Welcome to the league!

So you've just joined the site and want to get started, but don't know how. Look no further. This post is the first in a set of numbered threads that form a tutorial to help you start off on this site with all the basics that you need to know.

If you have any trouble during this process please feel free to message the Rookie Mentors either on discord or through a site message. When creating your account you received a message with your Rookie Class server, this is a great place to get help from the Mentors and meet your fellow draft class members.

Your first step to being part of the league will be creating your player. To do this we are going to head to the top of the main SHL forum and select the Update Portal.

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There are two main areas in the portal for creating your player, First is your ‘Player Info’ followed by your players ‘Attributes’.


Player Info:

Name: This is the name of your player you are creating. The possibilities are really endless here. You don’t need to put something anywhere close to your real name, most people do not. Please note that offensive or otherwise inappropriate names can and will be denied by the head office.


Position: This will be either forward (LW/RW/C), defense (LD/RD), or goaltender (G). Choose wisely! Don't worry too much about what the league might need or have space for. It's your player, create what you would like to build towards the most. Goaltenders are a little bit harder to find space for, but ultimately, if you stay active on the site and keep progressing your player, no matter what position you are, you will be able to find a home on a team. If you find it necessary you are able to switch from goalie to a skater position at the end of your first season for free.

Handedness: Which side your player shoots the puck.

Jersey Number: Completely cosmetic, choose any two digit number you’d like.

Render: This is who/what your player looks like. Real People, Fake People, Animals, Objects are all fair game.

Birth Date: You can make this realistic if you'd like, but ultimately, since seasons on the site don't follow an IRL equivalent timeframe, it doesn't really matter. And this date won't have any impact on the sim or anything.

Recruited By: This is where you say how you found out about the site. If someone referred you/brought you in, just write their username here. If you were brought from a recruitment thread on Reddit or another site, you can state that. Google, etc. Really, just listing what or who brought you to our site.


Height/Weight: The sim engine does take these into account if you are a skater, with taller/heavier players playing a better physical game. Players can weigh between 150 - 300 lbs, and height can range between 5’0” - 6’11”.


Birthplace: Where do you want your player to be born? Your player's birthplace will determine what nation they're eligible to play for in international play! If you want more information on international play feel free to ask the mentors to find out more on the different nations, their management styles, and their rosters. If you're not sure yet where you want to play, feel free to either leave this blank or make your character's birthplace a nation that doesn't have a federation! That will enable you to be able to choose your team at a later date. If you do choose a birthplace with one of our current federations and later would like to play elsewhere, you're allowed one transfer after your rookie season as long as you have not yet started in a tournament for your birth federation. The current existing federations can be found here.

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Attributes:

Now that you have set your players Identifying info, you can move into their actual skill set. For each position, there are different roles that will decide what style of hockey your player will play. Each of these roles rely on certain attributes more than others. To get a general idea of the roles and how attributes affect them, click here.

The role you play under is ultimately decided by your team's General Manager and can change from season to season, or even sim to sim. Simply go for what you would enjoy most and you will have plenty of chances to alter your build to fill other roles as time goes on.

Now that you’ve chosen your role you will see the suggested important attributes highlighted. You should consider making these higher then other stats, but that is not to say that every other stat is useless. If you have any questions about choosing your attributes please reach out and ask a Rookie Mentor.

Finally, to start your player off, you are given 155 TPE (total points earned) to apply to your player as you wish when you first create. TPE do not apply 1 to 1 - the scale to apply any TPE you earn, including your starter TPE, will depend on the attribute value itself.

You will have a chance to redistribute 80 tpe for free after your rookie season in the Juniors

Keeping this in mind, you have 155 TPE to add onto the base values of each archetype in the form and build your player. If you want to know more about what each attribute does past the creation interface, there is an extensive description post right here on the OOTP website. Our mentors suggest, that at least to start, try and limit the number of attributes that go above 15 as this limits your ability in the sim as a player in juniors.


Once all this is done and the build checks out, you can submit and you're done! A member of SMJHL Head Office will approve your player and you will be registered for our upcoming draft class (or get set up to go through the waivers system.)