Untitled Document

Roots of The TWHL
The Trans-World Hockey League (TWHL) began with the new millennium, in the summer of 2000, after I'd spent the previous few years involved in simulated Fantasy Hockey leagues around the Internet, in many different capacities. I became involved in Fantasy Hockey after I moved from Canada (where I loved the game, both playing and watching the NHL) to Taiwan (where, believe it or not, very little hockey is played - go figure! and even less is watched - ESPNAsia uesed to broadcast a couple of NHL games per month, but has since stopped entirely). Suffering from hockey withdrawl, I entered the world of Internet Fantasy Hockey to get my fix, and I was soon hooked. My experience was at times great, and not so good, but overall, I felt there was something lacking in most of the Leagues. So what was I to do? Start my own League! Soon enough, I found out, this is easier said than done! That is, if you want a League to last. But I was determined, and after many MANY hours at the keyboard, I started inviting potential new Franchise owners to participate. In the development of The TWHL, the help from many of these first GM's was invaluable, especially in trouble-shooting the Rules & Regulations of the League. Much appreciated thanks goes out to a couple of gentlemen in particular, Darryl Singhi, Michael Hebert, Jason Stein, Tim Kastelle, Peter Nilsson and Magnus Nilsson, who each in their ways helped in the initial development of The League. As well, I used many of the ideas I'd felt were good from previous Leagues I'd been involved in as a GM. I remain indebted to these League's, good or bad, for the experience I gained there. I incorporated these ideas into my own new League concepts. I hoped to achieve a new, dynamic, fresh alternative for the Fantasy Hockey world to enjoy. I had found that the Internet is full of fly-by-night leagues and GM's, that leave a lot to be desired. However, I was very fortunate to have as my introductory league The NSHL (nshl.com) which still stands as the BEST run league I had been involved in. Their secrets? Participation, longevity & care! It was these points that I wanted to stress in making The TWHL one of the BEST Fantasy Hockey leagues going! There was some though as to which Simulator to use for The TWHL. I bought The FHL Sim (fhlsim.com) and it was considered, but at the time it still was in bug-fix development. As HLS2 was what I was most used to, and considering the challenges of being a League Commissioner, I decided to use it, in all its wonderful idiosyncratic glory. Haha, the downside of course is that NO ONE can fix the bugs in HLS2! Of course, a Web-site was needed for an Internet based League, but my knowledge of such trifle was next to nought! Still, I developed a TWHL Site on "Homestead.com". Soon after, Michael Hebert worked to upgrade that site, and later, Tim Kastelle provided room on his own site at "fieldornithologists.com". Here the site stayed as it was upgraded extensively by Tim until it was moved to "Hostdepartment.com", where I took over the maintenance, and continued developing more pages, particularly historical and press related. Various technical problems at each site contributed to it being moved from one to the next, and finally, to... The OFFICIAL TWHL Site is now, here, where you've found it, on "iPowerWeb.com" servers.. In 2004, I bought the domain "www.thetwhl.com", where The TWHL will call home from now on. I have since then been updated the web-site using Dreamweaver software, hoping for a more uniform and user friendly look. In addition to HLS2, I use Tim Chan's League Manager to help keep the records straight! Since my own computer's upgrade to Windows XP, The League Manager has become somewhat fickle, not allowing GM Files (used to help creating Team lines) to function. Still, the rest of the program continues to operate successfully. As well, some software developed for use with HLS2 by Platinum Computing Systems (platinumcomputing.com) Few of the original League Rules & Regulations have changed over the Seasons. Some changes have been made to the Free Agency Rules, perhaps the most complicated of any in The TWHL. But even these have been minor alterations to the original FA Draft structure designed for our first Season. As well, some Trading Restrictions have been implemented, primarily for the safety of new GM's with little HLS2 experience. Starting in TWHL12, The Trans-World Hockey League underwent a considerable overhaul to its structure. We moved from a 2-Conference 4-Division league, to a two-tier league, in the style of European football leagues. The decision was based on an attempt to create an atmosphere within the league to allow the weaker teams rebuild into contenders faster and easier. It's hoped that the 2-tier system, which focuses on the top 12 teams playing each other only, while the bottom 12 teams play each other only as well, will see much more competitive results and end of season team stats for all the teams. Teams were initially seeded in TWHL12 based on their overall records over the previous 3 seasons (TWHL9~11). As such, the two tiers were divided as such: Tier 1 (The Premier Conference) Taipei, Melbourne, Toronto, Berlin, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Stockholm, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Cape Town, Mexico, Havana Tier 2 (The Comeback Conference) Rio de Janeiro, London, Moscow, Rome, Prague, Chicago, Montreal, Singapore, New York, Santiago, Calcutta, Cairo For more information on the new format, please see Section A) LEAGUE FORMAT Unfortunately, as is the nature of the internet, GM's have come on the scene only to vanish into cyberspace, and so Franchise Owners continue to come and go. Girlfriends, babies, new jobs, relocations, and LIFE have also contributed to this phenomenon; those of us here from the beginning continue to be in wonder concerning the mixed up priorities of some GM's smile but that's life! One thing I do know is that The TWHL will hopefully continue to run on in timeless fashion until either Armageddon, or universal exploration warrants changing it's name to The Inter-World Hockey League, whichever comes first! Cheers, David Easton The TWHL Commissioner and Founder

Roots of The TWHL

The Trans-World Hockey League (TWHL) began with the new millennium, in the summer of 2000, after I'd spent the previous few years involved in simulated Fantasy Hockey leagues around the Internet, in many different capacities. I became involved in Fantasy Hockey after I moved from Canada (where I loved the game, both playing and watching the NHL) to Taiwan (where, believe it or not, very little hockey is played - go figure! and even less is watched - ESPNAsia uesed to broadcast a couple of NHL games per month, but has since stopped entirely). Suffering from hockey withdrawl, I entered the world of Internet Fantasy Hockey to get my fix, and I was soon hooked.

