Micronational Hockey League
Current season or competition: Spring 2023 MHL season | |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
|---|---|
| Founded | 13 November 2022 |
| Inaugural season | November-December 2022 |
| No. of teams | 6 |
| Relegation to | United Microleague |
| Country(ies) |  Bryantia.png){kind=small} Excelsior Georgienstine |
| Most recent champion(s) | Glendia Gladiators (1st title) |
| Most titles | Augustine Yetis, Nassau Doves, Glendia Gladiators (1 title) |
The Micronational Hockey League (MHL; French: Ligue micronationale de hockey—LMH) is the highest level of ice hockey in micronational North America, comprising 6 teams—4 in Georgienstine, 1 in Excelsior, and 1 in Bryantia. The Olivier Cup is awarded monthly to the league playoff champion at the end of each season. The Microational Hockey League was founded on 13 November 2022 by Ali Farrokhzad and Raphaël Olivier. The MHL operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the United Microleague.
The Augustine Yetis, Nassau Doves, and Glendia Gladiators are tied for the most Olivier Cups, with one each, defeating the Draytopol Dragons, Eskandarabad Sultans, and Nassau respectively for their titles.
Season Structure
The MHL season is divided into the pre-season (week prior to season), the regular season (first and second month), and post-season playoffs (third month).
During the regular season, clubs play each other in a predefined schedule. The current structure originally featured one game against every team (at first 7 games, then 9), with between 4-6 home games and 4-6 away games, however this was replaced in April 2023 with a 20-game schedule, 4 against the other 5 teams, with 10 at home and 10 away.
The league's regular season standings are based on a point system. Two points are awarded for a win, one point for losing in overtime or a shootout, and zero points for a loss in regulation. At the end of the regular season, the team that finishes with the most points in each conference is crowned the division champion, and the league's overall leader is awarded the Farrokhzad Trophy.
The Olivier Cup playoffs, consisting of the final month of a season, are an elimination tournament where two teams play against each other to win a best-of-five series to advance to the next round. The final remaining team is crowned the Olivier Cup champion. The top two teams from each conference immediately qualify for the playoffs and the other teams do not make the playoffs. In all rounds, the higher-ranked team is awarded home ice advantage, with three of the five games (games 1, 2, and 5) being played at home for the higher-ranked team.
MHL Point Draft
On 30 January 2023, the MHL announced the foundation of the Point Draft. The Draft would occur in-between the pre-season and regular season, with the inaugural one to occur on 4 and 5 March 2023. It allows MHL teams to add points across five rounds to one of the three point categories—Offence, Defence, and Goaltending. The selection order is determined by a combination of the standings at the end of the regular season, playoff results, and a draft lottery. The four teams who do not qualify for the playoffs in the previous season, as well as any expansion teams added, are put in a lottery for the first and second picks of each round. After the first two picks, the order follows the reverse order of league standings from the previous season.
Teams
| Conference | Team | City | Code | Founded | Joined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overseas | Draytopol Dragons | Draytopol
|
DRA | 2022 | |
| Glendia Gladiators | Los Cristianos
|
GLG | 2022 | ||
| New Brooklyn Roughriders | New Brooklyn
|
NBR | 2023 | ||
| Mainland | Castel Blizzards | Castel
|
CST | 2022 | |
| Marksburg Titans | Marksburg
|
MRK | 2022 | ||
| Nassau Doves | Marksburg
|
NSS | 2022 | 2023 | |
Expansions
Four teams have been added on top of the original 8, that being the Invictus Cavaliers and Doves of Industry Park (which relocated to become the Nassau Doves) before the January-February 2023 season and the New Brooklyn Roughriders and Oranmore Scouts before the Spring 2023 season. The Salem Thunder and Riel Island Sounders were added to the MHL system in March 2023, but were placed into the United Microleague along with the Oranmore Scouts.
Relocations
As of 31 December 2022, only one team relocation has taken place. Following the departure of Federal People's Republic of Libertas from the online sphere, the MHL decided to relocate the Doves of Industry Park to Marksburg, taking the name of a former state that merged to make Marksburg, the Nassau Doves.
