Chapter One

The SHL was born of the Dynasty Hockey League (DHL), the rules, many of the original General Managers and of course the ratings are all very similar. When I first started thinking about starting my own league it was to satisfy my hunger for fantasy hockey, more specifically FHL Sim.

How I Started

My first introduction to FHL Sim was a league called the Montreal Hockey League and I’ll admit, I was horrid. I remember trading Robert Earl and a 4th round pick for Clarke MacAurther and Drew Stafford. At the time i used Hockey Futures ratings to compare the players and being a Leafs sufferer, it seemed fair at the time. From then on I paid more attention, a lot more attention. Sims and running a team in FHL Sim became a long term hobby, one my wife still really does not understand.

Joining the DHL in 2008

I joined the DHL in 2008, after being in a couple of sim league I wanted more. I stumbled upon the DHL from HF Boards and to me, it looked like the mecca of sim hockey. I applied and lost out on the Oilers (stacked team) but a couple months later inherited the Florida Panthers. It was a horrid team some infamous guy named Parks treated like a two bit floosy but it was mine. We later relocated to Minnesota when the league aligned the conferences to East and West like the NHL. I’ve been there ever since, still trying to win something, anything.

When I approached John (DHL Commish) in 2010 about starting another sim league I suggested that I make it a one sim per NHL season league so that it didn’t hamper the DHL (which is 2 sims per NHL season). At the time it was a compromise and since then I’ve actually become much more in favor of the 1 sim per NHL season, if only for the realism of following the sim season while it happens in the NHL during the same time frame.

You Were Gonna Name it What???

There was actually a few names for the league I was floating, SHL seemed to make sense since it had such a close tie to the DHL, but I almost named it the KHL, for Kris Hockey League (my name is spelt with a CH but it I thought it would be neat to use a real league name, glad i didn’t now lol) but in the end I decided to go with SHL. I also had a league mantra `eat, sleep, sim` which is really, what we are all doing here, loving the sim and emerging ourselves in a silly fantasy hockey league.

So with that I signed up for a free web-host and began to advertise for GM’s. Of course many of the DHL guys joined along with a strong contingent from the NEFHL, another league i was in. We had a forum (Still alive!!!!!) and a main page (first one was static and real mickey mouse) and so began the inaugural entry draft for players and prospects.

I mentioned most of the original GM`s came from DHL and NEFHL, Francis of DHL fame won the first overall pick and selected Alexander Ovechkin, it was 2010 and OVY was a sim beast. Second overall went to St. Louis GM Joe (formerly of DHL) who selected Sid the Kid. The Blues have since won 2 SHL cups with Sid and Francis also won a cup, but not with OVY on his roster. From that inaugural draft, 13 general managers remain out of 28 (SHL was a 28 team league, just like DHL). Not a bad retention of original guys considering, and a few of those just recently left this past off season.

The SHL Expands to 30

In the summer of 2012 I announced expansion, the league was doing fine and i wanted to bring a little added excitement to the league. So in the summer of 2013 Colorado and Carolina joined the league as expansion franchises. All 28 teams were able to protect based on 2001 NHL expansion rules and the two new expansion teams got to pick first and second in each of the seven rounds of that summers entry draft.

Since the first days we’ve upgraded hosts and upgraded websites. We’ve also tweaked the rules from the original ones we had in the beginning. We’ve seen some wild characters (you know who you are) and have been fortunate to maintain a pretty solid stable of GM’s. Some franchises have gone through multiple GM’s, Pittsburgh, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Columbus and Chicago, while some have been here since day one; Philly, Calgary, Edmonton, Minnesota and San Jose.

Four Years In

I’m also happy to say we’ve had a Trade Committee since nearly the beginning but have only had to use it sparingly. That really is the result of having knowledgeable GM’s which makes a league that much more competitive. In four years we’ve crowned three franchises champions, St. Louis twice, Montreal and Los Angeles, and this season probably someone new. Either way it’s been really enjoyable and i look forward to the next 4 years, we’ll call that chapter two.