My experience was at times great, and not so good, but overall, I felt there was something lacking in most of the Leagues. So what was I to do? Start my own League!

Soon enough, I found out, this is easier said than done! That is, if you want a League to last.

But I was determined, and after many MANY hours at the keyboard, I started inviting potential new Franchise owners to participate. In the development of The TWHL, the help from many of these first GM's was invaluable, especially in trouble-shooting the Rules & Regulations of the League. Much appreciated thanks goes out to a couple of gentlemen in particular, Darryl Singhi, Michael Hebert, Jason Stein, Tim Kastelle, Peter Nilsson and Magnus Nilsson, who each in their ways helped in the initial development of The League. As well, I used many of the ideas I'd felt were good from previous Leagues I'd been involved in as a GM. I remain indebted to these League's, good or bad, for the experience I gained there. I incorporated these ideas into my own new League concepts. I hoped to achieve a new, dynamic, fresh alternative for the Fantasy Hockey world to enjoy.

I had found that the Internet is full of fly-by-night leagues and GM's, that leave a lot to be desired. However, I was very fortunate to have as my introductory league The NSHL (nshl.com) which still stands as the BEST run league I had been involved in. Their secrets? Participation, longevity & care! It was these points that I wanted to stress in making The TWHL one of the BEST Fantasy Hockey leagues going!

There was some though as to which Simulator to use for The TWHL. I bought The FHL Sim (fhlsim.com) and it was considered, but at the time it still was in bug-fix development. As HLS2 was what I was most used to, and considering the challenges of being a League Commissioner, I decided to use it, in all its wonderful idiosyncratic glory. Haha, the downside of course is that NO ONE can fix the bugs in HLS2!

Of course, a Web-site was needed for an Internet based League, but my knowledge of such trifle was next to nought! Still, I developed a TWHL Site on "Homestead.com". Soon after, Michael Hebert worked to upgrade that site, and later, Tim Kastelle provided room on his own site at "fieldornithologists.com". Here the site stayed as it was upgraded extensively by Tim until it was moved to "Hostdepartment.com", where I took over the maintenance, and continued developing more pages, particularly historical and press related. Various technical problems at each site contributed to it being moved from one to the next, and finally, to...

The OFFICIAL TWHL Site is now, here, where you've found it, on "iPowerWeb.com" servers.. In 2004, I bought the domain "www.thetwhl.com", where The TWHL will call home from now on. I have since then been updated the web-site using Dreamweaver software, hoping for a more uniform and user friendly look.

In addition to HLS2, I use Tim Chan's League Manager to help keep the records straight! Since my own computer's upgrade to Windows XP, The League Manager has become somewhat fickle, not allowing GM Files (used to help creating Team lines) to function. Still, the rest of the program continues to operate successfully. As well, some software developed for use with HLS2 by Platinum Computing Systems (platinumcomputing.com)

Few of the original League Rules & Regulations have changed over the Seasons. Some changes have been made to the Free Agency Rules, perhaps the most complicated of any in The TWHL. But even these have been minor alterations to the original FA Draft structure designed for our first Season. As well, some Trading Restrictions have been implemented, primarily for the safety of new GM's with little HLS2 experience.

Starting in TWHL12, The Trans-World Hockey League underwent a considerable overhaul to its structure. We moved from a 2-Conference 4-Division league, to a two-tier league, in the style of European football leagues. The decision was based on an attempt to create an atmosphere within the league to allow the weaker teams rebuild into contenders faster and easier. It's hoped that the 2-tier system, which focuses on the top 12 teams playing each other only, while the bottom 12 teams play each other only as well, will see much more competitive results and end of season team stats for all the teams.

Teams were initially seeded in TWHL12 based on their overall records over the previous 3 seasons (TWHL9~11). As such, the two tiers were divided as such:

Tier 1 (The Premier Conference)
Taipei, Melbourne, Toronto, Berlin, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Stockholm, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Cape Town, Mexico, Havana

Tier 2 (The Comeback Conference)
Rio de Janeiro, London, Moscow, Rome, Prague, Chicago, Montreal, Singapore, New York, Santiago, Calcutta, Cairo

For more information on the new format, please see Section A) LEAGUE FORMAT

Unfortunately, as is the nature of the internet, GM's have come on the scene only to vanish into cyberspace, and so Franchise Owners continue to come and go. Girlfriends, babies, new jobs, relocations, and LIFE have also contributed to this phenomenon; those of us here from the beginning continue to be in wonder concerning the mixed up priorities of some GM's *smile* but that's life!

One thing I do know is that The TWHL will hopefully continue to run on in timeless fashion until either Armageddon, or universal exploration warrants changing it's name to The Inter-World Hockey League, whichever comes first!

Cheers,

David Easton
The TWHL Commissioner and Founder