Before we start Season 6 we have made a few changes to the rulebook.  It will be updated on the website soon under the Tools tab.  Please review it so you are familiar, while I am always happy to help you can probably find your answer there more quickly. 

Here's the biggest changes - 

1.  Salary Cap, no longer includes the Pro Head Coach salary.  So we remain at $59,000,000 for Season 6 but you gain some space by no longer counting the coach

2.  Divisions have been adjusted due to expansion and we no longer play a perfectly balanced schedule where each of you face the same opponents the same number of times each year.   A part fo growth, can't be avoided. 

3. We now have 16 playoff teams each year , which means 10 teams are in the lottery now not 12. 

4. Farm Coaches now have a minimum salary demand at $600,000 per season,  Pro Head Coaches are now at $1,200,000.   So a modest increase but remember they no longer are involved in the cap so it's just a finance issue.   If you fire a coach you payout the remaining contract in full.

5.  Coaches will now retire at age 70 so keep this in mind as you renew contracts (yes I will handle that soon).   

Longterm Issues we are still working on or exploring. 

1. How to let teams spend money in a meaningful way.  After 5 Seasons most of you have a nice bankroll built and no clear way to use it.  Some ideas include, no more free position switches, signing bonuses, a scouting system,  training camps for prospects, and probably some others I'm missing.  Nothing is locked in or ready for rollout so nothing else will change before Season 7 at the earliest but be warned we are looking into making you use some of that money.  

2. I am still looking into building an Agent for the coaches so that their salary isnt' just as simple as you bidding against your fellow GMs,  This may also impact when Coaches retire.  As you know Coaches rerate each offseason and with the amount of Coaches in the database between Pro, Farm and Juniors we will ultimately end up with too many unsigned coaches who are just sitting out there.  So we will find a way to clean that up rather than me just randomly removing them.

3. Obviously we have started expanding.  If the league remains strong and stable in a perfect world we would some day like to reach 30 teams and have 6 divisions of 5.  It brings back that balance to the schedule.  We are not in a rush and certainly we don't want to grow so fast that we upset the stability of the league.  Just know that future growth is out there as a possibility.   Of course to grow we need to have a nice group of GMs out there wanting to be a part of this league and the same solid level of participation from all of you.  

As always if you have ideas you can reach out to me and we can discuss them.  I know that all of you have a lot of experience in these leagues and have played in others that may have had pieces you liked or didn't.  Nothing wrong with sharing those with me and the admin team.  

When it comes to netminders in this draft class it's hard to argue that anyone is a brighter prospect than Armon Berra.  Berra is currently helping the US World Junior Team.  In two seasons in the Nissen Berra has 147 appearances with 69 regular season wins including 4 shutouts.  A save percentage of .909 and a goals against of 2.69 over two years.  Berra joined the expansion Buffalo Chill as a 16 year old kid and immediately grabbed the starters role.  Since then he's done nothing but improve.  Whatever team selects Berra will have a high level prospect who can immediately take charge of their farm team as he finishes his development.  No doubt he will soon be a regular in the pros.  

With the post season wrapping up the Season 6 player draft is just around the corner.  This year's draft class is unique with the Season 4 Junior league expansion adding a large group of eligible prospects to this draft class.  In fact, of the 10 skaters ranked highest in this draft class all 10 of them come from the expansion teams.  The consensus player to be the top selection is Saskatoon Berries Center Gavriil Nazarov.  The 6'3" Russian already has the size and strength to step right into a pro lineup.  Nazarov has recorded 143 points in 168 games in the Nissen.  With 51 goals and 92 assists he has everything a GM could want in a future first line Center.   The big question now is who will win the lottery and have the opportunity to make that first overall selection.  

The Light the Lamp Hockey League final has the right kind of tension to feel bigger than a bracket. Miami arrives looking like the colder, tighter machine: through 18 playoff games, the Trident are 12-6 with 62 goals for and only 44 against, a 3.44 goals-per-game attack backed by a playoff-best-looking 2.44 goals against per game. Québec City gets here with a louder profile: 12-5 in 17 games, 75 goals scored, 4.41 goals per game, and a penalty kill humming at 88.46%. On paper, Miami looks like the team that can suffocate you. On the ice, Québec looks like the team that can drag you into a game you cannot survive.

