The Natural Hockey League was founded as a 20 team territorial based league using Strat-O-Matic Hockey as its exclusive game in the fall of 1994.

    The league still consists of 20 franchises using real life NHL counterparts as team names.  Each season franchises are allowed to territorialize newly carded players provided they own their own draft choices consecutively in an amount sufficient to cover the number of players the GM wishes to protect.

    Teams are in divisions closely mirroring the real National Hockey League.  There are four divisions, two in each conference.  An 82 game regular season is played.  The top 3 teams from each division make the playoffs.  The regular season division champion achieves a first round bye.  The second and third place teams from each division play off and the winner faces the regular season division winner in the second round.  The survivors of the first two rounds meet the winner of the divisional series from their conference.  Finally, the two remaining teams face off for the ultimate in S-O-M hockey supremacy:  Possession of the coveted Steely Cup emblematic of the Natural Hockey League Championship.

    At the conclusion of the season, several awards are bestowed.  Trading is an integral part of the NHL.  Players, draft choices, players-to-be-named, future considerations and some times, even entire franchises have been dealt in the NHL.  There is no in season trading, but deals can be made to take effect after our playoffs.

    Please use the links on the left to browse our site to learn more about our league.  If you are interested in joining our league, by all means, drop us a line by e-mailing us at somplayer@sbcglobal.net .  We are always searching for quality general managers.  Thanks for visiting our site!