Hockey League Simulator 
Brought to you by Belgarath

Introduction  
Bethesda   Softworks’  Hockey League  Simulator  (HLS) 
allows you to design and manage your own customized 
league or create current or classic leagues from the past. Its
extensive features allow you to: 

- Create leagues and teams based on your criteria. 
- Develop league game schedules. 
- Track extensive statistical data. 
- Instantly compute the results of a scheduled game. 
- Play scheduled games in   Wayne Gretzky Hockey*. 
- Make trades. 
- Manage money. 
- Draft players and put them on waivers. 

Hockey League Simulator comes pre-loaded with players 
and teams from the 1987-1988 NHL hockey season and an 
80 game schedule. Additional hockey season team disks are 
available from Bethesda Softworks. Any of the yearly data 
can b-e loaded directly into the   Hockey League Simulator to 
provide up-to-date team and player data. (See “Loading 
Teams from DataDisks”, page 12.) 

If you prefer, you can create you own teams and schedule. 
HLS allows you to include as many as 48 teams in a league, 
any number of which may be computer-controlled.

The Hockey League Simulator generates a league schedule 
and provides the necessary player and team data for playing
each game in Wayne Gretzky Hockey (WGH), allowing you 
to simulate an entire season of hockey. If you don’t have
time to manually play all the games in a schedule, you can 
compute the results of each game using   HLS. It only takes a 
few seconds for each game and in that time, all game sta- 
tistics are generated by the computer.

Because the purpose of   HLS   is to keep track of all the games 
and statistics for a league over a season based on a specific 
schedule, it is not designed for randomly playing one team 
against another. Keep in mind that the statistics for any game 
played outside the league schedule should not be saved to 
the HLS, since these statistics have no real meaning in rela- 
tion to league play. 

*   The award-winning hockey simulation from Bethesda Softworks.

Mouse, Keyboard, Joystick: 
Depressing the keyboard return
key, clicking the left mouse button and depressing the joy-
stick fire button have the same effect. Throughout this 
manual, the words “depress the return key” will be used. If
you have a mouse, you should press the left mouse button,
instead. If you have a joystick, press the fire button.

Selecting/Highlighting: Selecting and highlighting is done
with either the keyboard, a mouse, or a joystick. Selecting
an item causes it to ‘reverse out,’ that is, the type will
reverse to light against a dark background. When an item is
highlighted, it will change colors or will be boxed in by
lines. In addition to simply highlighting the selection, selecting
and highlighting certain menu options result in a specific
action taking place. For example, selecting and highlighting
'Exit' at the bottom of a menu box will take you out of that
menu and return you to the previous menu.

Selecting and highlighting sequences for a keyboard, mouse,
and joystick are described below:

. Keyboard--use the arrow keys to move the cursor to
the item to be selected. Then hit the return or enter key
to highlight the selection.

. Mouse-the cursor follows the mouse movement.
Move the cursor over the item to be selected and hit the
left mouse button; the selection will then be
highlighted.

. Joystick-the cursor follows the joystick controller.
When the cursor is over the item and it is selected,
depress the joystick fire button to highlight the
selection.

In this manual, the word “select” is used to describe the process
of selecting and highlighting-that is, moving the
cursor over the menu option and depressing return (or
depressing the left mouse button, or depressing the fire
button.) For example: select ‘Save Roster’ means that you
should both select and highlight this menu option.

Menu Operation: In general, there are three types of menu
operations-operations which:

. Move you to new menus (e.g., Head Coach, Load/Save
  League)

. Set options which then require selection of another
  option (e.g., selecting a game or a team).

In the case of setting options, simply selecting that option
causes it to be active. For example, selecting ‘Manual’ sets
up Auto-Play for manual operation.

For the second menu type, selecting an option causes
another screen to appear. For example, selecting ‘Head
Coach’ in the Main Menu brings up the Head Coach Menu.

In the last menu type, a first menu option must be selected
before choosing a second (and sometimes a third) menu
option. For example, in the Head Coach Menu, in order to
display the Canadians game roster, you must first select
‘Display.’ Then select ‘Canadians’ (in the conference
window).
An example of a third menu option is the Trade Players
option in the General Manager Menu. This requires 3 selections:
first ‘Trade Players,’ and then each of the two teams
(in any order).

Important: In any situation where you are selecting
more than one menu option, depressing the escape key
(‘Esc’) will abort the operation.


Menu Flow Chart

As you use Hockey League Simulator, you will be moving in
and out of numerous menus.

In some cases, you will be unable to exit directly back to the
menu you came from. If you have trouble exiting a menu, it
is usually caused by an illegal configuration. In this situation,
a dialogue box appears with a description of the problem
The problem will have to be corrected before you can
proceed to the next menu. The Menu Flow Chart can also be
depicted on your screen by depressing the F1 key.

Note: For additional information be sure to read the most
commonly asked questions listed at the back of this manual.

Installing and Using the HLS

1. READ the Installation Instructions for your computer  
   (Included in   the   HLS package).  
2. After HLS has been started, a disclaimer screen appears; 
   follow the instructions on the screen to continue. If appli- 
   cable to your particular computer, refer to the Installation 
   Instructions for information on the pass code screen(s). 

3. The Main Menu appears. The title of the Main Menu is 
   the name of the League that is presently active. If this is
   the first time HLS is used, the default is the National 
   Hockey League. 

You are now ready to begin using your Hockey League 
Simulator. 


Important:  Before you use team data to play a game in 
Wayne Gretzky Hockey, you must first save the team ros- 
ters (see page 7). 

Playing a Game in HLS
As previously mentioned, HLS comes pre-loaded with the 
player ratings and team data for the 1987-1988 National 
Hockey League. If you wish, you can immediately begin
playing a game from the NHL schedule. In order to create
realistic statistical data, league games mast be played in
sequence. A game scheduled in the middle of a season 
cannot be played before a game scheduled at the beginning 
of a season.

You have three choices for playing a game: you can let the 
HLS compute the results (Auto-Play), you can import the 
data into WGH and play the game yourself, or you can 
enter the STATS manually. 