That is what makes this final compelling. These are not mirror images. The Harfang have come through the Northern side playing with pace, scoring volume, and a sense that one push can become three goals in a blink. Their playoff leaders tell the story: Brentt Bing leads them with 12 goals and 24 points, Helgert Pitt has 14 assists, and Ingemar Sjoberg has seven wins with a .910 save percentage. Québec has not hidden its identity; it has leaned into it. This is a team that wants the series played on its terms, with waves of offense, active special teams, and the emotional momentum of a building that believes every rush can change a night.

Miami’s case is different, and in some ways more dangerous. Lenny Koonts leads the Trident with 9 goals, 13 assists, and 22 points, Loren Converse sits at a +14, Tsurayuki Shibahara has seven wins, and Daulton Gammond owns a .946 save percentage. The Trident are not built around theatrical excess. They are built around pressure management. They have given up just 44 goals in 18 playoff games while facing 629 shots, more than Québec has faced, and they have still kept opponents to 2.44 goals against per game. That profile does not just suggest structure. It suggests trust: trust that the goaltending will hold, trust that the system will bend but not break, trust that they do not need to win the series in the first period of Game 1.

Both clubs earned this matchup by coming through real resistance. Québec’s route clearly ran through the Militia and then the Stingrays. The Harfang dropped an early game to the Militia, then answered with wins that included a 5-4 result and a 3-2 overtime victory; later, they outlasted Stingrays in at least one wild 6-5 overtime game on April 16. Miami’s path came through the Blues and then the Orcas: the Trident opened with wins over the Blues in Games 8, 16, and 24 before dropping Game 32, and later knocked off the Orcas in at least Games 68 and 80 by scores of 4-2 and 4-2. That matters because neither finalist backed into this round. Each had to absorb a push and keep moving.

There is history here too, even if it is lopsided in experience rather than trophies. Québec City is making its fourth playoff appearance and carries a 26-23 all-time playoff record. Miami is in only its second postseason, but already owns a 13-10 playoff record. Neither franchise has won the Cup. That strips this final down to something pure. No inherited aura. No dynasty language. No defending-champion script. One of these teams is about to create its first true league myth.

The tactical fault line is obvious. If this becomes a special-teams series, Québec has the cleaner résumé right now. The Harfang are running a 20.51% power play and an 88.46% penalty kill; Miami’s power play is right there at 20.00%, but the Trident penalty kill sits at 77.78%. Over a long series, that gap can become decisive. Québec does not need much encouragement to open games up, and a weaker kill is exactly the sort of invitation the Harfang can exploit.

But Miami has the counterargument every contender wants in late April: goaltending and defensive economy travel. The Trident do not need seven goals. They need enough. They have allowed fewer goals, faced heavy shot volume, and still kept their results clean. If Québec’s attack is a bonfire, Miami’s answer is oxygen control. Slow the exchanges. Win the second period. Turn one mistake into the only goal that matters. That is how lower-event teams tilt a final away from the more explosive roster.

And then there is the psychological layer. Québec looks like the side that can make the series feel huge. Miami looks like the side least likely to care. The Harfang are captained by Dillon Salerno, with Brentt Bing wearing an A, and their game has reflected that assertive tone. The Trident are captained by Koonts, whose fingerprints are all over their scoring, but their team personality reads calmer, more clinical. Finals are often sold as a contest of talent. More often, they become a contest of discomfort: who can remain themselves when the series starts trying to turn them into someone else.

My read is that Québec City has the broader path to victory, but Miami may have the cleaner one. The Harfang can win a track meet, win on special teams, and win if Bing continues to drive the offense. The Trident probably need the series in narrower lanes: elite goaltending, controlled pace, and Koonts converting the few chances that matter most.

After winning the first series in 5 games against the Blues, the Trident just reached the South Conference Finals by defeating the Orcas in 6 games. After leading the series 3-1 and losing game 5 on the road, captain Lenny Koonts proved his tremendous leadership qualities in front of a sold-out home crowd. Koonts led the Trident to a 4-2 win and ended up with 2 goals (including the game winning goal), 1 assist, a +2 rating, 1 hit and 2 takeaways. He now leads the team in points with 15 in 11 games. Coach Julian Trudel had this to say:

"Koonts is such a great leader for this team. We forget it because he's been in the league since the start but he's only 22. It feels like he's already a veteran but he's only getting started and getting better every year.

The team is playing its best hockey right now. Everyone is stepping up. Both our goalies are killing it there is no other way to say it. I think we are seeing a new kind of team in here. A team that no one likes to play against. And that's exactly what we want to be"