January-February 2023 MHL season
| January-February 2023 MHL season | |
|---|---|
| League | Micronational Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice Hockey |
| Number of games | 9 |
| Number of teams | 10 |
| Regular season | |
| Farrokhzad Trophy | Eskandarabad Sultans |
| Playoffs | |
| Overseas Conference champions | Eskandarabad Sultans |
| Overseas Conference runners-up | Draytopol Dragons |
| Mainland Conference champions | Nassau Doves |
| Mainland Conference runners-up | Marksburg Titans |
| Olivier Cup | |
| Champions | Nassau Doves |
| Runners-up | Eskandarabad Sultans |
The January-February 2023 MHL season was the second season of the Micronational Hockey League (MHL). The league expanded to 10 teams with the addition of the Invictus Cavaliers and Nassau Doves.
The league's regular season was expanded from seven games to nine and began on 1 January with a game between the Salem Spartans and Augustine Yetis and ended on 30 January. The playoffs ended on 22 February with a 3-0 sweep by the new Nassau Doves against the Eskandarabad Sultans.
League business
Expansion and the Invictus affair
On 30 November 2022, negotiations with Silas Wurnbash to add a second Excelsorian MHL team in Invictus, Excelsior fell through, and President Wurnbash seized all of the MHL's funds in Excelsioran-Libertasian Marks were seized by Wurnbash, supposedly because Wurnbash did not know starting an expansion team would cost money, which enraged him, as he thought the team was already owned by him.
The already-created Invictus Hockey Club would be sold to Red Star owner Nicolas Caiazzo instead. Wurnbash called for Invictus HC to either relocate or fold, or the MHL would not be allowed to operate in Invictus again, but this did not happen, with MHL President Raphaël Olivier reportedly saying, "I want an Invictus team now just to show Silas [Wurnbash] that we won't do anything he wants." Wurnbash threatened to seize Excelsior Red Star and prevent a potential team in Libertas from joining, but this did not happen.
On 17 December, Invictus HC was renamed to the Invictus Cavaliers, joining the MHL as a member of the Overseas Conference and bringing the team total to nine.
On 18 December, the Doves of Industry Park, a team based out of Libertas joined the MHL as a member of the Overseas Conference, owned by Emerson Lee, bringing the team total to ten. The Draytopol Dragons moved to the Mainland Conference to make five members in each conference.
On 30 December, a day before the regular season was set to start, Libertas abruptly left the online sphere, and the Doves moved to Marksburg, Georgienstine, becoming the Nassau Doves. Ali Farrokhzad would own the relocated team. The franchise would play one pre-season game as the Doves of Industry Park, a game they won, making the Doves of Industry Park the only undefeated team in MHL history.
Front office changes
| Off–season | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Nov-Dec 2022 general manager | Jan-Feb 2023 general manager | Notes |
| Invictus HC/Invictus Cavaliers | Nobody | Nicolas Caiazzo | The Invictus HC/Invictus Cavaliers was started as a de facto independent team, and joined the MHL on 17 December 2022 with Nicolas Caiazzo as its GM. |
| Marksburg Titans | Nobody | Logan White | The Titans were bought by White on 1 December 2022, who promptly appointed himself as GM. On 5 February 2023, the Titans would be suspended from future MHL operations until White renounced his ownership of the club due to habitually posting NSFW media in a discord server. |
| Doves of Industry Park/Nassau Doves | Nobody | Emerson Lee Ali Farrokhzad |
On 18 December 2022, the Doves of Industry Park would join the league as its tenth member, with Lee as its GM. Upon Lee's resignation and Libertas' departure from the online micronational sphere, Farrokhzad would take control of the team and become GM. |
| Glendia Gladiators | Nobody | Roy Jackson | Jackson would buy the club on 19 December 2022 and would appoint himself as GM. |
| Castel Blizzards | Nobody | Raphaël Olivier | As per an agreement between the Blizzards, Sultans, and the two MHL Presidents, the latter would become owners and General Managers of their local clubs in lieu of receiving a salary from the league as to save league budget. |
| Eskandarabad Sultans | Nobody | Ali Farrokhzad | |
| In–season | |||
| Team | Outgoing general manager | Incoming general manager | Notes |
| Salem Spartans | Nobody | Alexandre Olivier | Olivier bought the Spartans on 27 January 2023, after a lengthy, multi-party negotiation process including two negotiations falling through. |
Standings
Overseas Conference
| Pos | Team | GP | W | L | OTL | RW | GF | GA | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | f – Eskandarabad Sultans | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 25 | 16 | 9 | 15 | |
| 2 | x – Glendia Gladiators | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 22 | 19 | 3 | 13 | |
| 3 | x – Draytopol Dragons | 9 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 17 | 23 | –6 | 8 | |
| 4 | e – Excelsior Red Star | 9 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 19 | –5 | 7 | |
| 5 | e – Invictus Cavaliers | 9 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 31 | –13 | 4 | |