Note: If you let HLS compute the results (Auto-Play), 
game statistics are generated at the same   time.  Since the 
game statistics then become a part of the league record, 
replaying the game no longer makes sense. If you decide 
you do want to replay the game in WGH. you will not be 
able to enter the new statistics from the replayed game into 
the Hockey League Simulator. 

Auto-Play

Make sore the Main Menu is displayed. If your league is 
properly set up, a complement of games will be listed in 
the right-hand box of the Main Menu (the Game Window). 
If this is the first time you are using HLS, the games listed 
in the first complement are the first games to be played in 
the 1987-1988 NHL 80 game schedule. 

Warning: Do not Auto-Play a game you want   to play 
in WGH. Once the game is Auto-Played, the statistics 
are automatically updated in HLS. If you replay the 
game in WGH, you will not be able to load the new 
game statistics back into HLS - the    statistics for that 
game will already be recorded. 

To Auto-Play a scheduled game, select one of the Auto- 
Play modes under Auto-Play Options (Main Menu). The 
two modes are Manual and Automatic. Manual allows
selection of a single game to be computer generated, while 
Automatic begins playing all games between computer-
controlled teams, starting with the first one on the 
schedule. 

Manual Auto-Play 

Note:  In Manual Auto-Play, both computer-controlled and 
human-controlled games can be played. 

First select ‘Manual’ from the Auto-Play options in the 
Main Menu. Then select   ‘Auto-Play’ from the Game 
Options column in the   Main Menu. Finally, select the 
game you want   HLS to compute from the Game Window 
of the Main Menu. Almost instantly, the results of the
game appear on the screen. At the same time-all the sta-
tistics, including placing players injured on the injury
list-are generated and recorded.

Note: The game window displays a full complement of 
games scheduled to take place at a given time-such as all 
the games that are scheduled for January 23rd. You can 
play the games in the game window in any order (in the 
same way that you could play all the games on one day in
any order); however, you will not be allowed to move to
games in the next complement (i.e., next day’s schedule)
until you have played the previously scheduled games. If 
this sounds confusing, simply try playing the games and
see what happens. 

You can then repeat these steps for each game you want to 
Auto-Play. As you exhaust the complement of games in
the Game Window, HLS will automatically bring up the 
games which are scheduled next. 

Automatic Auto-Play 

Note:  Automatic Auto-Play only works with teams that 
have been assigned computer-control; these teams have an 
asterisk after their name. 

First select ‘Automatic’ from the Auto-Play options in the 
Main Menu. Then select   ‘Auto-Play’ from the Game 
Options column in the Main Menu.  HIS will go through 
each game, computing the results, recording the statistics,
and displaying the results. If a game that is not computer- 
controlled is encountered, Automatic Auto-Play stops. If 
you want to Auto-Play the entire schedule, you must make
sure every team is assigned computer-control. 

Hint: If you are in Automatic Auto-Play and want to stop 
the play, depress the escape ‘Esc’ key. 

Hint: If nothing happens when you start Automatic Auto- 
Play, check that both teams in the first game are computer- 
controlled. Remember, computer control is necessary for 
Automatic  Auto-Play. 

Playing a Game in WGH  

Saving Team Rosters 

Eject the  HLS  disk and insert a blank disk (or one you 
want to reuse) into the floppy disk  drive. 

1.  (Amiga  Only) Under Game Options in the Main Menu, 
select ‘Format Data Disk.’ This creates a properly for- 
matted disk for saving information and data created in 
HLS. 

Note:  If you own on IBM or compatible, you will have to 
format the disk before running  HLS. 

2. Under Game Options in the Main Menu, select ‘Save 
Rosters.  

3. From the Game Window, select the game you want to 
play. 

4.  IBM Only: A DOS  Menu is displayed; select ‘Save 
File’  and exit to the Main Menu. 

The rosters for the game you want to play are now saved to
disk. If you think you may want to play additional games,
save the rosters for those games also by repeating steps  2 
through 4 for each game.

Once you have saved rosters, you must exit  HLS  by select- 
ing ‘Quit’ at the bottom of the Main Menu. If necessary, 
save the league (see “Loading and Saving a League,” page 
16). Load   WGH  into your computer. Once you have loaded 
WGH, you will need to import the player ratings and team 
data for the two teams you want to play. One team is the 
home team and one is the visiting team. 

Importing the Home Team into  WGH 

Load  the  Home team into  WGH by going to the Home 
Team Editor and selecting ‘Team DOS.’ The teams whose 
rosters you saved will appear in the window. Each team’s
name will be followed by an extension, (either  .home  or 
.vis  ). to indicate whether  the team is the Home Team  or 
the Visiting Team. Select the Home Team. Then, select 
‘Load Team.’ The  information is imported into WGH. 

Importing the Visiting Team into   WGH 

To import the Visiting Team data, go into the Visiting
Team Editor and select  ‘Team DOS.’ Select the Visiting 
Team, (the one with  the  .vis extension) and  select 'Load 
Team.’ The information  is imported into WGH. 

Once the Home and Visiting Team data is loaded, you can
play the game. 

Important:  The designation of Home or Visitor is impor- 
tant  in tracking statistics. Make sure  that when you  are in 
the Home Team Editor that you select the Home  Team and 
when you are in the Visiting Team Editor, you select the 
team  with the .vis extension. 

Saving the Stats in WGH 

Once the game is over, you   must  save the stats. To  do this, 
select ‘Save Game   Results'  in the End of Game Menu (this 
option is found under “For League Simulator Use”). You
will be placed into a DOS Menu. Select ‘Save File’ to
save the stats;  WGH  will automatically give the file  a 
name. 

Loading the Stats in   HLS 

Loading in the stats is very similar to the process used to 
Save Rosters, only select the  ‘Load Game  Stats’  option 
from the Main Menu rather than the ‘Save   Rosters’  option. 

