Oh yeah, it was also requested that I re post the email I sent league wide a few days ago:
My fellow Americans.
Wait no, that's not right. It is one of the only examples I have of how an address like this should be done. I don't think the Canadian Prime Minister (because I refuse to refer to him by name) does country wide addresses on a regular basis. I could be mistaken, right now I couldn't be bothered to find out. Allow me to try this once again:
My Fellow BuHL'ers,
We've reached the end of our inaugural season. Our first ever champions, The Pittsburgh Penguins. A congrats is in order for Kevin for putting together a solid club. Now lets see you repeat, ha! I want to send another congratulations out to Remo for defying the odds and making it to the finals.
So where does this leave the rest of us? Looking in the face of a daunting off-season. I'm going to lay out all my cards. This is what the off-season is going to look like:
- Awards. These are going to be divided into three sections:
Nominated Awards - Jack Adams award (GM of the Year)
Voted Awards - Calder, Hart, Vezina, Norris, Lady Bing and Selke.
Non-Voted Awards - Presidents, Art Ross, Maurice Richard, William Jennings, Campbell Bowl, Prince of Wales and Conn Smythe
Any player/GM winning an award will experience certain bonuses come rerate time. The bonuses will be disclosed once the award are given out.
The plan is to get the nominations in order and hold a vote on the forums. This will serve the first of a series of activity checks. Basically you vote as an indication of being active.
- The Draft.
The second activity check. While there's no official date set for the draft, we'd be good to go as soon as enough players are scouted to give us a full four rounds. 105 players. I've got 47 players with ratings and a bunch without, just a bit more work and it'll be finished. I don't think all the players will have STHS ratings off the bat, since a lot of the players drafted in 04 haven't touched NHL ice yet. Now that the playoffs are over, I'll focus a lot more on this. The plan is to have the first two rounds of the draft held over MSN (or by list sent to Kevin or I) with the draft being completed over the forums.
There's a committee vote on the committee board about 'off the board' picks, if you're on the committee, please head over there and vote. The vote ends on Sunday.
- Official switch to STHS and rerates.
This is likely going to be the most daunting task. Not much to add. It'll be taken care of.
- GM Bonuses.
For activity during the regular season and playoffs. Draft lists can still be done and included in with the GM bonuses. Bonuses will be player points (the use of which will be outlined below) and cash.
- Player points.
Much like the league that predated us we're going to have player points. With a few alterations. Since we're doing away with the camp system in favour of more rounded development on the farm team, player points can be spent on any player not drafted in the '04 draft. The restriction would be that you can't pour more than 3 points into any one stat and no more than 9 points per player. This hasn't been set in stone yet, but I'm thinking 20 points for each team by default, with bonus points awarded for activity during the 2003 season.
- Free Agency/Retirements/Europe Signings.
The plan here should be obvious. We'll tackle all of the UFA's after the definite retirements are announced. It'd be nice if RFA's were completed before this time. I have a small list of players who are retiring and just like last year, I'm going to be burning the candle at both ends when it comes to UFA signings. Some of those players who think they're destined for 3rd/4th line roles might jump over to Europe around the first and second signing waves.
- Switch to independent web hosting and debut a shiny new slightly altered website.
If you don't know already. Geocities is shutting down this summer. This means that unless action is taken, we're going to be out of a web host. I've already scouted hosting alternatives and we'll be going with a company that came highly recommended by a friend of mine. We'll get our own domain with a nice and short url, something to the tone of
www.bu-hl.com. Or at least that's the plan.
- Release the sponsorships for the 2004/05 season (Ha! I didn't forget!) and get some teams signed to financial deals.
- Begin 2004-2005.
Sounds like a plan? Good.
For those GM who have found their interest in the league waning, please speak up now. There's no harm in stepping down if you're no longer interested in the BuHL. I'd rather know I have a full contingent of GMs ready to chip in and be active with a few holes to fill. Over a league with no holes to fill and no signs of life from a few GMs.
I believe that covers it all. If I've missed something or you have any questions, either post on the forums or reply to the email. Also, if your email has appeared on here by accident, please notify me of the correction and I'll make sure everything is updated properly.
Thanks for your time.
Joshua.