Rough outline atm. https://youtu.be/E0tvhyXz7KU?is=aV8I1QJOasFhFC9N # History ## Merge with NWHA # Organizational structure # Teams and minor affiliates Links - canon established Consider divisions named after founding players? ## West ### Pacific - [[Edmonton Colts]] - [[Calgary Nighthawks]] - Vancouver - Victoria, [[Kelowna Grizzlies]] ([[Pacific Hockey League]]) - Seattle - [[San Francisco Blades]] - [[Death Valley Heat]] - Los Angeles - Phoenix Uprising - Vegas Coyotes ### Central - [[Winnipeg Wolves]] - Denver Blizzards - [[Minneapolis Moose]] - Cincinnati Checkers - Kansas City - [[Chicago Redtails]] - Houston Novas ## East ### Atlantic - Miami Tigers - Atlanta Dragons - [[Philadelphia Spirit]] - [[Philadelphia Force]] - Pittsburgh Comets (previously Haileybury Comets) - Baltimore - DC - [[New York Thunder]] - Scheyich Lightning - Charlotte ### Metropolitan - Buffalo - Detroit Dynamo - Boston Shamrocks - [[Montreal Wanderers]] - [[Montreal Bulldogs]] - Ottawa Senators - Toronto Hockey Club (Maroons) # Co-ed play # Trophies and awards Belrose Cup. Named after founder (renamed, historically Ambrose). - Charlie is a direct descendent of the founder. There’s a woman descendant of the founder Belrose that made ice hockey a popular rich girl sport, which leads to the formation of a 4 team NWHA in the 1970s, who are all-women counterparts of the “Founding Four”: Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators (the original original ones), Quebec Bulldogs (merged with the Wanderers in the 40s, revived for the NWHA), and Montreal Shamrocks (now Boston Shamrocks). Then economic troubles of both leagues leads to a merge of the sibling leagues into one in the 1980s, and the 4 teams are dissolved into the NHA. The NHA spikes in popularity since co-ed pro sport was a new spectacle, and the Blades get established in 1992. It’s timeline divergence and convergence to the NHL in ways I think are interesting. Equivalents of Abel, Kwong, and O’Ree are there, in the same years, and better community outreach by teams lead to more players of color than what the NHL has, but it’s still a notably White sport. The NHA postures as very progressive since it’s co-ed, but is still the whitest (60% of players) of the Big Four Sports as the most high-barrier to entry sport. Women only make up 40% of the league, but has been climbing in recent years as junior hockey programs are now typically co-ed. International ice hockey is also typically co-ed due to the NHA’s influence, though teams outside of North America tend to still be men-dominated. The Blades have the highest concentration of players of color. Original management was kicked out in 2010 and 2015, and former players, notably Sixby and Roxas, took over those positions. They’re not like, anti-white necessarily, but they’re both more likely to see talent where a racist will refuse to look lmfao. They also have more international scouts than most teams. All this to say. What if hockey was cooler but still kinda sucked. # Meta ## Rule differences from the NHL and international play absolutely disorganized notes sorry. one day i will reread the NHL rulebook - Rink size is IIHF standard. - Concussions are taken much more seriously. You WILL be out for 2 weeks if you get head trauma. - No more trapezoid that shit sucks. Goalies can puckhandle to their own blueline if they want and give their team a heart attack - Crease is smaller, but trespassing as an attacker is a 5 min major penalty (hans rule) - Fights will only be broken up if there is a clear size difference, gender difference, or if one party clearly does not want to fight. It’s part of the hockey Cult. ## Operations - The NHA is operated as a corporation and is owned cooperatively by each of the league’s teams and the Players Union. - Each team appoints a Deputy to represent themselves in the NHA corporation, to vote on issues such as contracts or rule changes. This Deputy usually also serves as the team’s Head of Operations, but not always. - The Players Union also has a Deputy, following the collective bargaining agreement after the 2014 lockout. - Players and owners share league revenue 50/50. The Blades are unique in the fact they are owned by a non-profit, so all salaried Blades employees and shareholder chairs get split revenue bonuses instead of one owner. - When a player contract expires and they go into free agency, teams that do not share a division with the player’s previous team must contribute a half year of minimum salary to NHA player’s union in order to bid on the player. This discourages having players’ families move all the time/journeyman-ing. This results in many players keeping to one or two teams for the majority of their careers as well as shorter contract lengths overall. - This also results in trades with other teams being a lot more serious and rumor-heavy, rather than just a normal part of league operations - Trades are transfers of contracts. Contract transfers cost a year of minimum salary to the NHAPU, but can cost more through negotiations. - Players are expected to have dog-like loyalty to their teams if they’ve already stayed for several years. Extensions are common. - Angel is especially weighed with expectations, since Biel never got to win a championship. ### Travel - Teams organize their own travel and are generally scheduled to reduce the amount of long-distance flights needed - Using buses/having players drive during the preseason is common - Sharing jets between city teams is common, generally baseball - Blades share planes with the Saints - Wands share with the Expos - On the plane: coaches, players, broadcasting team, med team/trainers, equipment staff. ## Misc - Blades are publicly owned - NHA is cooperatively owned by all teams - Average player career length is 10 yrs - Visors required