Manually Entering Game Stats 

First select  ‘Edit Game’ from the Main Menu. Then select 
the game whose stats you want to enter from the Game
Window of the Main Menu. The Edit Stats window 
appears. The Edit Stats window shows only one team at  a 
time, beginning with the home team. The home team
players are listed in a column in the left side of  the 
window and the statistical categories  are listed along the 
top. The categories displayed will change according to the
player’s position. For example, save percentage would be 
listed for a goalie, but not for a forward or defenseman.
Some categories are a calculation of previous categories.
Points are the sum of goals and assists, for example. 
Categories based on calculation update automatically when
the categories on which they are based are updated. 
To change a stat, move the cursor over the stat to select it.
Then, press the return key and hold it down while pressing 
the up and down arrow keys to increase or decrease the
stat’s value. When you have finished editing the stats,
select ‘Exit.’ The  Edit Stats window reappears; this time 
the visiting team is shown. Repeat   the  editing procedure 
discussed above. Then select  'Exit' again. A prompt will 
appear asking if you want to keep the stats. Hit  ‘y’  for yes; 
this will save the changes you have just made.

You can create you own league based on your own criteria. 
However, there are certain rules governing a league’s 
structure. 

Creating Your Own League

League Structure 

The following rules apply to the   structure  of a league: 

. All leagues must have two conferences 
. Each  conference must have between 1 and 4 divisions 
. Each  division must have between 2 and 6 teams 
. The largest and smallest division must not differ by 
more than one team 

Steps in Creating a League 

There are   three  steps in creating a league. These are: 

. Setup  and name league 
. Make a Schedule 
. Draft Players (optional) 

Setting-up and Naming a League 

In setting-up and naming a new league, you alter the 
league that is presently active. That is, you never start from
scratch.

The menu choice for creating a new league is found in   the 
Main Menu. To setup and name the new league, select 
‘Create   League’  under Things to Do. This will bring up the 
League Setup Menu.

Note: If the current league has  not  been saved, you may 
be asked to save  it. If you want to  reuse this league, you 
should  save  it. 

Note: Whenever the  League Setup Menu is  brought  up, all 
statistics and schedules are cleared: however player rat- 
ings and  team   data  are  not  altered. This  means   that  any 
rime you go  into  the League  Setup  Menu. you must  create 
a  new  schedule before you   can  exit. 

Once you are in the League Setup Menu, select  ‘Rename 
League.’  A dialogue box appears; type   in the new name. 

The next step is to rename  the conferences. Conferences 
are  displayed, one at a time, in the right half of the League 
Setup Menu in the conference window. Both conference 
names appear as menu choices under Select Conference, 
and the presently displayed conference name is high- 
lighted. You must select and display a conference before 
you can rename it. 

When the conference you want to rename is displayed, 
select  ‘Rename Conference.’   A dialogue box appears; type 
in the new name. Repeat this procedure for the other 
conference. 

In setting up divisions, you must decide how many divi-
sions you  want  and what their names will be. In  the 
League Setup Menu under No. of Divisions, select 1.2, 3, 
or 4 Divisions. Keep in mind that the division changes you 
are making are for the currently displayed conference and 
must be repeated for the other conference. 

Note:  Conferences can have an unequal number of 
Divisions. 

Division names are displayed in the right half of the 
screen. The number of divisions that appear corresponds to 
the number of divisions you chose for the  active confer- 
ence. To rename a division, first select   ‘Rename Division.’ 
Then select  the  division name you want to change. A dia- 
logue box appears; type in  the  new name. Repeat  this  for 
each division in the conference. 

This completes the naming of the divisions in  the  active 
conference. You must now select the other conference and
repeat the steps for renaming the divisions. 


Note:  Divisions can have an unequal number of   teams  with 
two requirements-the  total  number of teams  in each divi- 
sion must  not  differ by more  than  one from any of  the  other 
divisions in the league.   The minimum  number of teams in   a 
division is  two. 

Now that the league, conferences, and divisions have been 
setup, it is necessary to setup the teams. Remember, you
are altering the active conference and not working from 
scratch. This means you   must  add or delete teams from  a 
division to obtain the correct  number of teams. This is 
done by selecting  ‘Add  Team’ or ‘Delete Team’  from the 
League Setup  Menu and then selecting the blank space or 
team name in the division where you want to add   or delete. 
Generally, you want to get each division to the point where 
it has the number of teams you want. The?, you will 
rename  the  teams. However, if you are  adding  a team 
where there is a blank space., a dialogue box will appear 
asking you to type  in the name of the new team. 

Once you have all the divisions setup with the correct 
number of teams, you can then rename them. For each 
team you are renaming, select  ‘Rename  Team,’  and then 
select the team. A dialogue box appears; type in the new 
name. 

When all the teams in the active conference have been 
renamed, select the other conference and repeat the pro- 
cedure for renaming the teams. 

Note: When a league is  created, all  the teams  will auto- 
matically  become computer-controlled. You may  warn   to 
change  some  of  the   teams  to  human  control. However, if 
you  want  to (automatically) Auto-Play  the  games. you 
should leave all   the  teams   in computer-control. 

Changing Between Computer Control and Human
Control 

To change a team from computer-control   to  human control, 
select ‘Human Control’ from the League Setup Menu. All 
the teams listed in  the  conference window that are pres- 
ently human controlled will be highlighted. Select the corn-
puter-controlled  team you want to change. Repeat this pro- 
cedure for each team you are changing.

To change a team from human control to   computer  control, 
select  ‘Computer  Control'  from the League Setup Menu. 
All the teams   listed  in the conference window that are pres-
ently computer-controlled will be highlighted. Select the
human-controlled team you want to change. Repeat this 
procedure for each team you are changing. 

Reset League 

If at any time you are  creating a league and you want to 
discard the changes you have made, select ‘Reset League’ 
from the League Setup Menu. This will restore the
National Hockey League configuration  of the 1987-1988 
teams. 

Exiting the League Setup Menu 

Select ‘Continue at the bottom of the League Setup Menu 
and you will move into the Team Setup Menu. 

Setting Up Teams

Loading Teams from  DataDisks 

First, select   ‘Load/Save   Team’  from the Team Setup Menu 
and then select a team from  the conference  window-the 
data will  be placed into  this  team. The Load/Save Team 
window appears. Insert the  DataDisk  into a disk drive. 
From the Load/Save Team window, select  the proper 
drive; the team names appear in the window. Reselect a
team and select  ‘Load File'-the  data will be taken from 
this team and loaded into the team you selected in a pre-
vious step. Finally, select  ‘Exit’  to  return to the Team 
Setup Menu. This procedure can be repeated as many 
times as there is team data to load. 

