Percentage (SV%), Shutouts (SHO) |
The following formulas are used to calculate composite stats for both individual players and fantasy teams:
Goals Against Average = Goals Allowed x 60 / Total Minutes Played
Save Percentage = Saves Made / Shots on Goal
In real life, professional hockey teams use waivers to make the rights to a player available to all the other teams in the league on an equitable basis. When a team puts a player “on waivers,” the other teams in the league have a set period of time to try to claim that player, or to waive the right to do so. When two or more teams try to claim the same player, the rights to that player are assigned using a priority system. Once a player passes through waivers without being claimed, he becomes a free agent. He can then be claimed by any team on a first-come, first-served basis.
Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Hockey Pro Leagues features a comprehensive waiver system that builds upon the real-life waiver concept in a number of important ways. The waiver system ensures that all Team managers have a fair chance to add players to their Teams from among the pool of players that happen to be available at any point in the Contest.
At the conclusion of the League’s draft, a priority list is established that will determine the order by which competing waiver claims will be settled. When a player is on waivers, and that player is claimed by more than one Team, the Team that is highest on the priority list is given the rights to that player. The priority list is initially set based on the reverse of the draft order; that is, the last manager to pick in the first round of the draft will have first priority in deciding a competing waiver claim. The priority list is updated on a continual rolling basis. In other words, each time you successfully add a player on waivers to your roster, you are moved to the back of the priority list. This "rolling" list stays in effect for the entire season. To view your League’s current priority list, click the “Managers” link on the “League Overview” page.
To claim a player who is on waivers, navigate to your League’s Players List, and click the green “+” icon next to the player’s name. Select a player from your roster to drop to make room for the player you are claiming (if necessary). Click the “Add this player and drop another player” button to review the transaction, then click the “Add this player” button to confirm the transaction.
To cancel a waiver claim before the claim is processed, from the Contest home page, click on the “Team” tab, then click on the link near the top of the page that lists your pending waiver claim (e.g., “Henrik Sedin dropping Daniel Sedin”). On the "Cancel Waivers" page that follows, click the “Cancel Waiver” button.
Note that if you claim multiple players on waivers, you can prioritize the order by which you would like to claim them. This allows you to use your spot on the League’s priority list as effectively as possible. To prioritize each waiver claim, from the Contest home page, click on the “Team” tab, then click on the “Edit Waiver Priority” link near the top of the page. Look for the player’s name on the pending transaction list, then click on the pull-down menu to assign a rank to that transaction. Click on the “Change Priority” button to save your updated waiver priorities.
Just as in real life, if a player is not claimed while he is on waivers, the player then becomes a free agent and can be selected on a first-come, first-serve basis. Refer to the section on Free Agents below.
There are two different scenarios under which waivers come into play. The duration of the waiver period is different for each scenario, as follows:
After the League’s Draft: After the League’s draft, all undrafted players are placed on waivers. This initial waiver period ends at 11:59:59 PM PT on the second full calendar day following the end of the draft. For example, if your draft ends on Monday at noon, Pacific Time, any undrafted players will clear waivers on Wednesday evening at 11:59:59 PM PT. Any waiver claims submitted during the waiver period will be processed at that point. The processing period typically takes several hours, so in this example you should expect to see claimed players appear on their new rosters early Thursday morning, approximately 4-8 hours later.
Dropped & Added Players: Players that are dropped from a fantasy Team are automatically placed on waivers. The waiver period for dropped players ends at 11:59:59 PM on the second full day following the day the player was dropped. So a player that is dropped at 10:30 AM PT on Thursday morning will clear waivers on Saturday evening at 11:59:59 PM PT. This same two-day waiver period also applies to all new players that may be added to the game during the 2012-13 Season (e.g. players who join a real-life team midseason after holding out for a better contract, players picked up from a development league, players coming out of retirement to sign with a real-life team, etc.).
