McPsychoville Ice Hockey League

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The McPsychoville Ice Hockey League is the foremost professional ice hockey league in McPsychoville, and one of the six major professional leagues in the nation. It is comprised of twenty teams, divided into two divisions of ten teams and four conferences of five teams. It was founded in 1958 in the city of Hamilton with a roster of just seven teams, and has grown rapidly since then, the last two teams to join the league joining in 2000, and the 2007/2008 season will mark it's fiftieth anniversary in a ceremony to be held at the final Jay Summers Cup game. Currently, the statutes stipulate that only McPsychovillian born players are allowed to play in the league, players hailing from other nations being allowed to play in the lower and the junior leagues but no higher - this has resulted in a lot of resentment, and it is believed that the rules will soon be changed to reflected the higher international demand.

History

Game

Teams

Eastern Division

Lefler Conference

Perry Conference

Western Division

Donovan Conference

Tyler Conference

Season Structure

The structure of the regular season is quite simple. It begins in late September, when the last Saturday of the month hosts the annual Future Stars game, a game in which 44 prospective players are picked by the coaches of the two teams and are given this chance to show off for the league's coaches. This is always held at the Ricoh Coliseum, the national ice hockey stadium which hosts the most important hockey games. Following this, the teams fall into a pattern - games are played every Sunday, Tuesday and Friday nights, with every team playing three times a week regardless of any extraneous circumstances (this ruling has given rise to some odd occurrances over the years, including the game in 1989 where the league-leading Oke Pole Stars saw their team decimated by callups to the McPsychovillian national side and were forced to stock their team with minor-league player. Ironically, they beat the league-worst Weinke Eagles 7-4). The times are standard as well; the Sunday games begin at 1 P.M, the Tuesday games at 7:30 P.M and the Friday games at 7 P.M.

Each team plays the others three times in the regular season, creating a total of 57 games a team. The regular season concludes in early February, and there is a two-week break before the playoffs begin. The playoff contenders are those who finish twelfth or above in the overall standings - the teams in the top four spaces are given byes through to the second round, whereas those in the fifth to twelfth spaces play one another to decide who progresses. These winners move into the second round, then into the third round with four teams remaining, and lastly the Finals. The playoff series are best-of-five games, such that the first team to win three games wins the series and progresses with the exception of the Final series, which is best-of-seven. In case of a tie after the sixty-minute regulation, the teams go into a sudden-death overtime, in which only three players from each team are allowed on the ice plus the goalies, and the first team to score wins the game.

Notable Players

Top Ten Active Players

As voted on by the public at the end of the 2006/2007 season.

Goaltenders

Defensemen

Left Wingers

Centres

Right Wingers

Trophies and Awards

Team Awards

  • Jay Summers Cup - Awarded to the MIHL playoff champion each year.
  • Dan Roberts Award - Awarded to the team who finishes the regular season with the highest points total. Has been tied for twice in the league's history - once in 1988, between London and Hamilton, and once in 1997, between Calder and Camrose.
  • Shawn Taggart Trophy - Awarded to the team with the highest amount of goals scored in the regular season. If more than one team ties for the lead, the trophy is awarded to the team with the most short-handed goals scored.
  • Waldo Blake Trophy - Awarded to the team with the lowest amount of goals conceded in the regular season. If more than one team ties for the lead, the trophy goes to the team with the least powerplay goals conceded.

Individual Awards

  • Chris Neish Trophy - Awarded to the goaltender judged to be the best by the league's managers.
  • Eric Lefler Award - Awarded to the defenseman judged to be the best at the position by a jury of his peers.
  • Luke Harvey Trophy - Awarded to the forward judged to be the best at the position by a group of his peers.
  • Brad Hutchinson Award - Awarded to the best defensively-minded forward.
  • Daniel Lawson Award - Awarded to the defenseman who excels at the offensive aspects of his game.
  • Timu Paalinen Memorial Plaque - Awarded to the player who leads the league in points in the regular season.
  • John Rodriguez Trophy - Awarded to the best player in the first year of their MIHL career.
  • Justin Howe Trophy - Awarded to the best player in the second year of their MIHL career.
  • Jay Strong Award - Awarded to the best coaching team in the league.
  • Ryan Flanagan Trophy - Awarded to the player who performs best for their team in the playoffs.
  • Lord Basha Bowl - Awarded to the player who displays the best combination of sportsmanship and skill in the entire season.
  • CF Championship Belt - Awarded to the player who wins the most fights in the regular season. This belt is made from gold; the silver CF Belt is contested under different rules.

Popularity

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