Loading Teams Created in Wayne Gretzky
Hockey 

Select  ‘Load WGH  Team’  from the Team Setup Menu. 
Select a team and the Load  WGH  Team window will 
appear. Follow the same procedure outlined above for
loading from DataDisks. 

Making a Schedule 

Scheduling of games is done from the Team Setup Menu. 
Select ‘Make a Schedule’ and the Schedule Menu comes 
up. There are two parts to the Schedule Menu: Divisional 
Games and Other games. Other games represent games 
between teams in different divisions. 


Setting the Number of Games 

Move the  cursor over Divisional Games. Then, hold the 
return key down and use the arrow keys to change the 
value of Divisional Games. Next, move the cursor over 
Other Games. Hold the   return  key down and   use  the arrow 
keys to change the value of Other Games. The display
showing the total number of games will be updated 
automatically. 

Playoff Requirements 

Under Playoffs, select  the  number of teams per division 
that make the playoffs at the end of the season. You have 
the choice of the top 2 teams, top 3 teams or the top 4 
teams. Under  Series Length, you must select the number of 
playoff games in each playoff series. You have a choice of
best of 3, best of 5, and best of 7. The playoff requirements
become highlighted when they have been chosen. 

Automatically Generating a Schedule 

To automatically generate a schedule, select  ‘Automatic’ 
under the Make Schedule Heading. A schedule will auto-
matically be created and a dialogue box will be displayed 
during the process. The total  number of games in  the 
schedule is based on the size of the league and the selec- 
tions you have made in the Schedule Menu. The maximum
number of games is 100. If your league size and selections
require a schedule of more than   100 games, a   dialogue  box 
will  warn  you that you have exceeded this   amount  and you 
will have to make appropriate changes in either the league
size or the Schedule Menu selections. 

Manually Generating Schedule 

To manually generate a schedule, select ‘Manual’ under
the Generate Schedule Heading. The   Schedule Maker 
window appears. The schedule is in the left half of the 
window (schedule  window)  and the teams are listed in the 
right half (conference window). The general procedure is
to  first select the team name in the conference window and 
then select the location in the schedule window. This
places that team in the  schedule. To accomplish this, first 
highlight and select a team in the conference window.
Then, immediately place the cursor at the location in the 
schedule window where you want to place the team. This
will highlight the   location.  Then hit the return key to select
the location and place the  team name. If you make a mis- 
take while placing the team, you can click on the schedule 
location you want to change and the team name will dis- 
appear, or you can simply replace one team with another. 

For example, suppose you scheduled game 6 as Canadians
at Capitals, but   then  decided you wanted Canadians at 
Bruins instead. To replace the Capitals with the Brains, 
select  ‘Bruins'  from the conference window, move the 
cursor over Game 6 in the schedule window until Capitals
is highlighted. Now press Enter. Game 6 should now read 
‘Canadians at   Bruins.’ 

The schedule window only allows 10 games to be sched- 
uled at one time. An option at the  bottom of the schedule 
window, Next Games, allows you to schedule   the  next 10 
games. When generating a schedule manually, dates may
be assigned to games. The date should be selected just 
prior to assigning the teams to the schedule. For example, 
if you want to specify the date for game three, assign 
games one and two and then select the date. This date will
automatically be selected for game   three. 

To set the date, move  the   cursor over  ‘Set   Date’  in the 
upper left hand  comer of the schedule window and hold 
down the  return key. While  continuing  to hold down the 
return key, use the arrow keys to change the day. Next, 
release the   return   key and depress   it again. Use the arrow 
keys to change the month. Finally, release the  return key 
and depress it for a third time. Depressing the arrow keys
will change the year.

Select  ‘Exit’  to exit the Schedule Maker. 

Printing a Schedule 

To print one team’s schedule, select ‘Team’ under the
Print Schedule Heading in  the  Schedule Menu and  then 
select the team whose schedule you want to print. If your
printer is properly connected to your computer and   tuned 
on, the team’s schedule will be printed. If there are prob- 
lems in printing, an   error  message will appear. 

To print out all the games for all the teams (approximately 
8 pages for a standard NHL schedule), select  ‘League’ 
under the Print Schedule Heading in the Schedule Menu. 

Exiting the Schedule Menu 

Select  ‘Exit’  at the bottom of the Schedule  Menu and you 
will  return  to the Team Setup Menu. 

Exiting the Team Setup Menu 

Select ‘Continue’ at the bottom of the Team Setup Menu 
and you will return to the Main Menu, where you can exit 
the program or start playing your league. 

Hints for Managing a League

Rosters 

Rosters are divided into two categories: Team and Game.
The Team Roster consists of all the players on the team  ( 
20 to 25 players). The Game Roster consists of  the 20 
players on the team who will   actually  play a game. It is up 
to you as the coach to decide if a player should be benched,
sent down   to the minors or even traded. 

Money 

If you wish, you can make money management a part of 
your league play. To do this, select  ‘Set   Options’  from 
either  the  Main Menu or the Team Setup Menu. Now make 
sure ‘Money’ is highlighted. The money management 
works as follows: Each team starts out with an initial
budget (enough to pay each player’s  salary,  plus an extra 
$200,000  to $300,000).  This money is used  in the course of 
a season to pay the players’ salaries. It can also be used to
pick up players off waivers, or in trades. It is important to 
keep track of your financial state-if you  run out of money 
(resulting in the players not getting paid) the players will 
go into a nasty slump, making it difficult to win games. 

Waiver Draft 

The waiver draft is a one-time   draft  which takes place after 
the initial (“Entry”)  draft,  but before  the  regular-season 
begins. The waiver draft is made up of all minor  league 
players, and all unprotected pro players. If more  than  one 
team wants a player  in the  waiver draft, he goes to the team 
with higher priority. (Priority is determined by  the  teams’ 
drafting order:  team 1 has higher priority  than team 2 
which has higher priority than team 3, and so on.) If a team
drafts a player, the player’s original   learn  receives   $40,000
from  the new team, and the player is transferred to his new 
team. He will remain with  this  team only as long as a team 
with higher priority doesn’t draft him.   If he IS drafted by 
another team, his current team receives   S40,000  from the 
new team. The players displayed can vary from  team to 
team. The players displayed for a given team are all 
undrafted players, and all unprotected players which have 
been drafted by teams with a lower priority. This means 
that  team 1 will always be able to see every player (except 
its own) in the waiver draft. 