All players who are not currently on any Team in your League, and who are not otherwise currently on waivers are considered free agents. Free agents may be acquired by any manager in the League on a first-come, first-served basis. To pick up a free agent, navigate to your League’s Players List, and click the green “+” icon next to the free agent’s name. Select a player from your roster to drop to make room for the free agent you are adding (if necessary). Click the “Add this player and drop another player” button to review the transaction, then click the “Add this player” button to confirm the transaction. All claimed Free Agents are immediately added to your bench. It's up to you to move them to starting positions.
While it is possible to drop players without replacing them (via the “Drop” link on your Team Page), you can only pick up players without dropping anyone if you have fewer than the maximum number of players on your roster. You're never allowed to exceed your League's roster limit.
A trade consists of one Team exchanging a player or players with another Team in the same League.
To propose a trade, go to your Team Page and select "Propose Trade." Select the other Team in the transaction and the players you want to trade. An email is sent to the other manager offering your proposed trade. That manager can then go to his/her Team Page to view the proposal, accept it, decline it, or make a counter offer. There must be consent from both managers for a trade to be completed. If no action is taken in 10 calendar days, the offer is automatically canceled.
If your trade is rejected, you will receive an email notifying you of that result.
If the other manager makes you a counter offer, you will receive an email detailing the new proposal.
If the other manager accepts your offer, the entire League will be notified.
The other managers in your League have 2 calendar days to review the deal. If there is an objection by one or more managers within the 2 calendar day review period, the trade will be reviewed by the Yahoo! Sports staff. If the trade in question appears to be overly biased or unfair towards one Team, the trade will be overturned. All decisions on protested trades are final.
During the review period, trades are marked as pending. When the trade has been accepted and the waiting period has ended, the trade will be processed. Trade processing can take up to 24 hours. When the trade is processed, the result will be shown in the transaction log and reflected in each Team's roster.
After a deal is accepted, the players involved in the trade cannot change Teams or be dropped from their respective rosters before the trade is processed, or the trade will be ruled invalid and automatically rejected. As such, managers may not waive, drop, or attempt to make another trade for any players involved in a potential trade until the trade is final. In essence, players involved in a trade are “frozen” until the trade has been: (a) either affirmed or rejected by the Yahoo! Sports staff, if the trade was protested; and (b) processed and the players have changed Teams.
Additionally, players can only be involved in one pending transaction at a time. So, even if a player has been offered to a number of Teams, once any one of the trade offers has been accepted, no other Teams can accept a deal containing the same player.
No Team may have more than five pending trades at a time.
Also, please keep in mind that each League has a trading deadline. For the 2012-13 Fantasy Regular Season, the trading deadline is March 7, 2013, at 11:59 PM PST. The trading deadline does not impact a manager’s ability to add players via waivers or free agency.
Even though fantasy games are meant to be a competitive experience for all involved, it is important to us that our users not lose sight of the rules of fair play and good sportsmanship.
To this end, each fantasy Team manager agrees that, by joining the game, he/she will abide by the following regulations:
While Yahoo! does not remove Teams from Leagues after they have drafted, any failure to follow all of the items listed above might result in the limitation or removal of playing privileges for the offending participant(s). These restrictions might include:
It is the responsibility of Team managers to monitor activity within their League(s). As a manager, if you notice any suspicious or collusive activity in your League(s), please notify us at once so that we can investigate and take the appropriate action — if any is deemed necessary—against the offending Teams and accounts.
If you have a dispute, please first use your League's message board to try resolve it.
Yahoo! acts as commissioner in public leagues throughout all Yahoo! Fantasy sports games, including all Leagues within the Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Hockey Pro Leagues. As such, managers can be assured that our Fair Play and Sportsmanship guidelines will be enforced in all public leagues.
