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Introducing the OHPL (Online Handicapped Playoff League)


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Online Handicapped Playoff League

tl;dr - do you want to join a 16 team playoff bracket where you have max 7 days to complete each series using Genesis over RetroArch only that starts Wednesday April 1? If YES, reply here to indicate interest or DM me on Discord (danTML7#0996), and I’ll update the list of players as we go. If you want to know the details, read on past this point.

There’s been some clamor going on lately about people wanting to do an online tournament because we are all stuck at home, quarantined, and we can’t do in-person events. Leagues also can be troublesome to connect with 12+ different people to get your matches in. Thus I came up with an idea to create a 16-person bracket and attempt to seed players/teams based on skill and readjust each “season” depending on how a player did in the previous tournament. Basically the strongest players take the weakest teams, and vice versa and readjust as we go.

Here’s how it will work:

Step 1: indicate interest in participating in this. When you do so, you agree that you can play up to 4 series with max 7 games in the next 3-6 weeks. I will start with the first 8 to indicate interest will get in. If we pass 8, then we will expand to 16. If we pass 16, we will shoot for 32 in which case there will be 6 duplicates (3 on each side) so highly unlikely to meet in the final.

Step 2: I will post the player list and what tier you have been assigned based on your skill level. Skill level will be determined based on my prior knowledge, your DMs to me suggesting where you should be, your win/loss % online, your most recent league play, the world live rankings, etc. Remember, it readjusts anyway, so if you do poorly in Pilot season, you will move up a tier next round. 

Step 3: You have 24 hours to contact me with your preferred order of team selection in that tier. I will do my best to get you the team you want the most. In subsequent years, you will likely not get the same team. If you don’t contact me with a team order, you will just be randomly assigned a team in that tier. If two people have a team in same tier as their #1 choice, a coin flip decides it. 

The Sega tiers are as follows: 
Tier 1: DET, BUF CHI, VAN
Tier 2: MTL, LA, CGY, WPG, BOS
Tier 3: QUE, DAL NYR, TOR
Tier 4: PHI, EDM, WSH, PIT
Tier 5: NJD, STL, HFD, NYI
Tier 6: TB, SJ, OTW, ANH, FLA

Step 4: I send the matches to Chaos and he gets them set up on the site. You then have 1 week to complete your matches. If we all complete them in 1 day, the next round starts immediately and we have 1 week from that new date to complete. No exceptions will be made. Please connect through Discord through PM and find your playing partner. Try to finish the series in one sitting unless time constraints force it to be split. Upload matches immediately to the website.

***If I could request that everyone withholds their feedback until after the end of the tournament so that we can let it all play out and then review how it can be made better. I welcome and appreciate all feedback and will take it under consideration in my discussions with other league admins to improve it. Hopefully this should be something that can keep us all busy playing meaningful games to help us get through COVID isolation and lack of NHL playoffs***

FAQ -
Q: Why don’t you do a team draft? - With 16 teams and a large skill gap between the elite and casual players, an elite player with a 16th ranked team isn’t at enough of a disadvantage to fully balance it out. The goal of this tournament is parity. We want each series to go to as close to 7 games as possible and be balanced. Nobody should go into any series knowing full well that they are going to definitely lose. This may mean some elite players lose early, but could still go on to win the loser’s bracket.

Q: What will the bracket look like?
        1   TAMPA BAY                                       HARTFORD    2
        16   CHICAGO                                          DETROIT      15
        
        7      NEW YORK R                                  DALLAS            8
        10     MONTREAL                                 LOS ANGELES   9

        5     QUEBEC                                          TORONTO       6
        12      BOSTON                                      CALGARY       11

        3  PHILADELPHIA                               PITTSBURGH   4
        14    BUFFALO                                      WINNIPEG       13

After round 1, the round 1 8 losers will go into B pool as well so everyone person gets at least 2 series each time we run this league. We will re-seed round 2 with top seed playing bottom, and the two middles playing.

THESE SERIES WILL BE BEST OF 7 WITH THE HIGHER SEED GETTING 2 AT HOME, THEN 2 AWAY, THEN HOME, AWAY, HOME TO FINISH. 