Note: Once you exit the  waivers  display, you will have 
“cleared your options” on all the players, and will be 
unable to  draft  any more players. Once you exit the 
Waiver Draft Menu, all  undrafted  players  remain  with 
their original teams. The menu operation is identical to 
the General Manager Menu. 

Loading and Saving Leagues

Saving a League

When using the   Hockey  League  Simulator,  all information
that is generated (statistics, game results, and team  infor- 
mation)  is temporarily stored In the computer memory. If 
you  turn  the computer off without saving the new   informa 
tion to disk, it will be lost. The Main Menu has a ‘Load/
Save League’ option. Always select this option before 
quitting  HLS,  if you wish to save the information you have 
generated. If information has been generated and you 
forget to select the ‘Loud/Save   League’  option, a dialogue 
box will prompt you with the message asking you if you 
want to save your league. Type ‘y’ to save the changes. 

Note: Never   save  to the HLS disk, always save 
to  a separate disk. 

To load or save a league, first, select   ‘Load/Save League.’ 
This puts you into the Load/Save League Menu. Insert a
disk into a disk drive and select that drive from the Load/ 
Save League Menu. 

First time saving a league: 

If this  is the  first time you are saving the league, then 
select ‘Save  File.’ A dialogue box will appear, asking for 
the tile name. Type in the name and hit return. The league
will be saved to disk with the file name you have given it. 

Updating a  file  already on disk: 

If you have loaded a league file from a disk for play, and 
are now saving the new data, first select the file name that
appears in the Load/Save League Menu. Then, select ‘Save 
File.’  A dialogue box appears telling you that the file 
already exists and asks you if you want to overwrite the 
file. Select yes by typing ‘y’. if you want the old   data  in the 
league tile to   be replaced by the new data you have gener- 
ated. If you want to save the old data, type ‘n’,  for no, and 
then choose  ‘Save File’ from the Load/Save League  Menu 
without selecting a league name. You will be asked to 
name the file. Be sure to give it a name that is different 
than the name already listed in the Load/Save League 
Menu. If the disk is full, a message will warn you that of
this condition and inform you that the file was not saved.
Simply put in a new disk, and repeat the steps for saving 
the league. 

Note: If you are saving leagues during the playoffs, HLS 
will  automatically append   a  .plf extension to the league file 
name. This allows you to save the playoff stats separately 
from the regular season  stats. 

Loading a League

When starting up  HLS, the NHL league that comes on the 
HLS disk will load automatically. To resume play with a 
previously saved league, it is necessary to load that league
into  HLS.   To do this, enter the Load/Save League Menu by 
selecting ‘Load/Save  League’ from the Main Menu. Insert 
a disk into a disk drive and select that drive from the Load/
Save League Menu. Then, choose a   league  file from list of 
available files in the Load/Save League Menu and select 
‘Load  File’-the  data from this league will be loaded into 
HLS.  Select  ‘Exit’  to return to the Main Menu. 

Hints for Hard Disk Users (IBM Only):  When loading 
or saving   files,  it is   important   to  know which directory you 
are in. If you lose track of this information, you will have
trouble finding the file. The directory is listed in the  path 
information at  the top of the menus. Remember, you will 
have to reenter this directory to have   access  to the file. To 
change directories, simply select the desired directory 
name  from the window.   If  you have problems finding files 
on your hard disk, you can solve this problem by   saving  to 
floppy disks.

Menu Listings

Head Coach Menu 

The  Head Coach Menu is used to set up a roster for a 
game. The League Simulator uses two different types of 
rosters-the Team Roster and the Game Roster. The Team
Roster consists of up to 2.5 pro players. The Game Roster 
consists of 20 players (18 skaters and 2 goalies). The 
Game roster is used to play a game using Wayne   Gretzky 
Hockey or to play a computer-simulated game. Every 
Game Roster must have at least 3 centers, 3 left-wings,  3 
right-wings, 6 defensemen, and exactly 2 goalies. When- 
ever a new Game Roster is selected, new lines mast be set 
up, and the starting goalie must be chosen. 

Note: A new Game  Roster must be set up whenever a 
player  in  the current Game Roster is injured or traded. 

Game Roster 

Computer   Picks  - have the computer set up a Game 
Roster. 

Pick  New  Roster -  pick  your own Game Roster. Players 
currently in the Game Roster  will  have an asterisk dis- 
played instead of their jersey numbers. The number of
players at each position will be displayed at the top of the
screen. If you wish, you may change players’ positions 
(the new position  will  only affect the Game Roster-the 
original position will still be displayed in the Team
Roster). Changing positions between forwards and 
defensemen is allowed, but the players’ ratings will suffer.
Goalies may not have their positions changed.

Display  -  display a team’s   current  Game Roster. If a player 
is injured, the letter ‘I’ will be displayed instead of his 
number, and his ratings will all be 0 except for his ‘Injury’ 
rating, which will indicate the number of games he  will 
miss.

Print - print a team’s current Game Roster. 

Team Roster 

Display  - display a Team  (25-man)  roster. (Players  cur- 
rently  in the Game Roster will have an  ('*') next to their 
name. 

Print  -  print a Team  (25-man)  roster. 

Sort by Name   - sort the   players on a Team Roster 
alphabetically.

Sort by Position  - sort  the  players in a Team Roster by 
their positions. 

Sort by Number  - sort the  players on a Team Roster by 
their jersey numbers.

Pick New Lines   -  select new lines for a Game Roster. 

Computer’s  Lines  - have the computer select new lines for 
a Game Roster.

Print  Lines   -  print a Game Rosters current lines. 

Starting Goalie  - choose the starting goalie for a Game 
Roster. 

Note:  Computer-controlled teams will always pick their 
own goalies. 

General Manager Menu 

The  General Manager Menu is used to fire coaches, trade 
players, move players between the pro and farm teams, 
pick up players on waivers, and check   finances. 