Please note that a violation of the official rules, terms of service, conditions of use, these Fair Play & Sportsmanship rules, and/or the general guidelines of any Yahoo! property or service may be enforced against all other activities associated with the offending Yahoo! ID. In other words, if your Yahoo! ID is found to be in violation of the official rules of another Yahoo! game or property, that violation is grounds for Yahoo! to suspend or terminate your access to all games played under your Yahoo! ID – including Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Hockey Pro Leagues. See Conduct below.
It is unfortunate for the other managers in a League if a manager abandons his/her Team or otherwise lets his/her account go dormant during the season. Despite this, Yahoo! Sports cannot take any action against a dormant team (including, without limitation, reassigning a dormant team to a new Yahoo! ID, taking ownership of the dormant team, or managing the dormant team on the user’s behalf) to restore that Team to active status.
Based on customer feedback, Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Hockey Pro Leagues now includes a manager rating system. The manager rating system is available in all of Yahoo!’s full fantasy games via the "Managers" tab. The system enables managers to rate (Positive, Neutral, or Negative) the other members of their League.
Yahoo! does not currently make the results of the manager rating system publicly available. We want to make sure we have enough data to provide accurate ratings prior to making those ratings visible to our users. Once this rating data is made public, managers will be able to see the ratings of other managers in their League. That way, in future Yahoo! Sports fantasy games, you can think twice before joining a League with poorly-rated managers.
PLEASE NOTE: Once a Manager Rating has been submitted it CANNOT be undone or removed. Also, you may only rate a manager one time per League. If you play the same manager in two different Leagues, you may rate him/her one time for each League.
Fantasy Hockey Pro Leagues offers two different measurements of a player’s abilities, "Rank" and "O-Rank". These metrics differ in a few distinct ways:
The "O-Rank" is an overall player rank based on current and prior seasons.
The "O-Rank" provides a full-spectrum analysis of a player’s abilities, and is therefore the method Yahoo! uses for determining auto-picks in League drafts. The "O-Rank" is the best measure to use when comparing two players.
The "Rank" value in Yahoo! Sports fantasy games applies to the stats that you are currently viewing over a particular time period (current season, last season average, last week, last month average, etc.). For example, on the "Players" page, if you select Season Stats, the player rank value that is displayed applies only to the player’s season stats. If you were viewing last month’s average stats, then the ranking value indicates how well the player played on average during the last month, and so on.
In a Rotisserie League, the League’s standings are a “snapshot” of how each Team is performing in each of the ten Categories contested in Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Pro Hockey. Your Team’s standing will rise and fall each day throughout the season as your position relative to other Teams rises and falls in each Category. See Rotisserie Scoring for more details.
There are no playoffs in Rotisserie Leagues. A Rotisserie League’s season ends at the conclusion of Game Week 25 of the 2012-2013 Season. As such, the object of a Rotisserie League is to have the highest Rotisserie Total Score on the final day of Game Week 25.
In a Head-to-Head League, the Teams in each League are ranked on the basis of their winning percentage. See Head-to-Head Scoring for more information. The standings in a Head-to-Head League are updated once a week at the conclusion of the current Game Week. A Team’s winning percentage for a given Game Week is calculated as:
(Wins + 1/2 of the number of ties) / 10 (i.e. the total games played)
If a Team plays a weekly matchup that results in a tie, it's counted as half of a win when determining the Team’s winning percentage. For example, a Team that finishes a Game Week with a record of 5-4-1 will have a winning percentage of .550 for that Game Week, because [5 + 1/2] / 10 = .550
Over the course of the Fantasy Regular Season, the League standings in a Head-to-Head League will be determined by averaging each Team’s winning percentage over the course of the season played thus far. So a Team’s “Overall Winning Percentage” will be calculated as:
[Sum of all winning percentages for each Game Week] / Total Game Weeks Played
The Overall Winning Percentage will be used to determine the seedings for the Fantasy Playoffs. At the end of the Fantasy Regular Season (i.e., at the conclusion of Game Week 21), the top six Teams in a League ranked according to their respective Overall Winning Percentages will compete against each other in a three-week, single-elimination head-to-head playoff bracket, conducted in connection with Game Weeks 22-24 of the 2012-2013 Season (the “Championship Bracket”). The League’s first-, second-, third-, fourth-, fifth- and sixth-place finishers will be determined from the win/loss results at the conclusion of the Championship Bracket.