Q: How will you seed the balanced teams? - For future seasons, we’ll have a better idea, but for this Pilot season, me and a couple other admins will try to handicap and see the player/team combos. Some may be randomized or just “luck of the draw”. Don’t read too much into it if you are seeded worse than you think you should be. Just prove us wrong! 

Q: How do you select players for subsequent years? How do they move up and down? - All players who join pilot will be asked back for the second season. After that, a waitlist will be kept so if someone wants to back out and let someone else try, they can do that, or if they miss a week, we get a replacement coach to take over. 

Q: Which ROM does this league use? - We will use the same ROM used in the “rolling lines” league. This means it’s the classic ROM, with the only exception of 1-minute penalties instead of the regular 2-minute. There will be no line changes, and follow all other etiquette of normal league rules.

Q: How do you re-balance after the Pilot season? - The four teams that lost two series will move UP a tier. If you are at tier 1, you will remain at tier 1. The four teams who go to the semi-finals will move down a tier. Everyone else will remain in their tier. 

Q: What happens if you get interest from 32 people? - Then we will do our best to create two completely even brackets of 16.

Open registration begins Monday March 30th at 11am EST, or after all the people below have indicated in or out. Please PM or comment below if you’d like to be in and spots will be filled on a first-come first-served basis after the reservation list below is tackled.

The current OFFICIAL sign-up list is as follows:

1) @danTML7 TIER 3 - TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS
2) @seventieslord TIER 2 - WINNIPEG JETS
3) @Tecmo@DPS TIER 3 - DALLAS STARS
4) @aepurniet TIER 2 - BOSTON BRUINS
5) @Raidercanuck1329 TIER 1 - BUFFALO SABRES
6) @angryjay93 TIER 6 - TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING 
7) @JSchmidt (Schmidt) TIER 5 - HARTFORD WHALERS
8) @Jamiesoccer (Mr. T) TIER 2 - MONTREAL CANADIENS
9) @Mitch Kramer (Chris O) TIER 4 - PHILADELPHIA FLYERS
10) @sonoffett87 TIER 2 - LOS ANGELES KINGS
11) @Scribe99 TIER 3 - QUEBEC NORDIQUES
12) @NotThatJared TIER 1 - CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS
13) @corbettkb TIER 4 - PITTSBURGH PENGUINS
14) @chaos TIER 2 - CALGARY FLAMES
15) @Joe H TIER 1 - DETROIT RED WINGS
16) @Hot_sauce TIER 3 - NEW YORK RANGERS

backup list:
@CamKneely2 (SOH)
@IceStorm70
@sheehy
@Lupz27

nhl94OHPL.bin

Edited by danTML7
finished brackets and teams
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My choices.  Thank you for the invite.

 

Tier 1: DET, CHI, VAN, BUF
Tier 2: LA, MTL, BOS, WPG, CGY
Tier 3: NYR, QUE, TOR,  DAL
Tier 4: PHI, PIT, EDM, WSH
Tier 5: NJD, STL, HFD, NYI
Tier 6: ANA, SJ, OTW, TB, FLA

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6 hours ago, CamKneely2 said:

In. 

hey sorry @CamKneely2, I have you now listed as #2 backup coach, meaning if someone backs out, has bad connection issues, doesn't meet weekly deadlines, or doesn't join next year, then you'll be in. Please keep watching on nhl94online.com for the standings and I'll circle back when you can hop in! hopefully season 2.

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On 3/28/2020 at 12:41 PM, Raidercanuck1329 said:

Raider Canuck is in

Hey @Raidercanuck1329 can you fill out the registration? Only need to go it once so you are able to upload on to the nhl94online game tracker. http://nhl94online.com/html/registration.php?lg=69

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hey everyone. The season is approaching the end. I'm looking to solicit feedback and confirm interest from those who played in the pilot to see if they'd like to join season 2! Feel free to indicate interest here, DM me on discord, and send a smoke signal. I'm open to all ideas to make the season more fun and competitive for all!

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  • 8 months later...

bombjack on discord... idk what tier i fall into ....

Tier 1: BUF,VAN, DET, CHI
Tier 2: CGY. WPG ,MTL, LA, BOS
Tier 3: QUE, TOR,  DAL NYR
Tier 4: EDM,WSH PIT,   PHI
Tier 5: NYI HFD NJD, STL, ,
Tier 6: SJ  OTW, T B, FLA ANA

Edited by jessebaran
add info
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