A player is put on waivers whenever he is sent down from 
a franchise’s pro team to its farm club. A player remains
on waivers until all teams have “cleared their options” on
that player. A team can explicitly clear its options by
checking waivers and not picking up any players. Its
options will automatically be cleared as soon as it plays a 
game. If a team picks up a player on waivers, the player’s 
old team is paid $40,000. The player is still eligible to be 
picked up by any other team with higher priority (team pri- 
ority is determined by draft order). This means that the 
same player could go from team to team, and would end up
on the team with the highest priority. 

Fire Head Coach  - get rid of  your current coach. If you 
have set the League Options so that coaches can affect
players, then you will be presented with a list of coaches
you may “hire.” Otherwise, you will merely be prompted 
for a new name.

Check  Waivers  -  view all players currently on waivers. 
Beware! Once you exit from the waivers display, you are 
“clearing your options” on all the players listed. 

Trade Players  - select the two teams involved in the trade. 
A new menu will be displayed, allowing you to either 
trade players or money. A traded player is sent to his new 
team’s FARM CLUB. (He may either stay there, or be 
brought up to the pro team.) 

Note:  Trades with computer-controlled  teams are 
allowed; see Trade Players Menu below.

Send To Farm - choose a team. Its pro roster will be dis- 
played. Click on the players you wish to send to the  farm 
club. You might want to do this if a player is in a slump,
or if you are running out of money. However, any player 
sent down to a farm team is automatically put on waivers,
and may be picked up by another team. 

Note: Injured players  may    be  sent down 

Send To Pro - bring up a player from  a farm club to a pro 
team. This works   the  same way as sending a player down 
to a   farm  club, except that the player is NOT put on waiv- 
ers. Also, you must have an empty spot on your pro roster.
This is one way to replace an injured player. 

Check Finances  - display a financial report for a team. 
You are responsible for paying the salaries of the players 
on your pm team. Players are paid on a per-game basis, so 
it is possible to  run out of money in the middle of the 
season. The report shows a team’s total income (from its 
original budget and money received from trades or waiv-
ers), and its expenses to date. It also shows the team’s 
“projected expenses.” Beware! If you go “in the red”   (run 
out of money) your players will not play at their fullest 
abilities. If you are running out of money, you could send
a player with a high salary down   to  your farm club, which 
would remove him from the payroll. If you have already 
run  out of money, the only alternative is to try and trade a 
player to another team for cash. 

Note: This menu selection is only displayed  if you have 
selected  ‘Money’ in the Set Options Menu. 

Display Salaries   - display annual salaries for a team. 

Change Control   - change control of a team (manual control 
/ computer control). 

If  ‘Edit Players’   option is set, screen will show: 

 Edit  Pro  Roster   - edit player names, positions, numbers, 
 and ratings. 

 Edit Farm Roster  - edit player names, positions, num- 
 bers  and ratings. 

If  ‘Edit  Players’   option is not set, screen will show: 

 View Pro Roster _  display all players on a pro team 

 View Farm   Roster  - display all players on a farm team. 

Stats Menu 

Display Stats   - stats will be displayed on screen. 

Print  Stats  - stats will be sent to a printer. 

League Standings - over-all team won/lost records. 

Divisional Records  - won-lost records against divisional 
and non-divisional teams. 

Home-Away Records  - won-lost records at home and on 
the road. 

Power  Play   - team power-play scoring percentages. 

Penalty  Killing   - team penalty-killing percentages. 

Penalty  Minutes - team penalty minutes (total, and  per- 
game average). 

Scoring  - total number of points (goals and assists). 

Goaltending  - top goaltenders: average, wins, save per- 
centage, shut-outs. 

Defensemen  - top scoring defensemen. 

Goals leaders in goals, assists, power-play goals, short-
handed goals, game-winning goals, game-tying goals, 
shots, and first-goals.

Team  Listings - display the stats for a single team. Select 
either ‘Scoring’ or   ‘Goaltending’,   and then select a team. 

Note: Players who have not played  in at least one  game 
will  not be listed. 

Team Setup Menu

Here is where you  finish setting up the league. From this 
menu you can customize teams, load or save teams, draft 
players, and make a schedule. 

Load/Save Team - click on a team to be loaded or saved. 
You will then enter a DOS Menu very similar to the 
‘TeamDOS’  Menu in Gretzky Hockey. If you load a team, 
it will replace the team you selected. If you save a team,
the league will be unaffected, and you will have a dupli- 
cate team for future use. 

Load  WGH Team   - load a team created in Gretzky Hockey 
into  HLS. 

Set   Budget  - set one team’s annual budget. The amount 
you set here is used throughout the season  to  pay your 
players’ salaries.

Note:  Set Budget will only be displayed   if  ‘Money’ option 
is selected. 

Fire Head Coach  - get rid of your current coach. If you 
have set the League Options so that coaches can affect
players, then you will be presented  with a list of coaches 
you may “hire.” Otherwise, you will merely be prompted 
for a new name. 

Edit  Pro Team  - this is identical to the roster editor in 
Gretzky Hockey, except   that now you have as many as 25 
players to deal with. The number of players on the NHL 
teams will vary, so you may find empty spots on some 
teams.

Edit Farm   Team  - add, change, or delete players on a farm 
team. 

Print Pro Team   - print one team’s   25-man roster. 

Set  Options  - pick the way you want your league   run  (see 
the Set Options Menu for more information). 


Protect  Players - this option will only be displayed if you 
have drafted players. In this case, you may protect 20 
players from the Waiver Draft (all unprotected players will 
be included in the Waiver Draft, which takes place before 
the start of the regular season). After you select the team 
whose players you wish to protect, you will be in a roster 
display  similar   to  ‘Edit Roster.’ The  number of players 
protected will be listed at the top of the screen. To protect a 
player, move the  cursor bar over  the player, and click the 
left mouse button. An asterisk   (*)  will be displayed next to 
his name. If you decide you don’t want to protect him after 
all, click on him again. The asterisk will disappear. 
Remember: there is no guarantee that unprotected players
will still be on  your  team after the Waiver Draft. 

Continue - Return to the league Main Menu (or go to the 
waiver draft if you’ve drafted players). When   this option is 
selected, you will be asked if you’re sure you want to con-
tinue. If a schedule hasn’t been created or a new schedule 
needs to   be made (if you changed the league), you will not 
be able to leave the menu. In addition, each team is 
checked for unique jersey numbers. If two players on the
same team have the same number, you’ll have to fix them 
before continuing. Computer-controlled teams will auto- 
matically be fixed. Remember, if you have drafted players, 
you may protect up to 20 players from the Waiver Draft. 