Similarly, to determine the final standings for 7th-12th place, a second group comprised of the 7th- through 12th-place Teams by Overall Winning Percentage in the League Standings as of the conclusion of the Fantasy Regular Season will participate in a similar three-week, single-elimination head-to-head consolation bracket (the “Consolation Bracket”). The Consolation Bracket will also be held in connection with Weeks 22-24 of the 2012-2013 Season. There are no prizes associated with the Consolation Bracket, and the outcome of the Consolation Bracket has no bearing on the Championship Bracket.
In the event of a tie in the Overall Winning Percentages of two or more Teams at the conclusion of the Fantasy Regular Season, or a matchup tie between two Teams during the Fantasy Playoffs, the tie will be broken using the tiebreak formulas described under Tiebreak Rules.
Note that the Fantasy Playoffs do not include any real-life professional hockey playoff contests, and the real-life playoff contests have no bearings on the Fantasy Playoffs. All Fantasy Playoffs will conclude by the end of the real-life professional hockey regular season.
The matchups for Fantasy Playoffs are as follows:
(In the table below, P1, P2, etc., refer to the Championship Bracket, while C1, C2, etc., refer to the Consolation Bracket.)
| First week | |
| P1: | #1 seed vs. bye (no game) |
| P2: | #4 seed vs. #5 seed |
| P3: | #3 seed vs. #6 seed |
| P4: | #2 seed vs. bye (no game) |
| C1: | #7 seed vs. bye (no game) |
| C2: | #10 seed vs. #11 seed |
| C3: | #9 seed vs. #12 seed |
| C4: | #8 seed vs. bye (no game) |
| Second week | |
| P5: | #1 seed vs. Winner P2 |
| P6: | #2 seed vs. Winner P3 |
| C5: | #7 seed vs. Winner C2 |
| C6: | #8 seed vs. Winner C3 |
| Fifth Place: | Loser P2 vs. Loser P3 |
| Eleventh Place: | Loser C2 vs. Loser C3 |
| Third week | |
| Championship: | Winner P5 vs. Winner P6 |
| Third Place: | Loser P5 vs. Loser P6 |
| Seventh Place: | Winner C5 vs. Winner C6 |
| Ninth Place: | Loser C5 vs. Loser C6 |
Keep in mind that once the Fantasy Playoffs start, players dropped either from:
(a) Teams that did not make the Fantasy Playoffs; or
(b) Teams that were eliminated from the Fantasy Playoffs;
are not released back to the Available Players pool.
Of course, Yahoo! supports ideals of fair play and sportsmanship at all times. With that in mind, even before the Fantasy Playoffs start, we encourage all managers to retain their players even after they have been eliminated from championship contention.
The Rotisserie Format Leagues do not include a tie-breaking method. If, at the end of Game Week 25, two or more players in a Rotisserie Format League finish tied in the standings, the Prize will be divided evenly among such tied, verified players.
If, at the end of the Fantasy Regular Season, two or more Teams in a Head-to-Head League finish tied by Overall Winning Percentage in their League’s Standings, the tie will be broken in favor of the Team, among those tied, with the highest total under Item 1, below. If the tie is still not broken, this process will continue with each subsequent item in the list below, as necessary, until the tie is broken.
Unlike the Fantasy Regular Season, ties are not allowed during the Fantasy Playoffs. In the event that a Fantasy Playoff matchup ends in a tie, the deadlock will be broken by awarding the win to whichever Team had the higher winning percentage against the other Team during the Fantasy Regular Season. If the tie is still not broken, the win will be awarded to whichever Team was the higher seed during the Fantasy Playoffs.