Rules for classification: 1) Fewer number of games played (GP, only during regular season); 2) Greater number of regulation wins (RW); 3) Greater number of total wins, including shootouts (W); 4) Greater number of points earned in head-to-head play; if teams played an uneven number of head-to-head games, the result of the first game on the home ice of the team with the extra home game is discarded; 5) Greater goal differential (GD); 6) Greater number of goals scored (GF)
f – Clinched Farrokhzad Trophy; x – Clinched playoff spot; e – Eliminated from playoffs
Mainland Conference
| Pos | Team | GP | W | L | OTL | RW | GF | GA | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | y – Marksburg Titans | 9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 25 | 20 | 5 | 14 | |
| 2 | x – Castel Blizzards | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 14 | 10 | 4 | 13 | |
| 3 | x – Nassau Doves | 9 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 15 | 14 | 1 | 10 | |
| 4 | e – Augustine Yetis | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 17 | 17 | 0 | 10 | |
| 5 | e – Salem Spartans | 9 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 20 | 18 | 2 | 9 | |
Rules for classification: 1) Fewer number of games played (GP, only during regular season); 2) Greater number of regulation wins (RW); 3) Greater number of total wins, including shootouts (W); 4) Greater number of points earned in head-to-head play; if teams played an uneven number of head-to-head games, the result of the first game on the home ice of the team with the extra home game is discarded; 5) Greater goal differential (GD); 6) Greater number of goals scored (GF)
y – Clinched division; x – Clinched playoff spot; e – Eliminated from playoffs
Playoffs
Bracket
In each round, teams compete in a best-of-five series following a 2–2–1 format (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-five series). The team with home ice advantage plays at home for games one and two (and game five, if necessary), and the other team is at home for game three (and game four, if necessary). The top three teams from each conference clinch a playoff berth, making for a six-team playoff.
In the first round, the second seed and a wild card team play, with the wild card scoring higher in points during the regular season playing the second seed from their conference. The conference finals are played by the winner of the conference semifinals and the first seeded team from each conference. The finals were between the winner of both conference final series. In all rounds, home ice advantage is awarded to the team with the better regular season record.
The playoffs also feature a consolation game known as the Bronze Blades, named after the award gifted to the winner of said game. It is the only round in the Olivier Cup playoffs to be a single game, rather than a best-of-five series. The Bronze Blades is the equivalent of a bronze metal.
The February 2023 Olivier Cup playoffs are so far the only MHL playoff in which only one team that was present in the previous playoffs was present in these playoffs, that team being the Draytopol Dragons. The defending champions, the Augustine Yetis, did not qualify.
| Conference Semifinals | Conference Finals | |||||||||||||||
| O2 | Glendia | 1 | O1 | Eskandarabad | 3 | |||||||||||
| O3 | Draytopol | 3 | O3 | Draytopol | 0 | Olivier Cup Finals | ||||||||||
| O1 | Eskandarabad | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| Conference Semifinals | Conference Finals | M3 | Nassau | 3 | ||||||||||||
| M2 | Castel | 1 | M1 | Marksburg | 2 | |||||||||||
| M3 | Nassau | 3 | M3 | Nassau | 3 | Bronze Blades | ||||||||||
| O3 | Draytopol | 2[a][b] | ||||||||||||||
| M1 | Marksburg | 1 | ||||||||||||||
- Legend
- O1, O2, O3 – The first, second and third place teams from the Overseas Conference, respectively.
- M1, M2, M3 – The first, second and third place teams from the Mainland Conference, respectively.
MHL awards
Three MHL awards are awarded immediately after the regular season: the Farrokhzad Trophy, which is awarded to the team with the highest point total in the regular season, and the Overseas and Mainland Division Championships, awarded to the teams with the most points from their respective conference.
The Farrokhzad Trophy was awarded to the Eskandarabad Sultans, who won a total of 15 points from a 7-1-1 record. The Overseas and Mainland Trophies, awarded to the winners of the Conference Finals, will be awarded at the same time as the Olivier Cup—that being after the Olivier Cup finals. On 27 January 2023, the Overseas and Mainland Division Championships were added as awards for the highest-scoring teams by points for each conference, and both Draytopol and Augustine were retroactively awarded the Overseas and Mainland Division Championships, respectively.
| Award | Recipient(s) | Runner(s)-up/Finalists |
|---|---|---|
| Olivier Cup | Nassau Doves | Eskandarabad Sultans |
| Farrokhzad Trophy (Best regular-season record) |
Eskandarabad Sultans | Marksburg Titans |
| Overseas Trophy (Overseas Conference playoff champion) |
Eskandarabad Sultans | Draytopol Dragons |
| Mainland Trophy (Mainland Conference playoff champion) |
Nassau Doves | Marksburg Titans |
| Bronze Blades (Third place playoff champion) |
Draytopol Dragons | Marksburg Titans |
| Overseas Division Champion (Best Overseas Conference regular-season record) |
Eskandarabad Sultans | Glendia Gladiators |
| Mainland Division Champion (Best Mainland Conference regular-season record) |
Marksburg Titans | Castel Blizzards |