Draft Menu 

The draft allows each team to start from scratch, and pick 
the  players they want on their team. Each team may draft 
up to 35 players (25 for the major league team and 10 for 
the minor league team). Teams pick in the order listed on
the screen. If the  ‘Reverse  Order’ option is selected, then 
the order will be reversed after each round (for example: 
round 1: 1,2,3  ,... 21; round 2: 21, 20, 19  ,..., 1; round 3: 
1,2,3,...21). Enough players are included in the draft so 
that  there are at least 35 players available for each team. 
All players from every NHL team are always included in
the draft, no matter how many teams are actually in the
league (so even if the league only has 4 teams in it, you’ll 
still have players from all 21 teams to choose from). Other 
players in the draft  come from non-NHL teams and the 
farm teams. The farm teams consist of fictitious players
with below-average ratings (although there may be a few 
“sleepers” in there).

Set   Draft  Order  - choose the order in which teams will 
draft. Click on one team, and then click on another. The
two teams will swap positions. When you’re done, click 
on ‘Save Order’ at the bottom of column 3. 


Print  Draft Order   -   print out a listing of the drafting order. 

Normal Order - teams will always pick in the same order 
each round. 

Reverse Order   - the order will be reversed each round. 

Sort By Name, Position, Or  Salary - sort all players in the 
draft by the indicated value. Since there may be over   1600 
players in the draft pool, the sort may take as long as a
minute and a half. Sorting the players by salary is a  good 
way of listing the players by ability, since each player’s
salary is based on his ratings (although different ratings 
are weighted more heavily for different positions). 

Display  Players  - display all players in the draft pool on 
the screen. At this point, players have merely   been  copied 
from all the teams; if you look at them and then exit with- 
out drafting, the teams will be   unaffected. 

Prim Players  - print out a list of all players in the draft. 
Again, since there may be over 1600 players in the list
(depending on the league size), be prepared to have a lot
of paper on hand. If you are in the middle of printing and 
decide you want  to quit, hit the escape key  ‘Esc.’  The 
players currently in the printer’s  memory will be printed, 
and then the printout will stop. 

Draft Players  -   perform  the draft. Once you select this 
option, all teams will be cleared. The computer will auto- 
matically pick players for computer-controlled teams. 

Since there are so many players in the draft, the up and 
down arrows have   been  replaced by ‘Page Up’ and ‘Page 
Down’ options. These will move through the list 15 
players at a time. The name of the team which is currently 
picking is displayed at the top, along with its remaining 
money. The salary of the player currently under the cursor
bar is displayed in the upper-right of the screen. To draft a 
player, move the cursor bar over him and click the left 
mouse button. You may draft him to your pro team, farm 
team, or you may choose not to draft him. Enter the  cor- 
rect  response  (‘p’  = draft to pro team, ‘f ' = draft to farm 
team,  'c' =  cancel). If you draft him to your pro team but 
your pro team is already full, he will automatically be 
placed on your farm team. You may choose to pick no 
more players at all. If you choose the ‘Exit’ option before 
the draft is completed, the computer will finish the draft for
all teams. In general, the computer decides what position to
draft for, and then looks for the best player left at that posi-
tion (best player   = highest salary). 

Note: Players  on the   farm teams   will NOT   be protected 
from the waiver  draft.  Also,  a  team  may go  over  budget 
during the  draft,   but this could have dire  consequences 
during the regular-season. 

Set Options Menu 

League Options allow you to select the way you want the 
league to  run.  This menu can be entered from either the 
Main Menu or the Team Setup Menu, and the options may
be changed as many times   as you   wish. 

Coach Affects  Play - if this option is highlighted, then dif- 
ferent coaches can affect player performance (i.e. ratings)
differently. Thus, in the course of a season, some players’
ratings may increase or decrease one   or two   points. 

Note: In  order  for a  coach to affect players, you  must first 
fire your coach. The new coach will now affect the 
players positively, negatively, or  not  at  all. It  is up to you 
to decide if   the coach is any good. 

Money -  No Money  - selecting the  ‘Money’ option adds 
another dimension to managing a team. Each team will 
start out with a budget. From this amount player salaries
must be paid. If the  team runs out of money, its players 
will “go on strike” (their ratings will all drop drastically). 
If the ‘No Money’ option is selected, then money will have
no bearing on the league. 

You Manage  - you will be in charge of selecting   rosters  for 
all teams-even  those controlled by the computer. This 
gives you the final say in who will play each game. This 
will probably be of most use to people who are interested
in exactly reproducing games played in real life.

Computer   Manages - the  computer   will pick its  Own  ros- 
ters,  manage its own teams, and decide whether or not to 
accept trades proposed by human-controlled teams.

Streaks/Slumps - If this option is selected, players will go 
through “hot” and “cold” streaks. That is, for a certain
number of games, a player’s ratings may go up   or down by 
as much as two   points.  These changes are only temporary, 
and may change   on a game-to-game basis.   The adjusted 
ratings are displayed in the Head Coach Menu. To see 
original player ratings, use the General Manager Menu. 

Trade Players Menu 

This menu is entered via the General Manager Menu.  If 
the Money option is activated (see Set Options Menu  ) 
both players and money may be involved in a trade.  Oth- 
erwise only players may be moved. Players may be 
selected by  choosing  the appropriate team  under  ‘Select 
Players.’ After you have selected players and/or money,
they will  appear in the Trade Window beneath their  car- 
rent teams. After all of the selections have been made,
each team must accept the trade in order for it to go
through. To do this, select  ‘Accept’  on the  proper side of 
the  menu beneath the team name. If you don’t like the 
trade, select ‘Cancel.’ 

Note: If  one of the teams  is  computer-controlled and the 
‘Computer Manages’  option  is activated (see Set Options 
Menu  ), then the  computer  will decide  whether or  not  to 
accept the  trade  after you select ‘Accept’  for the other 
team. If  the  computer  turns   you down, you can  try “sweet- 
ening the   pot”  by adding  additional  money  and/or  players. 