At the conclusion of the Contest, Yahoo! Sports awards prizes to the top three eligible Teams in each League based on (a) in the case of a League that uses Head-to-Head Scoring, the results of that League’s playoffs; or (b) in the case of a League that uses Rotisserie Scoring, to the Team in the League with the highest Rotisserie Total Score at the conclusion of Game Week 25.
There are no prizes associated with 4th-12th places in any League.
The total value of all prizes awarded in the Contest will depend on the number of eligible Leagues in the Contest. The awarding of any prize in any League in the Contest is subject to the Tiebreak Rules, if applicable, set forth above. In the event that a potential prize winner is deemed ineligible for any reason, the prize will be awarded to the next eligible participant in the League’s final standings. Should such a substitution be necessary, the prize positions will be shifted proportionally. For example, if a potential Second Place prize winner is deemed ineligible, the third place finisher, if eligible, will be awarded the Second Place prize, the fourth place finisher, if eligible, will be awarded the Third Place prize, and so on. No winner will receive double prizes as the result of a higher-ranked participant being deemed ineligible.
Please note that even if your fantasy Team is listed in a prize-winning position in the Standings for your League as of the close of the Contest, you have not yet won a prize. All potential winners are subject to verification by Yahoo!, and must meet all eligibility requirements before a prize will be awarded. In addition, you MUST provide valid contact information during the registration process to be considered for a prize. A participant who finishes in a prize-winning position in his/her League but who has not provided valid registration information will be deemed ineligible, and the prize will be awarded to the next eligible participant in the League’s final standings using the same process described above. If there are no further eligible participants remaining in the League, the prize(s) will not be awarded.
Potential prize winners will be notified by U.S. mail, email, telephone and/or overnight courier within thirty days after the conclusion of the Contest. If you are a potential prize winner, and Yahoo! is unable to reach you for five days after first attempting to contact you, you may be disqualified. An alternate winner may then be selected according to the standings in your League, and, if necessary, subject to the same tiebreaker requirements and prize position shifting described above.
If you are a potential prize winner, you may be required to sign and return an Affidavit of Eligibility and Liability/Publicity Release, provide a valid PayPal account name, and provide any additional information that may be required by Yahoo!. You will be required to provide this information within ten days after Yahoo! first attempts to contact you. If you fail to comply with this deadline, or if a prize or prize notification is returned as undeliverable, or if you fail to provide a valid PayPal account name, Yahoo! may disqualify you and select an alternate winner. If Yahoo! cannot find an eligible winner for a prize, or if a winner fails to claim a prize, that prize will not be awarded.
Winners will be paid via PayPal or such other means as Yahoo! determines in its sole discretion. If paid via PayPal, PayPal will notify winners via email when payment has been made. Within thirty days, each winner must log into his/her PayPal account to confirm receipt of payment, or prize may be forfeited.
1. GENERAL CONDITIONS. The Contest is governed by the laws of the United States, without regard to its conflict of laws principles. The Contest is subject to all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations. This Contest may not be used in connection with any form of gambling. By entering, each participant: (a) releases and holds harmless the Contest Entities, including, without limitation, the respective directors, officers, employees and agents of each, from any and all liability for any injuries, loss or damage of any kind to persons, including death, or property damage resulting in whole or in party, directly or indirectly, from acceptance, possession, misuse or use of any prize, participation in this Contest, or while traveling to, preparing for, or participating in any prize-related activity; and (b) grants to Contest Entities the right to use and publish his/her proper name, city/state of residence, score, and Contest ranking, whether online, in print, or any other media, in connection with the Contest.