Foldings
On 5 February 2023, the Invictus Cavaliers folded and merged with the Excelsior Red Star, and on 7 February 2023, the Eskandarabad Sultans folded and merged with the Nassau Doves, as per the MHL's new rule prohibiting the ownership of multiple MHL teams by a single individual.
Team’s performance
| Season (No. of teams) |
ND22 (8) |
JF23 (10) |
M23 (12) |
SP23 (6) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Castel Blizzards | 8th | 5th | 11th | Ongoing |
| Draytopol Dragons | 2nd | 3rd | 3rd | |
| Glendia Gladiators | 6th | 6th | 1st | |
| Marksburg Titans | 5th | 4th | 9th | |
| Nassau Doves | - | 1st | 2nd | |
| New Brooklyn Roughriders | - | 6th | ||
| Augustine Yetis | 1st | 7th | 4th | UML |
| Excelsior Red Star | 3rd | 9th | 7th | UML |
| Salem Spartans | 4th | 8th | 8th | UML |
| Riel Island Sounders | - | 10th | UML | |
| Salem Thunder | - | 5th | UML | |
| Oranmore Scouts | - | 12th | UML | |
| Eskandarabad Sultans | 7th | 2nd | - | |
| Invictus Cavaliers | - | 10th | - | |
Trophies and Awards
Olivier Cup
List of champions
| Season | Overseas Champion | Result | Mainland Champion |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov-Dec 22 | Draytopol Dragons
|
1–3 | Augustine Yetis
|
| Jan-Feb 23 |  Eskandarabad Sultans
|
0–3 | Nassau Doves
|
| March 23 | Glendia Gladiators
|
12–11 (agg.) | Nassau Doves
|
| Spring 23 | TBD | ||
- Olivier Cup champion in bold.
Results by team
| Team | Wins | Losses | Season(s) won | Season(s) lost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nassau Doves
|
1 | 1 | Jan-Feb 23 | March 23 |
| Augustine Yetis
|
1 | 0 | Nov-Dec 22 | — |
| Glendia Gladiators
|
1 | 0 | March 23 | — |
| Draytopol Dragons
|
0 | 1 | — | Nov-Dec 22 |
| Eskandarabad Sultans
|
0 | 1 | — | Jan-Feb 23 |
- The Augustine Yetis, the Nassau Doves, and the Glendia Gladiators are the most successful teams in this aspect, with 1 cup each.
- The Yetis beat the Farrokhzad Trophy champion Draytopol Dragons on 14 December 2022 in game four of the series to win the first Olivier Cup, with a series record of 3-1 in favour of Augustine.
- The Doves sweeped January-February '23's Trophy champion –the Eskandarabad Sultans– by 3-0, to clinch the Cup in their first ever season.
- They couldn't repeat the perfect record, however, when they faced the Glendia Gladiators in the March 2023 final and lost on aggregate by a single goal. The Gladiators, in turn, became the first team from outside Georgenstine to win the Olivier Cup.
Farrokhzad Trophy
List of champions
| Season | Team | Points | Games played |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov-Dec 22 | Draytopol Dragons
|
12 | 7 |
| Jan-Feb 23 | Eskandarabad Sultans
|
15 | 9 |
| March 23 | not awarded | 2 | |
| Spring 23 | TBD | 20 | |
Results by team
| Team | Wins | Season(s) won |
|---|---|---|
| Draytopol Dragons
|
1 | Nov-Dec 22 |
| Eskandarabad Sultans
|
1 | Jan-Feb 23 |
- The Draytopol Dragons won the inaugural Farrokhzad Trophy in the November-December 2022 season after winning 12 points with a record of 6-1-0, their only loss being to the Castel Blizzards. The runner-up was the Augustine Yetis with 10 points and a record of 5-2-0.
- The most recent Farrokhzad Trophy winners are the Eskandarabad Sultans, with 15 points and a 7-1-1 record. The runner-up was the Marksburg Titans with 14 points and a 7-2-0 record. In the January-February 2023 season, that had two extra games per team, had three teams score more points than the Nov-Dec 2022 Dragons: the two aforementioned teams and the Castel Blizzards with 13 points and a 6-2-1 record. The Glendia Gladiators scored the same number of points as the Nov-Dec 2022 Dragons.
- The Farrokzhad Trophy wasn't awarded in the abbreviated March '23 season, when they played just 2 group games because of the 2023 lockout.