For example, suppose the Capitals wanted to trade Mike
Gartner and Larry Murphy to the  NorthStrs  for Dino  Cic- 
carelli and Bob Rouse. To do this, you would first select 
‘From Capitals’   from the menu. This would put you into 
the roster display. Find Mike Gartner in the player listing 
and move   the  cursor bar over him so that he is highlighted. 
Now press  return.  An asterisk  (*)  will appear next to his 
name. Do the same thing for Larry Murphy. Now select 
‘Exit.’  Select ‘From NorthStrs,’  and select Dino Ciccarelli 
and Bob Rouse in a  similar  way. After you select ‘Exit,’ 
you will be back in the Trade Menu, and you will see  the 
players displayed under their current teams  (Gartner and 
Murphy under the Capitals; Ciccarelli and Rouse under the 
NorthStrs). To finish the trade both the Capitals and the
NorthStrs most select ‘Accept.’

Note: After a trade, players are sent t o their new ream’s
farm club.

Select ‘Exit’ to return to the General Manager Menu.


Schedule  Review Menu 

This  menu allows you to display or print the schedule 
during the course of a season. Games which have already
been played will have their scores displayed. 

Print  Schedule 

All  Games  - print all games in the schedule, starting at the 
beginning of the season. 

Remaining Games - print only games which have not yet 
been played. 

League  - selecting this option causes every game to be 
printed. 

Team - this option causes only a single team’s games to be 
printed.

Review Scores 

Display  - display scores on the screen. 

Print  - send scores to printer. 

One   Team  - display scores and upcoming games for a 
single team.

Two  Teams  - display scores and upcoming games between 
two teams. This is useful if you’re interested in seeing how 
your team has fared against a particular team during a 
season.

Exit-  return  to Main Menu.

Commonly Asked Questions

General Information 

1. “Can I  use  teams   that  I made in Wayne  Gretzky   Hockey 
with the Hockey League Simulator?” 

 Yes, with   certain  qualifications. Refer to “Loading
 Teams  Created in Gretzky Hockey” on page 12. Since 
 WGH  teams   have only 20 players and   HLS teams  have 
 25, the extra 5 spots will be cleared. 

2. “What about Bethesda   Softworks’  NHL   DataDisk.?” 

 DataDisks that Bethesda produces have both types of 
 teams on them, so that they may be used with both the 
 Hockey League Simulator   and  Wayne Gretzky Hockey. 

3.  “Sometimes I change league data and the next rime I 
run the Hockey League Simulator. all my changes have 
disappeared. Why   ?” 

 You probably did not save your changes when you quit 
 HLS.  Any time you make changes to the  HLS, a dia- 
 logue box will appear when you quit, asking if you wish
 to save the changes. Be  sure  to depress ‘y’ for yes. 

4. “What is Auto-Play?” 
 
 Auto-Play means that   the computer will “play” a game 
 between two teams. Auto-Play provides a quick way to
 play a lot of games, and is usually used to play a game 
 between two computer-controlled teams, (although any
 game may be played this way). There are two ways to 
 ‘Auto-Play’ a game. In Manual mode, you pick one 
 game for the computer to generate. In Automatic mode, 
 the computer will continue to generate games as long as
 both teams are computer controlled. 

5. “How  do I use the League Simulator with Wayne 
Gretzky  Hockey?" 

 To  play a league   game  using Wayne Gretzky   Hockey, 
 you  must  save the rosters for the game you wish to play. 
 Then, when you play   Gretzky  Hockey,   load in the teams 
 (in the   ‘TeamDOS’  Menus). Play the game, and when 
 you are finished, save the stats. You will then   be able to 
 load the stats back into the   League Simulator. 

6. "How  does the money work?” 

 Each  team  starts out with a budget. After each game, 
 players are paid their salaries from this budget. If a team 
 runs  out of money, the players won’t get paid, and there- 
 fore will not play as well as they are able. 

7. “Does  every team have to  start out with the same amount 
of money?” 

 No.  In fact, in the  pre-made  league, each team has a dif- 
 ferent budget (generally enough to pay salaries plus an
 additional  $100,000   -  $200,000).  However, if you draft 
 players, each team’s budget will be reset to   $5,000,000. 
 You can always change the budgets after the draft, 
 though. 

8. "Can  I run a league without worrying about money?” 

 Yes. If you’re not interested in the financial aspects of
 the League Simulator, then select ‘No Money’ in the Set
 Options Menu. 

9. “Why  do player ratings sometimes change between the 
Head Coach Menu and the General Manager   Menu?" 

 The Head Coach Menu displays players’ ratings after
 they have been adjusted for their streaks and slumps,
 while the General Manager Menu always displays the
 actual ratings, without adjustments. 

Amiga 
COMMODORE AMIGA  (All models) 

1. “Can  I use regular Amiga-DOS disks with the League 
Simulator?” 

 No. Because we use a proprietary (i.e. non-standard) 
 DOS, you must use specially formatted disks. You may 
 format a disk in the League Simulator Main Menu by 
 selecting the ‘Format Data Disk’   option. After the disk 
 has  been  properly formatted, it can then be used with the 
 Hockey League Simulator   and  Wayne Gretzky Hockey. 

2. “Can I run the League   Simulator from  a hard disk?” 

 No. Because   WGH  uses a special operating system that is 
 not compatible with standard   AmigaDOS,  a hard disk 
 cannot be used. This is the one unfortunate side effect of
 using  our more efficient, but different, DOS. 

IBM  

IBM and Compatibles 

1. “Can  I format  a disk within the League Simulator?” 

 No. Although the League Simulator   runs  in   MS-DOS, 
 you must format disks separately before you use the
 League Simulator.

2. “Can  I run the  League   Simulator from   a  hard  disk?” 
 Yes. In fact, we recommend using a hard disk if you 
 have one. 

3.  “Sometimes when I try to   load stats   from Wayne 
Gretzky  Hockey into the Hockey League Simulator,   the file 
name  doesn't  appear. What should I   do?” 
 
 If you  stats   file does not appear automatically in the 
 Load Game Stats Menu, select   ‘Force Load.’   This will 
 force the display of all existing stat files. Once they 
 appear, select the one you want. 

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