2. NOTICE REGARDING PRIZES. All prizes offered in connection with this Contest cannot be used in conjunction with any other promotion or offer and may not be separated. Prizes may not be transferred or assigned except by Sponsor. Only listed prizes will be awarded and no substitutions, cash equivalents or redemptions will be made, except that Sponsor reserves the right to substitute any prize package with another prize of equal or greater value in the event that the advertised prize (or any component thereof) is not available. Expenses not specifically stated in these Official Contest Rules, together with the reporting and payment of all applicable taxes, fees, and/or surcharges, if any, arising out of, or resulting from, acceptance or use of a prize, are the sole responsibility of the winner of that prize. Contest Entities expressly disclaim any responsibility or liability for injury or loss to any person or property relating to the delivery and/or subsequent use of the prizes awarded. Contest Entities make no representations or warranties concerning the appearance, safety, or performance of any prize awarded. Any unclaimed prizes will not be awarded. Restrictions, conditions, and limitations apply. Contest Entities will not replace any lost or stolen prize items.
3. CONDUCT: By entering this Contest, Contestants agree to be bound by the decisions of the Contest Entities, which are final and binding in all respects. Yahoo! reserves the right at its sole discretion to disqualify any individual it finds to be (a) tampering or attempting to tamper with the entry process or the operation of the Contest or any Yahoo! website; (b) violating the Official Contest Rules, the Yahoo! Fantasy Hockey Pro Leagues Additional Terms of Service , or any of the guidelines of the Contest; (c) violating the terms of service, conditions of use and/or general rules or guidelines of any other Yahoo! property or service; or (d) acting in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner (including, without limitation, in violation of the Fair Play and Sportsmanship guidelines in these Official Contest Rules), or with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other person. CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT BY A PARTICIPANT OR ANY OTHER INDIVIDUAL TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEBSITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST MAY BE A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS. SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO IMMEDIATELY TERMINATE THE USER’S ACCOUNT, IF ANY, AND SEEK DAMAGES FROM ANY SUCH PERSON TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.
4. LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY: Contest Entities assume no liability for lost, late, misdirected or garbled entries, or for theft, destruction, or unauthorized access to, entries. Contest Entities assume no responsibility for any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by website users, by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Contest, or by any technical or human error which may occur in the processing of submissions or game transactions in connection with the Contest. Contest Entities assume no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, failures, or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer online systems, servers, providers, computer equipment, software, email, players, or browsers, whether on account of technical problems, traffic congestion on the Internet or at any website, or on account of any combination of the foregoing, that may occur (including but not limited to any such problems which may result in the inability to access the Contest Site or to process any game transaction(s) in connection with the Contest). Contest Entities assume no responsibility for any injury or damage to participants or to any computer related to or resulting from participating in, or downloading materials in connection with, this Contest. If, for any reason, the Contest is not capable of running as planned, including infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes beyond the control of Contest Entities which corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of this Contest, Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend the Contest. In addition, should the North American major professional hockey season be postponed, shortened, interrupted, modified or cancelled for any reason, Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion to award prizes at the time the season is affected, or to cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend the Contest.
5. PRIVACY: By entering the Contest, you agree to Yahoo!’s use of your personal information, as described in the Yahoo! Privacy Policy.
6. WINNERS LIST: While potential winners may be posted on the Contest Site at the conclusion of the Contest, all potential winners are still subject to verification and must meet all eligibility requirements before a prize will be awarded. The list of verified prize winners may be obtained after winner confirmation is complete and within 90 days after conclusion of the Contest by sending a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Hockey Pro Leagues, Winners List Requests, 701 First Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94089.
7. OFFICIAL CONTEST RULES: For a copy of the Official Contest Rules, print these web pages or send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Hockey Pro Leagues, Official Contest Rules Requests, 701 First Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94089. Requests received after the end of the 2012-2013 Season will not be honored.
8. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY: The Contest and all of the related pages, contents and code are copyright © 1994-2012, Yahoo! Inc. and/or the Contest Entities. Copying or unauthorized use of any copyrighted materials, trademarks, or any other intellectual property without the express written consent of its owner is strictly prohibited. This Contest is not affiliated with, nor endorsed by, the National Hockey League or any of its member Teams.